Improvements in Golf Clubs.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 21st June, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 21st Mar., 1895-Accepted, 27th Apr., 1895
Improvements in Golf Clubs.
I, CHARLES JOHN JACOBS, of the Golf Club, St. Helens, in the Isle of
Wight, Club Steward, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The heads of golf clubs as now generally used are made of wood but when so
made they are liable to crack and break, they are injuriously affected by wet and
other atmospheric changes and otherwise possess disadvantages.
The object of my invention is to produce a golf club head which shall overcome
the said disadvantages and which, while being stronger in many ways, will possess
greater driving power and other or similar advantages.
According to my invention I manufacture golf club heads of material other than
wood, for instance of such material as vulcanite, ebonite, whaleite, woodite or
equivalent material or like material of sufficient hardness containing gutta-percha.
The head may be loaded in the ordinary way or any convenient manner at the top,
bottom, or back or otherwise in accordance with requirements. The head may be
formed with or without a neck and may be attached to the shaft in any suitable
manner.
Dated this 21st dor of Love 1901
A. F. SPOONER,
124, Chancery Lane, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.
I, CHARLES JOHN JACOBS, of the Golf Club, St. Helens in the Isle of
Wight, Club Steward, 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:-
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Golf club-heads, such as those known as "drivers," "putters,"
spoons," and
brassies," have heretofore generally been made of wood. They have in most
cases been made by skilled operatives who manipulate by hand pieces of wood into
the desired shape, though a innchine has been proposed for that purpose; it has
likewise been proposed to load such wooden club-heads from their top surfaces but
the boring has, owing to the grain in the wood, tended to weaken them. Wooden
clubs are always liable to crack and break and they are susceptible to atmospheric
changes. Furthermore it has been proposed to make club-heads of hard material
other than wood or metal but as far as I am aware no serviceable club-head has
heretofore been made in such material owing to defective construction and failure
to combine proper materials and parts to produce an effective article.
My object is to produce a serviceable article composed mainly of gutta-percha
or like material provided with means for increasing its strength and utility.
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings which show by way of
example a "driver," Figure 1 being an elevation, Figure 2 a cross section through
the line a-b, Figure 3 a plan of the under side and Figure 4 a like plan showing a

page_text: modified form of loading, while Figures 5 and 6 are matters of detail hereinafter
referred to.
According to my invention 1 mould or otherwise conveniently form the body A
of the club-head of gutta-percha of suitable hardness; or it might be of vulcanite,
ebonite, whnleite, woodite, or any of the numerons similar materials, or other
material containing gutta-perchn which while sufficiently hard is not brittle.
A club-head made of such minterial as compared with one made of wood, is stronger,
less laborious to manufacture, is not affected by atmospheric changes and possesses
greater driving power and other advantages. During the process of moulding
1 for the striking face or that part 13 which hits the ball with a corrugated,
serrated, undulated or similarly roughened surface in order to insure a better
contact at striking, or I might after the club-head has been formed attach a plate
with roughened surface to that part. provide the part of the club-head that is
likely to come in contact with the ground with a wearing shoe or plate Cof harder
material such as celluloid, born or the like which may be screwed thereto by
screws e as shown. This serves also to strengthen the club-head. The head may
be formed as shown at D for the purpose of splicing on to the shaft in the well-
understood way or it may be otherwise affixed to such shaft. According to my
invention the club-head in the process of moulding or subsequently thereto may be
formed or provided with one or more openings, either at the bottom or sides, into
which lenden or other weights are passed. Figures 1, 2 and 3 show the weighting
effected from the bottom of the head and the weight E held in position by the
metal retaining plate F fastened by screws G to the head. The weight E may
either be in the form of a solid wad of lead as shown in Figure 5 or in a cylindrical
or hollowed-out form as shown in Figure 6. The weight of the head may in the
first instance be varied by cutting away the lead; in that of Figure 6 the lightening
may be effected by enlarging the bore I which will not affect the area or alter the
fit of the wad which is an advantage. Figure 4 shows the weighting effected by
way of illustration from the back, the bend being moulded with an aperture into
which a weighting material K is inserted and the orifice I. afterwards filled in with
material the same as, or similar to, that of which the head itself is composed.
obviously the head might be moulded around the weight. A club-head made in
the fashion described with reference to Figure 4 is found to be of grent utility the
weight being completely buried within the body of the club-head and therefore
perfectly secure and immovably retained in position. Moreover the manufacture
of the article, as will be apparent, is much simplified and cheapened.
Or
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. The manufacture of a gutta-percha or equivalent golf club-head with a
roughened striking face and means for weighting substantially as set forth.
2.The combination, in a golf club whose head is mainly composed of gutta-
percha or its equivalents, of a roughened striking face such as B, a wearing shoe or
strengthening plate such as C, and one or more weights either embedded in the club-
head or held in position at its bottom or sides by a retaining plate F substantially
as set forth.
3. The combination with a golf club head, of one or more hollowed-out or
cylindrical weights substantially as set forth.
Dated this 20th day of March 1895.
A. F. SPOONER,
124, Chancery Lane, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.