US3539184A - Set of golf clubs - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Henry Koorland 10136 Paradise Blvd., St. Petersburg, Florida 33706 [2!] Appl. No. 658,907 [22] Filed Aug. 7, 1967 [45] Patented Nov. 10,1970

[541 SET OF GOLF CLUBS 1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 273/77, 273/80 [51} Int. Cl. A63b 53 02, A63b 53/00 [50] Field 01 Search 273/167, 80,169,80.280.9,77(A) [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 669,864 3/1901 Simpson 273/167 1,705,250 3/1929 Hincks 273/167X 3,077,350 2/1963 Koorland 273/80(C)X FOREIGN PATENTS 465,652 1937 Great Britain 273/169 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Shapiro Attorney-Stefan M. Stein ABSTRACT: A set of golf clubs of the driving type with the club heads positioned rearwardly of their respective hoseis by a shank. Each shank is angled with respect to each hosel and is affixed at one end to the hose] and at the other end to the face of the club head. The faces of the club heads are angled differently with respect to the longitudinal axis of each club shaft, and each shank is secured to the upper portion of the face in clubs having a small face angle and to the lower portion of the face in clubs having a large face angle.

Patented Nov. 10; 1970 3,539,184

INVENTOR.

BY 2 he.

SET OF GOLF CLUBS This invention relates to a novel golf club and more particularly to a golf club which automatically strikes the ball on the downswing, thus "pinching the ball between the club face and the ground and imparting the correct back spin to the ball. The desired divot will automatically result, indicating that a proper hit of the ball has been made. The club may be an iron or a wood.

The game of golf intrigues millions. It is relaxing, pleasurable, healthful and companionable, but it is frustrating to the everyday golfer. It is frustrating because of the nature of the game and the usual golfers inability to frequently practice it. The ordinary golfer slices, hooks", shanks, tops", and cuts at the golf ball during the game with consequent loss of control over the ball during its flight. As a consequence, the ball lands everyplace but where intended by the player. As a result, his score is adversely affected and he becomes quite discouraged.

The trouble with weekend or just. occasional golf is that the golfer is unable to develop the necessary control over his swing of the club to control the path of flight of the golf ball. In contrast, a professional golfer, through ability and through dogged practice, has developed each necessary muscle in his body to accurately control his swing. He can put a back spin or a front spin on his layup shots. And he can drive with a power and with a control absolutely astonishing to the ordinary golfer.

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a ball driving type golfclub wherein the hands of the golfer are automatically kept ahead ofthe club face.

Another object is to provide a golf club, of the above character, wherein, because of the structure of the club, the golfer may always advantageously position the ball to be hit in the middle of his stance, thereby eliminating the need for judgment as to ball position as the club number is changed.

Still another object is to provide a golf club of the above character which substantially eliminates any desire or possibility on the part of the golfer to scoop the ball.

A further object is to provide a golf club, of the above character, which automatically causes striking a descending blow to the ball being hit.

A still further object is to provide a golf club, of the above character, which advantageously causes the automatic taking of a divot or small bit of earth with each blow of the ball, thereby providing a good indication of proper striking of the ball.

Another object is to provide a golf club, of the above character, which because of its structure, makes slicing ofthe ball virtually impossible.

Another object is to provide a golf club, of the above character, which because of its structure, makes hooking of the ball virtually impossible.

Another object is to provide a golf club, of the above character, wherein the hitting area of the club head presented to the ball during a hit, because of the structure of the club, is advantageously limited to the center face portion.

Another object is to provide a golf club, of the above character, having a unique balance point.

Another object is to provide a golf club, of the above character, having a cantilever hang when balanced upon a point on the shaft.

Another object is to provide a golf club, of the above character, wherein the face of the club head is automatically positioned square to the desired line of flight of the ball, thereby effecting better aim of the ball.

