US3507500A - Golf club including mirror attachment - Google Patents

Description

April 21, 1970 J. w. M. SCOTT GOLF CLUB INCLUDING MIRROR ATTACHMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. I51, 1968 INVENTOR JOHN W. M. SCOTT ATTORNEYS A ril 21, 1970 J. w. M. SCOTT cow CLUB INCLUDING MIRROR ATTACHMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed 001:. 31, 1968 INVENTOR JOHN WM. SCOTT yon #W ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,507,500 GOLF CLUB INCLUDING MIRROR ATTACHMENT John Wright Martin Scott, The Hill, Gordon, Ga. 31031 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 568,232,

July 27, 1966. This application Oct. 31, 1968, Ser- Int. Cl. A6311 69/36, 53/00 US. Cl. 273186 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The top and rear surfaces of a golf club head are slotted and receive flange members of a mounting arm extending from a housing positioned adjacent the toe portion of the club head. A mirror is supported above the club head by a support arm extending from the housing. The housing includes pivot structure which enables the mirror to be adjustably rotated about the axis of the support arm and about an axis normal to the axis of the SUDDOrt arm.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of US. application Ser. No. 568,232, filed July 27, 1966, now Patent No. 3,421,765.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the game of golf, the golf ball must be directed across a relatively smooth grassy area, commonly called the putting green, until it comes to rest in the hole. The putting green is a smooth, relatively flat, closely cut grassy area surrounding the hole that normally enables an accurately hit golf ball to travel in a substantially straight path. While the green is usually conditioned to afford the golfer an optimum surface over which to putt, the major shortcoming of most golfers on the green is usually not the green itself but the golfers ineptness at stroking the ball towards the hole with the putter.

For the dui'fer or inexperienced golfer, and also for the experienced and professional golfer, one of the major difficulties of putting a golf ball is in placing the face of the putter exactly at right angles, both horizontally and vertically, to the line extending between the golf ball and the hole at the moment of impact of the club with the ball. Placement of the putter adjacent to the ball in this manner is especially difficult when the ball rests even a reasonably short distance from the hole since the golfer is usually unable to see the ball, club head and hole (or flagstick used to indicate the position of the hole) at the same time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention comprises an attachment for a putter that enables the golfer to view the putter, golf ball, and a hole or flagstick simultaneously. The invention includes a mirror or other reflective surface, attached to the head of the putter in such a manner that, when the player places the putter in position to putt the golf ball, the mirror will reflect an image of any object in the area in front of the face of the putter so that the object can be seen by the golfer in his normal stance above the golf club. The mirror is constructed so that it is adjustable, first about a horizontal axis extending in a direction at a right angle to the face of the head of the putter and about a second axis disposed at a right angle with respect to the first axis and movable in a vertical plane disposed parallel to the plane of the face of the putter, thus enabling the golfer to adjust the mirror and the image it reflects to suit his individual stance with reference to his preferred position with the ball when using the putter.

3,507,500 Patented Apr. 21, 1970 Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus for positioning the face of the head of a golf club so that its vertical and lateral axes are disposed exactly at right angles to the direction a golf ball must travel to enter the hole of a putting green.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for reflecting the area ahead of the face of a golf club and any vertically extending object in that area which may be directly in front of the face of the golf club.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sighting apparatus for attachment to a golf club whereby the golf club, golf ball and the fiagstick used to mark the position of the hole of the putting green can be viewed simultaneously, and the apparatus can be adjusted to accommodate players of various sizes using various putting stances.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus to enable one to direct the movement of a round object over a' surface wherein a vertical object indicating the destination of the round object can be viewed both before and during that moment of impact when the round object is impelled and starts to roll and travel to that destination.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus for directing the movement of a round object over a surface wherein the destination of the object can be viewed when impelling the object.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sighting attachment for golf clubs for teaching golfers how to putt, the attachment being simple in construction, expedient in use, and well designed to meet the economics of manufacture.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a front perspective view of the sighting attachment and the club head of a putter, showing the sighting attachment connected to the putter;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view, with parts broken away, of the sighting apparatus and the club head of a putter.

FIGURE 3 is an end cross sectional view of the club head of the putter and the connecting arm of the sighting apparatus.

FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of the club head of a putter and the sighting attachment.

