Abstract:
A golf putter has a head provided with spaced, upper and lower leading edges and a toe and heel presenting a club face for striking a golf ball. The face extends linearly substantially from the toe to the heel, and extends between the upper and lower edges of the head along an arc having a radius of approximately eighteen inches to provide consistent and predictable ball rolling characteristics.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of a prior filed, co-pending provisional application Ser. No. 61/010,388, filed Jan. 8, 2008, entitled TALL FACE PUTTER, and is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 12/349,212 filed Jan. 6, 2009. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates to a golf club putter head having a face or ball striking area geometrically configured to assist the golfer in accurate putting. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Putters used in the game of golf are available in various configurations and styles. A putter may have a degree of loft so as to lift the ball slightly off of the putting surface and send it rolling toward the intended target. Other putter heads may be configured to locate the strike zone at slightly above the equator of the ball so as to impart overspin or reduce or eliminate backspin. There are many configurations and styles, thereby providing the golfer with many choices of putter configuration from which to choose. 
         [0004]    Consistency from putt to putt, hole to hole and round to round is of the utmost importance and most beneficial to a golfer, and may depend on his or her choice of a putter. Some putters are designed with a flat striking surface with varying degrees of loft and a wide array of weighting schemes which give each putter a particular feel. If the ball if contacted with the hands ahead or forward of the ball during a stroke thereby causing a steeper angle of contact between the face of the putter and the ball, substantial backspin may be imparted to the ball and cause it to skip and possibly skew off of the intended line. The distance of the roll may also be affected. If the ball is contacted with the hands behind the ball or the putter has passed the bottom of its arc, loft may be imparted to the ball causing it to hop or skip as a result of backspin, resulting in inconsistent distance control. Consistency from putt to putt, therefore, is important to accurate putting and minimizing strokes on the green. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    In an embodiment of the present invention the aforementioned problem of maximizing consistency in the game of golf when the golfer reaches the green is addressed by providing a golf putter with a face design that is generally taller than conventional putters and has a slight curvature or radius from the top leading edge of the putter face sloping down to the lower edge or sole. 
         [0006]    In another aspect of the invention, the putter head presents a club face extending linearly from the toe to the heel of the face, and extending between upper and lower edges of the face along an arc having a radius of from approximately 9 to 35 inches, thereby providing consistent and predictable ball rolling characteristics. 
         [0007]    In another aspect of the invention, the face of the putter is tall in that its vertical height may be equal, or substantially so, to the diameter of a golf ball and thus is at least approximately one and three/eighths inches in height to thereby improve the probability that the putt will be struck on or close to the equator of the ball regardless of reasonable variations of swing arc, variation in the grass putting surface or the position of the hands either forward or rearward of the ball. 
         [0008]    A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a head of a putter with a face that extends linearly from the toe to the heel of the putter head or along a substantial portion thereof, and extends between upper and lower edges of the face along an arc having a preferred radius of approximately 18 inches from the top to the bottom of the ball-striking face, and an overall height of the face approximately equal to the diameter of the ball, resulting in a higher probability that the putt will be struck on or very close to the equator of the ball regardless of variations in the golfer&#39;s swing or hand position. 
         [0009]    Other advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of a putter provided with the putter head of the present invention, showing the putter in vertical orientation as in addressing a ball (not shown), the arrow at the bottom of  FIG. 1  defining the radius of curvature of the face of the putter head. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged side elevational view of the golf putter head of  FIG. 1  showing the toe of the putter head and a portion of the connecting shaft, the face of the head being shown in contact with a golf ball at address. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is an elevational view similar to  FIG. 2  but showing a second putter head configuration embodying the improvements of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a plan view of the putter head shown in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is an elevational view similar to  FIG. 3  but showing another geometrical configuration of a putter head employing a striking surface in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of the putter head shown in  FIG. 5 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0016]    Referring initially to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an embodiment of a putter for the game of golf has a shaft  12  provided with the usual grip  14  at its upper end portion and a club head  16  at its lower or outer end configured in accordance with the present invention. The club head  16  is shown in detail in  FIG. 2  as viewed facing the golfer and shows the relationship of the head  16  to a golf ball  18  resting on a surface  20 , which it should be understood is the playing surface of a green. The club head  16  presents a body  22  having a bottom surface that presents the sole  24  of the club which is flat and rests on the surface  20  behind the ball  18  when the golfer is addressing the ball  18  and preparing to putt. The head  16  is joined to the shaft  12  by an offset hosel  28  which connects the lower end of shaft  12  to the club head  16  at a top surface  26  thereof. 
