Putter having circular level

Abstract

The putter has a head with a thin front wall and an arcuate bottom wall. A circular level is mounted on a support which is cantilevered rearwardly from the front wall.

Description

BACKGROUND

The invention pertains generally to the art of games and more particularly to the game of golf.

Putting is a very important part of the game of golf. Various apparatus have been previously provided to aid a golfer in his putting. For example, levels have been provided on putter heads as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,306,618, issued Feb. 28, 1967 to J. L. Liljequist. The purpose of that level was to indicate the slope of the green and this necessitated a flat bottom for the putter head. The flat bottom, however, sometimes interfered with the putting action. Most putters are constructed with a face that is disposed at a rearwardly inclined angle of 2.degree. or 3.degree. from the vertical and with considerable mass behind the face at the center of percussion.

SUMMARY

The present invention relates to a golf club, and more particularly to an improved putter.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved putter with a bottom wall shaped to have minimized drag during putting.

Another object is to provide an improved putter having an upright front wall and a level to assure that the front wall is always positioned upright for putting operation.

Still another object is to provide an improved putter with a relatively thin front wall.

Yet another object is to provide an improved putter in accordance with the foregoing object but with a center of percussion at the center of the head.

It is another object to provide an improved putter in accordance with the foregoing object and with a unique mounting arrangement for a level at the center of the head.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved putter with a two-dimensional level to maintain the face at a pre-selected angle to the horizontal and the shaft at a pre-selected angle to the vertical.

These, and other objects and advantages of the present invention, will become apparent as the same becomes better understood from the following detailed descriptions when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a putter constructed in accordance with the present invention and having portions of the shaft broken away;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the putter head;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the putter head;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 4--4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the putter head.

DESCRIPTION

Reference is now made more particularly to the drawings which illustrate the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention and wherein similar reference characters indicate the same parts throughout the several views.

In FIG. 1 there is shown an improved putter, generally designated 10, including a shaft 12 having a handle 14 at one end and a putter head 16 at the other end. The putter head 16 is preferably made of brass and includes a shaft mounting block 17 which has an opening 18 into which the shaft is received.

As best seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, the putter head 16 has a relatively thin front wall 22 which defines an elongate, planar, ball-engaging face 24 at the front side of the putter. In the embodiment illustrated, face 24 lies in a plane parallel to the axis of the shaft 12. A bottom wall 26 is generally of uniform thickness and has an arcuate lower surface 28 to minimize the drag while putting. Lower surface 28 is disposed 90.degree. from the ball-engaging face 24, as shown in FIG. 4. As can be seen from the drawing, walls 24 and 26 form an L-shaped cross-section in the central area of the putter head without any material behind the central area of the front wall 22. This means that the location where the ball would ordinarily be struck is a thin front wall without any backing. It has been found that this configuration provides a greater roll to the ball caused either by the vertical front wall or by a slight resiliency in the front wall 22 upon impact. In any event, the thin front wall 22 provides a more pleasing sound upon striking a ball than the dull "thud" provided by a putter with considerable mass behind the point of impact.

To provide sufficient mass to the putter head 16, first and second members 32, 34 are provided at either end of the putter head. In the preferred embodiment illustrated, members 32, 34 are generally cylindrical in shape and are located above the bottom wall 26 and behind the front wall 22. Member 32 is alongside shaft mounting block 17 as shown on the drawing. These members are formed integrally with the walls 22, 26 and extend only to the back side of the bottom wall 26 and to the top edge of the front wall 22. The size of members 32, 34 and the location of the opening 18 is selected so that the center of percussion is at the longitudinal center of the putter head 16. The center of percussion is indicated by the arrow 36 shown in FIG. 2.

A circular level, generally designated 40 is mounted on the putter head 16 and is operatively aligned with the ball-engaging face 24 to indicate when the face lies in a vertical plane. The level 40 is also operatively aligned with the shaft 12 to indicate when the axis of the shaft is at a pre-selected angle to the vertical, usually 15.degree.. The level 40 may be constructed in any manner to achieve an accurate circular level, and may, for example, be constructed in accordance with the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,920, issued Nov. 6, 1962 to L. A. Johnson. Level 40 has four ceramic cross-lines 41-44 arranged in a tic-tac-toe configuration. In this manner, lines 41 and 42 cooperate with a bubble 46 to indicate when the axis of the shaft 12 is at said pre-selected angle. Similarly, lines 43 and 44 cooperate with the bubble 46 to indicate when the ball-engaging face 24 lies in a vertical plane.

In accordance with the present invention, the level 40 has a diameter of 15 to 151/2 millimeters and a sensitivity of 180 minutes per one-tenth inches movement of the bubble 46. The cross-lines 41-44 define a centering square have a dimension of 0.187 inch on each side. Similar levels have a sensitivity in the range of about 100 to 240 minutes per one-tenth inch of movement are also suitable for use in the present invention.

The level 40 is preferably mounted at the top of the front wall so that the bubble 46 is about at the same level as the top of the golf ball to be putted. To mount the level 40, a rearwardly extending support 52 is cantilevered rearwardly from the top of the front wall 22 at the longitudinal center thereof. Support 52 is ring-shaped and encompasses the body of the level 40. Preferably, the support 52 extends no further rearwardly than the back side of the bottom wall 26 and may terminate frontwardly thereof as in the illustrated embodiment.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has herein been illustrated and described, this has been done by way of illustration and not limitation, and the invention should not be limited except as required by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An improved putter including a shaft having one end adapted to be held by a golfer, and a putter head fixed to the other end of the shaft, characterized by said putter head having:

a front wall defining an elongate, generally planar, ball-engaging face;

a bottom wall having a convex arcuate lower surface from the toe to heel portion of the club head;

said walls having an L-shaped cross-section in the central area of the putter head intermediate the ends thereof, without any material contiguous to the central area of the back side of the front wall and without any reinforcing flange at the top of the front wall;

an enlargement at each end of the putter head above the bottom wall and behind the front wall to provide mass to the club head, each enlargement extending upwardly approximately to the top of the front wall;

a shaft mounting block between said enlargements above the bottom wall and behind the front wall;

the shaft being fixed to the shaft mounting block at a location so that the center of percussion is at the midpoint of the ball-engaging face;

a circular level having a sensitivity in the range of about 100 to 240 minutes per one-tenth inch of movement, the circular level being operatively aligned with the ball-engaging face to indicate when the face lies at a pre-selected angle to the horizontal and with the shaft to indicate when the axis of the shaft is at a pre-selected angle to the vertical; and

a rearwardly-extending support cantilevered rearwardly from the top of the front wall for holding the circular level at said alignment and for permanently mounting the circular level on the putter head behind the front wall adjacent the top thereof and midway between the ends of the putter head, and the support having a width substantially less than the length of the top of the front wall.

2. An improved putter as set forth in claim 1 wherein the circular level has cross-lines in a cross-hatched configuration.

3. An improved putter as set forth in claim 1 wherein the ball-engaging face lies in a plane parallel to the axis of the shaft; and arcuate lower surface of the bottom wall is disposed 90.degree. from the ball-engaging face.