U.S. patent number 3,743,297 [Application Number 05/259,575] was granted by the patent office on 1973-07-03 for golf swing practice club.
Invention is credited to Edward J. Dennis.
United States Patent |
3,743,297 |
Dennis |
July 3, 1973 |
GOLF SWING PRACTICE CLUB
Abstract
A golf swing practice, training and exercising club which is
expressly designed for practicing and developing a well-timed
rhythmically speed-controlled golf swing. It comprises a shaft
having an upper end with a handgrip and which, generally stated, is
comparable with a regulation or conventional handle-equipped shaft.
The lower end is provided with a specially constructed head, that
is, a ball-shaped head of predetermined diameter and weight. The
ball has its upper axial portion bored and constructed to
accommodate and fasten a shouldered reduced end portion of the
shaft. The end portion of the shaft is screw-threaded to coact with
a retaining nut located in an enlargement at the lower end of the
bore. A counterbored portion constitutes a socket which opens
through the bottom of the head and is lined and internally
screw-threaded to accommodate insertable and removable weights held
in place by a screw-threaded plug. The plug has a kerf to permit
the same to be removed by a coin or a screwdriver.
Inventors: |
Dennis; Edward J. (Daly City,
CA) |
Family
ID: |
22985487 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/259,575 |
Filed: |
June 5, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/242; 482/109;
473/256 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B
15/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63B
15/00 (20060101); A63b 069/36 (); A63b 053/04 ();
A63b 053/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;273/193,194,80.7,175,171,167C ;272/84 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Marlo; George J.
Claims
What is claimed as new is as follows:
1. A training club which is expressly designed and adapted for
practicing an acceptably timed rhythmically controlled golf swing
comprising: a regulation shaft having an upper end provided with a
handgrip and a lower end reduced in cross section and providing a
shouldered screw-threaded head mounting shank, a ball-shaped head
of predetermined diameter and weight, said ball having a bore
including an upper end opening through an upper peripheral surface
of said ball and a lower end communicating axially with an enlarged
counterbore within said ball, said counterbore providing a socket
and opening through a bottom peripheral surface of said ball
diametrically opposite to said upper peripheral surface and fully
and fittingly lined with an internally screw-threaded sleeve, said
shank passing through said bore and having an assembling and
retaining nut screwed on a coacting screw-threaded portion of said
shank and abutting a bottoming surface of said socket and
detachably mounting said head on said shank, variable weight media
fitted removably and at will into said socket, and an accessible
readily removable closure also mounted on said head, closing an
outward open end of said socket and positioning said weight media
retentively in a given place within the confines of said
socket.
2. The training club defined in and according to claim 1 and
wherein said socket is circular in cross section, is of a
predetermined depth and transverse cross section, the weight media
being characterized by at least one readily insertable and
removable weighted disc of requisite material and of a diameter and
thickness capable of fitting snugly but nevertheless insertably and
removably in said socket, the closure comprising a marginally
screw-threaded plug-like disc and said disc being manually screwed
into the open end of the socket in such a way as to position and
retain the weighted disc in a given functioning position within the
confines of the socket.
3. The training club defined in and according to claim 1, and
wherein said socket is circular in cross section and is of a
predetermined depth and transverse cross section, said weight media
comprising a plurality of readily insertable and removable weighted
discs of prescribed outside diameter which are snugly but
insertably, selectively and removably fitted in said socket, and
said closure comprising a marginally screw-threaded plug-like disc
which is screwed into the open end of the socket in a manner to
position and captively maintain said weighted discs in a given
functioning position in said socket.
Description
The present invention relates to certain new and useful
improvements in a golf swing club which is primarily used for
exercising and practicing and acquiring an acceptably timed
rhythmically controlled golf swing, the purpose of the club being
to enable the user to learn the correct swinging of a golf club by
continual practice, the head of the club being unique in that it is
provided with changeable readily insertable and removable weight
media or means.
More specifically the concept pertains to a club which is primarily
intended for practicing and swinging, for example, at home, and
which while providing the customary shaft and handgrip, has a
specially constructed ball-shaped head, more particularly, a head
with socket means containing insertable and removable weights held
in place by a simple and practical closure member.
Many and varied styles and forms of variably weighted golf club
heads have been devised and offered for use by others working in
this field of endeavor. For background purposes the state of the
art can be ascertained, broadly stated, by referring to the golf
swing practice club of Wallace E. Davis covered in U.S. Pat. No.
3,575,419. As having a closer bearing on the advance in the art
herein under consideration but nevertheless structurally and
functionally different is the so-called exercise club covered in
U.S. Pat. No. 2,396,408 granted to Louis A. Benecke. Unlike the
present invention Benecke utilizes a centrifugally controlled
signalling device to advise the user of commonly recognized areas
in his mode of handling and swinging a golf club.
