Patent Publication Number: US-8529363-B1

Title: Self-attaching golf putter aid

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of golf training devices, more specifically, an accessory that attaches onto the handle of a putter for use in practicing a smooth pendulum for a putting stroke. 
     Maintaining a true pendulum putting stroke is very important while on the putting green. A true pendulum will prevent a golfer from “pushing” the golf ball to either side of the hole. 
     B. Discussion of the Prior Art 
     As a preliminary note, it should be stated that there is an ample amount of prior art that deals with putter teaching aids. As will be discussed immediately below, no prior art discloses an apparatus that attaches itself onto the handle of a putter and of which aids in teaching a smooth pendulum putter swing; pivot point with respect to a bottom bracket; wherein the bottom bracket is responsible for securement of the accessory to the handle of the putter; wherein the pivot point enables the upper grip to rotate along a vertical plane, which aids in teaching a smooth pendulum used in a putter stroke; wherein an end user grabs the upper grip with a first hand while holding the putter handle in a second hand, and said end user performs a smooth pendulum stroke with said putter. 
     The Mundt et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,738) discloses an attachment for the hand of a human which is a freely, pivotally mounted handle located on a shaft extending from an elongated clamping member that is longitudinally movable to clamp the grip of the putter within a housing in which the grip is received. However, the attachment does not teach the use of an upper grip that is aligned above a bottom bracket and putter such that an end user holds a first hand upon the upper grip and a second hand upon the putter and bottom bracket in order to conduct a smooth pendulum with the putter. 
     The Monaco Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,630) discloses a device for controlling and stabilizing the gripping of a golf club comprising a handle that is clamped to the contentional grip of the golf club shaft. However, the device does not teach an accessory that attaches onto a putter handle and of which includes an upper grip that pivots about the putter to teach a pendulum stroke. 
     The Coombe Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,361) discloses a golf putter with an extension handle receiving an upper distal end of an associated golf putter. However, the golf putter includes the pivoting upper handle, and is not accessory that attaches, onto and disconnects from the handle of an existing putter. 
     The Mitchell et al. Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,199) discloses a golf training device comprising an attachment socket for attaching the device on top of a hand grip of a golf club. Again, the device does not teach the use of an upper grip that is aligned above a bottom bracket and putter such that an end user holds a first hand upon the upper grip and a second hand upon the putter and bottom bracket in order to conduct a smooth pendulum with the putter. 
     The Leonard Patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,056) discloses a device having a sleeve for attaching onto the golf club for training a golfer to swing a golf club using his/her shoulders rather than wrists. However, the device is directed to locking a wrist of an end user and not to teaching a true pendulum putting stroke of which an accessory attaches onto a handle of a putter. 
     The Juliano Patent (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 363,966) illustrates a design of a golf aid for putting practice, which does not depict an accessory that attaches onto a handle of a putter. 
     While the above-described devices fulfill their respective and particular objects and requirements, they do not describe an apparatus that attaches itself onto the handle of a putter and of which aids in teaching a smooth pendulum putter swing; wherein the accessory includes an upper grip that pivots about a pivot point with respect to a bottom bracket; wherein the bottom bracket is responsible for securement of the accessory to the handle of the putter; wherein the pivot point enables the upper grip to rotate along a vertical plane, which aids in teaching a smooth pendulum used in a putter stroke; wherein an end user grabs the upper grip with a first hand while holding the putter handle in a second hand, and said end user performs a smooth pendulum stroke with said putter. In this regard, the self-attaching golf putter aid departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The self-attaching golf putter aid includes an upper grip joined at a pivot point with a bottom bracket such that the upper grip can rotate about a vertical axis with the bottom bracket. The bottom bracket is designed to attach onto the handle of a putter via an adjustable strap. The aid is used by grabbing the upper grip with a first hand while grabbing the bottom bracket and handle of the putter with a second hand, and wherein the end user holds the upper grip stationary while swinging the putter to form a true and smooth pendulum golf putting stroke that is ideal when putting. 
     An object of the invention is to provide a putting aid that attaches onto the handle of a putter and teaches and/or aids an end user in swinging the putter in a smooth pendulum, which is ideal when putting. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide an aid that attaches onto an existing putter and of which can be easily removed. 
     A further object of the invention is to provide an aid that requires an end user to support an upper grip stationary while swinging a putter with an opposing hand. 
