Releasable and interchangeable connections for golf club heads and shafts

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10130856-B2
Application number	US-201815873665-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 17, 2018
Priority date	Aug 23, 2011
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

Golf club heads are releasably engaged with shafts so that the club heads and shafts can be readily interchanged and/or so that the shaft position with respect to the club head can be readily changed. Assemblies for connecting the club head and shaft may include: a shaft adapter, a collet, a ferrule, and a club head having an interior chamber. The club head and shaft may be changed by releasing the securing system and exchanging the original parts with different parts.

First claim

We claim:

1. A golf club, comprising:
a golf club head having a hosel area that provides access to a club head chamber defined in the club head;
a shaft adapter being generally cylindrical in shape having a first end and an opposite second end, wherein an exterior surface of the shaft adapter includes a first rotation-inhibiting structure, wherein the first rotation-inhibiting structure is not uniform around the circumference of the exterior surface of the shaft adapter, and wherein the second end includes a securing structure;
a hosel adapter being generally cylindrical in shape, wherein an internal bore on a first end of the hosel adapter includes a second rotation-inhibiting structure that engages the first rotation-inhibiting structure, wherein the second rotation-inhibiting structure is not uniform around the circumference of the internal bore on the first end of the hosel adapter, and further wherein an exterior surface of the hosel adapter includes a third rotation-inhibiting structure, and wherein the third rotation-inhibiting structure is not uniform around the circumference of the exterior surface of the hosel adapter;
a hosel ring being generally cylindrical in shape and located within the club head chamber, wherein an internal bore of the hosel ring includes a fourth rotation-inhibiting structure that engages the third rotation-inhibiting structure, wherein the fourth rotation-inhibiting structure is not uniform around the circumference of the internal bore of the hosel ring, wherein the hosel ring includes indexable positions with respect to the club head to further change a configuration of the golf club head with an external portion of the hosel ring including tabs or separate splines to index and rotate the hosel ring within the club head chamber such that the tabs or separate splines cooperatively engage matching tabs or splines on an interior of the club head chamber, and further wherein the hosel ring only allows a specific number of rotatable positions of the hosel ring within the club head chamber;
a shaft engaged in a cylindrical interior chamber of the shaft adapter; and
a securing system for releasably securing the shaft adapter and the hosel adapter,
wherein the adjustment of the hosel ring independently changes a lie angle of the golf club head from an upright lie angle to a downward lie angle, wherein adjusting the lie angle is effectively independent of an adjustment of a loft angle or a face angle.

2. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein the adjustment of one of the face angle or the loft angle of the club head is based on a first indicator on the hosel adapter and the adjustment of the other of the face angle or the loft angle is set by aligning a second indicator on the shaft adapter to the first indicator, and adjusting the face angle is effectively independent of the adjustment of the loft angle, and adjusting the loft angle is effectively independent of the adjustment of the face angle.

3. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein the engagement between the first rotation-inhibiting structure and the second rotation-inhibiting structure limits the adjustment of one of the face angle or the loft angle of the club head and the engagement between the third rotation-inhibiting structure and the fourth rotation-inhibiting structure limits the adjustment of the other of the face angle or the loft angle of the club head, and adjusting the face angle is effectively independent of the adjustment of the loft angle, and adjusting the loft angle is effectively independent of the adjustment of the face angle.

4. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein the first rotation-inhibiting structure includes a first spline configuration, the second rotation-inhibiting structure includes a second spline configuration, the third rotation-inhibiting structure includes a third spline configuration, and the fourth rotation-inhibiting structure includes a fourth spline configuration.

5. The golf club of claim 4 , wherein the engagement of the third spline configuration and the fourth spline configuration limits the adjustability of the face angle to three different face angle configurations.

6. The golf club of claim 5 , wherein the three face angle configurations are open, neutral, and closed.

7. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein there are two indexable positions of the hosel ring within the club head chamber.

8. The golf club of claim 1 , wherein there are more than two indexable positions of the hosel ring within the club head chamber.

9. A golf club, comprising:
a golf club head having a hosel area that provides access to a club head chamber defined in the club head;
a shaft adapter being generally cylindrical in shape having a first end and an opposite second end, wherein an exterior surface of the shaft adapter includes a first rotation-inhibiting structure, wherein the first rotation-inhibiting structure is not uniform around the circumference of the exterior surface of the shaft adapter, and wherein the second end includes a securing structure;
a hosel adapter being generally cylindrical in shape, wherein an internal bore on a first end of the hosel adapter includes a second rotation-inhibiting structure that engages the first rotation-inhibiting structure, wherein the second rotation-inhibiting structure is not uniform around the circumference of the internal bore on the first end of the hosel adapter, and further wherein an exterior surface of the hosel adapter includes a third rotation-inhibiting structure, and wherein the third rotation-inhibiting structure is not uniform around the circumference of the exterior surface of the hosel adapter;
an indexable hosel ring being generally cylindrical in shape and located within the club head chamber, wherein an internal bore of the indexable hosel ring includes a fourth rotation-inhibiting structure that engages the third rotation-inhibiting structure, wherein the fourth rotation-inhibiting structure is not uniform around the circumference of the internal bore of the hosel ring, wherein the indexable hosel ring includes an external portion to index and rotate the indexable hosel ring within the club head chamber such that the external portion cooperatively engages an interior of the club head chamber, and further wherein the indexable hosel ring only allows a specific number of rotatable positions of the indexable hosel ring within the club head chamber;
a shaft engaged in a cylindrical interior chamber of the shaft adapter; and
a securing system for releasably securing the shaft adapter and the hosel adapter,
wherein the engagement between the first rotation-inhibiting structure and the second rotation-inhibiting structure limits the adjustment of one of a face angle or a loft angle of the club head and the engagement between the third rotation-inhibiting structure and the fourth rotation-inhibiting structure limits the adjustment of the other of the face angle or the loft angle of the club head, and adjusting the face angle is effectively independent of the adjustment of the loft angle, and adjusting the loft angle is effectively independent of the adjustment of the face angle,
wherein the adjustment of the indexable hosel ring independently changes a lie angle of the golf club head from an upright lie angle to a downward lie angle, wherein adjusting the lie angle is effectively independent of the adjustment of the loft angle and the face angle.

10. The golf club of claim 9 , wherein the adjustment of one of the face angle or the loft angle of the club head is based on a first indicator on the hosel adapter and the adjustment of the other of the face angle or the loft angle is set by aligning a second indicator on the shaft adapter to the first indicator, and adjusting

Assignees

• Karsten Mfg Corp

Inventors

• Boggs Joshua M
• Sander Raymond J
• Boyd Robert M
• Rubal Matthew P

Classifications

• A63B53/14 Primary

  Handles · CPC title

• A63B2053/025

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B53/02 Primary

  Joint structures between the head and the shaft · CPC title

• A63B2053/026

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B2053/023

  Human Necessities · mapped topic