US20140200095A1

US20140200095A1 - Golf putter

Info

Publication number: US20140200095A1
Application number: US14/239,260
Authority: US
Inventors: Kyong Ho KIM
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-08-31
Filing date: 2012-08-31
Publication date: 2014-07-17
Also published as: WO2013032275A3; KR200459884Y1; WO2013032275A2

Abstract

Disclosed is a golf putter which includes a putter head which includes a toe and a heel and is formed with a putting line groove on an upper surface of a plane portion; and a support which connects the putter head and a shaft and is formed with an upper horizontal line parallel with the putting line groove.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a golf putter, and more particularly to a golf putter improved in stability and centrality when the putter rotates, in consideration of a heel-toe balance and a face balance.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, golf is a game in which a golf ball placed on a course is hit by a club gripped by both hands and superiority is distinguished with respect to the number of strokes counted until the golf ball is in a hole.
The golf course is built by artificially making a wood, a valley, a pond, a mound and the like obstacles in a large area such as a field, a hill, a forest, etc., and involves a teeing ground and a fairway, a rough, a bunker, a water hazard, a green, a hole, etc.
Meanwhile, the most important way to shave off a few strokes from golf scores is putting that makes up about 40% of a golf game.
The putting depends on a direction and a distance. In particular, the direction is important. Therefore, a putting line is decided after reading the green, and accurate aim and a perfect stroke are needed.
Here, the requisites of the putting include the direction, angle and speed of the ball, distance prediction, and proper putting strength.
That is, the putting succeeds under the condition that the direction and the angle have to be accurately aimed at a hole cup, and the putting has to be performed strongly enough to make the ball go slightly across the hole cup.
Further, a putting stroke has to be performed while imagining a correct putting line with respect to the hole. At this time, in order to perform the correct putting, a golfer's eyes have to be exactly perpendicular to the ball, and a hitting point of a putting striking surface have to draw along the putting line and perpendicularly strike the center of the ball.
Also, horizontality of a putter head and the slope and relief of the green have to be accurately grasped so that the strength and direction of the putting can be decided and unnecessary actions can be avoided as much as possible.
However, it is difficult for beginners in golf or average golfers to accurately grasp the relief of a gentle or steep slope as well as a flat green and control the horizontality of the putter head and the putting strength.
Thus, the correct putting has been difficult because the putting line is determined based on the golfer's eyes and senses.

RELATED ART DOCUMENT

Korean Patent No. 10-0912423

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem

Therefore, the present invention is directed to a golf putter, in which an upper horizontal line is formed in a connecting portion provided in an upper side of a support of the golf putter and a putting line groove is horizontally formed on an upper surface of a plane portion of a head, thereby enabling a proper putting swing.

Technical Solution

One aspect of the present invention provides a golf putter including: a putter head which includes a toe and a heel and is formed with a putting line groove on an upper surface of a plane portion; and a support which connects the putter head and a shaft and is formed with an upper horizontal line parallel with the putting line groove.
The golf putter may further include a lower horizontal line which is provided on a lower surface of the plane portion between the toe and the heel and parallel with an upper horizontal line or the putting line groove.
The golf putter may further include first and second convex portions and so that centers of masses can be respectively located in the toe and the heel.
The support may protrude from the head toward the toe as being inclined upward at an angle of 70˜90° with regard to a horizontal direction.

Advantageous Effects

In a golf putter according to an embodiment of a present invention, a putter head includes a heel and a toe to maintain a heel-toe balance, thereby minimizing a rotational motion that may be generated when hitting a golf ball.
Also, a putting line groove formed on a upper portion of a putter head and a upper horizontal line formed on a connecting portion provided in an upper side of a support are configured to form a rectangle, thereby improving accuracy in a stroke when hitting a golf ball.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a left side view of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a right side view of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.


[Reference numerals]

