Abstract:
A golf club assembly includes a pivoting club head that facilitates the driving of a golf ball by virtue of pivoting motion and the effects of angular momentum. A hinge pivot assembly connects the club head with the hosel.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The invention pertains to the field of golf clubs and their use, and, particularly, to mechanisms for coupling a shaft with a golf club head. More particularly, the mechanisms permit the club head to rotate or pivot with respect to the shaft.  
           [0003]    2. Statement of the Problem  
           [0004]    Golf technology has progressed over the last few decades to provide additional materials and structures that enhance or facilitate the driving of golf balls through the use of clubs that are known as woods or irons. For example, driving distances may be enhanced through the use of long clubs having shafts made of graphite composite materials and large, lightweight club heads. In other instances, the club head design may be altered as, for example, in the addition of an elongated goose neck feature to the hosel region to increase an axial moment of inertia, as taught by GB 2,233,909, or the addition of a springy rod proximate the hosel, as taught by US 695,579.  
           [0005]    A particular problem that golfers face is the problem of maintaining the club striking face in a perpendicular plane with respect to movement of the golf club head. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,617 teaches the use of a pivoting hosel assembly that permits the club head to spin about the axis of elongation in the shaft. The pivoting motion is restrained by wires within the shaft to adjust the position of the club striking face. This manner of restraining club head motion is difficult to implement because the swing of every golfer is different and because the character of the wires may change with use.  
           [0006]    Continuing technological improvements have dramatically improved the capabilities of golfers, as compared to the days when a “wood” had a shaft made of wood. Nevertheless, these improvements have largely run their course, and there exists no prospect of obtaining substantial performance improvements from existing devices and materials.  
         SOLUTION  
         [0007]    The present invention overcomes the problems that are outlined above and advances the art by providing a new class of pivoting club head mechanism that derives advantage from angular momentum for improved driving capability while simultaneously using the principle of angular momentum to position the club striking face in a proper operational orientation with respect to the club shaft.  
           [0008]    The golf club assembly includes an elongated shaft, and a pivoting head assembly. The has a grip section at a first end and a second end remote from the first end. The pivoting head assembly includes a hosel having a socket coupled with the second end of the shaft leading to a first portion of a pivot assembly. The pivoting head assembly also includes a club head having a heel end and a second portion of the pivot assembly. The second portion of the pivot assembly is complimentary with the first portion of the pivot assembly for pivotal retention of the club head when the golf club is in use.  
           [0009]    When the pivot assembly is a hinge assembly, the pivot assembly has a single degree of freedom of motion relative to the hosel, i.e., motion occurs in an arc about the hinge pivot axis. This pivot axis is preferably found in the same plane as the axis of elongation in the shaft, but the pivot axis may also be skewed or offset with respect to this plane to compensate for bending dynamics in the club shaft as the shaft is swung and other design considerations. In other embodiments, a ball and socket pivot assembly may be used to provide two or even three degrees of freedom.  
           [0010]    The club head preferably includes a sole and a striking face. The sole preferably has a greater surface area than the striking face to enhance the effect of angular momentum of the club head as it is swung. Angular momentum is similarly enhanced by providing the second end of the club shaft remote from the grip section with an angular offset. The offset angle preferably ranges from about five to twenty degrees and is most preferably about fifteen degrees.  
           [0011]    The golf club assembly is intended for use according to a method comprising the steps of addressing a golf ball, and swinging the shaft to connect the club head with the golf ball while permitting the club head to pivot. The method further includes monitoring progress of the golf ball as it proceeds for at least fifty, one hundred or two hundred yards as a direct consequence of the step of swinging the shaft. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 depicts an elevational view of a golf club assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 provides additional detail from a front perspective concerning a preferred pivoting head assembly for use in the golf club assembly shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 depicts the pivoting head assembly of FIG. 2 from a top perspective; and  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 depicts the golf club assembly of FIG. 1 in use as a golfer swings the golf club assembly against a golf ball. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]    The preferred embodiments that are shown herein are nonlimiting in nature and are shown for purposes of illustrating preferred features and aspects of the invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1 depicts a golf club assembly  100  including an elongated flexible shaft  102  and a pivoting head assembly  104 . The shaft  102  itself may be any conventional shaft, but for purposes of illustrating a preferred example of one such shaft includes a first end having a grip section  106  and a second end  108  remote from the grip section  106 . The second end  108  may be straight, but is preferably provided with an angular offset section  110  having an angular offset axis  112  that deviates by an angle  0  from the axis of elongation  114  that is presented by the club assembly at rest. The angle θ may be any angle, and preferably ranges from five to twenty degrees. A range of ten to fifteen degrees is more preferred, and the most preferred angle is about fifteen degrees.  
