U.S. patent number 3,810,631 [Application Number 05/274,563] was granted by the patent office on 1974-05-14 for golf club head of the iron type having a concave sole.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Con-Sole Golf Corporation. Invention is credited to Joseph M. Braly.
United States Patent |
3,810,631 |
Braly |
May 14, 1974 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
GOLF CLUB HEAD OF THE IRON TYPE HAVING A CONCAVE SOLE
Abstract
A golf club of the iron type having a novel golf club head
comprising a striking face with a leading lower edge, a toe, a
heel, and a novel concave sole; said concave sole imparting
improved ball striking characteristics such as improved dynamic
stability of the head in contact with the ground and minimize
deceleration of the club head speed in contact with the ground. The
golf head is useful for the manufacture of golf clubs of the iron
type.
Inventors: |
Braly; Joseph M. (Kennett
Square, PA) |
Assignee: |
Con-Sole Golf Corporation
(Chadds Ford, PA)
|
Family
ID: |
23048720 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/274,563 |
Filed: |
July 24, 1972 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/328 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B
53/047 (20130101); A63B 60/00 (20151001); A63B
53/04 (20130101); A63B 53/0433 (20200801) |
Current International
Class: |
A63B
53/04 (20060101); A63b 053/04 () |
Field of
Search: |
;273/77R,167R,167A,167D,168,169,174,164,172,173 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Pinkham; Richard C.
Assistant Examiner: Apley; Richard J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Connolly and Hutz
Claims
The preferred embodiments in which an exclusive privilege or
position is claimed are as follows:
1. A golf club iron comprising a shaft with a metal head secured
thereto at one end thereof, a substantially planar ball striking
face inclined upwardly and rearwardly from a front ground
penetrating edge portion to an uppermost rear portion, the major
portion of the ball striking face being rearward of a reference
plane containing the axis of the shaft and extending generally
parallel to the front edge portion of the ball striking face, a
downwardly facing sole rearward of the front edge portion of the
ball striking face, a back face extending between the sole and the
uppermost rear portion of the ball striking face, and shallow
concavity in the major portion of the sole gradually curving in a
direction generally transverse to the reference plane, the
concavity having a leading boundary portion spaced from the front
edge portion and forming a first sole portion, the leading boundary
portion forming a first sole portion edge, the first sole portion
edge being the lowermost elevation of the first sole portion, the
concavity having a trailing boundary portion spaced from the back
face and forming a second sole portion, the trailing boundary
portion terminating at a second sole portion edge, the second sole
portion edge being the lowermost elevation of the second sole
portion, and the second sole portion edge being the lowermost
elevation of the sole when the reference plane is vertical.
2. A golf club iron as in claim 1 wherein a line interconnecting
the first and second sole portion edges forms an angle of
90.degree. to 115.degree. with the vertical.
3. A golf club iron as in claim 2 wherein the angle is in the range
of 92.degree. to 95.degree..
4. A golf club iron as in claim 1 wherein the shallow concavity is
defined by the uppermost portion of a cylinder having a
longitudinal axis generally parallel to the front edge portion of
the ball striking face.
Description
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to golf clubs and more particularly to a
golf club of the "iron" type having a novel golf club head with a
concave sole.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is well known in golf, a game of skill, that the golfer's
accuracy is dependent upon the golf club head speed and the
relationship of the golf ball and the club striking face at the
point of impact.
The accepted technique in hitting the ball from sand requires the
club head entering the sand some distance behind the ball, the face
of the club continuing through the ball with such direction and
force so as to propel the ball onto the green or putting surface.
This is known as the explosion or sand shot. All other shots in
golf require that the object ball be struck with the hitting
surface or face of the club prior to the leading edge of the face
entering the media upon which the ball rests. Any departure from
this technique results in the loss of objective.
I have invented a golf club having a novel golf club head with a
concave sole which provides greater accuracy than is obtainable
with conventional golf clubs. My golf club is particularly useful
for golf clubs of the "iron" type and more particularly for the
golf club known as the sand wedge and the like used to impart a
high loft or arc of trajectory to a golf ball.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a golf club of the "iron" type
comprising a shaft and a head; said head having a striking face
with a leading lower edge; a toe; a heel; a sole extending
rearwardly from said lower edge between said toe and heel to
provide a first downwardly facing surface generally parallel to and
immediately behind said lower edge; a second downwardly facing
concave surface as viewed from below extending rearwardly from said
first surface; and a third downwardly facing surface having a
lowermost portion extending rearwardly from said second surface;
said second surface having a width that is greater than the width
of said first surface plus the width of said third surface forward
of said lowermost portion, said widths being measured in a plane
passing through and perpendicular to a central portion of the
striking face.
