Dual shaft putter

The present invention entails a dual shaft putter having a putting head and a pair of shafts extending generally upwardly therefrom. The shafts include lower sections that are secured to the putter head in general transverse alignment. In addition, the shafts include upper parallel sections which lie in a plane, that when extended downwardly, intersects the center of mass of the putting head.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to the design of golf clubs and more 
particularly to the design of a putter having dual shafts. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Over the years, the sport of golf has continuously grown in popularity, and 
at present the sport is attracting new players at record pace. This rapid 
growth has particularly increased membership in the ranks of novice to 
intermediate players, which generally desire to improve the their skill 
level so as to become better players and be more competitive on the golf 
course. 
The nature and numerous subtle facets of golf present the amateur player 
with a daunting list of skills to build and refine. One aspect of the game 
in particular, putting, tends to be a problem area for many individuals 
who play the game. In response to the problematic nature of the putting 
game for so many golfers, there have been a number of innovations 
involving putter designs, all with the general intent of improving a 
player's putting game. One of the most widely accepted theories of putting 
teaches that it is desirable for the underlying mechanics of the putting 
stroke to mimic that of a simple mechanical pendulum. Of particular 
interest and relevance, with regard to this objective, is the advent of 
dual shafted putters such as those previously disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 
5,308,073 and 5,553,858. As discussed in these patents, the fundamental 
advantage of a dual shafted putter design involves the ease with which it 
facilitates and promotes a true pendulum type putting stroke. This ability 
is directly attributable to the fact that the use of a separate shaft for 
each gripping hand greatly reduces the tendency of the golfer's wrists to 
break during the normal course of a putting stroke. Hence, the ability to 
prevent or reduce wrist breaking tendency during a typical putting stroke 
will likely lead to a more accurate and a generally more consistent 
putting game. 
While the use of dual shafts can certainly reduce the tendency towards 
wrist breakage, there are other considerations in the design of a putter 
which can also affect its efficiency. Balance of the club with respect to 
the putting face, for instance, directly affects the ability of the club 
to resist rotation upon striking a golf ball, and hence reduces the 
tendency for the ball to be pushed or pulled from the intended course. 
From the perspective of an improvement minded golfer, a putter design which 
maximizes or optimizes this inherent property of the club which helps 
resist the wrist breaking tendency during a putting stroke is highly 
desirable. Therefore, there is and continues to be need for a practical 
and economical putter which optimally assists the golfer in maintaining 
proper wrists orientation during a typical putting stroke for the purpose 
of helping the golfer attain and reap the benefits of a true pendulum type 
putting swing. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention entails a dual shaft putter that is face balanced. 
Furthermore, the club is relatively simple in design and consequently can 
be manufactured economically. Generally, the putter of the present 
invention comprises a club head having a putting face, and a pair of 
generally parallel shafts which are secured to the club head in transverse 
alignment relative to a longitudinal axis of the club head. As a 
consequence of careful shaping, weighting, and orientation of the above 
mentioned club components, when assembled and balanced horizontally at a 
point on one shaft, such that the shafts overlie one another, the face of 
the club head will assume and maintain a horizontal position. The ability 
of the club head face to assume and maintain such an orientation, when 
balanced in the manner described, indicates that the putter is face 
balanced. 
Also, another feature of applicant's dual shaft putter entails securing the 
respective shafts in transverse alignment relative to the longitudinal 
axis of the club head of the putter. More particularly, the club head 
includes a heel portion and the two shafts that are connected to the 
putter head are connected in general transverse alignment as opposed, for 
example, to being connected in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the 
putter head. By the shafts being connected in transverse alignment, the 
putter head is more easily controlled and generally resists twisting upon 
impact with the golf ball which can result in the golf ball being pushed 
or pulled with respect to a target line. 
In one particular embodiment, the putting club of the present invention 
comprises a club head having a putting face, a heel portion, a toe 
portion, longitudinal axis, and a center of mass. The putting club is 
further comprised of a pair of generally parallel shafts which are 
configured so as to have a lower section and an upper section. The lower 
section of the shafts are secured to the heel portion of the club head in 
transverse alignment relative to the longitudinal axis of the club head, 
with each of the lower sections extending from the club head generally 
upwardly, outwardly, and toward the toe portion, while the upper sections 
extend generally upward from the lower sections but are angled so as to 
extend back over the heel portion of the club head. Furthermore, the upper 
sections of the shafts are disposed in generally parallel relationship and 
define a plane that, when projected downward, generally intercepts the 
center of mass of the club head. As a consequence of these structural and 
material properties, when assembled and balanced horizontally at a point 
on one shaft, such that the shafts overlie one another, the face of the 
club head will assume and maintain a horizontal position, thus indicating 
it's inherent face balanced character. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a face 
balanced putter that is relatively simple in design, and which can be 
manufactured economically. 
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent 
and obvious from a study of the following description and the accompanying 
drawings which are merely illustrative of such invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
According to the present invention, a dual shaft, face balanced putter is 
shown in FIGS. 1-8 and indicated generally by the numeral 10 therein. The 
putter 10 comprises a putter head generally indicated by the numeral 12, 
which includes a putting face 14 for striking a golf ball, a heel region 
16, toe region 18, and a sole 20. Disposed generally behind the putting 
face 14 and extending between the heel and toe regions 16 and 18 is a back 
cavity 22. As shown specifically in FIGS. 1, 5 and 7, formed in the heel 
region 16 of the putter head 12 are a pair of shaft appetures 24 which are 
disposed transversely to a longitudinal axis 26, wherein this longitudinal 
axis 26 extends generally between the heel and toe regions 16 and 18 of 
the putter head 12. Also contained within the putter head 12 is an 
imaginary region referred to as the center of mass 28, shown specifically 
in FIG. 5, which is a function of the material and geometric shape of the 
putter head 12. 