Another object is to provide a structure for a golf club which can accomplish substantially all of the above objectives, and yet is applicable to woods as well as irons of all ranges.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

A novel structure for a driving type'golf club has now been found which accomplishes the above objectives. It consists of a shaft having a hosel at the lower end and a club head interconnected with a rearwardly extending shank from the hose! to the club headf'lhe shank may be connected to the upper or lower edge of one side of the face. The structure is applicable to both woods and irons and is independent of the number of the club; that is, whether it is a driver, chipper, or any intermediate club.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the head of one embodiment of the club ,of this invention; in this instance, an iron ranging in number from I to 6;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another club head, higher in number; that is, a 7 to 9 iron;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the club of FIG. 1 along lines 3-3;

FIG. 4 is a rear view; and

FIG. Sis a face or front view.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

As seen in FIG. 1, the golf club ofthis invention comprises a hosel It) and a club head 12. The head is preferably integral with the hosel.

The face 14 of the head 12 comprises the ball striking surface and may be angled with respect to a vertical plane in accord with the club number; that is, from the usual 2 to 9 for irons, and 1 to 4 for woods.

The upper end (not shown) ofthe hosel 10 is connected to a shaft which, in turn, has a suitable handle or grip at its upper end. This handle is affixed in the usual well-known manner in the trade.

Interconnected between the hosel 10 and the head 12, at the lower end of the hosel is a shank 16. It should be'noted, with special reference to FIG. 1, that this interconnection or shank, in the instance shown, is perpendicular to the axis of the hosel 10. However, it may be angled, the only requirement is that the club head 12 be rearwardly of the hosel 10. Because of such rearward positioning, the club head will always follow the hands of the golfer during swing of the club. And since the golfer inherently positions his ball at the lowest point of the downswing of this stroke; that is, the swing of the club, the recession of the club head will cause the automatic taking of a divot since the ball will be automatically struck on on the downswing and the club face enters the earth after the ball is gone.

The shank may be connected to the upper side portion of the head (as best seen in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5) preferably with the lower numbered irons, or to the lower side portion of the head (as best seen in FIG. 2), preferably for the higher numbered irons.

The length of shank 16, coupled with the angle of the club face, which is in accord with the club number and the point of connection of the shank to the club head, will govern the distance with which the lower edge 18 of the head recedes from the hosel. It preferably varies from one-half to two golf ball diameters. Thus, a divot of varying amount may be taken, but in any event, the ball will still be struck on the downswing.

It might be also noted, with particular reference to FIG. 1,

that the center of mass of the entire'club will be located near the club head, but since it is recessed with respect to the hosel, balancing of the club will cause a cantileverlike hang. This cantileverlike hang of the club head will provide the golfer with better leverage control over the head. Such increased control over the club head will decrease the likelihood of the club face being forced off its desired positioning by the force of impact between the club face and ball.

Several other inherent advantages are provided by the unique angling of the hosel with the club head.

The recessed positioning of the club face will ensure that the hands of the golfer are automatically kept ahead of the striking surface. He will position his ball in the center of this stance to compensate for such recessed positioning, and in doing so, the frequent desire of an occasional golfer to scoop the ball is eliminated, and, in fact, becomes impossible to do.

Still another advantage of the recessed positioning of the club head, as can be seen in FIG. 1, is that the offset of the club face, whereby the ball will be struck on the downswing, will cause the taking of a small bit of earth or divot automatically. Such will indicate to the golfer that he is providing for the proper time and type of contact of the club head face with the ball.

With particular reference to FIG. 3, it can be seen that when the shank is aligned with a given objective, the club face is automatically positioned to be perpendicular to the desired line of flight of the ball. Thus, better aiming is possible.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description are efficiently attained, and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A set of golf clubs of the driving type, each comprising,

a shaft; a hosel attached to the lower end ofsaid shaft, a golf club head having a face angled rearwardly with respect to the vertical axis of said shaft, the angle being different for each club in the set, and a shank having a horizontal component of length of from one-half to two diameters of a golf ball, each of said shanks leading rearwardly from the hosel and being connected to the club head face, said shanks being connected to the upper side portion of the club head face in clubs having a small angle between the club head face and the vertical axis of the shaft, and to the lower side portion of the club head face in clubs having a large angle between the club head face and the vertical axis of the shaft.

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