The golf club of this invention is of the "iron" type comprising a
shaft and a head; said head having a lofted striking face with a
rear side and a leading lower edge on said face; a toe; a heel; a
sole extending rearwardly from said lower edge between said toe and
heel to provide a first downwardly facing surface generally
parallel to and immediately behind said lower edge; a flanged
portion extending rearwardly from said rear side having a second
and third downwardly facing surfaces, said second surface being
formed by a cavity between said first and third surfaces and having
a width which is greater than the width of the first surface plus
the width of the third surface forward of the lowest portion of the
third surface.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the attached drawings wherein preferred embodiments of the
invention are illustrated:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the action of club head through said
media upon which the ball rests;
FIG. 2 is the front elevational view of a lofted golf club of the
lofted type, i.e., sand wedge golf club head embodiment of this
invention;
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of said sand wedge;
FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of said sand wedge;
FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view of said sand wedge;
FIG. 6 is a right elevational view of said sand wedge;
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of said sand wedge taken along
lines 7 -- 7 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of an alternate golf club head
construction;
FIG. 9 is a rear elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIG.
8;
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 10 -- 10 of the
golf club head shown in FIG. 8;
FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of an alternate modification of
the golf club head of this invention; and
FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of another alternate
modification of the golf club of this invention.
Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1 to 7, the
golf club 10 comprises a tubular shaft 28 having a hand grip 32 at
the upper end of the shaft and the novel golf club head 12 at the
other end of the shaft. The golf club head is attached to the shaft
by a concentric coupling element 30. The club head which is
composed of metal can be produced by well known casting, or
investment casting techniques. The club head has a heel 35, a toe
34 and a striking face 14 with a leading lower edge 16, a sole
extending rearwardly from said leading lower edge between said toe
and heel and consisting of a first downwardly facing surface 17,
which is generally parallel to and immediately behind said lower
edge, having a lowermost portion 18; a second downwardly facing
concave surface 20 extends rearwardly from said first facing
surface and a third downwardly facing surface 24 having a lowermost
portion 22, said third surface extending rearwardly from said
second surface. The lowermost portion 18 of the first downwardly
facing surface can be considered to be a second lower edge at the
intersection of the first facing surface and the concave surface
and the lowermost portion 22 of the third downwardly facing surface
can be considered to be a third lower edge at the intersection of
the third facing surface with the concave surface. An optional
feature of the club head is a groove 38 by which the weight of the
club head is controlled by varying the depth of the groove; said
groove extending upwardly from said third surface to the uppermost
portion of the striking face.
In essence, the novel sole of my golf club head comprises a lofted
striking face with a rear side and a leading lower edge on said
face; a toe; a heel; and a sole extending rearwardly from the lower
edge between the toe and heel to provide a first downwardly facing
surface generally parallel to and immediately behind the lower
leading edge, with a flanged portion extending rearwardly from said
rear side. The flanged portion which extends rearwardly from the
rear side, comprises a second and third downwardly facing surface
said second surface being formed by a cavity between the first and
third surfaces. The cavity has a width which is greater than the
width of the first surface plus the width of the third surface
forward of the lowest portion of the third surface.
The ratio of the width of the cavity to the sum of the width of the
first and third surfaces is 2:1 to 10:1 or more and preferably 3:1
to 8:1 and most preferred 3:1 to 5:1.
The club head is attached to the shaft by a cylindrical shank 26
extending from the heel of the club which has a hollow portion 40
for being adapted to the shaft.
The striking face contains a plurality of grooves 26 which assist
imparting spin to a golf ball 15 which has been struck.
FIG. 1 shows the action of a lofted embodiment of the golf club of
this invention through sand and in phantom from the club before
striking the ball and after striking the ball. The leading edge of
the moving club head meets the ground before lower edge 22. The
leading edge and lower edge 22 of the golf club prior to, during,
and after striking the golf ball forms path A and B as arcs of two
concentric circles. Preferable, at about the middle of the striking
face, the angle formed by a line passing through the leading edge
perpendicular to the golf club shaft and the line drawn from the
leading edge and edge 22 forms an angle a of up to about
25.degree., preferably in the range of 7.degree. to 15.degree., and
most preferred is an angle in the range of 7.degree. to
12.degree..
Restated another way, a line drawn in a plane perpendicular to a
center portion of said face from the lowermost portion of the third
surface to the lower leading edge with the shaft when viewed
rearwardly forms an obtuse angle .alpha. shown in FIG. 11 which is
within the range of 90.degree. to 115.degree. more or less when
viewed rearwardly, and preferably 90.degree. to 105.degree. and
most preferred 92.degree. to 95.degree..
In FIG. 7, the concavity is described distance e from the bottom of
the concavity to a line joining edges 18 and 22 and the distance d
between 18 and 22. Preferably, the ratio of d to e is 4 to 1 to 15
to 1 and most preferred 6:1 to 10:1. The length of the distance d
preferably is 0.5 to 1.5 inches or longer and most preferred 0.75
to 1.25 inches.
The concave surface on the sole of the club can be any section of a
quadric or conic surfaces of revolution provided the longitudinal
axis of the surface lies essentially parallel to the leading edge.