FIGURE 5 is a schematic plan view of a green of a golf course, showing the hole, flagstick, ball and the head of a golf club embodying the present invention;

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now in more detail to the drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, FIGURE 1 shows a golf club putter 10 having a shank 11, club head 12 and club head face 14. The shank 11 extends from the club head 12 in a direction so that when the club head 12 rests on the ground the shank will extend generally upwardly from the club head. The club head 12 has an upper surface 15 lower surface 16 and back surface 17. The upper surface and lower surface are rounded at the end of the club head away from the shank 11 to form a toe 18, and the lower surface 16 is rounded at its end near the shank 11 to form a heel 19.

Sighting apparatus 20 is attached to the upper surface 15 of the club head 12. Sighting apparatus 20 includes a connecting arm 21, an adjusting housing 22, and a refleeting member 24. As is shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 connecting arm 21 is rectilinear along its length and generally channel shaped in cross section and includes top span 25, back span 26, top flange 28 and bottom flange 29. Club head 12 defines top channel 30 and back channel 31 which extend from toe 18 along upper surface and back surface 17, respectively. Top flange 28 of connecting arm 21 is slidable from toe 18 into top channel 30 and back flange 29 is slidable from toe 18 into back channel 31. Top span 25 and back span 26 span the upper surface 15 and back surface 17 of the club head between channels 30 and 31. Set screw 32 extends through back span 26 and is wedged against back surface 17 to lock connecting arm 21 to club head 12. Connecting arm 21 is integrally connected to housing 22.

The adjusting housing 22 includes a front wall 34 and a rear wall 35 disposed parallel to each other and joined together by inner end wall 36. Front wall 34 and rear wall 35 terminate at their ends remote from inner end wall 36 in flanges 38 and .39 which are turned inwardly into abutting relationship to form outer end wall 40. Rear wall 35 defines quadrant cut-out slot 37, described more fully hereinafter. Front wall 34 is disposed generally parallel to the face 14 of the club head 12. Front wall 34, rear wall 35, and end walls 36 and 40 define an open ended adjusting housing 22 with the upper and lower ends of the housing remaining open.

As is shown in FIGURE 4, the front wall 34 and rear Wall 35 define aligned apertures 41 and 42, respectively, through which threaded screw 44 extends. A nut 45 is threaded on the screw 44 to firmly position it in the apertures. A U-shaped clevis or saddle 46 including body portion 48 and legs 49 and 50 is positioned between the walls 34 and 35 of the housing, the legs of the clevis being disposed adjacent the walls. The legs of the U-shaped clevis 46 define aligned apertures in front and rear walls 34 and 35, and screw 44 is inserted therethrough. A cylindrical sleeve 54 of a size defining an opening slightly larger than the screw 44 is positioned in alignment with the apertures of clevis 46 around screw 44. Thus, screw 44 extends through apertures 41 and 42 of walls 34 and 35 of housing 22, through apertures 51 and 52 of the legs 49 and 56 of clevis 46, through cylindrical sleeve 54, and is held in place by nut 45. With this arrangement, when nut 45 is tightened down on screw 44 walls 34 and 35 of housing 22 will be urged together so as to urge the legs of clevis 46 together, against the ends of cylindrical sleeve 54, thereby maintaining these elements in fixed relationship with respect to each other.

A positioning block 55 is attached to body portion 48 of clevis 46 by means of cap screw 56 extending through aperture 58 in body portion 48 into threaded aperture 59 extending into the bottom surface of positioning block 55. Positioning block 55 is rectangular in shape, and defines a through-bore 60 extending in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the screw 56. A threaded aperture 61 extends inwardly from the upper surface of the positioning block 55 and intersects throughbore 60, and a set screw 62 is received therein. Clevis 46 includes an extension leg 64 (FIGS. 2 and 4) connected to the edge of its leg 50 adjacent inner end wall 36 of housing 22. Extension leg 64 is bent at a right angle with respect to clevis leg 50 and protrudes through quadrant cut-out slot 37 of housing rear wall 35. EX- tension leg 64 supports a calibrating quadrant 65 which includes a series of bench marks 66 radiating outwardly from an axis coincident with the axis of through-bore 6! of positioning block 55.

