WO2014086761A1

WO2014086761A1 - Golf putter head, corresponding golf club and corresponding production method

Info

Publication number: WO2014086761A1
Application number: PCT/EP2013/075342
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sébastien COLAS; Pierre-Olivier COLLET
Original assignee: Armor Meca
Priority date: 2012-12-03
Filing date: 2013-12-03
Publication date: 2014-06-12
Also published as: FR2998803A1; FR2998803B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a golf putter head (101) comprising a sole (103), an upper face (106), a rear surface (104) and a front surface, known as the striking face (102), designed to come into contact with and strike a golf ball, said striking face (102) comprising a plurality of grooves (105) and having an inclination angle (L), known as the "loft". According to the invention, each of said grooves (105) comprises a first, rectilinear surface (105A) which extends from the front surface (102) to the rear surface (104) of the head (101), being inclined towards the sole (103), a second surface (105B) which extends from the first surface (105A) to the striking face (102), and a third, rectilinear surface (105C) which is inclined towards the sole (103) and connects the second surface (105B) and the striking surface (102).

Description

Golf putter head, golf club and method of making the same

1. DOMAIN OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is that of golf clubs and in particular golf putters.

More specifically, the invention relates to a golf putter head and a method of manufacturing a golf putter head.

2. TECHNOLOGICAL BACKGROUND

A golf putter is a club intended to bring (ie roll) a golf ball located on a green in the hole when the ball is at a short distance from it.

Traditionally, a putter head is made entirely of metal or it has an insert of flexible material that provides a better touch.

The key to good putting is a perfect ball roll from contact with the putter's head. Most putts are missed because of a bad reaction of the ball on impact.

Thus, following the impact of the ball 2 with the striking face of a traditional putter 1, the ball jumps (or bounces) then, as shown in Figure 1A, it slides during phase G. During this phase G slip or skid, the ball 2 rolls backwards first (we talk about backspin during phase A), then rolls forward (phase B).

During this phase G of sliding of the ball, the ball is subject to the deformations and irregularities of the ground, and the tendency to deviate from the desired trajectory. Therefore, the control of the ball, and therefore the precision of the putt, is less.

To improve the ball rolling forward on impact, it has been proposed to machine, for example laser, the striking face of the putter so as to form several grooves that can be parallel and rectilinear, or present in the form of half-moons or concentric circles, for example. However, after impact with the putter's head, the ball's skid time is still too long and the time interval between the moment of impact and the moment the ball rolls forward is still too long important, which affects the control of the ball, and therefore the accuracy of the putt.

In addition, the ball does not turn fast enough. However, the faster the ball turns, the more control over the trajectory and distances on the green is increased.

The current solutions are therefore not entirely satisfactory.

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

The invention, in at least one embodiment, is intended in particular to overcome these various disadvantages of the state of the art.

More specifically, in at least one embodiment of the invention, an objective is to provide a golf putter whose head has a striking surface that optimizes the contact with the ball, the control thereof and the accuracy of the putt.

Another objective of at least one embodiment of the invention is to provide such a striking surface that minimizes the slipping of the ball, so that the ball rolls almost immediately forward and more. quickly after its impact with the striking face of the putter.

A complementary objective of at least one embodiment of the invention is to provide a golf putter according to the rules of USGA (for "United States Golf Association") and R & A (for "Royal and Ancient") golf equipment.

At least one embodiment of the invention also aims to provide a manufacturing technique of a golf putter head that is simple to implement and economical.

4. PRESENTATION OF THE INVENTION

The invention satisfies all or some of the aforementioned objectives with a golf putter head comprising a sole, an upper face, a rear surface and a front surface, called the striking face, arranged to come into contact and hit a golf ball. golf, said striking face comprising several grooves and having an inclination angle, called "loft". According to the invention, each of said grooves comprises a first rectilinear surface which extends from the front surface towards the rear surface of the head while being inclined towards the sole, a second surface which extends from the first surface towards the front surface. strikes, and a third straight surface inclined towards the sole connecting the second surface and the striking surface.

The general principle of the invention is therefore to provide on the striking surface of a putter head grooves or ribs of particular shape that condition the roll or "spin" of the ball.

With these grooves, the back spin and the sliding of the ball following the impact with the striking face of the putter are removed, or at least minimized.

In addition, the ball rolling forward is earlier and faster than with the prior art putters.

As a result, the ball is less subject to terrain deformations and control of its trajectory is optimized.

Advantageously, the angle of inclination is between 2 ° and 5 °.

Advantageously, the distance between two consecutive grooves is between 0.15 and 0.25 millimeters.

Advantageously, the angle between the first surface and the striking face is between 35 and 45 °.

Advantageously, the length of the third surface is between 0.05 and 0.2 millimeters.

Advantageously, said grooves have a depth of between 0.4 and 0.6 millimeters.

According to a preferred embodiment, the second surface is of semicircular shape.

Preferably, the diameter of the second surface is between 0.4 and 0.6 millimeters.

Advantageously, the axis of symmetry of the second surface is substantially parallel to the first surface. According to a particular implementation, the grooves are rectilinear and parallel, and form a pattern having the general shape of a non-regular hexagon.

In an advantageous embodiment, the upper face comprises a domed central portion and two curved lateral surfaces.

The invention also relates to a golf rod called "putter" comprising a head as described above.

Such a golf putter implementing this particular groove pattern is in accordance with USGA (United States Golf Association) and R & A (for "Royal and Ancient") rules for golf equipment.

The invention further relates to a method of manufacturing such a golf putter head.

According to the invention, such a method comprises the following steps:

- setting up a block of material in a machining machine;

machining by removing material from said block so as to obtain a predetermined form of golf putter head;

grooving a surface of said head;

- Removal of the golf putter head and grooved.

Such a putter head is shaped in the mass by a high precision machining.

More precisely, such a putter head is obtained by machining in the air of a single piece, made of aluminum, for example.

The grooves are made in the form of parallel slots by milling and thus make it possible to optimize the accuracy (direction and / or putting force) and the touch (ie the contact between the ball and the striking surface). putter) of the putt.

5. LIST OF FIGURES

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the following description, given by way of indicative and nonlimiting example, and the appended drawings, in which: FIG. 1A, already described in connection with the prior art, shows the kinematics of a golf ball when struck by a golf putter head of the prior art;

Figure 1B shows the kinematics of a golf ball when struck by a golf putter head of the present invention;

Figure 2 schematically shows the grooves provided on the striking face of a golf putter head of the present invention; Figure 3 is a detail view of a groove of Figure 2 and a machining tool for obtaining such a groove;

Figure 4 is a front view of the striking surface of a golf putter head according to one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 5 is a top view of the golf putter head of the figure

4.

6. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT

THE INVENTION

The golf putter 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention conventionally comprises a so-called "shaft" (not shown), which is coupled to a head 101, an embodiment of which is shown in FIG.

The handle has on its upper end a gripping portion in the form of a rubber sleeve (called "grip") by which the player seizes and handles the putter 10.

The head 101 of the putter 10 comprises a front surface, called the striking face 102, arranged to come into contact with and strike a golf ball, a rear surface 104, an upper surface 106 and a sole 103 for resting the putter 10 on the ground. .

In the example shown diagrammatically in FIG. 2, the striking face 102 of the head 101 of the putter 10 is slightly inclined from bottom to top (that is to say from the soleplate 103 towards the upper surface 106) towards the rear surface 104 (it is said that it has a "loft"), the loft angle L with respect to the plane P perpendicular to the sole 103 being preferably between 2 and 5 degrees, and equal to 2 degrees in this example.

This loft is necessary to take off or lift the ball at the moment of impact with the striking face 102, the ball being generally slightly sunk into the ground before a putt.

The striking face 102 further has a plurality of straight grooves 105 which are arranged in parallel and which extend between each lateral edge of the striking face 102.

These grooves 105 whose particular shape is illustrated in Figure 3 affect the rolling of the ball during a putt.

More specifically, when striking a golf ball, the implementation of such grooves 105 reduces the initial slippage of the ball and promotes the rapid and rapid rolling forward of the latter towards the hole of the green.

Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, at the moment of striking by the club head 101, the ball 20 slides briefly (phase G ') and rolls almost immediately forward in top spin ( phase B ').

Because the ball 20 starts earlier to turn forward and faster, it achieves by the implementation of the grooves 105 better control of the ball, in direction and distance.

The choice of this particular shape of groove and this value of loft is the result of tests carried out by the inventors who filmed with a high speed camera the ball after the impact with different heads of putter, that is, that is, putter heads with different loft values and groove shapes.

They then analyzed the motion (in this case the rotation) of the ball for each combination of grooves and loft, and selected the solution where the ball rotates the fastest for a minimum distance. Indeed, the faster the ball, the more control over the course and distances on the green is increased (that is, the less the ball tends to deviate from its trajectory). In the preferred embodiment of Figure 2, the spacing between the grooves 105 is 0.18 mm.

Each groove 105 includes a first straight surface 105A which extends from the front surface 102 to the rear surface 104 of the head 101, being inclined towards the sole 103. The angle of this first surface 105A with respect to the front surface 102 is equal to 38.56 degrees in the example of Figure 2.

The first surface 105A is extended by a second surface 105B of semicircular shape whose axis of symmetry S is substantially parallel to the first surface 105A. From the first surface 105A, this second surface 105B first extends to the rear surface 104 of the head 101 and then to the front surface 102.

The second surface 105B is extended by a third straight surface 105C which is inclined towards the sole 103 (in the direction of the rear surface 104 towards the front surface 102), and connects the second surface 105B to the front surface 102.

The width of the third surface 105C is equal to 0.1 mm in the example of FIG.

The putter head 10 is made of a light material, such as aluminum or titanium, or stainless steel. Each groove 105 is, as illustrated in Figure 3, obtained by a cutting tool O, a ball mill in this example, which comes to form the grooves 105 by removal of material.

The diameter of the semicircle constituting the second surface 105B is here equal to 0.5 mm and corresponds to the diameter of the cutting tool O.

The depth of the grooves 105 relative to the front surface 102 is equal to 0.5 mm.

Note also that the angle between the front surface 102 and the first surface 105A is a sharp angle (that is to say, a rough machining edge).

Furthermore, the third surface 105C which is inclined 45 ° with respect to the front surface 102 constitutes a chamfer which is produced following the formation of the groove 105 by the cutting tool O. The implementation of such a chamfer allows to remove the raised and sharp lip that remains after the formation of the groove 105 by the cutting tool O and which does not comply with the rules of golf. It also makes it possible to optimize the grip of the bottom of the groove 105 by means of the edge R with the cells of the ball during a putt (which optimizes the rolling towards the front of the ball).

The height of the grooves 105 (of the junction of the surfaces 102 and 105A at the junction of the surfaces 105C and 102) is in the illustrated example equal to 0.887 mm.

For example, when the ball 20 is struck by a putter with the putter head 101 shown in Fig. 2 to make a 20 foot putt (6,096 meters), the ball 20 skips a distance less than 3 inches. (G 'phase of Figure 1 B), 7.62 cm. When the ball 20 has traveled 20 cm, it has already rotated 100 ° from its initial position when stopped.

Furthermore, the machining technique grooves 105 is derived from aeronautics which offers the putter a very high degree of accuracy.

Indeed, unlike the putter heads which are generally obtained by molding, the head 101 of the putter 10 is formed by a machining operation in air from a block of material (steel for example).

For example, the 5 cm block is used for gripping the jaws of the machine.

Once the shape of the head 101 of the putter 10 has been machined by removal of material, the grooves on the front face 102 of the head 101 of the putter are formed by means of the ball mill O.

This ball mill O can be used to form the third surface, or chamfer, 105C.

In an alternative, it is necessary to change the tool (without loosening the block of machined material however), to form this third surface, or bevel, 105C.

Thus, the head 101 of the putter 10 is machined in the air (the piece being taken by jaws, without tailstock) as a mechanical part of high precision, by removal of material, which allows a saving in machining time. The fineness and geometry of the grooves 105 improve the feel of the impact of the ball, increase the rotation of the ball forward and allow optimized control of the putts.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, the grooves 105 are rectilinear and parallel, and form a pattern having the general shape of a non-regular hexagon (that is, whose sides do not all have the same shape). same length).

The upper face 106 of the head 101 of the putter 10 is not flat but comprises a convex portion 106B and two lateral portions 106A inclined towards the sole 103. This particular form of the upper face 106 reduces the air resistance. of the head 101 during the movement of the head 101 towards the ball and therefore the inaccuracies at the time of the striking.

It is clear that many other embodiments of the invention can be envisaged.

In particular, different forms of putter head can be provided.

Furthermore, the handle and the head of the putter are joined together according to any technique known to those skilled in the art.

The putter head may be steel, or any other suitable material for making a putter.

Claims

Golf putter head (101) comprising a sole (103), an upper face (106), a rear surface (104) and a front surface, said striking face (102), arranged to come into contact and hit a ball of golf, said striking face

(102) comprising a plurality of grooves (105) and having an inclination angle (L), said "loft", characterized in that each of said grooves (105) comprises a first surface (105A) rectilinear extending from the surface before (102) towards the rear surface (104) of the head (101) being inclined towards the sole

(103), a second surface (105B) extending from the first surface (105A) to the striking face (102), and a third straight surface (105C) inclined towards the sole (103) connecting the second surface ( 105B) and the striking surface (102).

Golf putter head (101) according to claim 1, characterized in that the angle of inclination (L) is between 2 ° and 5 °.

Golf putter head (101) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the distance between two consecutive grooves (105) is between 0.15 and 0.25 millimeters.

Golf putter head (101) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the angle between the first surface (105A) and the striking face (102) is between 35 and 45 °.

5. golf putter head (101) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the length of the third surface (105C) is between 0.05 and 0.2 millimeter.

6. golf putter head (101) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said grooves (105) have a depth of between 0.4 and 0.6 millimeters.

7. Golf putter head (101) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the second surface (105B) is of semicircular shape.

8. golf putter head (101) according to claim 7, characterized in that the diameter of the second surface (105B) is between 0.4 and 0.6 millimeter.

9. Golf putter head (101) according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the axis of symmetry (S) of the second surface (105B) is substantially parallel to the first surface (105A).

10. Golf putter head (101) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the grooves (105) are rectilinear and parallel, and form a pattern having the general shape of a non-regular hexagon.

The golf putter head (101) according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the upper face (106) comprises a curved central portion (106B) and two curved lateral surfaces (106A).

12. Golf rod called "putter" comprising a head (101) according to one of claims 1 to 1 1.

13. A method of manufacturing a golf putter head (101) according to one of claims 1 to 1 1, characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

- setting up a block of material in a machining machine;

machining by removing material from said block so as to obtain a predetermined form of golf putter head (101);

grooving a surface of said head (101);

- Removal of the head (101) of golf putter and grooved.