METHOD FOR CONFIGURING THE FACE OF A PUTTER

Abstract

The present invention is a method of forming the ball striking face of a putter type golf club to control the amount of force applied to a golf ball for a given stroke in order that golf ball struck away from the center of percussion of the face travels essentially the same distance as golf balls struck precisely at the center of percussion.

Claims

1. A method of configuring the ball striking face of a putter type golf club having a center of percussion and heel and toe portions on the face to control the amount of force applied to a golf ball for a given stroke in order that a golf ball struck away from the center of percussion of the face travels essentially the same distance as golf balls struck precisely at the center of percussion, comprising the steps of: a) calculating an amount of material to be progressively eliminated from the ball striking face to form variable ball contact surfaces on the ball striking face; b) selectively eliminating portions of the ball striking face in accordance with the amount of material calculated to be eliminated; c) and, creating variable ball contact surfaces as a result of the portions of the ball striking face eliminated; said variable ball contact surfaces characterized to impart progressively more energy to a golf ball the further away from the center of percussion the ball is struck to insure an equal amount of force is delivered to the ball wherever the ball contacts the striking face of the putter.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said variable ball contact surfaces are created by forming recesses adjoining the ball contact areas below the surface of said ball striking face.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of selectively eliminating the calculated portions of said striking face is further defined by the step of forming ball contact surfaces at the center of percussion of the striking face that are smaller at the center than the ball contact surfaces at either side of the center of percussion.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the step of selectively eliminating the calculated portions of said striking face is further defined by the step of forming the ball contact surfaces that become progressively larger toward the heel and toe portions of the striking face than the contact surfaces at the center of percussion.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selectively eliminating portions of the ball striking face is further defined by removing the portions in the shape of longitudinal, variable width, recessed grooves extending between the heel and toe portions of the ball striking face.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selectively eliminating portions of the ball striking face is defined by removing the portions in the shape of parabolic recesses extending between the heel and toe portions of the striking face.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of selectively eliminating portions of the ball striking face is defined by the step of removing the portions in geometrical shapes extending between said heel and toe portions of the striking face.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of creating ball contact surfaces is defined by the contact surfaces being geometrically shaped.

9. The method of claim 1 further including a step of determining a moment of inertia value of the putter type golf club; and, using the moment of inertia value to calculate the amount of the portions of the face to be eliminated.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein a lesser amount of material is eliminated from the ball striking face away from the center for putters with a high moment of inertia and a greater amount of material is removed away from the center for putters with a low moment of inertia.

11. The method of claim 2 further including the step of filling the recesses with energy adsorbing material.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the amount of face material to be eliminated is further calculated by considering the hardness of the putter face material.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the face material to be eliminated is limited to a hitting area on the face inside the heel and toe of the ball striking face adjacent the center of percussion.

14. A method of configuring the ball striking face of a putter type golf club having a center of percussion and heel and toe portions on the face to control the amount of force applied to a golf ball for a given stroke in order that a golf ball struck away from the center of percussion of the face travels essentially the same distance as golf balls struck precisely at the center of percussion, comprising the steps of: calculating an amount of material on the face to create ball contact areas that will impart the same force or energy transfer to a golf ball wherever on the face the ball is struck; and, selectively forming the calculated material of ball contact surface areas of the ball striking face creating variable, ball striking surfaces that are progressively larger away from the center of percussion toward the heel and toe portions of the face.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the step of selectively forming calculated material of the ball striking is further defined by forming the calculated portions as geometrical shapes.

16. A method of configuring the ball striking face of a putter type golf club having a center of percussion and heel and toe portions on the face to control the amount of force applied to a golf ball for a given stroke in order that a golf ball struck away from the center of percussion of the face travels essentially the same distance as golf balls struck precisely at the center of percussion, comprising the steps of: calculating an amount of material on the face to create ball contact surface areas that will impart the same force or energy transfer to a golf ball wherever on the face the ball is struck; selectively forming ball contact areas on the face that become progressively larger away from the center of percussion toward the heel and toe portions of the face; and, forming non-contact areas on the putter face adjacent the ball contact surfaces that are progressively smaller away from the center of percussion toward the heel and toe portions of the face.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a ball striking face of a putter type golf club made in accordance with the method of the present invention.