Briefly the club herein disclosed lends itself to practical and
reliable use in that it is such in construction that it is
expressly designed and adapted for practicing an acceptably timed
rhythmically controlled golf swing. To the ends desired it embodies
a regulation shaft having an upper end provided with a customary or
conventional handgrip. The lower end is constructed to provide a
reduced shouldered shank with a threaded end having fastening means
whereby said shouldered shank can be secured to a bore extending
through an upper half portion of a ball-shaped practice head. The
lower half portion is counterbored to provide a socket. The socket
is lined with a screw-threaded sleeve and the sleeve houses and
contains with requisite nicety a source of weight. While a single
weight could be used it is preferred to use a plurality of
snug-fitting insertable and removable selectively applicable
appropriately weighted disks. These disks are held in place by an
accessible screw-threaded plug which binds the disks tightly and
prevents rattling and clicking noises.
An object of the invention is to structurally, functionally and in
other ways improve upon prior art specially constructed practicing
and training clubs and, in doing so, to provide an adaptation which
as experience has shown well serves the purposes for which it has
been devised, perfected and experimentally used.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become
subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and
operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed,
reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part
hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.
FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of a golf swing practice club
constructed in accordance with the principles of the present
invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view with parts in section and elevation
showing the details of the lower end of the club shaft and the
component parts assembled in the improved weighted head.
And FIG. 3 is an exploded view in perspective showing all of the
essential parts, that is, the screw-threaded lower end of the
shaft, the ball-shaped head and component parts which coact with
the socketed portion thereof.
With reference now to the views of the drawing, the overall
improved golf swing practice club is denoted by the numeral 4. It
comprises the customary tapered shaft 6 whose upper end portion 8
is provided with an appropriate wrapped or equivalent handgrip 10.
The shaft is comparable with a standard or conventional type but is
different in that the lower or forward end is reduced in cross
section as shown at 12 to provide a shank and also a shoulder 14.
This shouldered attaching end portion is denoted, generally stated,
by the numeral 16. More specifically it comprises (FIG. 3) a
further reduced portion which is screw-threaded as at 18 to
accommodate an assembling and retaining nut 20. The ball-shaped
head is denoted, generally stated, by the numeral 22 and is of
appropriate diameter. In certain trial and error instances the head
has been made of wood and in other instances of moldable plastic
material. As a general rule experimental models have been such that
the head weighs approximately 1 pound. The body portion (4 inches
in diameter) is denoted at 24. The upper peripheral surface portion
is denoted at 26 and for convenience of description the lower
peripheral surface is denoted at 28. The upper portion has an axial
uniform bore 30 extending therethrough and opening through the
upper peripheral surface. This serves to accommodate the shouldered
portion 14 as shown in FIG. 2. The lower end portion of the bore 30
which is near the center of the ball is slightly enlarged as at 32
to accommodate the nut, that is when the nut has been applied to
clamp the shank to the ball. The main counterbored portion defines
a socket 34 which opens through the surface 28 and has a closed
bottom 36. The socket is lined with a metal or equivalent sleeve
which is securely fixed in place and which is denoted at 38 and
which is preferably internally screw-threaded as at 40. The socket
is of a diameter to accommodate one or more disk-like weights. The
weights are referred to generally stated as weight media. Several
such weights are shown in FIG. 3 and are denoted by the numeral 42.
The weights can be identical in construction or varied as to
thickness and heaviness. The several weights shown will suffice for
purposes of explaining the nature of the instant invention. These
weights are pocketed snugly and with requisite nicety within the
confines of the socket and are therefore said to be held captive.
To attain this result an appropriate plug-like closure 44 is
provided and comprises a circular plug which is appropriately
screw-threaded at 46 to screw into place. The convex surface 48 is
provided with a screwdriver kerf 50 which can accommodate a pocket
coin if a screwdriver is not available at the time.
It is reiterated that the weight medium may comprise a single
weight which wholly fits the socket or a plurality of weights. Also
two weights could be used if desired and the plug could be screwed
into place to securely anchor the weights and to avoid clicking
noises, which are undesirable. The manner in which the ball is
constructed and the manner in which the shouldered shank portion is
fastened by screw means to the ball is evident particularly in FIG.
2. FIG. 2 also shows the manner in which the weights are inserted
and held in place by the closing or retaining and assembling plug.
FIG. 1 shows the finished ready-to-use practice swing club. On the
other hand the individual details are shown to advantage in FIG. 3.
Under the circumstances it is believed that by considering the
views singly and collectively a clear and comprehensive
understanding of the construction of the component parts, the
manner in which they serve singly and collectively will be clear.
The advantages derived from the use of this exercising and practice
and training club are also thought to be substantially
self-evident. Under the circumstances, a more extended description
is deemed to be unnecessary.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles
of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes
will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation
shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and
equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the
invention.
* * * * *