Putter striking face configuration to progressively reduce dispersion

Abstract

A putter type golf club head having a frontal ball striking face that engages and grips a golf ball during the execution of a putting stroke to direct the golf ball in a straight line toward the intended target. The face includes a plurality of ball striking land areas and a plurality of adjacent and complimentary recessed channels that form an opening toward and on either side of the midpoint of the hitting area of the face. The ball contact areas are smaller than the adjacent recessed channels at the midpoint of the hitting area of the face. Gripping edges at the interface of the land areas and the recessed channels redirect the golf ball toward the intended target when the ball is miss hit away from the midpoint of the face.

Claims

1. A putter type golf club for striking a golf ball, comprising: a head; a face of the head being planar and having a top and a bottom spaced from one another and a heel and a toe spaced opposite one another and between said top and said bottom; a mid-region centrally located between said heel and said toe; a plurality of land areas defined on said face and configured to contact the golf ball; a plurality of recesses disposed into and below said face to establish non-ball-contact areas adjacent and complimentary to said land areas; said land areas having a land area height that is smaller than a recess height of adjacent recesses in an area adjacent said mid-region and said land areas having a progressively larger land area height away from said mid-region as said recesses taper toward said heel and said toe; and gripping edges at an interface of said land areas and said recesses for engaging and gripping a golf ball to cause the golf ball to be directed towards a point on a line perpendicular to said face and centrally aligned with the mid-region, when the golf ball is struck within a hitting area in a given putting stroke, wherein the gripping edges define a plurality of upper gripping edges and a plurality of lower gripping edges, the plurality of upper gripping edges being symmetrically arcuate and the plurality of lower gripping edges being symmetrically arcuate.

2. The putter type golf club head of claim 1 being further defined by said land areas becoming larger in a direction toward said heel and said toe away from said mid-region and said land areas and said recesses extending longitudinally towards said heel and towards said toe in an alternate configuration such that one land area is stacked above an adjacent recess in a repeating vertical pattern across said hitting area of said face.

3. The putter type golf club of claim 1 whereby the distance of said gripping edges at the interface of said land areas and said recesses is widest at said mid-region and is progressively smaller in a direction toward said heel and said toe.

4. A putter type golf club head, comprising: a striking face extending between a heel and a toe on opposite sides of said face, a hitting area on said face including a mid-region centrally located in said hitting area; a plurality of land areas on said face in said hitting area establishing a plurality of ball contact areas and a plurality of adjacent and complimentary recesses disposed into and below said frontal face in said hitting area to establish non-ball-contact areas; said land areas and said recesses extending longitudinally toward said heel and said toe in an alternate configuration such that one of said land areas is stacked above and adjacent one of said recesses in a repeating vertical pattern across said hitting area of said face; said land areas being further defined as having land area height that is smaller at said mid-region of said face than a recess height of adjacent recesses, the land areas having a progressively larger area away from said mid-region toward said heel and said toe; said recesses being complimentary to said land areas whereby said recesses are larger at said mid-region and are of a V-shape being largest at said mid-region and becoming progressively smaller away from said mid-region towards said heel and said toe; said ball contact areas being smaller than adjacent recessed channels at said mid-region of said hitting area; gripping edges at an interface of said land areas and said recesses for engaging and gripping a golf ball to cause the golf ball to be directed towards a point on a line perpendicular to said face and centrally aligned with the mid-region, when the golf ball is struck within the hitting area in a given putting stroke.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a frontal view of a putter type golf club having a face configuration in accordance with the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a second embodiment of a putter face configuration in accordance with the present invention.

(3) FIG. 3 is a detailed view of a third embodiment of a putter face configuration in accordance with the present invention.

(4) FIG. 4 is a detailed view of a fourth embodiment of a putter face configuration in accordance with the present invention.

(5) FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a fifth embodiment of a putter face configuration in accordance with the present invention.

(6) FIG. 6 is a detailed view of a sixth embodiment of a putter face configuration in accordance with the present invention.

(7) FIG. 7 is a detailed view of a seventh embodiment of a putter face configuration in accordance with the present invention.

(8) FIG. 8 is a detailed view of an eighth embodiment of a putter face configuration in accordance with the present invention.