         [0017]    As is apparent in  FIG. 2 , the body  22  of club head  16  presents a curved face  30  which, at address, contacts the ball  18  at a center point substantially equidistant between the sole  24  and top surface  26  of the club head. As seen in  FIG. 2  viewed from the toe of the club at a right angle to the face  30 , the face extends from the top surface  26  to the sole  24  along an arc having a radius of approximately 18 inches and thus deviates upwardly and downwardly from the perpendicular illustrated by broken line  32 . As a result of this geometry, the putter of the present invention improves the probability that the putt will be struck on or very close to the equator of the ball  18  regardless of reasonable variations of swing arc, sole to putting surface distance or position of the hands either forward or rearward of the ball when contact is made. Additionally, the vertical height of the head  16  at address is equal, or substantially equal, to the diameter of the golf ball as illustrated in  FIG. 2  to improve the probability that the putt will be struck on or close to the equator of the ball regardless of variations of swing arc, the grass putting surface or the position of the hands either forward or rearward of the ball. 
         [0018]    The curvature of the face  30  is illustrated in  FIG. 1  by the broken line  34  which represents an arc having the preferred radius of 18 inches. The 18-inch radius is illustrated by a radial line  36  in  FIG. 1  extending from a center point  38  to the surface presented by the club face  30 . Although the 18-inch radius is preferred, a radius within an optimum range of 16 to 20 inches may be selected depending on the putting stroke of a particular golfer. 
         [0019]    Other putter head configurations embodying the improvements of the present invention are shown in  FIGS. 3-6 . The putter head of  FIGS. 3 and 4  presents an arcuate face  40  from top to bottom as described above with respect to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , but employs a low profile body  42  behind face  40  to provide a lighter-weight club head. A hosel  44  provides a connection for a shaft (not shown) as in the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The face  40  extends linearly from a toe  46  to a heel  48  of the putter head to assure that the ball will maintain the line desired by the player, and thus it is not required that the ball be struck at the center of the face to follow the line desired by the player. Although in the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4  the face  40  extends linearly from toe to heel, the advantages of the club configuration of the present invention are also obtained if a substantial portion of the center of the club face is linearly aligned at a right angle to the intended path of the ball. As described above with respect to the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the face  40  is arcuate from top to bottom as may be appreciated from  FIG. 3 , extending from an upper edge  50  to a lower edge  52  at the sole. As in the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the arc presented by the face  40  as seen in  FIG. 3  has a radius of curvature that extends completely from the upper edge  50  to the lower edge  52 . Accordingly, the arcuate configuration is maintained and consistent over the entire club face from toe  46  to heel  48  or, as noted above but not shown, maintained over a sufficient portion of the toe to the heel distance to ensure that the vertically arcuate, horizontally straight face  40  presents a broad striking surface which is consistent over the toe to heel striking area. 
         [0020]    Another exemplary embodiment of a putter head as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  and is characterized by a heavier body configuration having a base  54  and added weight at the toe and heel behind the face as shown at  56  and  58 . The club face  40   a  is identical to face  40  in the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The other components of the putter head are denoted by the same reference numerals as in the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4  with the addition of “a” notation. A commonality of all three embodiments is the striking surface configuration presented by face  30  in the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , face  40  in the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 and 4 , and face  40   a  in the embodiment of  FIGS. 5 and 6 . In each of the described embodiments, the preferred radius of curvature of the face  30 ,  40  and  40   a  is 18 inches in a vertical plane. As viewed horizontally from heel to toe, the face extends linearly as described above to present a broad striking surface and a relatively tall face to improve the probability that the putt will be struck on or close to the equator of the ball regardless of reasonable variations of swing arc, sole to putting surface distance or the position of the hands which may be either in front or behind the ball when contact is made. 
         [0021]    It should be understood that while certain forms of this invention have been illustrated and described, it is not limited thereto except insofar as such limitations are included in the following claims.