12: putting line

15: lower horizontal line

16: toe

17a: first convex portion

17b: second convex portion

18: heel

20: head

23: upper horizontal line

	32: connecting portion

BEST MODE

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the following embodiments are given to be fully understood by a person having an ordinary skill in the art, and may be modified into various alternatives. Further, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In the drawings, like numerals refer to like elements throughout.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a rear view of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 1 to 3 are the perspective view, front view and rear view of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in which a shaft (not shown) is omitted. A head 20 coupled to a lower end of the shaft includes a face 14, a toe 16 and a heel 18, and a support 22 to be connected to the shaft is provided in a portion for connection between the toe 16 and the heel 18.
At opposite ends of the head 20, i.e., at the toe 16 and the heel 18, a first convex portion 17 a and a second convex portion 17 b are provided to have convex shapes so that the heel 18 and the toe 16 can become heavy.
Also, a support upper horizontal line 23 is formed to be parallel with a putting line groove 12 on an upper surface of a plane portion of the head 20.
Further, a lower horizontal line 15 is formed to be parallel with the putting line groove 12 on a lower surface of the head 20.
Meanwhile, all objects have the center of gravity, and the center of gravity (CG) serves as a point of action where mechanically connected objects operate like a single object with respect to the center of gravity even though the objects' weight is spread out to substantially many points.
FIG. 1 shows the center of gravity by ‘CG’. Further, an imaginary line 26 passing through the center of gravity CG in a direction perpendicular to the face 14 of the putter head 20 intersects a point 28 of the face 14 of the putter head 20 (refer to FIG. 6 or 7).
The imaginary line 26 may be aligned with a line along which the golf putter is swung.
Also, a surface where the putting line groove 12 of the head 20 of the golf putter and an intersection line between the head 20 and the support 22 are involved may be at an angle θ of 70˜90° to a surface where the upper horizontal line 23 of the support 22 and the intersection line between the head 20 of the putter and the support 22.
That is, the support 22 protrudes from the head 20 toward the toe 16 as being inclined upward at an angle of 70˜90° with regard to a horizontal direction.
Further, the upper horizontal line 23 provided in a connecting portion 32 connected to an upper side of the support 22 of the golf putter may be parallel with the putting line groove 12 formed the upper surface of the plane portion of the head 20 so that a user of the golf putter can immediately recognize whether the swing action is aligned with the imaginary line 26.
FIGS. 4 and 5 are plan and bottom views of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, a location relation between the upper horizontal line 23 and the putting line groove 12 form a rectangle ABCD having two parallel lines.
Therefore, an orthographic projection over the support 22 is involved in the upper surface of the head 20 having the putting line groove 12.
If a swing path of the putter is matched with the imaginary line 26 when the putter, i.e., a golf club is swung, and the golf ball is hit at a point 28 on the face 14 of the putter head 20, the maximum energy transfer is achieved and no torsional force is applied to the putter.
A relationship of force generated at the stroke is as follows: momentum of the golf putter is transferred to the golf ball at the stroke by law of momentum conservation
At this time, the energy of the golf putter is divided into translational energy parallel with a rotational direction due to the swing of the golf putter and rotational energy due to shaking of the golf putter. If there is little energy loss due to friction or the like between the golf putter and the golf ball, the maximum energy transfer is achieved when the energy due to the swing of the golf putter is converted only into the translational energy of the golf ball.
As described above, the maximum energy transfer is achieved when the golf putter hits the golf ball without the shaking causing a rotational motion.
If the relationship of the force is described as the relationship of the position on the face 14 of the golf putter, the maximum kinetic energy transfer is achieved when the point 28 on the face 14 of the golf putter collides with the golf ball.
However, if the golf ball is hit at a position biased leftward or rightward from the point 28 on the face 14 of the putter head 20, force of rotating the head 20 with respect to a longitudinal axis of the shaft (not shown) is applied to the putter head 20.
In particular, if the hitting point is biased toward the toe 16 of the putter head 20, the head 20 tends to rotate in a clockwise direction.
The torque of the head 20 is transferred to the golf ball. When the clockwise torque is transferred to the golf ball, the golf ball has a rotational motion as well as a rectilinear motion and thus rotates leftward with respect to a flying direction, thereby flying as being curved leftward by the rotational motion of the golf ball with respect to the straightly going direction.
Likewise, if a stroke is performed at a position biased toward the heel 18 of the putter head 20, the head 20 of the putter is moved in a counterclockwise direction.
The torque of the head 20 is transferred to the golf ball. When the counterclockwise torque is transferred to the golf ball, the golf ball does not go straightly and rotates rightward with respect to the flying direction, thereby flying as being curved rightward with respect to the straightly going direction of the golf ball.
Of course, the foregoing undesired rotation of the putter head 20 is inhibited by inertia moment. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the putter is formed to maximize the inertia moment.
The inertia moment of an object is defined with respect to a reference axis to which the torque is applied. The standard inertia moment of the object is defined when the reference axis is aligned with the center of gravity. Although the objects have the same mass, the inertia moment increases in proportion to the square of a distance at which the mass is distributed farther away from the center of gravity (CG).
That is, if the reference axis gets more distant from the center of gravity, the inertia moment increases by the expression 1.
I=Σm _i ×r _i ² Expression 1
