GB2269022A

GB2269022A - Golf club measuring device

Info

Publication number: GB2269022A
Application number: GB9313675A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter Dennis Wakefield
Original assignee: Delfield Precision Engineering Ltd
Current assignee: Delfield Precision Engineering Ltd
Priority date: 1992-07-24
Filing date: 1993-07-02
Publication date: 1994-01-26
Anticipated expiration: 2013-07-02
Also published as: GB9215735D0; GB2269022B; GB9313675D0

Abstract

A golf club measuring device (1) for measuring characteristics of a metal wood (2) comprises a main structure having a first part (10) including a seating (12) defining a first plane (9) and a second part (11) extending away from the first part (10), means for clamping a head (3) of the metal wood in a clamping station, first indicator means (50) for measuring the loft of the head of the clamped metal wood (2) and second indicator means (54) providing an indication of the lie of the clamped metal wood (2). <IMAGE>

Description

GOLF CLUB MEASURING DEVICE This invention relates to a golf club measuring device for measuring characteristics of a metal wood having a head provided with a striking face, a rear surface and a sole and a shaft connected to the head. In particular, the invention is intended for measuring the loft and lie, and possibly also the face angle, of the metal wood.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a golf club measuring device as claimed in the ensuing claim 1.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a golf club measuring device for measuring characteristics of a metal wood having a head provided with a striking face, a rear surface and a sole and a shaft connected to the head, the device comprising a main structure having a first part including seating means defining a first plane and a second part extending away from the first part to one side of said first plane, clamping means for clamping the head in a clamping station and including a face-engaging first jaw part pivotally mounted on the main assembly for turning about a first axis positioned a first distance from, to said one side of, and parallel to said first plane, and a second jaw part movable against said rear surface for urging the striking face against the first jaw part so that the head is clamped in the clamping station between said first and second jaw parts with the sole positioned against the seating means, first indicator means indicating the rotary position of the first jaw part to provide a measure of the loft of the head of the clamped metal wood, a mounting member mounted on the second part for turning about a second axis orthogonal to the first axis and lying in a second plane which passes through the clamping station and is perpendicular to the first plane, the second axis being parallel to the first plane and being spaced a second distance from the first plane which is substantially greater than the first distance, a measuring member carried by the mounting member and extending substantially perpendicular to the second axis and second indicator means providing an indication of the lie of a clamped metal wood when the measuring member is turned about said second axis into a lie-measuring position perpendicular to the shaft of the clamped metal wood.

Since the position of the second axis is fixed relative to the clamping station, the lie of the clamped golf club is either a function of the angle of the measuring member in its lie-measuring position or a function of the perpendicular distance of the shaft from the second axis.

The second indicator means can, accordingly, comprise indicating means for indicating the angular position of the measuring member relative to the second axis to provide a direct measurement of the lie of the golf club.

Alternatively, the second indicator means may comprise a scale on the elongate measuring member for measuring the distance between the second axis and the shaft of the clamped golf club when the measuring member is in its liemeasuring position.

Preferably the mounting member is movable in the direction of the second axis to provide a measure of the deviation of the shaft of a clamped golf club from a third plane which is perpendicular to the first plane, parallel to the first axis and which passes through the clamping station. This deviation provides a measurement of the "face angle" of the shaft represented by the shaft leaning forwards or backwards when in a normal grounded, balladdressing position. In order to measure the face angle of a clamped golf club, the measuring member is positioned separately against lower and upper parts of the shaft and the difference in axial positions of the mounting member provides an indication of the face angle.For consistency of measurement, the lower part of the shaft is typically at or just above the hosel where the shaft joins the club head and the upper part of the shaft is typically a position in which the measuring member is parallel to the first plane.

Conveniently the measuring member is slidably positionable on the mounting member so that the length of the measuring member from one of its ends to the second axis can be adjusted when measuring the lie and/or face angle of a clamped golf club.

Typically the mounting member has a tubular portion coaxially surrounding, and turnable relative to, a mounting shaft coaxial with the second axis. Preferably the mounting shaft is rotatably mounted on the second part and the mounting member is slidable relative to the mounting shaft, the mounting member and the mounting shaft having engageable and disengageable clutch parts which are engaged or disengaged in dependence on the axial position of the mounting member relative to the mounting shaft.

Suitably, the second indicator means includes a lie scale and a pointer movable over the lie scale on turning of the mounting member. In the case where the mounting member and mounting shaft have cooperating clutch parts, these will be engaged during lie measurement with the pointer turned by turning movement of the mounting shaft.