[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates a second embodiment of a ball striking face of a putter type golf club made in accordance with the method of the present invention.

[0019] FIG. 3 illustrates a third embodiment of a ball striking face of a putter type golf club made in accordance with the method of the present invention.

[0020] FIG. 4 illustrates a fourth embodiment of a ball striking face of a putter type golf club made in accordance with the method of the present invention.

[0021] FIG. 5 illustrates a fifth embodiment of a ball striking face of a putter type golf club made in accordance with the method of the present invention.

[0022] FIG. 6 illustrates a sixth embodiment of a ball striking face of a putter type golf club made in accordance with the method of the present invention.

[0023] FIG. 7 illustrates a seventh embodiment of a ball striking face of a putter type golf club made in accordance with the method of the present invention.

[0024] FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along lines 8-8 of FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED METHODS OF THE INVENTION

[0025] The present invention is a method of forming a preferably flat ball striking face of a putter type golf club to control the amount of force applied to a golf ball for a given stroke in order that a golf ball struck away from the center of percussion of the face will travel essentially the same distance as a golf ball struck precisely at the center of percussion. This is accomplished by forming ball contact areas on the face of the putter that exert variable impact forces against the ball as a result of the size and position of the contact areas. It has been determined that lesser ball contact area is needed at the center of the face and progressively greater ball contact area is needed away from the center toward the heel and toe in order for a golf ball to travel the same distance whether struck at the center or toward the heel or toe of the putter face. By carefully calculating and forming the relative size of the ball contact areas by removing or eliminating portions of the contact surface of the striking face, the impact force and energy transfer against a golf ball can be controlled such that the amount of impact force is the same across the entire hitting area of the face. This insures that a golf ball will travel essentially the same distance even when the ball is miss-hit away from the center of percussion toward the heel or toe of the putter face.

[0026] A preferred method of the invention eliminates a greater amount of face material at the center creating a non-contact area and leaving a ball contact area that is less than the complimentary, adjoining non-contact area. The ball contact areas on either side of the center become progressively greater away from the center until the ball contact areas are equal to and become greater toward the heel and toe of the putter face. The greater the size of the contact areas, the more impact force energy is transferred to the golf ball for a given puffing stroke and this offsets the reduction in impact force that occurs when the ball is struck away from the center.

[0027] The method of the present invention further contemplates that the size and shapes of the ball contact areas and adjacent non-contact areas may take a variety of different shapes or configurations and are only limited by the relative size between the adjacent areas and the relative positions of these areas on the face. As described hereinbelow, the contact and non-contact areas on the face may be formed as recessed grooves, milling configurations or various geometrical shapes including, but not limited to, circles, ovals, and rectangles as examples.

[0028] A common way to analyze the degree of dispersion and loss of distance of a particular putter that occur with miss hits is to use a putting robot. Starting with a flat face putter, putts are struck with identical force across the hitting area of the face from the exact center up to one inch toward the heel and toe. The loss of distance for the various locations on the face away from the center is compared with the hits at the center and this information is used to calculate the amount of ball contact surface area needed to compensate for the loss of energy applied to the golf ball.

[0029] The calculations to determine how much force is necessary and how much contact area is needed to cause the ball to roll the same distance when struck at the center of percussion or away from the center of percussion may be done mechanically as described above using a putting robot. Alternately a computer designed program based on the size of the relative areas of contact and non-contact areas on the face and the exerted force against the golf ball during the putting stroke may also be used to determine the dimensions and configuration of the putter face. The MOI and the hardness of the putter head material may also be programmed into the calculations to obtain a more precise value of the relative size of the contact and complimentary non-contact areas of the face.

