US20030083144A1

US20030083144A1 - Length-adjustable golf putter

Info

Publication number: US20030083144A1
Application number: US10/227,434
Authority: US
Inventors: Yi Shin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-10-29
Filing date: 2002-08-26
Publication date: 2003-05-01
Also published as: KR20030034852A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a length-adjustable golf putter primarily for use in putting a ball that is on green into a hole in a golf match. The invention is particularly for solving problems generated in case of short putting. When a player uses a long putter for short putting, gap between a bottom of green and an eye of a player is widened and range of vision is opened out, which lowers concentration, causing a problem that a putting line is not read exactly. Accordingly, an object of the present invention for eliminating mistakes originated from such problem, is to provide a putter whose length can be adjusted depending on putting distance, thereby achieving high putting success rate.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a length-adjustable golf putter for use in putting a ball that is on green into a hole in a final stage of a golf match. A putter is relatively short in its length among golf clubs and is primarily used for putting a ball that is on green into a hole, and depending on situations, it can be used in a fairway in the neighboring green or green flange, for which particularly stable and delicate control is required.

As putting technique using a putter has a great influence on golf score, putting is very important. Though putting technique is acquired through continuous practice and lots of real golf matches, inborn talent is also required for good putting.

2. Description of the Related Art

Examination of a related putter shows that a putter includes a putter face L for hitting a ball; a putter head H having a

putter rack

2 to which a putter shaft is fit; a shaft of a predetermined length to which the putter rack 2 is fit; and a grip G which is fit to the upper part of the shaft. The length of a putter is between 33 inches to 35 inches in general and, depending on a user's stature and setup posture, a putter of appropriate length is different.

Of course, controlling a putter largely depends on individual ability but, in general, controlling a putter get more difficult as a length of a putter is getting longer and get easier as a length of a putter is getting shorter. But the related putter is limited in its length and a putter of the same length is used in cases of long putting and short putting, causing a problem that controlling a putter is getting difficult according to putting distance. Namely, in case of long putting, as the distance between a ball position and a hole is extended, a range of vision is enlarged, by which not only concentration greatly falls down but also sense of distance is not felt exactly. Furthermore, under such circumstance, controlling a putter gets difficult and putting line is not easy to read, which generates the cause of putting failure.

In case of long putting, it is considered inevitable that a range of vision is enlarged and concentration falls down. But in case of short putting, when a range of vision is enlarged unnecessarily or large green around the hole is unfolded before a range of vision, a problem that stability falls down and concentration reduced is caused. The reason that concentration is lowered when a range of vision is enlarged unnecessarily for this short distance case, is that a user uses a putter of a long length even in case of short distance putting.

Based on such problems, the present inventor found a remarkable fact, through considerable period of research, as a result of experiment of performing putting with a putter length changed depending on a putting distance. Namely, as a result of putting using putters of various lengths ranging from 15 inches to 35 inches, it has been revealed that putting success rate greatly soars up in such conditions that a putting distance is short and a putter of a short length is used. As a reference, examination of putting success rate at distances within 100 cm and 50 cm by professional golfers participated in United States PGA(Professional Golf Association) tour, shows that 80% for a distance within 100 cm, and only 90% even for 50 cm, respectively, representing that, to our surprise, a success rate for a short putting greatly falls down. The reason that a failure rate for a short putting is unexpectedly high as mentioned above, is that concentration is lowered due to enlarged vision generated by use of a long putter even in case of a short distance putting.

For prior art in which a shaft length of a putter can be adjusted, there exist U.S. Pat. Registration No.5,569,096, United States Design Registration No.363,519 and Design Registration No.364,436 where description that lengths of an iron shaft and a putter shaft can be adjusted, is included.

The above mentioned prior art, U.S. Pat. Registration No.5,569,096 relates to an iron club having constitution in which a shaft moves up and down within a grip so that a shaft length may be adjusted and, after the length is adjusted, a flexible ring fixes the shaft with the help of pressure generated by a locking nut upon the locking nut being tightened. Such constitution, however, has no separate device for fixing a shaft, causing a problem that a shaft could be rotated when force is exerted on the shaft. Particularly, prior art like this one, can be used for the case of an iron club but is not applicable to the case of a putter.

The reason the above US prior patent cannot be applied to a putter, is because a grip constitution of a putter is different from that of an iron club. As a putter has such constitution that its front face with which a thumb comes in contact upon its grip being gripped by the hand, is of planar constitution, and if a putter shaft is rotated, the grip and the head of a putter would cross each other in their directions, causing disturbance in proper use of a putter. Therefore, the constitution according to the above US prior Pat. registration No. 5,569,096 is not suitable and usable for a putter.

Also, the above US prior Design Registration No.363,519 describes a constitution in which a shaft having a separate grip is fit in an existing putter shaft so that a putter length may be adjusted, but such constitution has a problem that a putter length cannot be made shorter than an existing putter length. In addition, the above US prior Design Registration No.364,436, also describes a constitution in which a shaft having a separate grip is fit in an existing putter shaft, showing the same problem that a putter length cannot be made shorter than an existing putter length.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention, in order to solve problems arising from using a putter of the same length in both cases of long distance putting and short distance putting as described above, to provide a length-adjustable golf putter whose length is adjustable arbitrarily, so that its length is lengthened in case of long distance putting while shortened in case of short distance putting.