Conveniently, the first indicator means includes a loft scale and a pointer movable over the loft scale in dependence on the angular position of the first jaw part relative to the first axis.

Suitably the first jaw part includes upper and lower surfaces for engaging upper and lower parts, respectively, of the striking face. Preferably, the first jaw part further includes laterally spaced surface parts for engaging the striking face. Conveniently these surface parts are angled to cater for any curvature from top to bottom and side to side of a striking part.

Preferably the second jaw part has a curved surface for engaging a curved rear surface of the clamped golf club.

Furthermore, the second jaw part conveniently has an inclined surface for urging the club head downwardly when engaging the rear surface of the clamped golf club head in order to urge the sole downwardly against the seating means when the head is pressed against the first jaw part.

Preferably the second jaw part is movable parallel to the said first plane.

Conveniently the clamping means further includes top clamping means for contacting a top surface of the club head and pressing the latter downwardly so that the sole is pressed onto the seating means.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a golf club measuring device according to the invention, Figure 2 is a side view of the measuring device as shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is an end view of the measuring device as shown in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a schematic illustration showing the position of a measuring member of the device when measuring the lie of a clamped golf club, and Figure 5 is a schematic view showing two positions of a measuring member when measuring the face angle of a clamped golf club.

Figures 1 to 3 show a golf club measuring device, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, according to the invention for measuring and/or adjusting characteristics of a metal wood golf club 2 having a head 3 and a shaft 4. As can be more clearly seen in Figure 2, the head 3 of the golf club has a striking face 5, a rear surface 6, a top surface 7 and a sole 8.

The measuring device comprises a main structure having a first or base part 10 and a second or upstanding part 11.

The base part 10 provides a seating 12 defining a normally horizontal first plane 9 extending perpendicular to the plane of Figure 2. A first jaw 13 is mounted on the base part 10 for pivotal movement about a first axis 14 positioned a short distance above and parallel to the first plane 9. A main clamping assembly 15 is also mounted on the base part 10 and includes a rotatable screw member 16 turnable by means of a knob 18 at one of its ends and carrying, at its other end, a second jaw 17. On rotation of the knob 18, the second jaw is movable towards and away from the first jaw 13 in a direction parallel to the first plane.

In use, the second jaw 17 is screwed towards the first jaw 13 to clamp the head 3 in a clamping station C with the striking face 5 positioned against the first jaw 13, the rear surface 6 against the second jaw 17 and the sole 8 in a "grounded" position on the seating 12.

In order to achieve secure and centralised clamping of the head 3 in the clamping station C, the second jaw 17 conveniently has a curved surface centred on an upwardly extending axis to conform to the conventionally curved rear surface of the head 3. This curved rear surface is not apparent in Figure 2 but would be apparent looking downwardly on top of the head 3. The striking face 5 is conventionally slightly curved or radiused about both a horizontal axis (as seen in Figure 2) and a vertical axis.

To ensure that the first jaw locates properly against the striking face, the first jaw suitably has spaced-apart converging upper and lower surfaces or facets and similarly spaced-apart and converging side surfaces or facets.

Optionally the main clamping assembly includes at least one, e.g. two as shown in Figure 1, top clamps 20 for more securely locating against a top surface of the head 3 to push the sole 8 downwardly against the seating 12. These optional top clamps 20 are not shown in Figure 2.

Ob Extending forwardly from the top of the upstanding part 11 is a rotatable cylindrical member 40 carrying coaxially therewith a tubular member 30 slidable along and rotatable about a second axis 31. This second axis 31 is orthogonal to the first axis 14 and parallel to the first plane. The second axis lies in a second plane which is perpendicular to the first plane and passes through the clamping station.

The tubular member 30 has a diametric through hole 33 therein for slidably carrying an elongate measuring rod 32 which extends perpendicularly to the second axis 31. The measuring rod 32 can be clamped in any desired position by means of a screw member 34 which projects into the through hole 33 to clamp the measuring rod in the desired position.

Although not shown, the members 30 and 40 have cooperating clutch parts. Normally the clutch parts are engaged so that the members 30 and 40 are rotatable together about the second axis 31. However the clutch parts can be disengaged on axial movement of the tubular member 30 away from the upstanding part 11.

The device 1 has three measurement scales in the form of a loft scale 50 (see Figure 2) on the base part 10, a lie scale 51 on the upstanding part 11 and a face angle indicator 52 on the cylindrical member 40. A pointer 53 is turned about the first axis 14 on pivoting movement of the first jaw 13 and indicates against the loft scale 50 the loft of the striking face of the club head clamped at the clamping station C. A further pointer 54 is fixed to the cylindrical member 40 and turns with the latter on turning of the mounting member 30 to indicate the lie of the golf club against the lie scale 51. The face angle indicator 52 merely comprises a series of axially spaced-apart marks, e.g. rings, for indicating the axial position of the tubular member 30 on the cylindrical member 40.

