Improvements in and relating to Instruments Used in the Game of Golf.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 15th July, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 15th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 6th June, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Instruments Used in the
Game of Golf.
I, WILLIAM MILLS, of Bonner's Field, Sunderland in the County of Durham,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the construction of instruments used in playing the
game of golf such as clubs drivers bulgers brasseys and so forth and has for its
object a better construction of the head pieces and a better means of fixing
thereunto the handles or shafts.
It has been proposed to make the heads of a hollow block of aluminium or the
like into which a single block of wood is fixed by screws to form the striking face
and the handle has been screwed into the head; the disadvantages of this con-
struction are amongst others that the swelling of the wood when damp bulges the
head and the wood block splits and the handle is apt to work loose in use.
According to my improved construction of head I divide the metal into a number.
of spaces or chambers tapered from front to back and separated by metal ribs having
an opposite taper and reduced to practically no width at the face. The spaces may
be of any suitable section and tapered either vertically or horizontally or both and
are or may be roughened or rearwardly serrated on some or all of the internal.
holding faces. Into each of these tapered spaces I insert and firmly drive home a
correspondingly formed block of hard wood or they may be filled with composition
of suitable kind which takes the same wedgelike form as the space and the front of
same forms the striking face of the instrument.
This disposition of metal in the head serves to balance the instrument the
greater weight being where most required viz. :-at and about the back part of
the head.
According to my improvement in fixing the handles or shafts to the head the
foot of the handle may be enclosed and fixed in a metal sheath with a flanged head."
The upper end or socket of the metal head is screwed externally and a nut is
provided which embraces the handle and presses the sheath-flange firmly upon the
top of the socket; or instead I may form a screw thread about the foot of the
sheath and apply a nut thereto in a recess formed in the head whereby the sheath
flange is firmly held to the top of the socket; or for same purpose I may make a
number of vertical slits in the top part of the head socket so as to render same
radially flexible and screw this externally for a nut so that when the handle is.
inserted and the nut screwed down on the split socket the handle will be firmly.
gripped by the parts.
By these arrangements the stick or handle or shaft can readily be adjusted or
reversed in any head or will fit and may be used for more than one head.
Dated this 13th day of July 1895.
A. CRAWHALL CHAPMAN,
3 St. Nicholas Buildings, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Patent Agent.

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Instruments Used in the
Game of Golf..
I, WILLIAM MILLS of Bonner's Field, Sunderland in the County of Durham,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in the construction of the heads of
certain instruments used in the game of golf such as clubs, drivers, bulgers,
brasseys, cleeks and the like.
It has been proposed to make the heads of a hollow block of some metal such as
aluminium and to fill up the interior of such hollow blocks with a single solid
block of wood, the wood forming the striking face.
In practice, however, it is found that heads constructed as just described are
very apt to split and thus render the instrument useless owing to the concussion
when striking a ball, to the wood swelling when damp and to other causes.
-
Now by my invention I have entirely overcome this difficulty and I do so by
forming the metallic head in a series of compartments separated from each other
by metallic strengthening ribs or divisions each compartment being filled up or
rendered solid as hereinafter described.
The ribs serve to strengthen the head by binding it together and to prevent the
bulging and splitting above alluded to.
I will describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which
Figure 1 shows a front elevation of a golfing instrument head before the
compartments are filled up as hereinafter described, Figure 2 being a similar view
after the compartments are filled up.
Figure 3 shows a plan partly in section and Figure 4 a transverse section on
line AA in Figure 2.
Figure 5 is an elevational view and in the following description like marks of
reference indicate like parts.
Referring to the drawings, H is a hollow metallic head, aluminium or bronze
being a suitable metal for this purpose, and it will be observed that the opposite
sides or surfaces of the head are so tied together by metallic ribs R as to form
within the head a series of compartments.
The surfaces or walls of the compartments or some of them are formed of a
slightly tapered form as shown in the drawings so as to cause the compartments to
diminish in sectional area from the front or striking face F of the instrument
towards the back face F1, the taper being given for the purpose of tightly securing
the wood wedge-shaped striking blocks B which are driven into the compartments
to form an uniform striking face.
After the wood striking blocks have been driven home into the several com-
partments their ends are sawn off to form a striking face which may be checkered
to grip the ball being struck as shown in Figure 2.
The thinner ends of the tapering ribs terminate slightly short of the striking face
so as to enable the striking ends of the several wood wedges in the several
compartments to unite together to form a continuous wooden striking face.
The rear ends of the wood blocks are sawn off flush with the head as shown in
the drawings.
A portion of the inner wall or walls of any compartment may be roughened or
slightly serrated as clearly shown in Figure 4 at S to prevent any removal of the
wood when once driven home.

page_text: Each block of wood should be well coated with paint or equivalent solution
before being driven home in order to preserve it from damp or instead of wood
any composition suitable for the purpose may be employed to fill up the
compartments.
Figure 5 shows how ribs may be arranged diagonally if so desired.
The dot and dash lines in Figure 3 indicate a more usual form of instrument head
furnished with the herein described improvements.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A golfing instrument head consisting of a combined socket piece and outer
metallic frame work H with divisional strengthening ribs R such ribs being
tapered so as to increase in thickness from the striking face F towards the rear
face F and striking blocks B all arranged combined or adapted for use substantially
as herein set forth.
2. A golfing instrument head consisting of a combined socket piece and outer
metallic frame work H with divisional strengthening ribs R forming compartments
within the outer metallic frame the wall or walls of any compartment being more
or less serrated to retain the striking blocks B filling the compartments all arranged
combined or adapted for use substantially as herein set forth.
Dated this 14th day of April 1896.
A. CRAWHALL CHAPMAN,
3 St. Nicholas Buildings, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Patent Agent.