U.S. patent application number 11/040228 was filed with the patent office on 2006-07-27 for golf putter with a detachable soft pad utilizing magnets.
Invention is credited to Ki Cheol Kang.
Application Number | 20060166754 11/040228 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36697568 |
Filed Date | 2006-07-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060166754 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Kang; Ki Cheol |
July 27, 2006 |
Golf putter with a detachable soft pad utilizing magnets
Abstract
A golf putter, for increasing the accuracy of the direction of
the putted ball, has a soft and flexible pad on the surface of the
putter. The soft and flexible pad is attached on a metal plate.
Magnets are embedded in the putter head to hold the soft and
flexible pad, which is attached to the metal plate. The soft and
flexible pad absorbs the repulsion of the ball, and expands the
contact point to offset with movement of angles. The soft and
flexible pad helps to improve the accuracy of the putted golf
ball's direction.
Inventors: |
Kang; Ki Cheol; (Glendale,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Eugene Oak, Ph.D., J.D.;Patent Attorney
610 S. Van Ness Ave.
Los Angeles
CA
90005
US
|
Family ID: |
36697568 |
Appl. No.: |
11/040228 |
Filed: |
January 21, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/242 ;
473/251; 473/340; 473/342 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 2209/08 20130101;
A63B 69/3685 20130101; A63B 53/0416 20200801 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/242 ;
473/251; 473/340; 473/342 |
International
Class: |
A63B 69/36 20060101
A63B069/36 |
Claims
1. A golf putter having a soft and flexible pad which is detachably
attached on the putter's front surface.
2. A golf putter having a soft pad of claim 1, wherein the soft and
flexible pad is attached on a metal plate, which is detachably
attached to magnets that are permanently embedded within the face
surface of the putter.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] Current application is related to a golf putter, more
specifically, a golf putter head, which has an attachable and
removable soft flexible pad which is connected to a metal plate.
Magnets, which are strategically placed in the putter's face
surface, can then attach the pad, utilizing the metal plate that is
attached with the pad, to the putter's head.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] In order to increase the distance for the drive or iron club
shots in golf games, people maximize forced repulsion for those
clubs. However, for a putter, the accuracy and direction of the
putted golf ball is more important than the flying distance.
Looking at a geometric perspective, if the ball is a circle, the
point where the flat head surface of the putter meets the ball is
one point. So, if there is a minute change in the angle when the
putter hits the ball, the direction of the ball will be changed
dramatically due to the change in angular direction and strong
repulsive force developed by the hard and repulsive materials of
the golf ball and the putter. In addition to this, there is also
the situation where a golfer would indeed putt the golf ball
through a long range. For that, a stronger force of repulsion is
required. Contrarily, short range putting needs much more accuracy.
Therefore, both strong repulsion force and minimum repulsion force
are required from one putter. It is the purpose of the current
application to meet such dual contrary requirements through one
putter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] To solve these problems, a soft and flexible pad is attached
on the surface of the putter head to absorb the repulsion of the
ball. It expands the contact point to offset with the movement of
angles to improve the directional stability. However, there is a
situation when the golfer would want to putt the golf ball through
a long range. For such long range putting, a stronger force of
repulsion is required. Contrarily, short range putting does not
require repulsion but relies heavily on accuracy in control over
the direction of the ball. Therefore, strong repulsion force for
long range putting and accuracy for short range putting are
required from one putter. Since it is almost impossible to clear
the two facts abovementioned with one putter, most all of the
putters these days are made only for long putts. It is the purpose
of this current application to resolve such controversy of one
putter. The golf putter of this current application enables a
golfer to do long and short putting with one putter by attaching a
soft and flexible pad utilizing magnets on the surface of the
putter, and a thin slice of iron plate that the soft pad is
attached to thereon. The soft and flexible pad is attached on a
metal plate that and is attachable and detachable upon will on the
putter's head surface. The magnets that are embedded on the putter
head holds the iron strip, which the soft pad is attached to. The
soft and flexible pad absorbs some of the repulsion of the ball,
and expands the contact area of offset with the movement of angles.
The soft pad also helps to improve the accuracy of the putted golf
balls direction because the contact point is expanded.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES
[0004] FIG. 1--is a perspective drawing of a putter head of the
conventional putter, the prior art, which has solid and hard front
surface and head body.
[0005] FIG. 2--is a schematic drawing that shows the impact
movement of a putter with a golf ball of the prior art.
[0006] FIG. 3--is a perspective view of the putter head of the
current application showing the metal plate and soft pad attached
to the putter head.