In use, the golf club head 3 is carefully clamped at the clamping station. Normally the top surface of a metal wood will have a centre line mark and this should be aligned on the centre line "not shown" of the machine which may also be marked on the first jaw 13. The sole 8 of the head should be squarely or correctly seated against the seating 12. For club heads where the sole has a radius from front to back of the club head, the sole will seat on a single point and the gap between the sole and the seating should be checked to ensure that it is of an equal depth at the front and back of the club head. Once it is ensured that the club head 3 has been correctly and securely clamped at the clamping station various characteristics of the club can be measured and/or adjusted.

In particular, the loft of the striking face is given by the position of the pointer 53 against the loft scale 50 which is determined by the clamped position of the first jaw 13.

The lie of the club is measured by unscrewing the screw member 34 to enable the measuring rod to be slidable relative to the tubular member 30 and turning the rod and tubular member so that the rod is perpendicular to the club shaft 4 (see Figure 4). During lie measurement, the clutch parts of the cylindrical member 40 and tubular member 30 are engaged so that turning of the tubular member 30 causes the cylindrical member 40 and the pointer 54 to turn about the second axis 31. To ensure that the rod 32 is in the correct position, a lie pad 56 or the like is conveniently mounted at one end of the rod 32 so as to extend perpendicularly to the latter. The angle of the rod 32 is proportional to the lie of the golf club and is measured by the pointer 54 on the lie scale 51.Since the length of the rod 32 between the shaft 4 and the second axis 31 is also a function of the lie of the golf club, a scale could, alternatively, be provided on the rod 32 to give a measure of the lie of the golf club.

In Figure 2, the shaft 4 lies in a third plane which passes through the clamping station, is perpendicular to the first plane and parallel to the first axis 14. In this position, the so-called "face angle" of the golf club is zero. However, the shaft 4 may deviate at an angle either to the right or to the left (as viewed in Figure 2) so as to have a specific, non-zero face angle. In order to measure any such face angle, use is made of the tubular member 30 and the measuring rod 32. In particular the lie pad 56 has a roller 57 attached thereto with its axis of rotation perpendicular to the measuring rod 32. The roller 57 has a curved section annular groove in which the shaft is intended to be located.Initially the tubular member 30 is moved axially relative to the cylindrical member 40 away from the upstanding part 11 to disengage the clutch parts and prevent rotational drive between the tubular member 30 and the cylindrical member 40. The rod 32 is then extended from the tubular member 30 until the annular groove of the roller 57 contacts the shaft 4 at a point just above a hosel 58 (see position A in Figure 5) where the club shaft is joined to the club head. A first reading of the face angle indicator 52 on the cylindrical member 40 is noted. The rod 32 is now turned into a position (position B in Figure 5) in which the rod is parallel with the first plane and the tubular member 30 is axially adjusted until the annular groove of the roller 56 contacts the shaft. A second reading of the face angle indicator 52 is noted. The difference between the first and second readings provides a measure of the face angle of the clamped golf club.

As mentioned above the measuring device can be used to adjust the face angle and lie of a metal wood having its head clamped at the clamping station C.

Claims

1. A golf club measuring device for measuring characteristics of a metal wood having a head provided with a striking face and a sole and a shaft connected to the head, the device comprising clamping means for clamping the head in a clamping station and including a movable jaw part engageable against the striking face when the head is clamped in the clamping station, the position of the jaw part against the striking face being indicative of the loft of the head of the clamped metal wood, and measuring means turnable about a fixed axis spaced from the clamping station and including a measuring member extending substantially perpendicular to said fixed axis, the position of the measuring means providing an indication of the lie of a clamped metal wood when the measuring member is turned about said fixed axis into a lie-measuring position perpendicular to the shaft of the clamped metal wood.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which the movable jaw part comprises a first jaw part and is pivotable about a first axis which is orthogonal to the said fixed axis which constitutes a second axis.

3. A device according to claim 2, comprising first indicator means indicating the rotary position of the first jaw part to provide an indication of the loft of the head of the clamped metal wood.

4. A device according to any of the preceding claims, in which the clamping station has seating means lying in a first plane on which the sole of the metal wood rests when the head is clamped at the clamping station and in which the measuring means comprises a mounting member turnable about said fixed axis which lies in a second plane passing through the clamping station and perpendicular to the first plane, the measuring member being carried by the mounting member.

