Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Practice swingable implement or indicator associated with...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-15
2002-11-19
Blau, Stephen (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Practice swingable implement or indicator associated with...
C473S409000, C430S945000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06482101
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The typical amateur golfer, when purchasing golf clubs for the very first time and with little or no golfing experience or equipment knowledge, usually buys clubs as produced to the club manufacturer's specifications. These standards include different loft and lie angles for each club of a set, according to years of common practice and experience. Even if purchased from a reputable shop which has a golf professional available to assist the purchaser, much is left to guesswork as to the particular player's loft and lie needs, since his or her capabilities or potential for the sport are unknown. The buyer's height is often taken into consideration so that the club head sole of a particular club will be placed on the ground the necessary distance forward of the player's toes when both hands are placed on the club grip and the person is in the proper stance and position to make a swing.
Clubs are typically manufactured so as to fit their lengths to an average-height individual. If the purchasing amateur is shorter than average, the butt ends of the clubs may be shortened and the clubs regripped. Alternatively, the seller may just advise the player to grip the clubs further down on the shafts to effectively shorten the clubs, but without the expense of trimming their lengths. If the player is considerably taller than average so as to make standard clubs insufficient in length, longer clubs may be specially ordered directly from the manufacturer. In either event, the typical club purchase by an amateur or beginner often results in no variation being made to the loft or lie angles of the clubs. They are sold “as is”, with the player accepting the standard loft and lie angles designed into the clubs by the original manufacturer, even though manufacturing tolerances and known equipment for setting the angles may provide clubs which are out of tolerance as much as one or two degrees from what they should be for a given individual.
For superior golfers, however, and in particular for playing professionals, it is common to fit each player as precisely as possible for both their preferred lie angle and loft angle of each club. To achieve this, the sole of the club, i.e., its lowermost forward edge at the bottom of the club head face, should be essentially parallel to the turf or a flat surface at ball address. If an imaginary sole line is extended along the sole toward the player, the lie angle of the club can be determined between that imaginary line and the shaft axis of the club. If the sole tends to incline in either direction from essentially parallel with the surface when the player is at proper ball address, the hosel of the head of each club should be bent slightly to accommodate the player. The amount of lie angle for each club will be in accordance with a well-established formula, the angle gradually decreasing from the shortest to the longest club of the set. The club heads are made from a metal which has only nominal ductility but is capable of allowing a few degrees of hosel bending without adversely affecting the integrity of the head. Typically, the allowable bending range for the lie angle is from the manufacturer's hosel preset angle to within plus or minus two degrees from the hosel axis, or four degrees overall. After the lie angle of all clubs of the set have been adjusted to the player, most club assemblers do nothing more, relying on the manufacturer's built-in loft-angle design to provide for the standard ball trajectory as a ball is struck by the particular club. Loft angle is determined between the intersection of a first plane coinciding with the club face and a second plane passing through both the imaginary sole line and the axis of the club shaft or hosel. Ordinarily, the loft angles are left intact when clubs are sold to an amateur, and are often left untouched even for better, low handicap players. For professional golfers, the loft angles may be adjusted by hosel bending to provide for higher or lower ball trajectory than standard.
The loft angle of a No. 1 iron, as manufactured, may be between twelve and fourteen degrees, while for a lob wedge, the loft angle may be as great as fifty-eight to sixty-two degrees. Manufacturers normally select a mid-point of the allowable hosel-bending range and provide for varying the loft angle plus or minus one degree from the mid-point. Thus, the loft angle of a No. 1 iron as manufactured may average thirteen degrees and for a lob wedge may average sixty degrees. The loft angles of the No. 2 iron through the sand wedge are progressively increased, as is well understood in this art.
In instances where clubs are “tailored” to fit both the desired loft and lies angles for a particular player, the lie angles are determined by arbitrarily selecting the correct club length for the player's height via getting the player to take a stance at address of a ball with a mid-iron of a set. If the sole of the club is parallel to the ground, the manufacturer's standard lie angles are most likely correct for the entire set. If not parallel, the lie angle should be measured and the hosel bent according to the particular individual. All other clubs of the set must then be bent according to the known formulated normal lie angle variation from club to club.
Loft angles may be adjusted differently from one player to another, depending on whether the player prefers to obtain a lower ball trajectory for maximum distance, or a higher trajectory for greater control, but lesser distance.
It has been said that some club manufacturers use lesser loft angles for a given-numbered standard club to cause the unsuspecting amateur to incorrectly think that the manufacturer's clubs are superior because they allow the player to hit the ball further than the same-numbered club of another manufacturer. For the most part, however, the loft angles are generally within the same range from one manufacturer to the next. If, however, a particular player wants a “stronger” loft angle to obtain greater distance for a given club, the loft angle can be decreased and the ball distance increased accordingly. On the other hand, if a “weaker” loft angle is desired to gain higher ball trajectory while sacrificing some distance for a given club, the loft angle can be increased. Typically, most clubs as they arrive at the retail golf shop from the club manufacturer allow for the aforementioned four degree (+ or −2 degrees from normal) lie angle adjustment and a two degree (+ or −1 degree from normal) loft angle adjustment. Both adjustments are ideally measured from the axis of the hosel or shaft, and bending is done at right angles. But, because angles are most commonly measured with the shaft already in the club head, a side of the shaft becomes the gauging line. Some shafts are tapered along the gauging surface, presenting a further measurement inaccuracy problem. A secondary problem can also result from the way club heads are made. They typically have the shaft-receiving hosel hole cast in them at the time the raw club head is made, and are the holes are then drilled and/or reamed. Obviously, if any one of the casting, drilling or reaming processes causes the hole to be even slightly off line in the hosel; that will affect the shaft angle relative to the club head, in either loft, lie or a composite of those two angles. This has the capability of providing an inaccurate loft and/or lie angle of the finished club, possibly by as much as several degrees between the club head and the grip.
To obtain an adjustment of either the loft or lie of a club, several known tools and some automatic machines are known and in common use in the industry. One such manually-operable tool is known as the Steelclub unit manufactured by Mitchell Golf of Centerville, Ohio. It comprises a clamp having separate loft and lie angle-gauging protractors associated with the clamp. The clubs must be shafted at the time of adjustment and a side of each shaft is utilized for alignment purposes. See, for example,
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