Iron or wood golf club

The present invention discloses an iron or wood golf club head 10 designed to strike a golf ball so that it flies straight in a desired direction. The golf club head 10 consists generally of a striking surface 11, including a leading edge 12, and a hosel member 15, which provides a socket for insertion of a shaft member 19. The hosel member 15 extends from the striking surface 11 at a substantially perpendicular angle relative to the leading edge 12.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates generally to a golf club head, and more 
particularly, to a golf club head designed to strike a golf ball so that 
it flies straight in a desired direction. 
2. Description of the Art 
A typical set of golf clubs includes a putter and several clubs that are 
generally referred to as "woods" and "irons." A golfer selects a 
particular club for a given shot according to the distance to the hole and 
the "lie" of the golf ball. Each club in the set is designed for hitting 
the ball a particular distance and from a particular lie. However, in 
striking the golf ball, many golfers have difficulty consistently hitting 
the ball straight in a desired direction, and this difficulty may be a 
function of the particular structure of the conventional golf club head. 
A conventional golf club head 50 is shown in FIG. 5. The conventional golf 
club head 50 includes a striking surface 51, having a leading edge 52. A 
toe member 53 and a heel member 54 are integrally connected to opposite 
ends of the striking surface 51, and a hosel member 55 is integrally 
connected to the heel member 54. The golf club head 50 is said to have a 
face 56, which comprises the visible portions of the striking surface 51, 
the toe member 53, and the heel member 54, as shown in FIG. 5. The hosel 
member 55, which provides a socket into which a shaft member 59 is 
inserted, extends from the heel member 54 at an oblique angle relative to 
the leading edge 52. 
The configuration of the conventional golf club head makes it difficult to 
effectively transfer force through the club to the golf ball. In 
particular, the force transmitted from the golfer's swing tends to 
distribute unevenly across the face 56 of the club, with greater force in 
the heel member 54 and less force in the toe member 53. The uneven 
distribution of force and resulting moment forces make it difficult to 
control the orientation of the club head 50, and as a result, the ball 
tends to deviate from the desired direction upon impact and/or during 
flight, causing shots that may be termed "push", "pull", "slice", and 
"hook". 
Attempts have been made to compensate for the uneven distribution of moment 
forces, but without success. Such attempts have included adding weight to 
the toe member 53, changing the configuration of the club head, increasing 
the weight and rotational moment of the club shaft, and/or adjusting the 
grip on the club. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a golf club head having a striking surface, 
including a leading edge, and a hosel member connected to the striking 
surface and extending substantially perpendicularly from the striking 
surface relative to the leading edge. The substantially orthogonal 
relationship between the leading edge of the striking surface and the 
hosel member and thus, the club shaft, gives rise to substantially uniform 
forces across the face of the club head, giving the golfer greater control 
over the club and increasing the likelihood that the ball will fly 
straight in a desired direction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, a preferred embodiment of a golf club head according 
to the present invention is designated at 10. The golf club head 10 
includes a striking surface 11 having a leading edge 12. A toe member 13 
and a heel member 14 are integrally connected to opposite ends of the 
striking surface 11, and a hosel member 15 is integrally connected to the 
heel member 14. The golf club head 10 has a face 16, which comprises the 
visible portions of the striking surface 11, the toe member 13, and the 
heel member 14, as shown in FIG. 1. The hosel member 15, which provides a 
socket into which a shaft member 19 is inserted, extends from the heel 
member 14 at an approximately perpendicular angle relative to the leading 
edge 12. As shown in FIG. 6, the shaft member 19 includes a first shaft 
portion 21 and a second shaft portion 22, which define an obtuse angle 
therebetween. The first shaft portion 21 is secured to and extends from 
the hosel member 15 substantially perpendicular to the leading edge 12. 
The obtuse angle or bend in the shaft member 19 is such that the second 
shaft portion 22 extends away from the club head 10. 
The substantially orthogonal relationship between the hosel member 15 and 
the leading edge 12 increases the likelihood that the ball will fly 
straight in the desired direction when struck. Applicant offers the 
following paragraphs as explanation. 
Referring to FIG. 2, 
F.sub.1 =the horizontal component of centrifugal force F in the club head 
10 when the golf club is swung downward "through" a golf ball; 
h=the height of the hosel member 15 as measured relative to the leading 
edge 12; and 
l=the length of leading edge 12 as measured relative to center line of 
hosel member 15; and 
##EQU1## 
F.sub.a =the downward directed force generated at the leading edge 12 
Varying 1 to measure the force at points along the leading edge 12, 
##EQU2## 
EQU F.sub.1 =F cos .theta. and 
EQU M=h.multidot.F.sub.1 =h.multidot.F cos .theta.. 
At the O point in FIG. 2, 
EQU M=h (=o).multidot.F cos .theta.=0 
Referring to FIG. 3, 
##EQU3## 
EQU M=F.sub. .multidot.h.sub.1 =f.sub.1 .multidot.l.sub.1 
##EQU4## 
Provided, i=1--7 (such that 1 is varied to correspond to points along the 
leading edge 12); and 
f.sub.i =downward force along the leading edge 12. 
##EQU5## 
As shown in FIG. 4, which plots the relative downward force along points 
f.sub.1 -f.sub.7 of the leading edge 12 for hosel members is varying in 
height from 3 cm to 13 cm, there are relatively constant downward forces 
along the leading edge 12 of the golf club head 10 of the present 
invention. The relatively consistent downward forces act to limit any 
tendency of the golf club to twist. In comparison, there are no such 
downward forces on the leading edge of the conventional club head (labeled 
as X in FIG. 4). 
Referring to FIG. 6, the center of an imaginary cylinder A passes through 
the intersection of the center line of the hosel member 15 and the 
extension of the leading edge 12, such that ANGLE R.sup.1 is equivalent to 
ANGLE R. The moment shown about the imaginary cylinder A corresponds to 
the moment upon the club head 10 generated by swinging the club. The 
almost perpendicular relationship between the hosel member 15 and the 
leading edge 12 causes the moment force to be distributed over the entire 
golf club head 10. 
A golf club fitted with the golf club head 10 of the present invention is 
less likely to twist in the golfer's hands due to the moment force 
generated over the entire golf club head 10, and the relatively evenly 
distributed downward forces, which press against the ground substantially 
uniformly across the leading edge 12. Thus, a golfer using such a club is 
more likely to strike the ball in such a manner that the ball flies 
straight in a desired direction. 
While this invention has been described with regard to a preferred 
embodiment, it is not to be limited thereby, but only by the appended 
claim.