Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7993215?dq=system+for+measuring+web+traffic&ei=Lg8FT__TIIr-sQKzxaGRCg
Timestamp: 2016-05-27 08:32:50
Document Index: 303714142

Matched Legal Cases: ['Application No. 60', 'Application No. 60', 'art 132', 'art 134', 'art 114', 'art 136', 'art 132', 'art 136', 'art 136', 'art 382', 'art 384', 'art 384', 'art 384', 'art 384', 'art 384', 'art 382', 'art 384', 'art 382', 'art 384', 'art 382', 'art 384']

Patent US7993215 - Producing golf clubs - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsA golf club head can, for example, include a striking component with a forward surface to strike golf balls and an arrow-like component, such as a stylus, behind the forward surface; a user can see the arrow-like component pointing approximately in an optimal direction for striking a ball. Also, in addition...http://www.google.com/patents/US7993215?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7993215 - Producing golf clubsAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7993215 B1Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 11/689,623Publication dateAug 9, 2011Filing dateMar 22, 2007Priority dateMar 23, 2006Fee statusLapsedPublication number11689623, 689623, US 7993215 B1, US 7993215B1, US-B1-7993215, US7993215 B1, US7993215B1InventorsMarc T. RentzOriginal AssigneeGregory E. SummersExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (74), Non-Patent Citations (3), Referenced by (1), Classifications (11), Legal Events (4) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetProducing golf clubs
US 7993215 B1Abstract
A golf club head can, for example, include a striking component with a forward surface to strike golf balls and an arrow-like component, such as a stylus, behind the forward surface; a user can see the arrow-like component pointing approximately in an optimal direction for striking a ball. Also, in addition to a front part with a forward surface between its lateral ends, a club head can include two parts that extend rearward from the lateral ends and support a weight part at a distance from the forward surface. Also, to prevent twisting about a lateral center of mass when a ball is hit, the front part can include upper and lower lobe-like portions with connections at their lateral ends and with a less connected region between, such as a gap or a thin connecting portion. A hosel can be connected to the upper lobe-like portion between the end connections.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/785,262, filed Mar. 23, 2006, entitled “Producing Golf Clubs”, and also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/880,199, filed Jan. 12, 2007, entitled “Producing Golf Clubs”, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The present invention relates generally to golf techniques.
The invention provides various exemplary embodiments, including structures, articles, products, and methods. In general, the embodiments are implemented in relation to production of golf clubs.
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a golf club head assembly with a stylus.
The term “golf club” is used herein to mean a device used to hit a ball in playing the game of golf. Many types of golf clubs have been developed, including various “putters”, meaning specialized golf clubs for putting, i.e. hitting a golf ball so that it rolls across the ground, such as onto or across a green around a hole. A typical golf club includes a “head” that hits a ball and a “shaft” that is connected to the head and that is held by a golfer when swinging the club so that the head hits the ball. A part at which a shaft is connected to a head is typically referred to as a “hosel”.
In general, the implementations described below involve combinations of parts or components. As used herein, an “assembly” is a combination of two or more connected parts or components that together can function as a whole. One component of an assembly can, for example, be a “striking component”, meaning a component that can hit or strike something. Other parts or components can perform other functions, such as a “connecting part” that connects other parts or components or a “weight part” or a “weight component” that functions to provide weight at a given position or set of positions. Other parts or components may be identified by other characteristics, such as an “arrow-like component” that extends in a lengthwise direction and that is shaped or otherwise structured or finished so that it directs one's attention in one orientation in the lengthwise direction. Similarly, a “front part” is a part that includes the front of an assembly; a “laterally extending part” is a part that extends in a lateral direction; and a “layered part” is a part that includes one or more layers of material.