(9) FIG. 9 is a detailed view of a ninth embodiment of a putter face configuration in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(10) FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional type golf putter 10 having a ball striking face 12 that contacts the golf ball during a putting stroke. A hitting area 14 where a golf ball is normally struck during the execution of a putting stroke is shown as an exploded, enlarged detail of the face 14. This hitting area 14 is structured to progressively direct a golf ball to roll in a straight direction when hit away from the midpoint 15 of the hitting area 14 and not angle away from the target line as described in detail in this application.

(11) A series of ball contact, land areas 16 are an integral part of the hitting area 14 of the face 12 and are the only part of the face 12 that actually contacts the golf ball during the putting stroke. Individual ball contact, land areas 16 are separated by a series of recessed channels 18 in the face 12 that do not contact the golf ball during the putting stroke. The ball contact areas land areas 16 and the recessed channels 18 extend longitudinally in a heel 22 to toe 24 direction in an alternate configuration such that a contact land area 16 is vertically stacked above an adjacent recessed channel 18 in a repeating pattern across the entire height—in a direction from a top of the golf putter to the bottom of the golf putter—of the hitting area 14 of the face 12. The interface of each of the land areas 16 and the recessed channels 18 forms gripping edges 20 that engage the golf ball and direct the golf ball rolling toward the intended target. The terms “land area height” and “recess height” refer to a dimension of the land areas and the recesses, respectively, in the direction from the top of the golf putter to the bottom of the golf putter.

(12) In this embodiment, the land areas 16 are smaller and thinner at the proximate midpoint 15 of the face 12 than the adjacent recesses 18 and gradually increase in thickness in a gentle arc toward the heel area 22 and toe area 24 of the putter where the land areas 16 become greater in thickness than the adjacent recessed channels 18. This gradual increase of the size of the land area 16 can be seen in the detailed view of the hitting area 14 of the face 12. It follows the recessed channels 18 on either side of the midpoint 15 of the face 12 are longitudinally directional in a heel 22 to toe 24 direction and expand inwardly away from the midpoint 15 of the face 12. This forms an opening having a generally V-shape with the largest width of the opening being at the midpoint 15 of the face 12. The gripping edges 20 at the edge of the land areas 16, in turn, are closer away from the midpoint 15 of the face 12. These sideways V-shaped channels direct the golf ball toward the open direction of the V at impact and back toward the intended target line. By carefully designing the amount of increased land areas 16 and the complimentary decreased size of the recessed channels 18, the amount of turn of the golf ball toward the target line can be controlled to compensate for the miss direction caused by the ball being miss hit away from the midpoint 15 of the hitting area 14 of the face 12.

(13) With the present invention, the opening of the V shape of a recessed channel 18 adjacent the heel area 22 of the putter 10 opens and expands toward the midpoint 15 of the hitting area 14 of the face 12 and a golf ball struck away from the midpoint 15 at this area will be redirected straight along the intended target line when making contact with the gripping edges 20. This eliminates the effect of the miss hit away from the midpoint 15 of the face 12. Likewise, the opening of the V-shape of the recessed channel 18 adjacent the toe area 24 also opens and expands toward the midpoint 15 of the face 12. A golf ball struck at this area will also be redirected toward the intended target line when making contact with the gripping edges 20 in the same way as the gripping edges 20 adjacent the heel 22.

(14) The land areas 16 and recessed channels 18 are stacked longitudinally, one over the other, across the putter face in a heel 22 to toe 24 direction in close proximity in order to create a progressively constant, inwardly directional effect on the round golf ball regardless where a ball is struck on the putter face 12. The gripping action of the gripping edges 20 of the recessed channels 18 creates a gearing effect that is progressively greater away from the center of the face 12 that minimizes sideways dispersion caused by off-center hits. By carefully designing the shapes of the recessed channels 18, the gearing effect can be matched to the dispersion caused by miss hits of the golf ball so a miss hit golf ball will roll essentially to the same place as a center strike on midpoint 15 of the face 12. This face technology of the present invention on a golf putter virtually eliminates the effect of miss hits and directs every ball struck to travel to the same target location.

(15) In the preferred embodiment, the land areas 16 and recessed channels 18 are symmetrically arcuate in shape whereby the land areas 16 assume a gradually decreasing radius as they are a greater distance from the midpoint of the face 12. This arcuate structure forms the inwardly facing V-shape of the recessed channels 18.

