US2501277A

US2501277A - Indicating golf club

Info

Publication number: US2501277A
Application number: US683697A
Authority: US
Inventors: William H Hollopeter
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1946-07-15
Filing date: 1946-07-15
Publication date: 1950-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 1967-03-21

Description

March 1950 w. H. HQLLOPETER INDICATING GOLF CLUB 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 15, l946 March 21, 1950 w. H. HOLLOPETER 2,501,277

INDICATING GOLF CLUB Filed July 15, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 O i w- 1 IIII 23 Patented Mar. 21, 1950 *S'TAT as RATE-NT- F. Fl CE I {INDIGATING GQLFGLUB William H- Ho1 op er,-. Oaklandv Ca if- Application luly 15, 1946;Sri2tbN0. 6834.697

4,.Claims. v l ;.This inventionrelates to amindicatingie lf elu .ianr.object:of-th sinvention istq providea go f club: suitable iorvuse in .mak ng-..-practiee,- strokes .whereina; e0 1 hall: maybeidriven into .asuitable arrest-ing.;c1 viee;;.sueh as a: suspended fabric .or the like and which will indicate totheperson usingnthe lelub vii/b61311?! his stroke therewitha is suehiast to-eause thesbalito veer tothe right or 'tmtherleft ofsthe:intendedefli ht. that is, hoek or "fslicehanithe approximate degree thereof. so that. .anpropriate stepsmay. he a en.-to.-make1cortti s'By. havingtherindieator thus embodie onlthesolirclub itself hractieeshotsmayh a n insarelativelyzlimitedr spate and although th actu lrzflish ;-ofthewba11b .fore it.,,is arrested. by the ifabric .is-relativelv short,--an.- aceurate indiqa tionimavbe obtained-in icative of-Whether the ball isistruck with a f. hook, or fislice andthe approximate degree thereof.

.-Another ,ohjectof thee-invention, :is. to; provide a, golf club having. the: abovee-mentionedacharacteristicsj and which has incorporated :therein. a means which will indicate approximately the lengthnf. fiightthatgweball .would have. taken if itrihad. hotibeeniarrestedhy the arresting .iabzric.

I W1th..the ,.fo11egoing:.and .othermbjects .in. view, which. be rrnademanifestin the ioll v'ling detailed..deseriptionandsspesifioall .pointedoutin thesap endedmaim r reiereneeis hadto themesomp nyine drawing for. an illustrative-.embodin'ient of .theginvention, :whereinz ,.-Figure .1 isatop. plan viewofuthe.headbfuagolf club embodyin the pr sent invention the shank substantially upon the line 5 5-upon= Figs2-in has ahead --genera1-ly vindicatedat: 10 whiehzmay conform in shape. to: the shape .of a conventional driver (ii-brassy. .This head-.may beattaeheduto theshank H in=any conventional. .or-rpreferired ionm. Thestrikingriaee Ofthe-head is; provided by a=platen l2 whiehiisrlaterally slidablewith relation to the body of the head. ill. Qn. the-hack of the platen. there is ipreferablyarib. l 3 slidable in: a" groove :.on the .forward. side of the body. that uides the :platen Hi2. aduringi its..latera1. .s1idi, .1 movement. The .platen also-carries. studs 14.;that extend throughelongated slots-i5 inthe bodybf the head M. and theses studs-l are surrounded Joy means of eompr-ession. springs I Expressing against Washers H. The-studs being slidahleiin the-clone gatedislots t5 penmitof lateraislidingimovement of the :platen and the pr.essurerpf.- .the. springs; il 6 on the washers H .-serves .to-.cause the platenrto henfrictional'lyheld in: any :position to. whiehiit is moved. Opposed-witness markseindicated at :13, and i9 are formed onthexheadllflandtheplaten lfi' respectiveiy. These witness .;marks lwhen aligned indicateithat the platen I2 is in ancentral or neutral position with relation to the (body: of the head. awithin the ihead'. 1:0 there isdisppsed a-eountenweight 2t pivotedzas alt-.21 within the head and- .carrying:.a&1ever-;..arm 22;.di5p05fidrb6- tween spaoeddugsi 3 on lthevplaten. Theicounter. weight .20 :ismovable-imthe samecplanesasutha in .whieh the platen .l 2. ;:-is movable anckisso an rangedthat aslthegolf club isswrihgtm eon ter- Weight -\vi11;.be.subjected to: the, samecehtrifu a aetionastheplafin:1.2- ;i'Iihedesisn :is ue that the weight of the ceunt rw ishtzfizmu li d. by tha-leve arm fmmJJEhHm V h-IZH 11 196 1i -0 gravit is eauali to. he wei t O th platen: .2 .eth in heve ra m rom to thebp vot 2!. .conseo ;....-,e 1. 11. 0; isswun onpqsinesm tsare createdrb .eehtr usaiaetim-abetth snow I. as .the esmement a e; equ l-ran are oppos d the platen v i2 .wi l-n t he;d sp1ased-aenthatp sitio s less subase edotsem e teoth han thesentiifueahmme i Within the head-.and-extehd-ineat su stanti ly ri ht .ansle atoethe -.s.trihine ...f e; ofzflth .1 here-is; amubu ari snid .f med .by; shat 4" offjt ehd nsbyzahottom ilhisguidehas a we ghtill slida 1 ...the h rweieh is. ur ed-in :its nea m strlpos en:bym ah shautensiqnssptin 28 suitably anchored at the back of the head and fastened to the forward end of the weight. Along one side the weight has ratchet teeth 29 engageable by a pawl 30. The pawl is pivotally mounted at the side of the guide and is urged into engagement with the ratchet teeth 29 by means of a spring 3i that may be secured to the bottom 26. An arm 32 is secured to the pawl and extends upwardly through the top of the head and through a slot 33 therein. The top of this arm is equipped with a button 34. On the weight 21 there is an upstanding finger 35 arranged beneath a slot 36 in the top of the head and along the sides of this slot there may be graduations 37.