As shown in FIGURE 1, sighting apparatus includes a support frame 67 positioned above club head 12. Support frame 67 includes a flat base plate 68, inwardly turned side tabs 69 and 70, inwardly turned bottom tab 71 (FIG. 4) and a pair of inwardly turned top tabs 72 and 73. Tabs 69-73 cooperate to retain a mirror 74, or other reflective surface against the surface of the flat base plate 68. Top tabs 72 and 73 delineate a sighting area 75 on mirror 74 (FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 2, support frame 67 is supported on support arm 76 which is round in cross section at each of its ends and is square in cross section between its ends. As shown in FIG. 4, round end portions 78 and 79 are separated from square central portion 80 by slots 81 and 82. Inwardly turned bottom tab 71 of support frame 67 surrounds the square central portion 84) of support arm 76, and the bottom edges of inwardly turned side tabs 69 and 7t) nest in slots 81 and 82, so that support frame 67 and support arm 76 are rigidly connected together. The rounded end portion 78 of support arm 76 is received in the through-bore 60 of the positioning block 55, and retained therein by set screw 62. By loosening set screw 62, support arm 76 and sighting apparatus 20 can be rotated in positioning block 55 to virtually any desired position.

Front wall 34 and rear wall 35 of adjusting housing 22 each have an arcuate upper edge 84 and 85, respectively; the center of the arc of each edge 84 and 85 being coincident with the center of screw 41. As shown in FIG. 1, front wall 34 and rear wall 35 are calibrated near their arcuate upper edges with bench marks radiating outwardly from the axis of the screw 41. With this arrangement, the position of the set screw 62 (FIG. 2) or positioning block 55 (FIG. 4) with respect to the walls 34 and 35 (FIG. 1) can be easily determined by aligning these elements with the bench marks of the walls. Also, when support arm 76 (FIG. 4) of the sighting apparatus (FIG. 2) is allowed to pivot in the throughbore 60 of positioning block 55 the position of the sighting apparatus with respect to the club head 12 can be easily determined by aligning the support frame 67 with the bench marks of the calibrating quadrant 65.

OPERATION When the golfer desires to putt a golf ball over the surface of a green, toward the hole or fiagstick used to indicate the hole, he places the club adjacent to the ball in the usual manner so that the face 14 of the club head 12 extends in a plane such that its lateral and vertical axes are generally disposed at right angles to the line between the ball and the hole or fiagstick. The golfer then looks at the image reflected in the mirror 74 to see if the face of the club is properly aligned with the ball. If the golfer sees the image of the flagstick parallel to the side tabs 69 and 7t}, and bisecting the surface of the mirror 74, he can rest assured that the face of the club is properly aligned.

Since the shank 11 of some golf clubs extends from the club head 12 at an angle different from that ShOWn in the drawing, it is possible that the golfer may prefer to locate and practice putting the ball at a greater or less distance from his feet and in a position different from the one it might have occupied when utilizing a club as shown in the drawing. Accordingly, in such a case it may be necessary to adjust mirror 74 about the axis extending through screw 44 so the golfer will be able to use his normal stance when putting. Accordingly, the nut 45 can be loosened from screw 44 and sighting apparatus 20 pivoted about screw 44. When the sighting apparatus is properly repositioned as indicated and defined by bench marks disposed about the arcuate upper edges 84 and 85 of walls 34 and 35, respectively, of housing 22, nut 45 can be tightened on screw 44 to secure the sighting apparatus in its new position, which will be so selected as to show the vertical fiagstick as an image in the mirror when the golf club is in the proper putting position. Again, on another occasion, it might be preferred to practice putting the ball located at a greater or less distance from the fiagstick at which time it will be desirable to change the angle of sighting apparatus 20 about the axis of support arm 76 so that the golfer may continue to see the vertical fiagstick as an image in the mirror. Accordingly, set screw 62 can be loosened, the sighting apparatus 20 pivoted in through-bore 60 of positioning block 55 to a new position, indicated and defined by the bench marks of calibrated quadrant 65. Since the sighting apparatus 20 pivots about two axes and cannot rotate around a vertical axis, which is the axis perpendicular to the plane of the upper surface of the club head 12, sighting apparatus will always be maintained in directional alignment with the face of the club head. Thus, sighting apparatus 20 can be adjusted at will about its two remaining axes without fear of improperly aligning the reflective surface of mirror 74 with the direction along which it is desired to stroke the golf ball.

In using the sighting apparatus in conjunction with the putter 10, the golfer can experiment with several golf stances to attain the most comfortable and desirable stance without fear of misaligning the face 14 of the club head. For instance, if the golfer desires to stand erect with his head positioned to the heel side of the club head, sighting apparatus 20 (FIG. 1) can be pivoted about the axis extending through screw 44 (FIG. 4) to accommodate this position. Furthermore, if the golfer desires to stand slightly behind the ball so that his head is positioned slightly behind the face of the club head, he may desire to pivot support arm 76 (FIG. 4) and sighting apparatus 20 (FIG. 1) in through-bore 60 (FIG. 4) of the positioning block 55 (FIG. 4) to accommodate his new position. Of course, in changing the position of sighting apparatus 20 in either manner, accurate adjustment can be attained and any former positions can be redefined and duplicated and resumed again and again by aligning sighting apparatus 20 with the bench marks of calibrating quadrant 65 and by aligning positioning block 55 with the bench marks of the walls 34 and of adjusting housing 22.