Putter 10 further comprises a pair of spread apart shafts 30, each of which 
contain an upper main section 30a and a lower main section 30b, as shown 
in FIGS. 1-4. Each shaft 30 is formed such that the upper main section 30a 
and lower main section 30b are generally angled with respect to one 
another. The upper main sections 30a of the shafts 30 are adapted to 
receive a connector 32, which serves to connect and maintain a constant 
spatial separation of the individual shafts 30 as illustrated in FIG. 3. 
Also as illustrated in the drawings, the upper sections 30a of the shafts 
30 include a conventional hand grip. 
When assembled, the lower main sections 30b of the shafts 30 are secured 
within the shaft appetures 24 formed in the heel region 16 of the putter 
head 12. As a consequence of the transverse positioning of the appeture 
pair 24 with respect to the longitudinal axis 26 of the putter head 12, 
the secured shafts 30 extend from the putter head 12 in an orientation 
that is also generally transverse to the longitudinal axis 26 of the 
putter head 12 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7. 
As depicted in FIG. 6, the lower main sections 30b of the shafts 30 are 
disposed relative the putter head 12 in such a manner so as to generally 
extend upwardly and towards the toe region 18 of the putter head 12. In 
doing so, the lower main sections 30b form a toe angle TA with respect to 
a normal reference line 42 projected upwardly from the heel region 16. In 
addition to extending upwardly and towards the toe region 18, the lower 
main sections 30b also extend outwardly with one shaft oriented so as to 
extend outward and generally away from the putter face 14 while the other 
shaft extends outward and generally away from the back cavity 22, as seen 
in FIG. 7. As a consequence of this orientation, each of the lower main 
sections 30b form an outer angle OA with respect to the normal reference 
43 projected upwardly from the heel region 16. Reference line 43 and the 
other reference lines referred to herein are shown normal to the 
longitudinal axis 26. 
As shown in FIG. 6, the upper main sections 30a of the shafts 30 are also 
angled with respect to the normal reference line 45 projected upwardly 
from the heel region 16. In this case, the upper main sections 30a extend 
generally upwardly and back over the heel region 16 of the putter head 12. 
The angle formed between the normal reference line 45 and the upper main 
section 30a is referred to as a back angle BA. In practice, this back 
angle BA is formed so as orient the upper main sections 30a in such a 
manner that a plane 50 (FIG. 5) formed by the two upper main sections 30a, 
when projected downwardly towards to putter head 12, generally intersects 
the center of mass 28 of the putter head 12. By doing such, the putter 10 
is said to be faced balanced, that is, balanced with respect to the face 
14 of the putter head 12. 
FIG. 8 illustrates a practical demonstration of the face balanced property 
described above. In this case, the putter 10 is balanced horizontally at a 
fulcrum point 60 on one of the shafts 30 such that the shafts 30 overlie 
each other. Once balanced in this manner, the putter head 12 will assume 
and maintain a horizontal position, thereby indicating that the face 14 of 
the putter head 12 is balanced. 
Therefore, based on the above discussion and associated drawings, it is 
appreciated that there are several design factors which influence the face 
balanced property of the putter 10. These factors include, but are not 
limited to, the shape and weight of the putter head 12, the shape, weight 
and relative orientation of the shafts 30, and the position and relative 
orientation of the shaft appetures 24 on the putter head 12. In the way of 
examples, the putter 10 of the present invention utilizes a pair of shafts 
30 wherein the upper main sections 30a are generally parallel. Furthermore 
the shafts 30 attach to the putter head 12 in a generally transverse 
orientation about the heel portion 16, with a toe angle TA of 
approximately 7-13 degrees, an outer angle OA of approximately 2-8 
degrees, and a back angle BA of approximately 15-25 degrees. 
In the case of the present putter design, it has been found that a putter 
having the above design and characteristics will yield a face balanced 
putter. Again, the face balance property being discussed herein is 
basically illustrated in FIG. 8. There, the putter 10 is oriented 
horizontally with one shaft 30 being disposed over the other shaft 30. The 
entire putter 10 is balanced by the fulcrum point 60 resting appropriately 
under one of the shafts 30 such that the entire putter 10 remains 
generally horizontal. Once this is achieved, the entire putter head 12 
also remains generally horizontal. That is, the putter head 12 does not 
rotate under these circumstances such that it extends generally up and 
down. The putter head 12 remains generally horizontal. 
In addition, as already discussed, the plane of the upper sections 30a of 
the shafts 30 when projected downwardly intersects the center of mass 28 
of the putter head 12. That indicates that the putter head 12 is generally 
balanced and in the case of the present invention, is balanced such that 
the central ball striking area of the putter face 14 is aligned with the 
center of mass 28 of the putter head 12. This is to be contrasted with 
some putters wherein the club head or putter face is not balanced, but 
where the center of mass is disposed in an offset relationship so as to 
reside at or near the toe or heel portions of the club. 
The advantage of the putter 10 of the present invention is that by 
utilizing the dual shaft 30 and balancing the putter head 12 in the matter 
described above, the putter 10 does not have an inherent tendency to 
rotate when the club face 14 strikes the golf ball in the central area 
thereof. Thus, this assists the golfer in putting the golf ball along a 
target line as opposed to the club head having a tendency to twist and 
angle such that the golf ball is either pushed or pulled relative to the 
target line. 
The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways 
than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and 
essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are, 
therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not 
restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency 
range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.