     These together with additional objects, features and advantages of the self-attaching golf putter aid will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the self-attaching golf putter aid when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     In this respect, before explaining the current embodiments of the self-attaching golf putter aid in detail, it is to be understood that the self-attaching golf putter aid is not limited in its applications to the details of construction and arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustration. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the concept of this disclosure may be readily utilized as a basis for the design of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the self-attaching golf putter aid. 
     It is therefore important that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the self-attaching golf putter aid. It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for purposes of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention: 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a front, isometric view of the self-attaching golf putter aid by itself and with the strap unwrapped and with dashed lines indicating the cutout of the accessory; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a front view of the self-attaching golf putter aid by itself and with dashed lines indicating the recess formed between the upper grip and the base bracket that enable the pivot point to pivot; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the self-attaching golf putter aid along line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2  and detailing the self-attaching golf putter aid in use with a putter handle and depicting where the cutout of the base bracket supports the putter handle, and further defining the strap wrapped around both the putter handle and the base bracket; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a side view of the self-attaching golf putter aid with a cut-away detail that depicts the cap screw and brushing that form the pivot point between the upper handle and the lower bracket; and 
         FIG. 5  illustrates an isometric view of the self-attaching golf putter aid attached onto a putter. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     The following detailed description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the described embodiments of the application and uses of the described embodiments. As used herein, the word “exemplary” or “illustrative” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any implementation described herein as “exemplary” or “illustrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. All of the implementations described below are exemplary implementations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, brief summary or the following detailed description. 
     Detailed reference will now be made to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in  FIGS. 1-5 . A self-attaching golf putter aid  100  (hereinafter invention) includes an upper grip  101  that is defined by a base  102  upon which the upper grip  101  extends. The base  102  has a notch  103  that is removed in order to accommodate a pivot point  104 . 
     A bottom bracket  105  connects to the base  102  at the pivot point  104 . The bottom bracket  105  includes a semi-circular end  106  that is fitted in between the notch  103  of the base  102  (see  FIG. 4 ). The semi-circular end  106  has a hole  106 A through which a bushing  107  is seated. The semi-circular end  106  has a thickness  106 B that is less than a width of the notch  103 A. The bushing  107  has a hole  107 A that accommodates a bolt  108 . 
     The base  102  has a shoulder  102 A that a head of the bolt  108  rests up against when forming the pivot point  104 . The bolt  108  travels across the base  102 , the hole  106 A′ of the semi-circular end  106 , and the width of the bushing  107 . The bushing  107  is responsible for insuring the pivot point  104  operates smoothly in that the upper grip  101  can rotate with respect to the bottom bracket  105 , and vice versa. The rotation of the pivot point  104  is depicted with rotating arrows  104 A (see  FIG. 5 ), which indicates the rotation of the upper grip  101  with respect to the bottom bracket  105 . The pivot point  104  rotates about a horizontal axis  104 B relative to the invention  100 . 
     The bottom bracket  105  extends downwardly from the pivot point  104 , and includes a recess  109 . The recess  109  is in the shape of a right angle and is defined by a distance  109 A. The recess  109  is designed to engage upon a top end  130 A of a putter handle  130 . The bottom bracket  105  also includes a slot  110  through which a strap  111  passes. The strap  111  is a flexible material of an undefined length that includes self-securing means  111 A thereon. The self-securing means  111 A, will generally include a nylon hook and loop strip, enables the strap  111  to wrap around an object (the putter handle  130 ) and secure the strap  111  thereon. 
     The upper grip  101  may be outfitted with a leather strap or other golf grip  101 A that is customarily used with a golf putter  131 . 
     The invention  100  is used when an end user  150  grabs the upper grip  101  with a first hand  151 , and a second hand  152  grabs the putter handle  130  and the bottom bracket  105  together. Next, the end user  150  will hold the first hand  151  an the upper grip  101  stationary while rotating the putter handle  130  and the bottom bracket  105  along a path of a pendulum formed by the pivot point  104 . 
     With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationship for the various components of the invention  100 , to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function, and the manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the invention  100 . 
     It shall be noted that those skilled in the art will readily recognize numerous adaptations and modifications which can be made to the various embodiments of the present invention which will result in an improved invention, yet all of which will fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims. Accordingly, the invention is to be limited only by the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.