Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Club or club support
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-22
2001-11-27
Passaniti, Sebastiano (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Club or club support
C473S340000, C294S019200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322457
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Golf is a popular sport played by people of widely varying ages and skill levels. Therefore, many devices have been developed to assist golfers and enhance their enjoyment of the sport. Among these are devices built into a golf putter head for picking up a golf ball from the surface of the putting green and/or from the cup without bending over or stooping down. The golf ball retrieving devices fall into two categories: 1) rearward facing cavities that scoop the golf ball from the green or other surface by moving the club head backward, and 2) receptacles in the sole of the club head that frictionally grip the golf ball in order to retrieve the ball from the green or from the cup. All of these putter heads have shortcomings, however.
Many commercially available putter heads of both the blade type and the mallet type fall within the first category and are constructed with rear cavities that enable a golf ball to be scooped from the green or other surface. A certain level of skill, however, is necessary for a golfer to successfully retrieve a ball using this type of devise.
The second category of prior putter heads are mallet or wide blade style putter heads that include a restricted cylindrical, conical, semi-cylindrical or semi-conical receptacle in the bottom of the putter head. Downward pressure is applied on the ball with the putter head to compress the ball around a significant portion of its diameter and squeeze it into a restricted opening. This pressure and compression may damage both the ball and the green. In addition, it is difficult to see the ball and guide it into the receptacle because the putter head covers all or a large portion of the ball. Some of the ball-retrieving devises also employ roughened surfaces or sharp edges to more securely grip the ball. These rough surfaces and sharp edges also may damage the ball.
The putter heads of the second category that are designed to retrieve a golf ball from the cup must have a length from toe to heel that will fit within the 4.25 inches diameter of the cup. In this case, the short length of the putter head makes it difficult to place the putter face in an orthogonal orientation to the desired line of travel of the ball. Placing a golf club within the cup to retrieve a ball also may cause substantial damage to the cup.
Concentration is essential when putting. A golfer looking down at the putter head when aligning a putt and making a stroke sees the putter head in just two dimensions. The popular heel and toe weighted, narrow blade type of putter head presents to the golfer a very clean, generally rectangular, non-distracting top planar profile of about 1 inch by about 5 inches. Most of the second category of prior ball-retrieving devises, however, require radical variations from this basic putter head profile and could well distract the golfer during the alignment or the stroke. The second category of putter head is seldom, if ever, available commercially.
All of the prior putter heads, whether blade type or mallet type and whether category one or category two, have the ball-retrieving receptacle positioned centrally between the toe and the heel of the putter, and behind the front striking face of the putter head.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A golf club can be successful only if any added features do not diminish the effectiveness of the club for its primary purpose, i.e., propelling a golf ball in the desired direction for the desired distance. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a golf putter head including an improved, easy to use ball-retrieving device that overcomes the shortcomings of prior devices and provides additional benefits without affecting the primary performance of the putter.
The putter head of the present invention is designed to retrieve a ball only from the green or other surface and comprises a narrow blade type head. Unlike prior putter heads, the putter head of the invention contains a golf ball-receiving cutout in the heel section that extends perpendicularly through the front face surface and the rear surface of the putter head. The cutout has an upper surface and a pair of walls formed by two opposing flat smooth surfaces that terminate in straight, parallel lower edges to form an opening for receiving a golf ball into the cutout. The opening between the lower edges is greater than the diameter of a golf ball. The cutout walls are tapered toward each other at their upper edges at an included angle between about 3 degrees and about 22 degrees to form a self-holding taper for engaging a golf ball. The cutout is positioned in the heel section of the putter head so that the cutout opens vertically through the sole of the putter head, or horizontally through the heel of the putter head, or at any angle between the vertical and the horizontal. The upper surface connects the two cutout walls to form the closed end of the cutout. The axial height of the cutout is sufficient to allow engagement of a golf ball with the cutout walls without interference from the upper surface of the cutout. When a vertical cutout opening is placed over a golf ball, the weight of the putter exerts sufficient pressure to engage the ball between a single point of contact with each cutout wall. When a golf ball is positioned between a horizontal cutout and a solid object, such as the golfer's shoe, a slight pressure on the club head toward the ball also is sufficient to engage the ball between a single point of contact with each cutout wall. Thus, the cutout of the present invention acts in a manner analogous to picking up a golf ball using just the thumb and forefinger. This device requires only minimal contact between the ball and the cutout walls, operates without requiring compression of the ball, sharp edges or roughened surfaces and, therefore, will not damage the ball.
Since the ball-retrieving cutout of the present improved putter head is contained entirely within the heel of the putter head, the top planar profile of the improved putter head mimics the generally rectangular shape of traditional heel and toe weighted blade style putters. This familiar sight is less likely to distract the golfer than the radically different profiles presented by many of the prior art golf ball-retrieving putter heads. In addition, the improved narrow blade design of the present invention has a width from the front face surface to the rear surface of the putter head that is less than the diameter of a golf ball. Therefore, the ball is easily visible from above the putter head and the cutout is easily positioned over the ball. Furthermore, the golfer does not need to position the ball in the center of the cutout in order to retrieve it. The self-holding taper of the cutout walls will engage a golf ball securely at two points on an arc on the surface of the ball that is less than the diameter of the ball.
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Passaniti Sebastiano
Tucker Mary Ann
LandOfFree
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