The golfer can watch the image reflected in the mirror 74 (FIG. 2) of the sighting apparatus 20 (FIG. 1) when swinging the putter 10 (FIG. 1) so as to determine if his putter is maintained in proper alignment throughout the entire length of his stroke and during all the backward and the forward movement of that stroke. Thus, in this manner, inadvertent twisting of the putter in the hands of the golfer during his putting stroke can be avoided and a true putting stroke can be repeated, time after time.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, it can be seen that when the face 14 of the club head 12 is placed behind a ball 90 the mirror 74 will reflect or show the image 91 of the vertical flagstick 92 in the hole 94 of the putting green. If the face 14 of the putter 12 is not disposed at right angles to the line between the fiagstick 92 and the ball 90, the image 91 of the flagstick 92 will appear to slant across the face of the mirror 74. In this manner, the golfer will receive indication that the face of the putter is not in perfect alignment with the ball 90 and hole 94. If the golfer pivots the face of the putter until it is exactly at right angles to the line between the flagstick and the ball, the image 91 of the fiagstick 92 will be parallel to the side tabs 69 and 70 (FIG. 4). Thus, the golfer will have assurance that the club head is correctly aligned, or in the language of the player, is correctly lined up.

After the golfer becomes accustomed to using the putter 10 in this manner, he may be able to utilize sighting apparatus 20 to play a rolling or slopping green where the ball will not be expected to travel in a straight path across the surface of the green. If the green slopes or angles downwardly toward the right side of the hole, as from the bottom of FIGURE 5 toward the hole, sighting apparatus 20 and club head 12 can be purposely misaligned so that face 14 of the club head is disposed at the angle shown so that the club will stroke the ball to the higher side of the hole. Of course, the golfer receives indication of purposely misaligned club head by the image 91 of the fiagstick 92 being angled across the face of mirror 74. Furthermore, after a substantial amount of practice; the golfer can anticipate the precise angle that his golf club is to be misaligned so that the club and sighting apparatus can be accurately utilized in this manner.

As shown in FIG. 1, while connecting arm 21 has been disclosed as extending from the housing 22 in such a manner as being adapted to be connected to the upper surface 15 of the club head 12, it may be desirable to attach the sighting apparatus to a putter that has its shank 11 extending from the center of the upper surface of the club head. Of course, in this instance connecting arm 21 would have to be foreshortened to some extent so that it would not interfere with the shank. As an alternate arrangement, the sighting apparatus can be constructed with the connecting arm extending from the rear wall 35 of housing 22 so that it can be connected to the back surface of the putter. In either arrangement, or in any similar arrang'ement, the device would operate in the manner as disclosed.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations may be made in the embodiments chosen for the purpose of illustrating the present invention without departing from the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of a golf club and a sighting device, said golf club comprising a shank and a club head including a fiat front surface, a back surface, upper and lower surfaces, a heel surface and a toe surface, a first slot defined in said upper surface and extending generally from said toe surface toward said heel surface, and a second slot defined in said back surface and extending generally from said toe surface toward said heel surface, said sighting device including a housing positioned adjacent said toe surface, an elongated connecting arm extending horizontally from said housing toward said heel surface along said upper and back surfaces of said club head and including inwardly turned flange members extending into said slots of said club head, an elongated mirror-support arm extending from said housing to a position normally above and adjacent the upper surface of said club head, said housing including therein means for adjustably rotating said mirror-support arm about its longitudinal axis and about an axis generally normal to the longitudinal axis of said mirror-support arm, and a mirror connected to said mirror support arm.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said elongated connecting arm defines an opening therein in its portion extending along the back surface of said club head, and a screw is projected through said opening and into engagement with said club head.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said first slot in said club head extends into the upper surface of said club head at an angle substantially parallel to the flat front surface of said club head and wherein said second slot in said club head extends into the back surface at an angle extending generally toward the front surface of said club head.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,327,171 1/1920 Ruggles 273-163 3,118,678 l/1964 Rohr. 3,421,765 l/1969 Scott 273-163 GEORGE J. MARLO, Primary Examiner US. or. X.R. 273-194, 163; 3s0 2ss

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