In the implementations described below, parts or components of assemblies are sometimes referred to as “attached” to each other or to other parts or components or vice versa, and operations are performed that “attach” parts or components to each other or to other things or vice versa; the terms “attached”, “attach”, and related terms refer to any type of connecting that could be performed in the context. One type of attaching is “mounting”, which occurs when a first part or component is attached to a second part or component that functions as a support for the first. Similarly, “fastening” occurs when a part or component attaches two or more other parts or components to each other; for example, mated external and internal threading or other frictional connections could “fasten” two components to each other. In contrast, the more generic term “connecting” includes not only “attaching”, “mounting”, and “fastening”, but also making other types of connections such as between or among parts formed as a single piece of material by molding or other fabrication, in which case connected parts are sometimes referred to as “integrally formed”. Parts or components are referred to herein as “removably connected”, “removably mounted”, or the like if at least one of the parts or components can be removed from the others without causing damage to the others; the part or component that can be removed may be described, for example, as removably connected to or removably mounted on one or more of the other parts or components.
A combination of one or more parts connected in any way is sometimes referred to herein as a “structure”. Similarly to a component, a structure may be described by its function, such as a “handle structure” that can operate as a handle, a “support structure” that can operate as a support, a “weight structure” that includes at least one part or component that serves as a weight, or a “fastening structure” that can fasten or be fastened. Some structures are also described by structural features. For example, a “yoke-like structure” or “yoke-like part” is a structure that, like a yoke, extends between two ends at which it is connected to another structure, component, or part.
As shown in FIGS. 1-3, frame 12 includes forward surface 20, which is the surface of assembly 10 that, in use, hits or strikes golf balls. Frame 12 is therefore an example of a striking component. In particular, assembly 10 is designed so that forward surface 20 imparts momentum to a golf ball most efficiently if assembly 10 is moving in an optimal direction, as illustrated by arrow 22; the term “optimal direction” is used herein to refer to a direction that is optimal for some purpose—in this case the direction is optimal because momentum is imparted most efficiently. In the illustrated example, forward surface 20 is approximately planar and arrow 22 is approximately perpendicular to the plane. Frame 12 also includes hosel 24 that has an appropriate structure to be connected to shaft 26 so that a user can swing assembly 10 on the end of shaft 26. For example, shaft 6 can fit into hosel 24 and can be fastened with any suitable epoxy resin or the like.
In the context of a golf club, forward surface 20 or another club head surface that strikes balls can provide an orientation framework as follows: “Forward” and “front” refer to a direction from the surface toward the ball being struck, while “behind”, “rearward”, and “rear” refer to an opposite direction. “Upward” and “downward” refer respectively to directions toward and away from the position at which a club is held while being swung by a golfer. “Lateral” refers to a direction that is approximately perpendicular both to a forward or rearward direction and also to an upward or downward direction; therefore, a component that has a forward surface may also extend “in a lateral direction” between “lateral ends”. When a golf club is held by a golfer, the lateral end closer to the golfer may be called a “heel end” and the other end may be called a “toe end”.
FIGS. 1-4 also show bridge 30, extending between the opposite ends of frame 14 above forward surface 20, and connected at each end to the part of frame 12 behind forward surface 20. Among its other features, bridge 30 includes central groove 32 extending across its upper surface in the optimal direction. Similarly, the upper surface of the part of frame 12 behind forward surface 20 includes side grooves 34 and 36 that are placed symmetrically in relation to central groove 32 and also central groove extension 38 that is aligned with central groove 32 in bridge 30 and is also directly above the front end of stylus 14. Because of this alignment, and because groove 32, groove extension 38, and the front end of stylus 14 are at different vertical levels, a golfer looking downward at club head assembly 10 can use them as focal or alignment points to ensure consistent geometric set-up on every stroke: As long as the club head is at the same position relative to the golfer's eyes on every stroke, all three focal points should line up and appear to be in one line—if they do not form a line every time a golf ball is hit, it could mean that the golfer is changing the set-up angle from one stroke to another, which could cause inconsistent results.
