Adjustable golf putter head having teeth

Abstract

In a golf club head assembly a body member has a top-forward angled front face, the face comprising a plurality of generally forward-facing teeth. The golf club head assembly further comprises a loft angle adjustment mechanism attached to the body member for adjusting a loft angle of the face. The mechanism includes a hosel element releasably attached to a bar rotatably mounted to an upper side of the body member parallel to the face. The bar is rotatably journaled or mounted in a pair of bar supports attached to the body member. Set screws reside in threaded holes in the bar supports, the set screws operable to releasably lock the bar in a selected orientation relative to the body member, where the selected orientation of the bar corresponds to and determines the loft angle of the front face. The forward angle of the front face, the angles of the teeth, and loft angle of the face are jointly chosen to impart a pure rolling motion onto a struck golf ball.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention relates to a golf putter. More particularly, this invention relates to a golf putter head assembly that includes a mechanism for adjusting a loft angle of the front face of the putter head.[0002]When a conventional putter strikes a golf ball, the ball slides forward on the putting green with little or no spin. Because of the large (backwards directed) sliding friction between the ball and the green, this sliding motion is erratic and irregular, causing the ball's trajectory to deviate from its intended direction and speed. This frictional force does, however, cause the ball to both gain forward spin and lose forward speed at a continuously increasing rate. This process proceeds until pure rolling sets in when the point of contact between the ball and the green is instantaneously at rest. (The forward linear motion of the contact point is then exactly canceled by the backward rotational motion.). From this time on, the friction force be...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about a new kind of putter that helps a golf ball start rolling in the perfect motion. It has three features: a tilting face, short forward-facing teeth, and the ability to adjust the loft angle. The purpose of the loft angle is to give spin to the ball, while the teeth help direct the force forward so that it doesn't push the ball downward. The final loft angle adjustment takes into account the characteristics of the golfer, the putting club, the putting green, and the golf ball to create the optimal loft angle for pure rolling. The goal is to reduce sliding friction at the beginning of the putting motion.

Problems solved by technology

Previous attempts to design a rotatable putter face used impractical or ineffective mechanisms.

The problem is that none of the assumptions listed in the previous sentence are correct.(1) Essentially no golfer produces a club swing that causes the putter head to move in a perfectly horizontal direction as it strikes a ball.

It is, furthermore, impossible for these dimples to be uniformly distributed over the spherical surface of the ball.(3) Essentially no golf balls have uniform density.

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