US2121387A - Golf club - Google Patents

Description

June 21, 1938. F, H R' 2,121,387

GOLF CLUB Filed July 24, 1934 V I NVENTOR. FRED CHOUSER ATTORNEY.

Patented June 21, 1938 TE STATES PATENT OFFICE GOLF CLUB Fred C. Houser, Chicago, Ill.

Application July 24, 1934, Serial No. 736,659 3 emails. (o1. 273-80) My invention relates in general to golf clubs andmore'in particular to a new shaft for a golf club in an improved head mounting, and as such is an improvement over the structure disclosed I; in my pending application, Serial No. 715,055.

r In the ordinary golf club there is usually some amount of flexibility or whippiness in the shaft. Inthe clubs in use at the present time, however, the whippiness extends over the entire shaft to cause it to bow from grip to head when executing a golf stroke. Although the expert golfer maybe able to execute his stroke properly with this type of club, the ordinary golfer, constituting by far the largest proportion of the army of enthusiasts, will be hampered by the .action of the club. With the whippiness extending over the length of the shaft and up into the grip on the club, it has been found that as the shaft bows, pressure is exerted against the hands on 2, the grip in a manner tending to loosen the fingers, which may cause the player to unconsciously shift his grip and spoil the execution of his stroke. The whippiness over the entire shaft also upsets perfect timing and execution of the stroke.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved golf club.

One of the features of the golf club of my invention is theprovision of a shaft in which the v whippiness is centered near the club head.

'Another feature of the invention is the provision of a lighter club to give all of the advantages and qualities of the present heavier club.

A further feature is the provision of a shaft 35 which is rigid at the upper or grip portion and flexible at the lower portion near the head of the club.

A still further feature of my invention is the provision of a mounting for the shaft in the club 40. head which makes it possible to use a shaft which is very thin at the head, and still prevent torsion from occurring. v

Other objects and features of my invention will be apparent from the following description taken with the drawing, in which:

' Fig. 1 is an elevation of the entire. club.

Fig. 2 is an elevation partly in section of the bushingfor mounting the shaft in the club head. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of the shaft mounting.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section of the lower portion of the shaft mounting "in the head of the club.

thef mounting bushing.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of the club shaft illustrating the manner in which the whippiness operates to bow the shaft adjacent the clubhead; and i Fig. '7 is a fragmentary front elevation of the club grip with hand-position markings thereon.

In practicing my invention I provide a golf club rigid at the grip portion and whippy near the head, which club has a tubular shaft with a substantial taper from the top to theflbottom thereof mounted with a two point fastening in a bushing in the club head.

Referring now to the drawing, I provide a golf club with a tubular steel shaft in having a grip H at one end and a club head 12 secured at the other end. Whereas it is ordinarily impossible to use a shaft either tubular or solid which has a very small diameter at the lower portion, because of torsion occurring at the club head or excessive whippiness occurring over the shaft, by the use of a club head mounting of my invention I utilize a tubular shaft which extends from a top of large diameter to a base of exceptionally small diameter providing a considerable taper over the entire length. In the commercial embodiment of the invention I have successfully used, for example, a shaft 42 inches long, which is inch in diameter at the top and 1% inch in diameter at the bottom. The shaft itself is of the usual tubular stock. As stated, a shaft of these dimensions at the bottom mounted in a club head would ordinarily cause torsion or twisting of the shaft at the club head as the golf stroke is executed, so as to change the direction of movement ofthe head and cause the ball to either be sliced or hooked when hit. This is overcome by mounting the shaft in a brass bushing l3 which comprises a tube adapted to fit within the bore 14 of the hosel I6 of the club head and tapered at the neck H to fit snugly around the outside of the shaft [0. This is illustrated particularly in Fig. 3. The mounting also absorbs some of the shock of impact of the club head against the ball to make play with the club more enjoyable and cause a desired amount of relaxation in the grip of the hands on the grip portion 1 l.

A commercial embodiment of this part l3 of the club which has worked out very successfully, comprises a brass tubing 5 inches in length having an outside diameter of inch over theelongated straight portion I8 and tapering to -1 inch at the top of the neck portion It. The neck portion I! is one inch in length, and the elongated shank I8 is four inches in length. Although the diameter of the shaft I0 has been given as fi inch at the lower end, it is so slight a graduation or taper on the last five inches that the diameter of {e inch at the top of the neck portion II has been found sufficient to make it possible to force the bushing up to the desired position on the club shaft. Although the standard club head and particularly the wooden club head has a taper in the bore 14, I have found it more satisfactory to provide the bushing with a straight shank I8, thereby necessitating a straight bore 14 in the shaft opening in the head. In the commercial embodiment the brass tubing used for the bushing I3 has a wall .016 inch thick. This, however, can be varied slightly, particularly to change the weight of the club.

In assembling the shaft in the club head, the bushing I3 is first slipped over the small end of the shaft ID to a position whereby the lower portion of the shaft is adjacent the opening I9 of the bushing. The tapered neck I! serves to center the shaft in the bushing at that end and a jig may be used to center the shaft at the lower end. A piece of solder may be dropped into the bushing and the neck I! heated to melt the solder so as to occupy the space between the shaft and bushing over approximately the length of the neck 11.