The second surface, for example, can be the top portion of a
hemisphere, a spheroid, an ellipsoid, and a sphere or a spheroid
cut with a cylinder or a series of cylinders or a curved cylinder
to form a quadric surface or a conic surface of revolution. The
surface when it is a section of a cylinder is positioned so that
the longitudinal axis of the cylinder lies essentially parallel to
the lower leading edge. Alternately, the longitudinal of the
cylinder can be curved with the center of curvature lying at a
point behind the striking face of the golf club. Thus the surface
as showing in FIG. 5 is a section of a cylinder and in FIG. 4 and
FIG. 7 the surface is an ellipsoid. In FIG. 7, the cross-sectional
surface of the club head is shown as 42.
In FIG. 8 to 10 the golf club head 12-A shows the modification of
the invention where the concave surface is an ellipsoid. The club
head consists of a shank 26-A, having a hollow portion 40-A for
connection with the golf club shaft, a toe 34-A, a striking face
14-A, with a leading edge 16-A, a sole extending rearwardly from
said leading lower edge between the toe and heel and consisting of
a first downwardly facing surface 17-A which is generally parallel
to and immediately behind the lower edge and having a lowermost
portion 18-A, a second downwardly facing concave surface 20-A
extending rearwardly from said first facing surface and a third
downwardly facing surface 24-A having a lowermost portion 22-A
extending rearwardly from the second surface. Optionally, the club
can have a weight compensating groove 38-A which extends from the
uppermost portion of the third surface to the uppermost portion of
the striking face, a cross-sectional surface of the club 42-A.
The relationship of the various surfaces to each other in the
alternate embodiment shown in FIG. 8, 40 and 11 are the same as
described above for the club described in FIG. 1 -7.
The modification of the golf club in this invention for a less
lofted club 12-C is shown in FIG. 12 comprising a shank 26-C, a toe
34-C, a striking face 14-C with a lower leading edge 16-C, with a
sole extending rearwardly from said leading lower edge between said
toe and heel and consisting of a first downwardly facing surface
17-C which is generally parallel to and immediately behind said
lower edge having a lowermost portion 18-C; a second downwardly
facing concave surface 20-C extends rearwardly from said first
facing surface and a third downwardly facing surface 24-C having a
lowermost portion 22-C extending rearwardly from said second
surface. The lowermost portion 18-C of the first downwardly facing
surface can be considered to be a second lower edge at the
intersection of the first facing surface and the concave surface
and the lowermost portion 22-C of the third downwardly facing
surface can be considered to be a third lower edge at the
intersection of the third facing surface with the concave surface.
An optional feature of the club head is a groove 38-C by which the
weight of the club head is controlled by varying the depth of the
groove; said groove extending upwardly from said third surface to
the uppermost portion of the striking face.
Another modification of the golf club is shown in FIG. 11
comprising a cylindrical shank 26-B, a toe 34-B, a striking face
14-B having a lower leading edge 16-B, a concave surface 20-B and a
third surface 24-B. FIG. 11 shows a golf club used for more lofted
shots than the club of FIG. 12, but less lofted than the club of
FIG. 7. Optionally, a weight compensating groove 38-B which can be
of varying depth, extends from the uppermost portion of the
lowermost portion of the third surface to the uppermost portion of
the rear side of the striking face.
The ratio of the width of the lower flange to the width of the flat
sole is 1:2 to 1:10 or greater and preferably 1:3 to 1:8 and most
preferred 1:3 to 1:6. The first and third surfaces have a width of
1/8 to 5/16 inch or more and preferably 3/8 to 1/4 inch, and are
not necessarily the same width.
The leading edge can be straight or curved, with the center of
curvature being located at a point behind the striking face. The
longitudinal axis of the concavity is essentially parallel to the
straight leading edge or to the tangent to the curved leading edge
at a point near the midpoint of the striking face.
By a golf club of the "iron" type it is meant the club consisting
of a metal head having the striking face related to the shaft that
it slopes upwardly and rearwardly when the sole of the club is
parallel to the ground and the shaft is held vertically.
The golf club of this invention with the novel golf club head
unexpectedly improves the accuracy of a person's golf game using
the same. It is believed that the design of my club, particularly
for the lofted clubs, can be used to more easily propel a golf ball
along a path of desired trajectory and distance because of the
improved dynamic stability of the head of the club in the media
upon which the golf ball rests and because of the minimization of
the rate of deceleration of the speed of the golf club head upon
entry into and passage through said media.
A sand wedge such as has been described herein has all the
embodiments required of the so-called pitching wedge. Conversely, a
pitching wedge to be effective need not have the embodiments
required of the sand wedge. United states Golf Association rules
require that a contestant carry no more than 14 clubs in his bag
during sanctioned tournament. Therefore, a club effective for both
pitching and sand is desirable. Such latitude is intended within
the scope of my invention. The foregoing detailed description has
been provided for clarity of understanding only and no unnecessary
limitations are to be understood therefrom. The invention is not
limited to the exact details shown and described for obvious
modifications will occur to those skilled in the art.
* * * * *