[0007] FIG. 4--is a schematic drawing that shows the impact moment
of a putter with a soft pad of the current application.
[0008] FIG. 5--is a perspective drawing of the soft pad and iron
plate of the current application.
[0009] FIG. 6--is a side view of the soft pad and iron plate of the
current application.
[0010] FIG. 7--is a perspective drawing of the putter head of the
current application showing three holes for receiving permanent
magnets.
[0011] FIG. 8--is a side view of the putter head of the current
application.
[0012] FIG. 9--is a front view of the putter head of the current
application showing arrangement of magnets on the head.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] FIG. 1: is a perspective drawing of a conventional putter
head or one of the prior art (1), which has front surface (2) that
is different from the head body (3) connected to a putter rod (4).
FIG. 2: is a schematic drawing that shows the impact moment of a
conventional putter (1) with a conventional golf ball (5) in prior
arts. Though the materials of the head body (3) and front surface
(2) are made of different material, they are still made of hard
materials such as metal, plastic, or wood. Here, the meaning of
hard is that it is very hard to deform the material by force.
Meanwhile, all the golf balls are made of composite materials based
on rubber. Therefore, the golf ball deforms a bit more than the
putter head at the moment of impact. However, the degree of
deformation of the golf ball due to the putting force is so very
slight that it is negligible (5). Therefore, the contact area
between the golf ball (5) and the putter's front surface (2) is a
tangent point (6). In this case, the direction (7) of the golf ball
(5), due to the bouncing force (8) is very unstable. A slight
fluctuation of a putter's impacting angle (9) from a hard and flat
surface (10) that is perpendicular to the approaching line (11) of
the putter head (1) will drastically change the direction (7) of
the putted golf ball (5). To solve such problems, the inventor put
the soft pad (12) on the surface of the putter head (3), to
increase the area of contact (13) during impact.
[0014] FIG. 3: is a perspective view of the putter head (14) of the
current application showing the iron plate (15) and soft pad (12)
attached to the putter head (16).
[0015] FIG. 4: is a schematic drawing that shows the impact moment
of a putter (1) with a soft pad (12) of the current application.
The soft pad (12) is made of an easily deformable material even by
the minor force of putting. As the pad (12) is deformed more easily
than the golf ball (5), the distorted surface of the pad (12)
provides an increased contacting area than before (13) and the area
(13) surrounds the golf ball (5). After the pad is distorted (12),
resilient force (The force of rubbery material that try to return
to the original shape) (17) is developed perpendicularly to the
distorted surface. The vector summation (18) of these resilient
forces is directed to the perpendicular direction to the putter
head's front surface (19). The stability of the golf ball's
direction (5), is much more stable than that of the prior arts'
case because the golf ball's direction of the current application
(5) is summation of each minor forces (17) applied to the golf ball
(5). And due to the extended contact time, the putter head (1) hold
the golf ball (5) longer than the prior art's case. During the
extended time, the course of the golf ball (5) is stabilized.
[0016] FIG. 5: is a perspective drawing of the soft pad (12) and
iron plate (15) of the current application. FIG. 6: is a side view
of the soft pad and iron plate thereof. The soft pad (12) is a
material that has a combination of plasticity, elasticity and
resiliency at the same time to meet a requirement of easy
deformation and return to the original shape with proper
time-interval. Too much plasticity will hold the golf ball and too
much elasticity will bounce the golf ball off with additional
force. The most profitable material for the purpose is, including
but not limited to, EPR [Ethylene Propylidene Rubber], EPDM
[Copolymer of Ethylene Propylidene Monomer], natural rubber,
polyurethane, silicone rubber, natural fibers, textiles, and
composite of those materials. The soft pad (12) is attached to an
iron plate (15) by proper method of, including but not limited to,
adhesives such as gluing, riveting, cementing, and soldering. Other
solid material can be used instead of the iron plate.
[0017] FIG. 7: is a perspective drawing of the putter head body of
the current application (16) showing three holes (17) for receiving
magnets (18). Two outer holes (17-a) are spaced equal distance from
the center hole (17-b). FIG. 8: is a side view of the putter head
of the current application (16). FIG. 9: is a front view of the
putter head of the current application showing arrangement of the
magnet plates on the head (22). The depth (20) and diameter (21) of
the holes (17) are equal to those of the permanent magnet plates
(22). The two side magnet plates (22) are arranged to face
alternative pole sequences from the center of the putter head
(19).
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