WO1990006157A1

WO1990006157A1 - Improvements in putting clubs

Info

Publication number: WO1990006157A1
Application number: PCT/AU1989/000516
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mark Jonathon Osmond; John Whitmore Holt
Original assignee: Odm Pty. Limited
Priority date: 1988-12-07
Filing date: 1989-11-29
Publication date: 1990-06-14
Also published as: CA2004912A1

Abstract

A putting club head assembly which includes a club head (1) and a hosel (2) having two legs (11, 12) respectively for coupling to a shaft (3) and for engagement with one or other of two spigots (8, 9) on the club head (1) whereby the club can be adapted for right or left hand use, and means for coupling the spigot supported hosel (2) to the club head (1), the means including a positioning member (16) interposed between the hosel (2) and the club head (1) to provide predetermined angular relationship between a shaft fitted to the hosel (2) and the club head (1).

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN PUTTING CLUBS

This invention relates to putting clubs as used in the game of golf.

There have been many putting clubs developed over the years. The shapes and weights of the club head, the shaft shapes and positions relative to the club head and the handle forms have all been varied to provide for the various demands of golfers. Putters have of necessity been made for both right and left hand players and when all of the possible variations of weight and shape of head, shape of

^'handgrip and shaft configurations are considered it has been necessary for golf club suppliers to manufacture and hold for sale an enormous range of putting clubs.

It is the object of this invention to provide a putting club head assembly which will allow conversion form right to left hand configuration, will allow the overall weight of the club head to be varied and also allow "toe" and "heel" weight of the club head to varied as required and

independantly. There is also provision for variation of the angular relationship between the axis of the putter shaft and the plane of the sole plate of the club head. In this way a club head assembly is provided which the

applicant believes will accomodate substantially all

variations and configurations required by golfers.

Broadly, the invention can be said to comprise a putting club head assembly which includes a club head and a hosel interconnected by means allowing conversion for right or left hand use of the club assembly and allowing

adjustment of the angular relationship between a shaft fitted to the hosel and the club head, the head assembly including an elongated club head with a ball striking face, first and second spigots on the head adjacent the respective ends of the head and extending away from the ball striking face, said hosel including a first hosel arm adapted for connection to a club shaft and a second hosel arm with a spigot receiving hole which has an axis in a plane angled to the axis of said first hosel arm, hosel securing means whereby said second hosel arm can be secured to said club head to position the axis of said first hosel arm at a desired angle relative to a ground engaging sole plate of said club head.

Several presently preferred embodiments of the

invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig.1 is a perspective rear view of the club head assembly of the invention,

Fig.2 is an exploded perspective view of the club head assembly of Fig.1,

Fig.3 is a front view of a positioning disc of a first form to provide a first angular relationship between the axis of the putter club shaft and a sole plate of the club head, Fig.4 is a front view of a positioning disc of a second form, and

Fig.5 is a front view of the positioning disc of Fig.4 in alternative positions to provide second and third angular relationships between the axis of the putter club shaft and a sole plate of the club head.

The putting club head assembly as illustrated in Fig.1 comprises a club head 1 and a hosel 2 interconnected in a manner allowing adjustment of the angular relationship of the club shaft 3 (shown in dotted lines) relative to a sole plate of the club head.

Hore specifically referring to Fig.2, the club head 1 is presently preferred as a metal member, however, it is envisaged that materials other than metal may be used or composites of metal and other materials may be used. The head 1 has an elongated form with a ball striking face on a front plate 4 with rearwardly extending end shrouds 5 and 6 which are integrated with a sole plate 7. Extending rearwardly away from the plate 4 there are spigots 8 and 9 which lie within the shrouds 5 and 6 respectively and there are threaded studs 10 concentric with the spigots 8 and 9 for a purpose to be described. Abutment faces 5a, 5b and 6a, 6b are provided to establish the maximum angular

displacement of the hosel relative to the putter head.

The hosel 2 is comprised of two arms 11 and 12. The arm 12 is shaped and sized to be a tight fit in the tubular shaft 3 at the upper end of which, not shown, a grip will be mounted in usual manner. The other hosel arm 11 includes a reduced thickness boss portion having a pair of faces 13 and 14 which are parallel and lie in planes parallel to the plane occupied by the axis of the hosel arm 12. There is a hole 15 through the hosel extending between the faces 13 and 14 and the axis of the hole 15 is at right angles to the planes of the faces 13 and 14. The diameter of the hole 15 is dimensioned to be a neat fit on the spigots 8 and 9 allowing the hosel to be mounted in the shroud 5 or the shroud 6 depending upon which "hand" the club head assembly is to be configured.

An alignment disc 16 is provided and it has a bore 17 which is a neat fit on the spigot 8 or 9 and pins 18 and 19 project from the opposed faces of the disc 16 and they lie on a pitch circle concentric with the axis of the bore 17. In the preferred arangement there are two pins 18 and four pins 19 arranged in a particular manner to be later

described. There are four recesses 20 in the rear of the front plate 4 arranged evenly around spigot 8 there allowing the disc 16 to be rotationally positioned in one of several positions by engagement of the pins 18 in the recesses 20.