[0030] The method in accordance with the present invention may also include a step that first determines or calculates the approximate moment of inertia (MOI) of the particular putter configuration being used. A putter head with a higher MOI creates greater stability and reduces torque when a golf ball is struck away from the center of percussion. Therefore, when using a high MOI putter, the amount of force applied to the golf ball need not be as great between the off center hits and the center hits to insure the ball rolls the same distance. A low MOI putter requires additional force to enable the golf ball to move the same preferred distance. It follows that the configuration of the putter face in terms of contact areas and non-contact areas to cause the ball to travel essentially the same distance for hits across the putter face will, in part, be determined by the particular MOI of the putter.

[0031] Knowing the distance and dispersion results using a putter with a known MOI, it is possible to calculate the exact structure and size of the contact and non-contact areas of the putter face in order to transfer the necessary amount of energy to the ball enabling it to travel the same distance with center hits and off-center hits.

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a conventional putter type golf club head 100 made in accordance with the above described method of the present invention. The club head 100 includes a heel 102, toe 104, top surface 106, bottom 108 and generally flat ball striking face 110. As seen in the exploded portion of FIG. 1, the hitting area of the striking face includes a series of ball contact surface areas 112, extending in a heel 102 to toe 104 direction, that are adjacent and located between a series of elongated, parabolic shaped recesses 114. The recesses 114 are eliminated from the face 110 by molding and/or machining or any other suitable process in accordance with the above described method. The ball contact surfaces 112 are substantially smaller and the recesses 114 substantially larger at the center of percussion 116 of the club head 100. The ball contact surfaces 112 become progressively larger or wider away from the center of percussion 116 as the complimentary recesses 114 become smaller.

[0033] FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of a portion of a golf club face 210 made in accordance with the above described method of the present invention having ball contact surface areas 212 formed between downwardly configured, arcuate recesses 214. The ball contact areas 212 are narrower than the recesses 214 at the center 216 of the face 210 and become progressively wider away from the center 216.

[0034] FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of a portion of a golf club face 310 made in accordance with the present method having ball contact surface areas 312 formed between a series of elongated, oval shaped recesses 314. The contact surfaces 312 are smaller than the recesses 314 at the center 316 of the face 310 and become progressively larger away from the center 316.

[0035] FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment of a portion of a golf club face 410 made in accordance with the present method having a milling pattern with ball contact surface areas 412 formed between milled recesses 414. The milling pattern is more closely spaced at the midpoint 416 and separates away from the midpoint 416 creating greater ball contact surfaces away from the center of the face.

[0036] FIG. 5 shows a fifth embodiment of a striking face made in accordance with the method of the present invention. In this embodiment, the geometrical shapes on the club face 510 are the ball contact surface areas 512 in the form of rectangles with adjoining, complimentary recesses 514 between the contact surfaces. As with the previous embodiments, the contact surfaces 512 are smaller at the center 516 and become progressively larger away from the midpoint 516 of the club face 510.

[0037] FIG. 6 shows a sixth embodiment of a portion of a golf club face 610 made in accordance with the present method also having geometrical shaped ball contact surface areas 612 in the form of circular shapes. Here also the circular ball contact surface areas 612 are smaller at the center 616 and become progressively larger away from the midpoint 616 of the face 610.

[0038] FIGS. 7 and 8 show a seventh embodiment of a portion of a golf club face 710, similar in design to the embodiment of FIG. 1, made in accordance with the present method having rigid ball contacting surface areas 712 formed between complimentary recesses 714 filled with a softer, non-metallic material such as polymer or the like, that deadens the strike against the golf ball. The ball striking surface areas 712 are narrower than the recesses 714 at the center 716 and become progressively wider away from the center 716 of the face 710.

[0039] It will be appreciated the method of the present invention may be practiced on any type or shape putter head the only requirement being that the putter is formed with a putter face with a center of percussion and adjacent areas of the face at either side of the center. It will also be appreciated that other embodiments and configurations of the recesses and ball contact areas may be used in keeping within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the following claims.