Inasmuch as the outside diameter of the shank I8 is %.2- inch and the shaft I0 approximately 1% inch, there is a substantial air space between the shaft and the inside wall of the bushing. After the solder, as illustrated at 2! in Fig. 3, becomes hardened, the bushing is removed from the jig and a washer 22 slipped over the end of the shaft to the position shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Satisfactory results have been obtained with a washer which has a slight taper along the outer edge which will drive into the space between the shaft and inside wall of the bushing with a wedging action so as to maintain the shaft rigidly centered in the bushing. After inserting the bushing solder 23 may be melted at the opening of the bushing to firmly secure the shaft washer and bushing together at that point. The solder fastening 2| cooperating with the tapered neck I! serves to strengthen the club at this point as well as rigidly secure the shaft, and the washer 22 and solder fastening at this point serve to make the club more sturdy. The shaft-bushing assembly may then be inserted in the bore M of the club head and forced down to the position shown in Fig. 3. Glue or cement may first be brushed onto the outside of the bushing so as to provide a more rigid connection between the club head and the assembly. An aperture 24 may then be drilled through the end of the shaft, solder and the bushing, into the club head as shown in Fig. 4, and a wood screw 26 inserted in the manner illustrated to provide further fastening at this portion of the club head. The amount of solder in the assemblymay be varied slightly to change the weight of the club head.

Although excessive flexibility or whippiness in a golf club shaft is objectionable, a certain amount may be utilized to good advantage if properly controlled. A certain amount of whippiness in the shaft helps to absorb a portion of the shock as the club head hits the ball. Whippiness if properly positioned, may also be used to advantage to give an added snap to the club as it strikes the ball, to increase the loft of the ball in its flight. This same result may also be attained to some extent by a final snap of the wrist in the execution of a golf stroke. In general, however, it is only the expert who can successfully accomplish this, and the controlled whippiness becomes very important to the average golfer to attain the desired loft. This feature is particularly helpful to the lady golfer with her weaker wrist action. However, in the golf clubs in use at the present time with the whippiness extending over the entire club shaft, it becomes almost impossible to utilize this feature to any advantage, and in fact it actually produces a harmful effect on the golf stroke. This extensive whippiness upsets the proper timing of the golf stroke and as stated above, exerts a pressure against the hands on the grip such as to unconsciously cause the player to loosen his fingers and often shift his grip on the club. However, with the substantial taper provided with my tubular steel shaft, the large diameter at the top results in a very rigid portion extending considerably below the grip H, and all whippiness is centered in the shaft in a space approximately between 7 to 15 inches above the lower end of said shaft. The taper of the shaft governs the position and amount of whippiness, and although a shaft of the dimensions noted above has proven very satisfactory, it is understood of course that I may employ slight variations from these figures to throw the whippiness either up or down on the shaft.

The use of a tapered shaft of a large diameter at the top has been found advantageous in that little or no listing or padding is required under the leather grip I I to bring it to the desired size for comfortable gripping. This is important in providing a more .sensitive contact between the shaft itself and the hands of the player, and is important from a manufacturing standpoint in reducing the cost of materials and labor.

As a further aid to the proper execution of a golf stroke, I provide V-shaped hand position markings 2'! and 28 on the grip II. They may be marked on the grip in a position so as to fit on the crotch between the thumb and forefinger of each hand as one lies above the other on the grip.

It may thus be seen that I provide a neat, simple golf club utilizing my invention in either a wood or an iron. With the controlled whippiness, the club may be swung with a slightly faster stroke without disrupting the path of the swing, to give increased power. It has been found that greater distance for the ball is obtained with less effeort to bring about greater relaxation for the entire game.

Although I have described my invention in its preferred embodiment, and as applied to a wooden club, it is understood that I am not limited thereby, that the invention may also be applied to an iron club, and that the invention is limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A golf club including a one-piece club head having an elongated neck with a central bore, a tapered shaft for said club head secured in said bore, and means for securing said shaft in said head, said means including a tubular metal bushing in said bore secured to said club head, and fusible material at the top of the bushing and extending annularly between the shaft and bushing to fuse the same into a positive connection, a non-fusible washer surrounding said shaft and within the bushing near the lower portion of the bushing, and fusible material at the bottom of the bushing extending annularly between the shaft and bushing to fuse the same into a positive connection, with an air space provided between the shaft and bushing intermediate the top securing means and said washer.

2. A golf club including a club head with the usual elongated neck having a central bore, a flexible shaft for said club head, means for securing the shaft to the club head, said means including a metal tubular bushing carried in the bore of the neck for carrying the shaft, with said shaft rigidly secured tothe bushing in two spacedapart points, but maintained out of direct engagement with said bushing between said points.

3. A golf club including a club head having an elongated neck with a central bore, a tubular bushing rigidly secured in said central bore and extending substantially the length thereof, carrying a tapered shaft therein for said club head, and fastening means securing said shaft to said bushing at two spaced-apart points with an air space between said shaft and bushing intermediate said two points.

FRED C. HOUSER.

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