         [0018]    The pivoting club head assembly  104  includes a hosel  116  and a club head  118  that are connected by a pivot assembly  120 . The offset section  110  and hosel  116  combine to displace the club head  118  a distance D from the axis of elongation  114  in the shaft  102 . The pivot assembly  120  may be any type of pivot, such as a ball and socket type of pivot having three degrees of rotational freedom, or the rotational freedom may be constrained, e.g., as by interference with hosel  116 , to have two or even one degree of rotational freedom with respect to the hosel  116 . In the most preferred embodiment, e.g., as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the pivot assembly  120  is a hinge pivot assembly presenting a pivot axis  122  that constrains the motion of club head  118  to a single degree of freedom, i.e., in a planar arc, with respect to hosel  116 . The pivot axis  122  is preferably parallel to the axis of elongation  114  in the shaft  102 , but the pivot axis  112  may also be obliquely oriented to accommodate, for example, downward flexure in the offset section  110  or the bending of shaft  102  generally while the shaft is being swung. The degree of offset, accordingly, will vary with the type of material from which the shaft  102  is made. .  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 provides additional detail with respect to the pivoting club head assembly  104 . A portion of the hosel  116  has been removed to reveal a socket  200  for receipt and binding engagement with the offset section  110 . The hosel  116  also has a first portion of the pivot assembly  120  which, as shown in FIG. 1, is a first hinge portion  202 . The first hinge portion  202  has a recess  204  for receiving a complimentary portion of club head  118  in the form of a second portion of the hinge assembly, namely, a second hinge portion  206 . The club head  118  includes a striking face  208  with lining  210  to prevent slippage of the club face when hitting a golf ball.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 depicts the pivoting cub head assembly  104  from a top perspective. The club head  118  is preferably formed as a pair of connected metal plates including the striking plate  300  and an underlying sole  302 . The sole  302  is flattened and occupies a greater surface area than does the striking plate  300  for long range driving applications. Alternatively, a metal-composite laminate may be used in place of a metal head. The striking face  208  of striking head  300  may be rotated at any angle to show more or less surface area of the striking surface  208 , as for example is conventionally done by canting the pitch in a progression of irons such as a four iron, a seven iron, and a pitching wedge.  
         [0021]    An optional, but preferred, spring detent assembly  306  may be provided to stabilize against motion of the club head  118  relative to the hosel  116 . Absence of the spring detent assembly  306  does not interfere with the operation of the club  102 , however, it may be disconcerting to some golfers that the club head is capable of wobbling and rattling within its arc of free rotation if the spring detent assembly is absent as the golfer manipulates the club. The spring should not be SO strong that it interferes with the club head motion that is shown below in FIG. 4.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 depicts club  102  in sequential movement in its intended environment of use, which is as the club is being such for effect against a golf ball. The effect of pivot assembly  120  upon the club head  118  is such that the plane of striking face  208  is perpendicular to the arc  400  of motion that the club head  118  occupies as the club  102  is swung. This perpendicularity exists at all points  402 ,  404 ,  406  and  408  on the arc, whether the club head  118  is accelerating with the concave configuration  410  of shaft  102  early in the swing or decelerating with the convex configuration  412  of shaft  102  late in the swing.  
         [0023]    Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing discussion presents the preferred embodiments only, and that elements of the discussion may be subjected to ordinary modifications by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of what is being taught. For example, the striking surface of club head  118  may be provided with any geometric shape, and the club head  118  may be forward weighted at a variety of locations according to this design to prevent excessive rotation when the club head  118  strikes a golf ball. Similarly, the configuration of the angular offset section  110  and hosel  116  may be varied to adjust the distance D according to club design specifications. Accordingly, the inventor hereby states his intention to rely upon the Doctrine of Equivalents to protect his full rights in the invention.