This conclusion is supported by the following conceptual framework: In the implementation of FIGS. 1-4, bridge 30 and body 42 are examples, respectively, of upper and lower “lobe-like portions” of a golf club head assembly, meaning that they are divisions of the assembly that are each relatively large in size compared to a significant part of the assembly that is between them. In the example of FIGS. 1-4, bridge 30 and body 42 are connected at their lateral ends by connectors 72 and 74, examples of “end connections”, meaning connections between upper and lower lobe-like portions that are at or near their lateral ends. Between connectors 72 and 74 is gap 70, an example of a “less connected region”, a term used herein to refer to a region in which upper and lower lobe-like portions are not connected to each other as much as by their end connections; gap 70 is therefore an extreme example of a less connected region because bridge 30 and body 42 have no connection across gap 70, but a less connected region could, for example, also include at least some connection between upper and lower lobe-like portions, as described below regarding other implementations.
The effect of this transfer of force on twisting can further be understood by considering distribution of mass: Assembly 10 has a lateral center of mass 76, a vertical surface illustrated as a dashed line in FIG. 2; the dashed line shows where lateral center of mass 76 intersects the vertical projection of forward surface 20—as can be seen, the less connected region exemplified by gap 70 intersects the lateral center of mass. The dashed line also illustrates an axis about which assembly 10 could twist when forward surface 20 hits a golf ball at a point that is not on lateral center 76; the twist about this axis is sometimes referred to herein as being twist “about the lateral center of mass”. The magnitude of the twist about the lateral center of mass also depends, however, on moment of inertia (MOI), with the twist resulting from a given force being greater as MOI decreases. In general, MOI increases (and twist decreases) as the distance of weight 16 from forward surface 20 increases and also as the mass of weight 16 increases as a proportion of total club head weight.
It follows that increased transfer of swinging force through end connections and increased MOI both tend to decrease twist. Another factor that can also affect twist is “effective mass” of the lobe-like portions, meaning, for each portion, the mass that it would appear to have when its part of the forward surface hits a golf ball, treating the upper and lower lobe-like portions as if they were separated: In the example of FIGS. 1-4, bridge 30, the upper lobe-like portion, has nothing behind it, so that its effective mass only includes its own mass; on the other hand, arms 52 and 54 are connected behind the lower part of forward surface 20, to the lateral ends of body 42, the lower lobe-like portion, so that weight 16 contributes predominantly to the effective mass of body 42. As a result, the effective mass of body 42 is greater than the mass of bridge 30 and the center of mass of the club head is very low. It is believed that this also tends to decrease twist, perhaps because the momentum of the club head is therefore applied to the point of impact predominantly from the lower lobe-like portion.
Any combination of one or more of these factors can be applied to obtain a golf club head that has “negligible twist” about its lateral center of mass, meaning that the amount of twist that occurs when the forward surface hits a golf ball off-center is so small that the total twist is not more than 110 percent of the magnitude of twist that occurs from other causes, such as from the amount of twist imparted to the club head by an average golfer's swing, aerodynamic effects, and so forth.
As used herein, a combination of factors is “sufficiently” great, large, or the like that the club head has negligible twist about the lateral center of mass (or another such axis) if the described combination, together with typical values for other factors, results in negligible twist. For example, the effective mass of the lower lobe-like portion can be sufficiently greater than the upper lobe-like portion's mass and the first and second end connections can be sufficiently large relative to any connection in the less connected region between them that there is negligible twist, assuming a typical MOI value and other typical values. Or these factors can be sufficiently greater and large and also the distance and mass (and hence MOI) of a weight behind the forward surface can be sufficiently great that there is negligible twist, assuming other typical values.
FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate an alternative, stylus 130, in which the outer surface of small part 132 is threaded, tapered part 134 is similar to tapered part 114 in FIG. 6, and the large part 136 has a hexagonal opening defined in the end so that a hexagonal wrench can be inserted in it to turn stylus 130, causing the threads of small part 132 to engage inward-facing threads in opening 40 in body 42. The straight shape of stylus 130 facilitates its removal and replacement in this manner. Also, large part 136 has annular groove 140 formed at an appropriate point along its length and O-ring 142 can be rolled onto the end of large part 136 until it seats in annular groove 140, where it can help provide a tight mechanical connection between stylus 130, frame 12, and a weight, as described below, while allowing at most “negligible momentum” to be transferred through stylus 130 to body 42; the term “negligible momentum” in this context refers to an amount of momentum that does not exceed approximately 110 percent of the momentum solely attributable to the mass of stylus 130. O-ring 142 could, for example, be made of Viton�, an excellent rubber-like material for damping or preventing vibration that also resists the effects of chemicals and weather and maintains its elasticity.
Weight 170 is an example of an “arc-shaped” weight or weight structure, and groove 90 is similarly an example of an “arc-shaped” recess, illustratively also an upward-facing recess though such a recess could also be implemented to face downward; the term “arc-shaped” is used herein to refer to a shape that approximates a part of a circle not exceeding a semicircle.
The outer surface of solid part 382 includes a “mounting surface”, used herein to refer to surface that is disposed toward a golf club when a weight structure is mounted on the golf club. In the illustrated example, a mounting surface is approximately in a “mounting plane”, and faces downward above lower surface 390 of flexible layered part 384. In addition, flexible layered part 384 has inner and outer sides that are opposite each other, with only the outer side being shown in FIG. 17. The inner side illustratively is on and covers all of the mounting surface, although it might be possible to implement flexible layered part 384 in a way that would not cover all of the mounting surface but at least substantially all of it and would therefore damp vibration. The outer side of flexible layered part 384 is disposed toward the golf club, and part of it can be on the floor-like upward-facing surface of curved groove 90 (FIG. 5).
In one successful implementation, flexible layered part 384 has been implemented as a “rubber boot” that can be slipped onto and off of solid part 382. Therefore, flexible layered part 384 can be manufactured by molding an appropriate material, such as ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) or Buna N rubber or another appropriate elastomeric material to obtain the desired shape, and then slipping it onto solid part 382, which can be manufactured in substantially the same manner as described above in relation to FIGS. 9-11. Alternatively, flexible layered part 384 could be molded directly on solid part 382 with any appropriate process. EPDM is extremely durable and resists weather and corrosive agents, and, though it does not always damp vibration as well as Viton� would, it is more economical to use. Flexible layered part 384 has been implemented successfully with EPDM material as thin as 0.025-0.030 inch, which may approach the minimum thickness at which it can be molded.
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SmartGolf club putter headUSD514182Jan 22, 2004Jan 31, 2006Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.Golf club headJP2004081241A Title not availableJP2006255358A Title not availableJP2006320493A Title not available* Cited by examinerNon-Patent CitationsReference1"Harmony Balance Putter", printed from www.amfmgolf.com website on Apr. 28, 2008, one page.2Never Compromise :: EXCHANGE, 2006, printed from http://www.exchangeputters.com on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4, 2006, 25 pp.3Odyssey Gold SRT Putters: White Steel 2-Ball SRT, White Steel Tri-Ball SRT, printed from http://shop.callawaygolf.com on Mar. 21, 2007, 13 pp.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS8366566 *Feb 5, 2013Callaway Golf CompanyIron-type golf club with vibration damping* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification473/334International ClassificationA63B53/04Cooperative ClassificationA63B60/54, A63B60/52, A63B53/007, A63B2053/0441, A63B53/0487, A63B2053/0491, A63B2053/0416, A63B2053/0408European ClassificationA63B53/04PLegal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMar 22, 2007ASAssignmentOwner name: SUMMERS, GREGORY E., MR., VIRGINIAFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:RENTZ, MARC T., MR.;REEL/FRAME:019050/0976Effective date: 20070320Mar 20, 2015REMIMaintenance fee reminder mailedAug 9, 2015LAPSLapse for failure to pay maintenance feesSep 29, 2015FPExpired due to failure to pay maintenance feeEffective date: 20150809RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services