There are four recesses in the respective faces 13,14 of the hosel boss (alternatively there may be holes that extend through the hosel boss) and they are concentrically positioned about the bore 15. The recesses in each boss face 13,14 are arranged in pairs, one pair 21 is arranged to neatly receive pins 19 and the other recess pair 22 is slotted for a reason to he explained later. There is a lock nut 23 with a boss 24 on one (inner) face dimensioned to neatly enter the hosel boss bore 15. The nut has a threaded central hole 25 and four recesses 26 (either in the outer face of the nut or in the form of holes passing through the nut) allowing the nut 23 to be tightened with a pin spanner or the like onto the threaded stud 10. In the tightened condition the nut 23 abuts the face 14 of the hosel boss, the boss 24 is engaged in the bore 15, the pins 19 are in the recesses 21,22 and the pins 18 are in the recesses 20 with the sides of the member 16 clamped between the hosel boss face 13 and the back of the front plate 4. The hosel is thus secured in position by securing means in the form of the threaded stud 10 and the nut 23, and the hosel is positioned by positioning means in the form of co-acting pins 18,19 and recesses 20,21 thereby achieving a desired angular relationship between the axis of the shaft 3 and the plane of the sole plate 7.

There are complementary members for the other threaded stud 10 comprised of a hosel shaped spacer 27 with a through bore 28 counterbored at 29 (both sides) to accept the pins 19 of the replacement disc 30 (or the disc 16 if the

replacement disc 30 is in use) for the right hand

configuration of the putter (as illustrated) and the pins 19 of the disc 30 for the alternate left hand configuration of the putter. The nut 31 on the stud 10 retains the spacer 27 and the disc 30 in place.

The studs 10 are of such length that when the nuts 23,31 are in clamping position there is sufficient stud length to accomodate weights 32 of material required to provide required weight distribution for the putter. The weights 32 are held in place by cap nuts 33 also provided with holes 34 for engagement by a pin spanner.

The club head assembly is completed by a cover 35 with holes 36 to slide over a weight and nut assembly 32,33, and holes 37 in the cover 35 accept screws 38 engagable in threaded holes 39 in the putter head whereby the cover is retained in place. The clearance between the holes 36 and the weights 32 allow the weights to be removed or replaced as required without removing the cover 35. On the other hand in order to release the nut 23 to release the disc 16 (allowing angular adjustments to be made as will be later described) the cover 35 must be removed.

The manner of determining and changing the angular relationship of the club shaft and the sole plate is by means of the positioning of the pins 18,19 on the two discs 16,30. Referring to Fig.3 which illustrates the disc 16 it will be seen that pins 18 (two or four in number as desired) are spaced 90 degrees apart and are aligned with the pins 19. With such an arrangement and as determined by the original rotational orientation of the holes 20, an angular relationship of X degrees between the shaft 3 and the sole plate 7 is provided. This is a mid-position for the hosel and lies between the two possible extremes of angular adjustment provided. Referring to Fig.4 which illustrates the disc 30 it will be seen that the two pins 18 shown in broken outline are angularly offset relative to the pins 19 by an angle Y. As will be understood if the disc 30 replaces the disc 16 the disc pins 18 when engaged in the recesses 2.0

previously occupied to give the Fig.4 hosel angle X will cause the hosel angle to increase to X+Y and the hosel will have the position shown in Fig.4 in broken outline. If the disc 30 is now rotated 90 degrees so that the pins 18 are in the holes 20 which are 90 degrees spaced from the previously occupied holes the hosel will have the position shown in Fig.5 in chain outline and the angular relationship is

X-Y. Thus three angular positions can be achieved by the use of two discs.

In an alternate arrangement, not shown, the pins 19 can be given an alternate form. For example, the pins 19 can be replaced by radial ridges and grooves and like ridges and grooves can be formed on the faces 13 and 14 of the hosel. The angular relationship between the ridges representing the pins 19 is arranged not to be a multiple of the angular spacing of the pins 19 so that there will be an automatic angular difference for the shaft 3 relative to the sole plate 7 for each different position of the pins 18 in the holes 20. With such an arrangement and an angular

differential of 8 degrees over 360 degrees for each of the possible four locations of the pins 18 in the recesses 20 there is an angular variation of the hosel angle of 2 degrees. Other variations can be achieved by having a different angular differential, however, the maximum change of angular relationship between the club shaft 3 and the sole plate 7 is determined by the distance between the abutments 5a and 5b. In this arrangement the several different angular relationships can be achieved with a single disc.