In the expression 1, m_iindicates the center of mass in the i^thelement, and r_iindicates the distance of the i^thelement from the center of mass.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the toe 16 and the heel 18 of the golf putter are respectively formed with first and second convex portions 17 a and 17 b on a middle lower surface of the plane portion of the putter head. If the first and second centers of masses M1 and M2 of the toe 16 and the heel 18 are distributed at distances r1 and r2 from the center of gravity CG of the golf putter, the inertia moment acts by M1*r1²+M2*r2².
The inertia moment of the object refers to resistance to the rotation of the object due to external torque applied to the object with respect to the reference axis. The larger the inertia moment, the more the resistance to the rotation due to the external torque.
In other words, to give the same angular acceleration (i.e., change in angular velocity per time), the torque to be applied to an object has to increase as large as the inertia moment of the object.
The inertia moment of the golf putter is also represented as the resistance to the rotation due to arm-wrist torque applied to a wrist position that is the reference axis of the club for an action from a back swing to a down swing.
In the golf putter according to an embodiment of the present invention, the center of mass is not positioned at the center of the head 20 but positioned at both ends of the head 20 so as to effectively use the inertia moment.
For the foregoing structure, the first convex portion 17 a and the second convex portion 17 b may be provided to have convex shapes at the both ends of the head 20, i.e., the toe 16 and the heel 18
Also, as shown in FIG. 1, the heel 18 and the toe 16 have the convex shapes to become heavy, in which the center of mass located at the toe 16 will be called M1 and the center of mass located at the heel 18 will be called M2.
With this structure, a heel-toe balance is maintained.
When the golf ball collides with the hitting point on the face of the putter, the heel-toe balance prevents the face of the putter from shaking due to the inertia moment from the hitting point to the heel 18 of the putter or the toe 16 of the putter.
Besides the foregoing heel-toe balance, a face balance may be taken into account so as to improve the stability of the putter.
The face balance is achieved when the first and second centers of masses M1 and M2 are maximized within a limited range from the longitudinal axis of the shaft.
That is, the support 22 is provided to form the connecting portion 32 connected to a point adjacent to the heel 18 of the putter head 20. At this time, the connecting portion 32 has the upper horizontal line 23 for allowing a stroker, who will use the golf putter to hit the golf ball, to accurately aim at the golf ball.
Thus, when the golf putter is swung, possibility of deviating from a swing line is decreased.
That is, in the golf putter according to an embodiment of the present invention, the center of gravity is not located in an upper portion where the shaft is placed, but located in a lower portion where the putter head 20 is placed. Also, the head 20 includes the toe 16 and the heel 18 and thus improve stability based on the balance between the toe 16 and the heel 18 with regard to the swing of the golf putter on the contrary to a conventional golf putter where the center of mass is located at the center of the head 20.
Like this, if the support 22 is not placed in a front portion where the swing is performed but placed in a rear portion with respect to a cross section where the swing is performed, the center of mass is naturally shifted by the weight of the support 22, thereby minimizing impulse that may be generated at real collision with the golf ball while naturally pushing the head 20 of the putter downward.
Also, it is important how effectively the force is transferred to the golf ball even though the impulse is applied. Therefore, in the golf putter according to an embodiment of the present invention, the center of gravity is located in three different directions with respect to the direction in which the force is applied.
Such distribution of the force causes the supporter 22 to be forced in a downward direction while the force is transferred to the golf ball. Further, the first center of mass M1 and the second center of mass M2 are located in a left upper side or a right upper side with respect to the golf ball when the golf putter is swung, thereby having an effect on preventing the force from dispersion.
Referring to FIG. 1, in the golf putter according to an embodiment of the present invention, the support upper horizontal line 23 and the putting line groove 12 on the upper surface of the plane portion of the head 20 are formed in order to improve straightness when the golf putter is swung.
A user of the golf putter according to an embodiment of the present invention can stably swing the golf putter having the heel-toe balance and the face balance in order to accurately hit the golf ball while seeing the support upper horizontal line 23 and the putting line groove 12 on the upper surface of the plane portion of the head 20.
Here, the lower horizontal line 15 may be further provided on the lower surface of the head 20 and being in parallel with the putting line groove 12.
At this time, the lower horizontal line 15 may be provided perpendicularly to the connecting line of connecting the heel 18 with the toe 16 between the heel 18 and the toe 16 of the putter, thereby improving the swing stability of the golf putter.
FIGS. 6 and 7 are left and right side views of the golf putter according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 6, an extended line 27 of the shaft does not meet the head 20 of the golf putter and is located in front of the face 14 of the golf putter, thereby biasing a force-applying direction backward.
Although a few exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A golf putter comprising:

a putter head 20 which comprises a toe 16 and a heel 18 and is formed with a putting line groove 12 on an upper surface of a plane portion; and

a support 22 which connects the putter head 20 and a shaft and is formed with an upper horizontal line 23 parallel with the putting line groove 12.

2. The golf putter according to claim 1, further comprising a lower horizontal line 15 which is provided on a lower surface of the plane portion between the toe 16 and the heel 18 and parallel with an upper horizontal line 23 or the putting line groove 12.

3. The golf putter according to claim 1, further comprising first and second convex portions 17 a and 17 b so that centers of masses can be respectively located in the toe 16 and the heel 18.

4. The golf putter according to claim 1, wherein the support 22 protrudes from the head 20 toward the toe 16 as being inclined upward at an angle of 70˜90° with regard to a horizontal direction.