Golf putter head

Details Golf putter head Golf putter head

2001-05-04

2003-03-18

Passaniti, Sebastiano (Department: 3711)

Games using tangible projectile

Golf

Club or club support

C473S341000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06533680

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to golf putter heads. More particularly, the present invention relates to a golf putter head with improved forgiveness.
2. Description of the Related Art
The game of golf is a game of accuracy, which is based on the lowest score possible. The score is determined by the number of strokes required to place a golf ball in a cup, which resides on a putting green.
There are several factors affecting the score. One of the biggest factors affecting the score is the use of proper clubs, more particularly the golf putter. The important feature of the golf putter is the putter head. The golf ball must be positioned at the center of the striking face of the putter head or the sweet spot, and the sole of the putter head must be parallel to the putting surface, so that an accurate hit can be achieved. Therefore, a well-designed golf putter head should include features that promote accuracy, consistency and forgiveness to minor errors. Two main errors that occur during striking are off center hits and miss hits.
FIG. 1
illustrates a schematic front view of a conventional putter head. The conventional putter head
100
has a striking face
101
consisting of two parallel markings
102
, which indicates a sweet spot region
103
of the putter head
100
. A point C located within the sweet spot region
103
indicates the center of gravity of the putter head
100
, which also indicates an ultimate point at the striking face for hitting the golf ball. However, when the golf ball is not positioned at the ultimate point of the striking face of the putter head, the golf ball will miss the target line, thus an off center hit results.
FIG. 2
shows a schematic top view of the putter head
100
having an ultimate point A. For a golf ball
202
to be on a target line
200
, the golf ball
202
must be located at the ultimate point A of the putter head
100
. But if the golf ball is hit at a wrong position, such as point B instead of the ultimate point A, the golf ball
202
will be off set away from the target line
200
. A path line
201
shows how the golf ball
202
travels when it is being stroked at the wrong position of the putter head. Due to the rotation motion of the golf ball
202
, the greater the distance the golf ball travels, the bigger the offset error away from the target line
200
, which is shown by comparing the path line
201
and the target line
200
. However,
FIG. 3
indicates that when the golf ball
202
is at the ultimate point A but the sole of the putter head is at an angle &bgr; to the putting surface instead of parallel to the putting surface, the golf ball will miss the target line and travels along a path line
301
, which is offset away from the target line
200
. Thus a miss hit results.
As a matter of fact, a variety of putter heads have been developed which improve striking accuracy, reduce the errors and assist the golfer in visually determining the proper position of the putter head with respect to the golf ball, target line and putting surface. However, the forgiveness of the putter head is not much improved and off-center hits still occur. Many conventional putter heads have markings, lines, grooves or material layers that assist the golf player in aligning the ball at the sweet spot of the striking face and aligning the striking face perpendicular to the target line. The material layer formed on the sweet spot, which is made of plastic or polymer, can increase cohesiveness between the sweet spot area and the golf ball. In order to achieve proper putter head alignment and position, the golfer must visually center the rearward extension between the two parallel markings. However, the accuracy of this positioning method is dependent on the golf player's own perception of whether the extension is centered between the markings. Errors often occur when attempting to accurately center the extension between the two markings, resulting in the improper positioning of the putter head, miss hits and off center hit putts. Even if the golf ball is positioned at the sweet spot of the putter head, if the striking angle of the golf club is offset, the golf ball will travel away from the target line and miss hit putts will still result. Therefore, conventional golf putter heads still face the problem of miss hits and off center hits.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a putter head that can improve the forgiving ability.
It is further another object of the present invention to provide a putter head that reduces the problem of miss hits and off center hits.
A golf putter head comprises a main head body, a striking surface and a rear part A cavity is formed at a central part of the rear part, and two protrusions are formed evenly at both ends of the rear part. A striking portion is designed into a thin shaped structure, so that the center of gravity of the putter head is shifted behind the striking surface. The base of the cavity can be designed a sloped-shaped structure comprising an upper section thinner than a lower section. A thickness of the upper section is approximately between 0.4 mm to 1.5 mm and a thickness of the lower section is approximately between 1 mm and 2.3 mm. A loft angle of the base of the cavity is approximately between 0° to 7° but is preferably at 4° from a clockwise direction. The base of the cavity can also be designed such that a thickness of the upper section is thicker than the lower section. The thickness of the upper section of the base is approximately between 1 mm to 2.3 mm and the thickness of the lower section is approximately between 0.4 mm to 1.5 mm. A loft angle &thgr; is approximately −1° from a clockwise direction.
Both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4795158 (1989-01-01), Kuykendall
patent: 4921253 (1990-05-01), Tesori
patent: 4984799 (1991-01-01), Finney
patent: 5255919 (1993-10-01), Johnson
patent: 5275409 (1994-01-01), Currie
patent: 5344149 (1994-09-01), Miller
patent: 5437088 (1995-08-01), Igarashi
patent: 5774970 (1998-07-01), Huang
patent: 5792004 (1998-08-01), Nagamoto

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