In a further modification of the construction

illustrated and described, the shrouds 5 and 6 would be part of the cover 35 and the sole plate may be a rearward

extension of the member 4 or part of the combined

cover-shroud unit. The spigots 8 and 9 and the studs 10 would be as shown in the Fig.2. With such an arrangement the club head comprised of the ball striking face 4, with or without the sole plate 7, could be made from metal, e.g. stainless steel (or other suitable material or composite of materials) and the cover-shroud member could be made of metal or composite of materials or oflight weight plastics material. With variations in materials as proposed there is considerable latitude for creating a lightweight "basic" putter head thereby enabling the user to vary the use weight through a greater range than would be possible if the head were to be made entirely from metal.

The arrangement as illustrated has a separate securing means in the form of the screws 38 to connect the cover 35 to the head. Other arrangements are possible and the nut 23 could in some arrangements be used to also connect the cover 35 to the head.

Claims

I claim : -

1. A putting club head assembly which includes a club head and a hosel interconnected by means allowing conversion for right or left hand use of the club assembly and allowing adjustment of the angular relationship between a shaft fitted to the hosel and the club head, the head assembly including an elongated club head with a ball striking face, first and second spigots on the head adjacent the respective ends of the head and extending away from the ball striking face, said hosel including a first hosel arm adapted for connection to a club shaft and a second hosel arm with a spigot receiving hole which has an axis in a plane angled to the axis of said first hosel arm, hosel securing means whereby said second hosel arm can be secured to said club head to position the axis of said first hosel arm at a desired angle relative to a ground engaging sole plate of said club head.

2. A putting club head assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said hosel securing means includes a shroud

substantially surrounding each of said spigots with a slot opening in each of said shrouds through which said other hosel arm projects when said hosel is mounted on a spigot, said shroud opening permitting said hosel to be slidingly engaged over a spigot and having a width permitting limited arcuate movement of said hosel about the axis of the associated spigot to vary the angular relationship between said other hosel arm and said sole plate.

3. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 including co-acting positioning means to establish and maintain said desired angular relationship with said positioning means maintained in co-acting engagement by said securing means.

4. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein said co-acting positioning means comprises tooth means on a face of said hosel other arm and co-acting tooth means on said club head.

5. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein said co-acting positioning means comprises tooth means on a face of said hosel other arm and tooth means on a face of said club head and a spacer with a through hole mounted on said spigot and disposed between the hosel face and said club head face with tooth means on the spacer engageable respectively with the tooth means on the hosel face and the club head face.

6. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein all of said tooth means comprise alternating regularly spaced projections and recesses.

7. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 6 wherein said projections on said spacer are on opposed faces in planes at right angles to the axis of the hole through the spacer and the projections on the spacer faces are misaligned by an amount such that when said positioning means is held in co-acting engagement the desired angular relationship between the hosel other arm and said sole plate is provided and changes of angular relationship is achieved by replacement of said spacer.

8. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 6 modified to provide projections on said hosel face and on said club head and co-operating recesses in said spacer faces.

9. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 8 wherein said recesses on the respective faces of said spacer are misaligned by an amount such that when said positioning means is held in co-acting engagement the desired angular relationship between the hosel other arm and said sole plate is provided and changes of angular relationship is achieved by replacement of said spacer.

10. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 6 having a primary spacer to provide a first desired angular relationship between the axis of the second hosel arm and the sole plate, wherein the projections on the respective faces of the spacer are two and four in number being

respectively head and hosel projections for head and hosel recess engagement, the head and hosel projections are symmetrically disposed about the axis of the spacer hole and the circular positioning of the head recesses relative to the axis of the first hosel arm is such that when said head projections are engaged in two head recesses and said positioning means is held in co-acting engagement a first desired angular relationship between the second hosel arm and said sole plate is provided.

11. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 10 wherein there are four head projections on the spacer.

12. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 10 including a putter shaft angle changing spacer as a

replacement for the primary spacer of claim 10, wherein the projections on the respective faces of the shaft angle changing spacer are two and four in number being

respectively head and hosel projections for head and hosel recess engagement, said head projections are equally

radially spaced and are diametrically disposed relative to the axis of the spacer hole and the recesses in said head to receive said head projections are four in number positioned to permit the spacer to be indexed in four equal 90 degree steps around the spigot engaged by the spacer, and said four hosel projections are equally radially spaced relative to the axis of said spacer hole but are arranged in pairs with the spacing between the pairs of hosel projections the same but greater than the equal spacing between the projections of each paid by 2X degress, and wherein the recesses in the face of the hosel other leg to receive the four hosel projections are four in number and are alternately a hole to neatly receive a hosel projection and a hosel projection clearance hole with a dimension permitting 2X degrees of travel of the hosel projection thereacross, and wherein the angular relationship between the hosel and head projections of the angle changing spacer and the angular spacing of corresponding hosel and head projections of the basic spacer differs by X degrees so that when said head projections are engaged in two head recesses and said positioning means is held in co-acting engagement a second desired angular relationship between the second hosel arm and said sole plate is provided and when the angle changing spacer is repositioned 90 from its former position a third desired angular relationship between the second hosel arm and said sole plate is achieved with the first desired angle

relationship lying between the second and third thereof.

13. A putting club head assembly as claimed in claim 12 wherein there are four head projections on the spacer.