(16) FIGS. 2 through 9 illustrate different embodiments of the land areas and recesses in accordance with the present invention. It will be appreciated these FIGS. 2-9 are an exploded section of the face of a putter in the same way as the area 14 of FIG. 1.

(17) FIG. 2 shows a putter face hitting area 114 having land areas 116 and recessed channels 118. At the center area around the midpoint 115 of the face 112, the land area 116 is defined by straight upper and lower edges 120 and corresponding shaped recessed channels 118 that are also straight at and either side the midpoint 115. As the land areas 116 move away from the midpoint 115, they become angled to form an elongated V-shape with corresponding V-shaped gripping edges 122.

(18) FIG. 3 shows a putter face hitting area 214 having land areas 216 and recessed channels 218 having a complimentary configuration to the land areas 216. The land area 216 is defined by straight upper edge 220 across the entire striking area of the face 212 and a lower edge that is straight at and surrounding the midpoint 215 and further includes angled edges 224 at both sides of the midpoint 215 creating an elongated V-shaped configuration. Like the previous embodiments, as the land areas 216 and recessed channels 218 move away from the midpoint 215, they form an elongated V-shape with corresponding V-shaped gripping edges 222.

(19) FIG. 4 shows a putter face hitting area 314 having land areas 316 and recessed channels 318 with a complimentary configuration to the land areas 316. The land area 316 is defined by straight lower edge 320 across the entire striking area of the face 312 and an upper edge 321 that is straight at and surrounding the midpoint 315 and further includes angled edges 324 at both sides of the straight upper edge 321 at the midpoint 315 creating an elongated V-shaped configuration. Like the previous embodiments, as the land areas 316 and recessed channels 318 move away from the midpoint 315, they form an elongated V-shape with corresponding V-shaped gripping edges 322.

(20) FIG. 5 shows a putter face hitting area 414 having land areas 416 and recessed channels 418 with a complimentary configuration to the land areas 416. The land area 416 is defined by a downwardly disposed, arcuate upper edge 420 across the entire striking area of the face 412 having a first radius and a second downwardly disposed lower arcuate edge 421 that has a lesser radius that the radius of the upper edge 418. The upper edge 420 and the lower edge 421 create an elongated V-shaped configuration. Like the previous embodiments, as the land areas 416 and recessed channels 418 move away from the midpoint 415 they form an elongated, curved V-shape with curved V-shaped gripping edges 422.

(21) FIG. 6 shows a putter face hitting area 514 having land areas 516 and recessed channels 518 with a complimentary configuration to the land areas 516. The land area 516 is defined by an upwardly disposed arcuate upper edge 520 across the entire striking area of the face 512 having a first radius and a second, lower upwardly disposed arcuate edge 521 that has a greater radius that the radius of the upper edge 520. The upper edge 520 and the lower edge 521 create an elongated V-shaped configuration. Like the previous embodiments, as the land areas 516 and recessed channels 518 move away from the midpoint of the face, they form an elongated, curved V-shape with curved corresponding V-shaped gripping edges 522.

(22) FIG. 7 shows a putter face hitting area 614 having land areas 616 and recessed channels 618. The land area 616 is defined by an elongated upper edge 620 and a lower edge 621 that are V-shaped and merge together at the midpoint 615 of the face 612 creating a diamond shaped opening. The face 612 further includes corresponding shaped recesses 618 between the land areas 616. The interface of the land areas 616 and the recessed channels 618 form gripping edges 622 that engage the golf ball causing the ball to move toward the intended target line.

(23) FIG. 8 shows a putter face hitting area 714 having land areas 716 and recessed channels 718 between the land areas 716. The land area 716 is defined by an elongated upper straight edge 720 and a lower edge 721 that is angled so the upper and lower edges merge together at a midpoint 715 of the face 712 and form an upward facing angle. The interface of the land areas 716 and the recessed channels 718 form gripping edges 722 that engage the golf ball causing the ball to move toward the center.

(24) FIG. 9 shows a putter face hitting area 814 having land areas 816 and recessed channels 818 between the land areas 816. The land area 816 is defined by an elongated upper, angled edge 820 and a lower straight edge 821 that is angled so the upper and lower edges merge together at a midpoint 815 of the face 812 forming a downwardly facing angle. The interface of the land areas 816 and the recessed channels 818 form gripping edges 822 that engage the golf ball causing the ball to move toward the center.

(25) It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the putter face of the present invention in keeping within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.