GB2317572A

GB2317572A - Adjustable hammer head putter

Info

Publication number: GB2317572A
Application number: GB9717249A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Thomas Tisdall Weller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-09-11
Filing date: 1997-08-15
Publication date: 1998-04-01
Anticipated expiration: 2017-08-15
Also published as: GB2317572B; GB9717249D0

Abstract

A hammer head type comprises putter faces A which can be interchanged, a changeable lay angle, weights mounted within a body B and a clip on mirror (J figs 4, 5). A face A is pivotally and releasably connected to the body B via a stud F (see figs 2, 3) running through the body B. Removal of a nut H (see fig 3) from the stud F allows the weights G (fig 3) to be changed and the face A to be removed or repositioned. Various faces of differing qualifies may be attached.

Description

A GOLF PUTTER This invention relates to golf clubs, in particular the club used on the putting green for putting.

Convention:- LONGITUDINAL refers to lines dimensions etc., along or parallel to the line of intended putt, TRANSVERSE to all lines dimensions etc., normal to the line of intended putt in the horizontal plane.

Conventionally putter head design and manufacture is of solid one piece design with the possible variation of face inserts of other material than the body and rigidly fixed weights. The design of putters has generally favoured the transverse blade style with weight concentrated at the heel and toe of the blade, weight so concentrated to spread the sweet spot along the face and enhance its moment of inertia about the shaft axis, thus resisting twisting action from off centre strikes. The blade design, in some cases has been developed into the mallet style which has similar dynamics but the appearance is of a solid semicircle the putting face being the transverse chord.

Neither of these designs offer much help in aiming the stroke.

Putters can be very expensive, and are also very personal to the style ofthe player.

Before a player finds his ideal club he is likely to make expensive mistakes in his choice of club.

According to this invention there is provided a putter head which is assembled from several parts such as to permit adjustment to its playing characteristics and fitting to an individual player. The design stresses longitudinal lines as an aid to accurate aiming of the club. the dynamics of the design in the style of a hammer promote a desirable pendulum type putting stroke. A training aid in the form of a reflective sight may be fixed to the invention.

The following drawings are used in the description.

Fig 1 General isometric view of the putter.

Fig 2 Horizontal cross section of the putter without facility to adjust swing weight Fig 3 As Fig 3 but incorporating swing weight adjustment Fig 4 Isometric view of reflective sight training aid and method of mounting on the putter.

Fig 5 Diagram showing the optical operation of the training aid.

Fig 6 Front elevation showing lay angle.

According to this invention as seen in Fig 1 the mass of the putter is concentrated longitudinally in the centre of the transverse blade. The putter head is mounted on the shaft E Fig 1 in conventional fashion in the manner of a hammer, a tool most people find easy to use.

This layout encourages a true pendulum action to the putting stroke.

In Fig 1. the general lay out can be seen A is the ball striking blade B is the body where the mass of the putter is concentrated, E is the shaft. The body is intentionally long, such that the overall length of the putter is only marginally shorter than the transverse width of the blade to comply with the Rules of Golf.

The design of the body with such strong longitudinal lines makes the club easy to aim a putting stroke.

The body of the club is cylindrical fitting a register machined in the blade and is attached to the blade by a stud F Fig 2 passing along the centreline and fixed by the nut C. This method of construction confers many advantages over the conventional putter as it enables the putter to be tailored to the individual player, even refined for playing conditions.

Firstly the feature most individual to a player is the lay angle, L in Fig 6. In the invention this angle is adjustable. The Rules of Golf place limitations on this freedom so a suitable balk should be incorporated in the design to limit adjustment to permitted angles. On the prototype such a balk was incorporated into the collar D.

Another major feature of individual preference is swing weight Fig 3 shows how this putter can be made to accommodate the ability to vary its swing weight. The body B is manufactured to incorporate a cavity inside it. Weights G are threaded onto the centre stud and held in place by a suitable fixing H . In Fig 3 weights are shown as washers held by a nut lI ,but any suitable design of weight and rigid fixing would suffice.

The blade being detachable from the body permits blades to be changed. A selection of blades could be available of various materials, differing faces, say smooth, milled, fitted with the currently fashionable inserts ,curved etc.etc. This facility benefits the user as a change of striking surface can be tried without the need to change to a new club with totally different playing dynamics.

The design lends itself to addition of a training aid in the form of an oblique mirror attached to a spring clip which clips to the top of the body with the front edge of the mirror aligned with the face of the putter blade. Fig 4 shows the general arrangement the mirror assembly J clips onto the body B by the clip K .Fig 5 shows how the device is use & Target X and the ball are sighted by the player's eye at Y through their reflection in the mirror at Z thus ensuring that the club face is aligned normal to the intended stroke.

Claims

1 A putter which may be mounted on any commercially available golf club shaft. The construction of the club is in the fonn of a hammer head with detachable blade and a cylindrical body one fixed to the other by a concentric stud and nut. the fixing being such that the blade's angular relationship to the body may be varied within specified limits. The length of the body is intentionally long relative to the width being limited in length only by the Rules of Golf. The mass of the putter may be varied by adding or subtracting weights in the hollow body. The construction permits the substitution of blades with different design and playing characteristics. A training aid in the form of a clip on mirror aiming sight can be readily fitted.

2 A putter as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the cylindrical body of the club fits into the circular register in the blade such as to permit the angular relationship between the putter shaft and the putter blade to be adjustable in the transverse vertical plane and fixed one relative to the other by means of a concentric stud and nut fixing 3 A putter as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the swing weight may be varied by adding or subtracting weights situated inside the hollow body.

4 A putter as claimed in Claim 1 where the blade may be interchanged for an alternative blade.

5 A reflective sighting device which may be clipped onto the putter claimed in Claim 1 Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1 A putter head which may be mounted on any commercially available golf club shaft, the design of which is in the form of a hammer head with cylindrical body and dismountable blade the one fixed to the other by a concentric stud and nut fixing such that the blade's angular relationship to the body about the body's longitudinal axis may be varied within specified limits, a balk being incorporated to limit freedom to angles permitted by the Rules of Golf, the mass of the putter is concentrated concentrically along its longitudinal axis, blades with different design and playing characteristics may be interchanged, a training aid in the form of a clip on mirror aiming sight can be readily fitted.

2 A putter as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the blade incorporates a circular register into which the cylindrical body of the club fits such as to permit the angular relationship between the putter shaft and the putter blade, to be adjustable in the transverse vertical plane, that is the angle of lie of the putter.

3 A register as claimed in Claim 2 wherein it is surrounded by a concentric collar incorporating a balk to limit the angular relationship between the blade and body about the longitudinal axis to angles of lie permitted by the Rules of Golf.

4 A putter as claimed in Claim 1 wherein a concentric central stud fixing is incorporated to rigidly secure the body to the blade.

5 A putter as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the body is designed to be cylindrical in section and long relative to width with a high moment of inertia about the shaft axis.

6 A reflective sighting device which may be clipped onto the putter claimed in Claim l 7 A putter substantially as described herein with reference to Figs 1-4 of the accompanying drawings

6 A putter as claimed in Claim 1 Wherein the body in Claim 5 incorporates a concentric cavity at the blade end to accommodate concentric adjusting weights.

7 A putter as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the swing weight may be varied by adding or subtracting washer or bobbin shaped concentric weights inside the hollow body and fixed to the blade by a suitable fixing on the concentric stud in Claim 4.

5 A putter as claimed in Claim I where the blade may be interchanged for an alternative blade of different playing characteristics.