5. A device according to claim 4, comprising second indicator means for providing an indication of the lie of the clamped metal wood.

6. A golf club measuring device for measuring characteristics of a metal wood having a head provided with a striking face, a rear surface and a sole and a shaft connected to the head, the device comprising a main structure having a first part including seating means defining a first plane and a second part extending away from the first part to one side of said first plane, clamping means for clamping the head in a clamping station and including a face-engaging first jaw part pivotally mounted on the main assembly for turning about a first axis positioned a first distance from, to said one side of, and parallel to said first plane, and a second jaw part movable against said rear surface for urging the striking face against the first jaw part so that the head is clamped in the clamping station between said first and second jaw parts with the sole positioned against the seating means, first indicator means indicating the rotary position of the first jaw part to provide a measure of the loft of the head of the clamped metal wood, a mounting member mounted on the second part for turning about a second axis orthogonal to the first axis and lying in a second plane which passes through the clamping station and is perpendicular to the first plane, the second axis being parallel to the first plane and being spaced a second distance from the first plane which is substantially greater than the first distance, a measuring member carried by the mounting member and extending substantially perpendicular to the second axis and second indicator means providing an indication of the lie of a clamped metal wood when the measuring member is turned about said second axis into a lie-measuring position perpendicular to the shaft of the clamped metal wood.

7. A device according to claim 5 or 6, in which the second indicator means comprises indicating means for indicating the angular position of the measuring member relative to the second plane to provide a direct measurement of the lie of the golf club.

8. A device according to claim 5 or 6, in which the second indicator means comprises a scale on the elongate measuring member for measuring the distance between the second axis and the shaft of the clamped golf club when the measuring member is in its lie-measuring position.

9. A device according to claim 4 or 5 when dependent on claim 2, claim 6, or claim 7 or 8 each when dependent on claim 6 or claim 2, in which the mounting member is movable in the direction of the second axis to provide a measure of the deviation of the shaft of a clamped golf club from a third plane which is perpendicular to the first plane, parallel to the first axis and which passes through the clamping station.

10. A device according to claim 4 or 5 when dependent on claim 2, claim 6, claim 9 or claim 7 or 8 each when dependent on claim 6 or claim 2, in which the measuring member is slidably positionable on the mounting member so that the length of the measuring member from one of its ends to the second axis can be adjusted when measuring the lie and/or face angle of a clamped golf club.

11. A device according to claim 4 or 5 when dependent on claim 2, claim 6, claim 9, claim 10 or claim 7 or 8 each when dependent on claim 6 or claim 2, in which the mounting member has a tubular portion coaxially surrounding, and turnable relative to, a mounting shaft coaxial with the second axis.

12. A device according to claim ll,in which the mounting shaft is rotatably mounted on the second part and the mounting member is slidable relative to the mounting shaft, the mounting member and the mounting shaft having engageable and disengageable clutch parts which are engaged or disengaged in dependence on the axial position of the mounting member relative to the mounting shaft.

13. A device according to any of claims 5 to 12, in which the second indicator means includes a lie scale and a pointer movable over the lie scale on turning of the mounting member.

14. A device according to claim 3 or 6,in which the first indicator means includes a loft scale and a pointer movable over the loft scale in dependence on the angular position of the first jaw part relative to the first axis.

15. A device according to claim 3, 6 or 14, in which the first jaw part includes upper and lower surfaces for engaging upper and lower parts, respectively, of the striking face.

16. A device according to claim 15, in which the first jaw part further includes laterally spaced surface parts for engaging the striking face.

17. A device according to claim 16, in which said surface parts are angled to cater for any curvature from top to bottom and side to side of a striking part.

18. A device according to claim 6 or any of claims 7 to 17 when dependent on claim 6, in which the second jaw part has a curved surface for engaging a curved rear surface of the clamped golf club.

19. A device according to claim 18, in which the second jaw part has an inclined surface for urging the club head downwardly when engaging the rear surface of the clamped golf club head in order to urge the sole downwardly against the seating means when the head is pressed against the first jaw part.

20. A device according to claim 6, 18 or 19 or any of claims 7 to 17 when dependent on claim 6, in which the second jaw part is movable parallel to the said first plane.

21. A device according to any of claims 4 to 8 or claims 9 to 20 when dependent on claim 4, 5 or 6, in which the clamping means further includes top clamping means for contacting a top surface of the club head and pressing the latter downwardly so that the sole is pressed onto the seating means.

22. A golf club measuring device for measuring characteristics of a metal wood and being constructed and arranged substantially as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.