Golf club having removable sole weight using custom and interchangeable panels

• US 8,092,316 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2010
• Issued: 01/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Breier, Joshua G., Clausen, Karl A., Roberts, Douglas E., Soracco, Peter L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Passaniti, Sebastiano
• Application Number:
  US12/975,619
• Publication Number:
  US 20110092310A1
• Time in Patent Office: 384 Days
• Field of Search: 473324-350, 473287-292, 473305-315, 473244-248, 473/304
• US Class Current: 473/244
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2053/0491 with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/02 with reinforcing fibres, e.g. carbon, polyamide fibres
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0416 Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/047 iron-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/00 Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/02 Ballast means for adjusting the centre of mass A63B60/24, A63B60/54 take precedence

Abstract

A golf club head is presented comprising a sole including a removable panel secured to the sole via a non-threaded attachment assembly. Further, the removable panel may have a large surface area relative to its thickness, resulting in a chip-like or wafer-like weight member. This design allows the mass of the removable panel to be spread substantially along the surface of the sole as opposed to in the interior of the club head. The golf club head may comprise more than one removable panel. A removable panel of the present invention may generally comprise one or more discrete areas of higher basis weight or higher density. Even further, the removable panel may generally be releasably attached via a quick disconnect mechanism that allows easy interchangeability.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a hosel, a face, a crown, a skirt, and a sole;

wherein said sole further comprises one or more removable panels releasably attached to said sole, and

wherein said hosel further comprises a shaft adjustment mechanism to adjust a shaft angle of said golf club head,

said shaft adjustment mechanism further comprises;

a sleeve adapted to connect to a distal end of a shaft via a shaft bore,

a plurality of shaft slots, each allowing said sleeve of said shaft to be connected to said golf club head at a different angle; and

a plurality of separators interposed between said plurality of shaft slots to secure said sleeve of said shaft to said golf club head,

wherein an angular attribute of a longitudinal axis of said shaft bore is rotated relative to an angular attribute of a longitudinal axis of a body of said sleeve.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said plurality of shaft slots is arranged in a linear fashion in a front to back direction.

3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said shaft adjustment mechanism is a toothed joint.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said shaft adjustment mechanism is a circular joint.

5. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said removable panel only partially covers said sole of said golf club head.

6. The golf club head of claim 5, wherein a location of said removable panel is placed near a heel portion of said sole.

7. The golf club head of claim 5, wherein a location of said removable panel is placed near a toe portion of said sole.

8. The golf club head of claim 5, wherein a location of said removable panel is placed near a back portion of said sole.

9. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said one or more removable panels are connected to said sole utilizing a quick disconnect mechanism.

10. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein said quick disconnect mechanism is a non-threaded attachment mechanism.

11. An interchangeable golf club head system comprising:

a club head containing a first portion of a quick disconnect mechanism;

a plurality of removable panels each containing a second portion of said quick disconnect mechanism; and

a shaft adjustment mechanism connected to a hosel of said golf club head;

wherein said shaft adjustment mechanism further comprises;

a sleeve adapted to connect to a distal end of a shaft via a shaft bore,

a plurality of shaft slots, each allowing said sleeve of said shaft to be connected to said golf club head at a different angle; and

a plurality of separators interposed between said plurality of shaft slots to secure said sleeve of said shaft to said golf club head; and

wherein said removable panel only partially covers said sole of said golf club head.

12. The interchangeable golf club head system of claim 11, wherein each of said plurality of removable panels contains a different sole profile.

13. The interchangeable golf club head system of claim 11, wherein said quick disconnect mechanism is a non-threaded attachment mechanism.