To achieve the above object, there is provided a length-adjustable golf putter having a shaft to which a putter head H is fit and a grip G which is fit in the upper part of the shaft, is provided and the shaft moves up and down within the grip G; the length-adjustable golf putter: comprising a guiding

tube

100 which is fixed within the grip G and has a shaft rising path 110 so that the shaft may move up and down in it, a shaft guiding surface 120 projected vertically on an inner surface of the shaft rising path 110, a concave groove 200 which is installed with a predetermined length and is stuck on the shaft guiding surface 120 of the guiding tube 100 for moving up and down on the guiding surface 120 so that the shaft is not rotated, and a shaft fixing member 300 which is fixed in the bottom of the grip G for fixing the shaft(s).

Here, the

shaft fixing member

300 includes a tightening tube block 310 and a fixing tube block 320. The upper outer wall of the fixing tube block 320 is fixed on the inner wall of the grip G and the bottom of the guiding tube 100 is fixed on the inner wall of the fixing tube block 320.

Furthermore, on the inner wall of the

tightening tube block

310 a female screw part 330 is formed and on the outer wall of the fixing tube block 320 a male screw part 340 is formed, so that the tightening tube block and the fixing tube block are combined each other in a screw binding manner. The bottoms of the tightening tube block 310 and the fixing tube block 320 have, respectively,

tapered surfaces

310 a and 320 a whose upper portion is wide and whose bottom is narrow, and on the tapered surface 320 a of the fixing tube block 320 a plurality of cut grooves 320 b is formed, so that the tapered surface 320 a may be shrunk.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: [0017]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view according to the present invention; [0018]
FIG. 2 is a magnified cross-sectional view of primary part of a putter according to the present invention; [0019]
FIG. 3 a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 by the traversing line A-A.[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, same drawing reference numerals are used for the same elements even in different drawings. The matters defined in the description such as a detailed construction and elements of a putter are nothing but the ones provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the invention. Thus, it is apparent that the present invention can be carried out, not limited to those defined matters. Also, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. [0021]
A shaft(s) inserted into a [0022] shaft rising path 110 of a guiding tube 100 fixed within a grip G is combined, and not rotated because a shaft guiding surface 120 formed on the shaft rising path 110 of the guiding tube 100 is fit in a concave groove 200 formed on the shaft(s). When fixing the shaft(s), tighten up a fixing tube block 320 and when adjusting the length of the shaft(s), loosen the tightening tube block 310. In condition that the tightening tube block 310 of a shaft fixing member 300 is loosened, the shaft(s) moves up and down freely through the shaft rising path 110 of the guiding tube 100, so that the length of the shaft(s) can be adjusted. When the shaft length is adjusted as desired, tighten up the tightening tube block 310 so that the shaft(s) may be fixed. Here, a male screw part 340 formed on the outer wall of the fixing tube block 320 and a female screw part 330 formed on the inner wall of the tightening tube block 310, are combined in a screw binding manner, which makes easy a loosening-tightening job.
Furthermore, [0023] tapered surfaces 310 a and 320 a are formed on the tightening tube block 310 and the fixing tube block 320, respectively, where the tapered surface 310 a of the tightening tube block 310 exerts pressure on the tapered surface 320 a of the fixing tube block 320 when the tightening tube block 310 is raised while being tightened. Then cut grooves 320 b formed on the tapered surface 320 a of the fixing tube block 320 on which pressure is exerted, get shrunk, whereby the bottom inner wall of the fixing tube block 320 come to apply pressure on the shaft(s), fixing the same. Also, when loosening the tightening tube block 310 to extract out the shaft(s) from the guiding tube 100 or to push the shaft(s) into the guiding tube in order to adjust the shaft length, a guiding surface 120 of the guiding tube 100 is combined, being stuck on the concave grooves 200 formed on the shaft(s). Accordingly, the shaft(s) is not rotated and, therefore, change or mutual crossing in positions of a grip G and a putter head H is not generated.
As is apparent from the foregoing constitution and effect, a golf putter according to the present invention has lots of strong points as follows, in which depending on putting distance arbitrary adjustment of the shaft length is possible and stable putting can be performed; particularly, in case of short distance putting, putter's length can be adjusted short as desired, so that visual range for a putting line can be made narrow, increasing concentration, making it possible to read the putting line exactly, thereby raising greatly putting success rate; a putter movement generated when one tries a putting with a putter at short distance, can be minimized and controlling a putter get easy. [0024]
Though the invention has been shown and described with reference to a certain preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. [0025]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A length-adjustable golf putter having a shaft(s) to which a putter head is fit and a grip which is fit in the upper part of the shaft, the shaft(s) moves up and down within the grip; the golf putter comprising:

a guiding tube which is fixed within the grip and has a shaft rising path so that the shaft may move up and down through it;

a shaft guiding surface projected vertically on the inner surface of the shaft rising path;

a concave groove which is installed with a predetermined length and is stuck on the shaft guiding surface of the guiding tube for moving up and down on the guiding surface so that the shaft is not rotated; and

a shaft fixing member which is fixed in the bottom of the grip for fixing the shaft.

2. The length-adjustable golf putter as claimed in clime 1, wherein the shaft of the putter moves up and down through the shaft rising path of the guiding tube fixed within the grip, whereby its length can be adjusted; and fixing of the shaft is made by use of the fixing member comprising a tightening tube block and a fixing tube block which is fixed in the bottom of the grip.

3. The length-adjustable golf putter as claimed in clime 2, wherein a female screw part is formed on the inner wall of the tightening tube block, and a male screw part is formed on the outer wall of the fixing tube block for being combined in a screw binding manner; the bottom inner wall of the tightening tube block and the bottom outer wall of the fixing tube block have tapered surfaces, respectively; and a plurality of cut grooves are formed on the tapered surface of the fixing tube block.