The operation of the club is substantially as follows: In making practice shots with a golf ball the platen I2 is adjusted so that the witness marks i8 and I9 are opposite each other. The button 34 is moved to cause the pawl 30 to disengage the ratchet teeth 29 and thus allow the weight 21 to be returned by the spring 28 to the back of the head. The club is swung in the conventional manner and during the swinging of the club the platen I2 is held against being thrown outwardly under centrifugal action by the counterweight 20. When the ball is struck if the club head is moved in such a direction as to impart a hook or slice thereto this will disturb or displace the platen l2 with respect to the body of the head and will be observable by the witness marks l8 and 19 becoming disaligned.

Thus if the ball is struck in such a manner as to cause a slice, platen l2 will slide outwardly or toward the toe of the club head. Conversely if the ball is struck in such a manner as to create a hook the platen l2 will slide inwardly. Once that the platen has been displaced from its normal or neutral position it remains in this displaced position throughout the swinging movement of the club due to the frictional engagement of the washers H with the back of the forward side of the club head.

At the instant of the impact there is a slight arresting of the forward movement of the club head and the inertia of the Weight 21 causes this weight to slide forwardly in its guide against the action of the tension spring 28. During forward movement of the weight the ratchet teeth merely slide or pass beneath the pawl. The pawl, however, locks the weight in its forwardmost position and the extent to which the weight has moved forwardly may be read on the graduations 31 against the finger 35. Thus the improved golf club serves not only to indicate whether the ball is being driven with a hook or a slice but also indicates on the graduations 31 the approximate distance that the ball would be driven despite the fact that the actual flight of the ball may be arrested by a canvas fabric or the like quite close to the point where the ball is driven. The entire structure within the head is preferably enclosed by means of a removable bottom 38 which is fastened to the bottom of the head by means of screws passing through drilled and tapped ears 39 on the body of the head.

From the above-described construction it will be appreciated that a practice golf club is provided which will indicate not only the approximate distance that the ball would be struck if allowed to continue its flight but will also indicate whether the ball is being hit with a hook or a "slice so that protective measures may be taken. After each strike the platen 12 if displaced is returned to its normal or neutral position and the pawl is caused to release the weight by means of the button 34 to allow the weight 21 to return to its initial position.

Various changesmay be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A golf club having a head, means providing a striking face forthe head, said means being mounted on the head for lateral movement relatively thereto in the course of striking a golf ball therewith, and means for indicating a neutral position of the striking face providing means with relation to the head whereby the direction of displacement of the striking face providing means relative to the head can be ascertained.

2. A golf club having a head, means providing a striking face for the head movable outwardly. toward the outer end of the head or inwardly toward the inner end of the head from a neutral position, and means for counterbalancing the striking face providing means so that during swinging of the club it will not be shifted relatively to the head by centrifugal forces developed therein.

3. A golf club having a head, means providing a striking face for the head, means shiftably mounting the striking-face providing means on the head for movement toward the toe ofthe head or toward the heel thereof from a neutral position, a counterweight mounted on the head for movement toward the toe or toward the heel, and means connecting the striking-face providing means and thecounterweight in mu tually counterbalancing relationship whereby when the club is swung centrifugal forces developed in the striking-face providin means and the counterweight respectively will counterbal-- ance each other and the striking-face providing means will be displaced from its neutral position only by the manner in which it may engage a ball.

4. A golf club having a head, means providing a striking face for the head, means shiftably mounting the striking-face providing means on the head for movement toward the toe of the head or toward the heel thereof from a neutral position, a counterweight pivotally mounted in the head for movement about its axis of rotation toward the toe or toward the heel, and means connectin the striking-face providing means and the counterweight in mutually counterbalancing relationship whereby when the club is swung centrifugal forces developed in the striking-face providing means tending to shift it toward the toe will be counterbalanced by centrifugal forces developed in the counterweight and the striking-face providing means will be displaced from its neutral position only by the manner in which it may engage a ball.

' WILLIAM H. HOLLOPETER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are .of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS