Golf club head

#The present invention relates to an improvement in golf clubs and more particularly to an improvement in a putter's chipper.

#There are several important factors that a golfer must consider in making a putt. First, he must take care to strike the ball with the club face at the center of percussion for the head; otherwise, force vectors may be imparted at a direction other than the desired line of roll of the ball. Similarly, he must maintain the horizontal plane of the club parallel with the surface of the green to prevent departures from the line of roll. The golfer must also be able to accurately align the club face at right angles to the direction in which he wishes the ball to go. While these requirements are basically under the control of the golfer, there are requirements in the design of the club which the golfer has little or no control. For example, the club and club head must be properly balanced so that the dynamic forces during a swing do not cause a change in the alignment of the club face with respect to the ball and the line of roll. Also, the drag of the grass during the stroke on the sole plate of the club can, on occasions, introduce changes in the alignment of the club just prior to striking the ball.

#There have been a number of designs of putter heads which have attempted to solve some of these problems, but none which assist the golver in overcoming all of the above mentioned problems. U.S. Pat. No. 2,478,468 to Drake has approached the balance problem by offsetting the head with respect to the shaft and has attempted to improve the scuffing problem by the curvature of the sole plate portion. Handzlik, Jr., in U.S. Pat. No. 2,991,082 has provided a putter head construction having a raised portion adjacent the so called "sweet spot" of the face of the club to indicate to the golfer the proper point for striking the ball. Another alignment effort was made by Hodge in U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,755 in which the putter was to be used in the manner of a shuffleboard club. However, none of the referenced patents, or of clubs known in the prior art, have provided any assistance to the golfer to maintain the horizontal plane of the club parallel with the surface of the green. Thus, he must depend entirely on judgement and experience with respect to this requirement for accurate putting.

#FIG. 1 is a top view of the putter head of my invention showing the appearance of one version of the sighting device;

#FIG. 2 is a bottom view showing the sole portion of my gold putter head indicating the position of the balance weights;

#FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the golf putter head showing the sighting device cavity and details of the balance weights;

#The construction of my improved golf putter head may be noted from FIGS. 1 through 4. Although the main body portion (12) may be cast from any desired metal, I prefer to utilize zinc for economy. The top surface of the club head seen in FIG. 1 shows the location of the attachment of the shaft (21) and, as illustrated, is for a left handed golfer. As will be seen, the casting (12) has an approximate "D" shape and is symmetrical; thus the opening in the head for shaft (21) would be at the opposite end for a right hand club. At the center of the top surface (10) and adjacent to the center of the club face (11) may be noted sighting device (16) having a black outer ring (17) and a black inner spot (18) connected by cross hairs to black ring (17). The spot (18) as aligned with the fore and aft center line of the club which intersects the area on the club face (11) with which the bal should be struck. The sole plate of head (11) is shown in the bottom view of FIG. 2. A narrow transverse portion (13) of the casting may be noted extending rearward from the club face (11) and may also be seen in cross-section in FIG. 3. Two ribs (22) extend from the club face portion (13) to the rear of the club head (12) having an upward curvature toward the rear as best seen in FIG. 3. This construction minimizes the drag or scuffing of the sole plate on the grass which is characteristic of prior art clubs having solid sole plates.

#Provisions are made for attachment of three weights, such as weights (26) to the underside of the club head in the relieved portions between ribs (22) and the face portion (13). The construction of the weights may best be seen in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3. While these weights may take on many shapes, I prefer to utilize a counterbored weight (26) and a washer (28) held in counterbored recess (24) by mounting screw 30. By forming weights from several different materials such as lead, aluminum, steel, plastic, and the like, a wide range of weight adjustment is available. This allows the putter head of my invention to be adjusted to satisfy the preferences of a wide range of golfers.

#Of more importance, however, is the use of the weights (26 and 28) to balance the club. With the shaft (21) in place, various size weights may be installed so as to produce both a fore and aft balance and longitudinal balance. The most important balance is fore and aft with respect to the line of the club shaft and may be very accurately obtained with my above described balancing means. However, many skilled golfers develop techniques which depend on a heel weight heavier than the toe weight or vice versa. Advantageously, the weight of the heel and toe portions of my putter head (12) may be independently adjusted by the individual user to satisfy such special requirements.