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United States Patent	3,640,534
Mills	February 8, 1972

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Current U.S. Class:	473/306 ; 473/311
Current International Class:	A63B 53/02 (20060101); A63B 53/04 (20060101); A63b 053/02 ()
Field of Search:	273/80.1-80.8,167,169,173,174,186A D34/5

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References Cited

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U.S. Patent Documents

1589707	June 1926	Kraeuter
2116762	May 1938	Kraeuter
2198350	April 1940	Smith
3572709	March 1971	Risher
D97418	November 1935	Smith
1574213	February 1926	Tyler
2014829	September 1935	Young
2067556	January 1937	Wettlaufer
2203893	June 1940	Chapman
682960	September 1901	Slazenger
713845	November 1902	Braid et al.
1249127	December 1917	Lard
1897264	February 1933	Lamb
1994149	March 1935	Root
2686056	August 1954	Oquist

Foreign Patent Documents

	30,050		Dec., 1912		GB
	8,954		May., 1893		GB
	1,063,798		Mar., 1967		GB
	3,731		Sep., 1926		AU

Primary Examiner: Pinkham; Richard C.
Assistant Examiner: Apley; Richard J.

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Claims

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What is claimed is:

1. A wood-type golf club comprising:

a. a club head having a frontal striking surface, toe and heel portions, a bottom surface and a top surface, said club head further defining a shaft receiving opening on said top surface at said heel portion, said top surface being a continuation of the general contour of the club head from said toe to said heel portions;

b. a sole plate secured to said bottom surface and entirely covering same;

c. an internally threaded shaft retainer secured to said sole plate and being received in said shaft receiving opening, said shaft retainer being internally threaded for at least a major portion of the length thereof;

d. a shaft having threads at one end thereof, said shaft being received in said shaft receiving opening and threadedly secured to said shaft retainer; and

e. a member received around said shaft, said member engaging said top surface of said club head and being secured to said club head and said shaft to prevent said shaft from turning.

2. A golf club as defined in claim 1 wherein said shaft has left hand threads.

3. A golf club as defined in claim 1 wherein said sole plate and said retainer are integral.

4. A golf club as defined in claim 1 wherein said sole plate has a four-way roll.

5. The wood-type golf club as defined in claim 1, said club head having a vertically and inclined channel recess cut into the rear end thereof, said shaft retainer being formed of metal filling the channel shaped recess whereby to provide added metal to the club head.

6. The wood-type golf club as defined in claim 5, and said added metal shaft retainer having a hole therein with left hand threads and said shaft having external left hand threads for fixing the shaft within the threaded hole of the shaft retainer.

7. The wood-type golf club as defined in claim 6, and a member extending about the shaft and fitted over and adhered to the top of the shaft retainer and top surface of said club head to further close the hole and to secure the shaft against rotation in the shaft retainer, the rear face of the shaft retainer and the washer conforming to the contour of the club head, and completely free of the channel shaped recess.

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Description

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This invention relates to hosel-less wood golf clubs with shaft retaining plate.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a wood golf club head with a new and effective means for the attachment of the lower end of the handle with the golf club head in such a manner as to eliminate the hosel wood extension of the conventional golf club head.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a combined metal sole plate and shaft retainer for a wood golf club to which the golf handle can be threaded in a left hand manner for an attachment thereto and thereby eliminate the need for the costly forming of a wood hosel portion on the club head.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a hosel-less wood club with a combined sole plate and shaft retainer so as to make possible variations in the shape of wooden golf clubs and to open up a new field for design, shape, construction and assembly, assembly technique, and methods of manufacture.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a hosel-less wood golf club that will require 50 percent less wood to manufacture than does the conventional wood club having the wood hosel that takes up substantially 50 percent of the total block area of wood in their large frontal area that offers wind resistance.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wood club in which it is not necessary to form a hosel on the wood for the securement of the club shaft thereto and to eliminate the weak attachment means afforded by a hosel which is normally the cause of some 95 percent wooden club head failures.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a wood golf club head that eliminates the wooden hosel, having the above objects in mind which will be stronger and more durable than the conventional club, more efficient, cost less to manufacture, less work required to shape the wood club, faster and more simple to assemble, reduce the cost of repair to broken and damaged clubs, and one in which the mass and weight of the hosel area of the conventional golf club has been removed and the weight added to the area of the club behind the hitting area, adding thereby to the efficiency and balance of the club.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a conventional golf club employing a hosel shaped from the wood and a sole plate on the bottom of the club.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the hosel-less club head constructed according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinally sectional view of the hosel-less wood club head shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a hosel-less club head constructed according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on line 5--5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of the hosel-less club head free of the sole plate and shaft retainer with the shaft retainer hole provided therein.

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view of the club head looking in the direction of line 7--7 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an end elevational view looking in the direction of line 8--8 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the combined sole plate and shaft retainer used in connection with the wood head according to the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the combined sole plate and shaft retainer looking in the direction of the arrows 10-10 of FIG. 9, and

FIG. 11 is a rear elevational view of the combined sole plate and shaft retainer of FIG. 9 and looking in the direction of arrows 11-11 thereof.

