Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Club or club support
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-02
2001-05-01
Passaniti, Sebastiano (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Club or club support
C473S331000, C473S340000, C473S342000, C473S345000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224497
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to golf club heads and, in particular, to improved golf club heads having a plurality of vertical grooves, preferably with “frequency-matched” ball striking face configurations.
Conventional golf clubs, such as woods and irons, as well as putters, have been provided with grooves forming land areas and other shaped indentations, on the ball striking face, in order to control the spin and direction, as well as the feel, of a golf ball being struck by the particular golf club. Most iron and wood type clubs have used horizontal groove configurations in a heel-to-toe direction in a pattern of U-shaped or V-shaped grooves. U-shaped grooves have two opposing surfaces, each at 90° to the ball striking face. V-shaped grooves are angled to form a V-configuration with respect to the ball striking face.
Prior art configurations of interest are shown in a number of U.S. Patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,505 to Stuff shows a golf putter club head with wide vertical grooves on the ball striking face extending from the top ridge to the bottom surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,450 to Stuff shows, in
FIGS. 7 and 8
, a putter having a groove configuration wherein the grooves generally converge toward the longitudinal center of the club head in the direction of the top surface and diverge away from the longitudinal center of the club head in the direction of the sole surface.
British Patent No. 25564, 1905, shows a putter type golf club head with vertical grooves which extend all the way from the bottom sole to the top surface of the ball striking face.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,034,936 to Barnhart shows, in
FIG. 9
, a golf club having a plurality of transverse slots which extend completely through the club head from the front to the rear side.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,854,548 to Hunt shows a golf club head with vertical grooves on the rear and extending through the club head. U.S. Pat. No. 1,289,533 to Sanders shows an iron type golf club head with a horizontal raised groove, which is sawtooth or triangular in cross-section.
Another patent of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 1,532,545 to Peterson, which shows a curved ball striking face with a sawtooth groove configuration.
U.S. Design Pat. No. 63,284 to Challis shows a putter configuration including horizontal and vertical grooves, which form series of square or rectangular land areas on the ball striking face.
Still another prior art ball striking face structure is disclosed in the September 1998 issue of GOLF MAGAZINE, page 94 which describes a putter with a series of nubs which project outwardly from the putter face to grip a golf ball when it is struck by the putter to impart a softer feel to the golfer's hands.
In addition to groove configurations, many putter faces are currently made with face inserts of various materials, which are softer and provide a solid feel and an improved responsive sensation when putting a golf ball. However, such putters are generally more complex to produce and, consequently, are more expensive than standard conventional putters. Also, the ball striking faces of many currently marketed iron and metalwood type club heads include face inserts made of a variety of materials, other than the “basic” single stainless steel material used to produce the main club heads. Such face insert materials include titanium, beryllium copper, zirconium, nickel, bronze, manganese, and a variety of other blended alloy materials suitable for golf clubs.
The primary purpose of some of the prior art club face configurations are directed mainly to “imparting corrective or specific action to a golf ball”, or “achieving a variety of different actions to a golf ball struck by the face”. Some rely on plurality of grooves “extending along the face in non-parallel directions or with pads or both.” Also they include “means for imparting a desired action along the club face” having a resilience greater than the material used to produce the club head.
The entire golf industry has moved rapidly into hi-tech to market their respective products that are better designed to dramatically improve the golfing skills and enjoyment for all golfers. For example, golf club shaft makers have expanded the use of frequency-matched shaft technology that offer a variety of flexing, rigidness and recovery characteristics, that best suit each golfer, regardless of age, gender or physical abilities. The frequency-matched technology for golf club shafts creates shafts that produce better feel, increased accuracy and distance, less vibration and undesirable shocks.
Also the ongoing fierce competition in the golf ball industry compels the golf ball manufacturers to perpetually utilize the most sophisticated new component materials and availability of hi-tech equipment improvements, with their latest new technology in making golf balls that are best suited for each class of golfers and conform to the rules of golf. The combinations of components, such as the various types and sizes of inner cores, are frequency-matched to the various types of outer coverings, such as Balata, Surlyn and other materials, specifically blended to provide the best performing balls, most suitable for each caliber of golfer.
The leading golf ball manufacturers have been concentrating on producing a new breed of balls. Their advanced technology is producing balls with different types of cores, combined with variety of outer cover materials, having combinations of aerodynamic dimple designs. The dimples in the outer-ball covers include a variety of different shapes and sizes, and have been combined to produce a particular ball-cover design, specifically to greatly increase ball-flight control and accuracy. (This improvement alone has increased the overall performances of at least five golf balls with different compression ranges [70 to 100+]). Just as important, are the substantial improvements that have been made to the basic inner cores of the balls. Generally, the cores are round spheres made from steel, Titanium, solid rubber, rubber wound or other fluid-filled contained means. These are used to produce 3-piece wound Balata balls, 2-piece Surlyn cover balls and even 1-piece solid-core-and-cover golf balls. All of these advanced hi-tech improvements have been combined to dramatically increase their respective distances and overall performances . . . they offer a better, more desirable, audible harmonic and sensual feedback that produces the preferred “click” and enhanced solid sensations. These are the preferred features that are felt even when stroking a putted ball or striking a ball, with high velocity swings using iron and metalwood club heads to reach greater distances.
The ongoing challenge that the golf ball industry constantly faces, is not only to make a better ball than their competitors, but also to make it within the rigid parameters to conform to the rules of golf as defined and established by the U.S.G.A.
Likewise, the vertical groove concept of the present invention, is uniquely adaptable and very practical for use on all golf club heads, particularly since all of the golf club heads can be fine-tuned by having various combinations of coordinated, precision, frequency-matched, ball striking club face configurations. The vertical grooves are formed with variable precisely sized widths and depths that are adjacent properly sized land areas, also having coordinated widths, to produce the preferred results for all caliber of golfers. The vertical groove concept, for fine-tuning the respective golf club heads, relies on various combinations of precisely sized and shaped frequency matched configurations on the ball striking club faces to create the preferred feel and sound and performance for club heads, such as putters, irons, and woods. For some embodiments, this can be accomplished without using a second material, such as face inserts.
Various musical instruments use strings and wires, such as violins, guitars, banjos, pianos, and so forth, to produce different sounds. They rely on the different thickness and
Aquilino, Welsh & Flaxman
Passaniti Sebastiano
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