In FIG. 1, there is shown a conventional wood golf club 15 that has a hosel 16 especially formed thereon to receive a shaft 17. This golf club 15 has a front striking area 18 and a sole plate 19 that serves very little purpose except to avoid wear on the bottom of the club head. A hole must be drilled into the hosel 16 of the conventional club 15 for the insertion of the shaft 17 making only for the connection of metal with wood that can be split, broken or worn thus providing for some 95 percent of the damage that occurs with golf clubs. A plastic or threaded sleeve 21 can overlie the hosel and has to conform to and taper from the shape of the hosel 16. With this conventional club 15 and with the hosel formation 16 upon the part 21 a large wind resistance area is added to the club.

According to the form of the present invention shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 6-11, many of the disadvantages of the conventional wood club head have been overcome.

A wood body piece 23 is formed with no hosel but more or less with a rounded top surface 24, bottom surface and toe and heel portions. The body piece 23 is thus provided with a top surface 24 that, adjacent an opening 25 or groove 42, hereinafter explained, does not protrude upwardly to form a hosel area 16, but, instead is a continuation of the general contour of the club head from the toe portion to the heel portion. A hole 25 is drilled into the top surface 24 and through the bottom surface of the club head 23 to accommodate an internally threaded shaft retainer sleeve 26 that is formed integral with a sole plate 27 that will cover the full bottom surface of the club that will absorb the striking force of the club and transfer the same to the shaft. Thus the sole portion 27 of the present invention serves more than to protect the bottom of the wood club against wear. A front face striking plate 28 is provided on the front face of the club in the usual manner of being recessed as indicated at 29 and adhered to the club head.

The shaft retainer portion 26 has left handed threads 31 to receive the left hand threads 32 of golf club 33. This shaft is thus threaded into metal retainer 26 and can be secured against turning and rotation by a plastic formation 34 built upon and around the shaft and adhered to the top face 24 of the club head 23 to keep the shaft from being turned out of the retainer 26.

It should be seen that with this construction the full force is absorbed through metal and any breaking of the wood can be eliminated. The shaft retainer projects upwardly from the sole plate 27, the same having been integrally welded or secured as indicated at 36 to the inner face of the sole plate 27. The sole plate has a plurality of openings 37 adapted to receive screws 38 and for securement of the plate 27 and the retainer 26 against displacement from the underside of the wood club body 23. The sole plate 27 may have any shape or roll according to the desired shape wanted of the bottom face. It can be advantageous for the sole plate to have a four-way roll.

The over all shape of the wooden golf club can thus be changed in shape since no longer is there any need for the hosel and thus this construction opens up a whole new field of designs, new construction, assembly techniques and methods of manufacturing that will have been brought about by the combined sole plate and shaft retainer, internally threaded to accomplish an externally threaded metal club shaft.

Referring now particularly to the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, providing for a construction incorporating the present invention, which will eliminate the need for drilling a hole in wood body 41, the wood body 41 instead of having a hole such as 26 in the other form of the invention, has upwardly extending groove 42 worked through the end face of the wood body. The hole is in the form of a groove or channel section, rounded on its inner side to accommodate a solid shaft retainer 43 having a sole plate portion 44 thereon. The solid shaft retainer 43 can be inserted upon the rear of the wood block and secured in place by wood screws 46. Added metal weight is provided with this form of the invention, the rear face of the shaft retainer as indicated at 47 will conform to the contour of the rear surface of the club head and be rounded.

Left handed metal threads 48 are provided in the shaft retainer 43 to receive left-hand threads 49 on the lower end of shaft 51. A washer like member 52 is disposed over the shaft 51 and may be adhered to the top surface of the wood block and the surface of the shaft to keep the shaft 51 from being turned. This wood block 41 is provided with a recess 53 receiving a striking plate 54.

It should now be apparent that there has been provided a hosel-less wood club head which will be stronger and more durable, cost less to manufacture, and will be efficient in use. Since weight is added to the club through the metal retainer, the club will have the same feel as will the conventional hosel-type wood club. Without the hosel up to 50 percent less wood will be required to provide the wood mass of the present invention and the total surface area of the wood block is greatly reduced without the hosel. The breakage of the golf clubs at the hosel as in conventional clubs, will be greatly reduced by the present construction. The complete elimination of the conventional wooden golf club hosel allows a reduction of the large frontal area of the club head that not only creates drag but it has wind resistance, but also places a large area of the club head outside of the striking area thereby reducing torque and making the club more easy to balance. A greater club head speed is accordingly obtained with this present design. The club head by the elimination of the hosel can be made more streamlined and have a smaller frontal area.

It will be apparent that the mass and weight of the club has been increased behind the frontal area so as to add to the efficiency of the club head by placing the weight where it will do the most good. This will permit a more solid hit by the club head, allow for a better balance and reduce greatly the torque or tendency of the golf club to twist.

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