Golf club

Application filed July 6, 1928. Serial No. 290,823.

The invention concerns golf clubs of the type having metal hosels and metal shafts, and involves the method of making and the article produced.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, it has been customary, in such clubs, in practice to secure the shaft to the hosel by riveting. This has proved objectionable for several reasons. First, that it makes the club too 10 rigid as the tubular steel shaft lacks the torsional effect which takes place in the wood shaft under the force of the blow; and second, it requires the annealing of the shaft to enable the drilling of the rivet hole, and the 15 weakening of the parts by the presence of such holes, besides the trouble and expense of the riveting operation.

The present invention aims to avoid these objections and to provide a club of this char20 acter having a metal handle secured to the metal hosel by means which, while holding the club head permanently to the shaft, will yet permit the desired torsional cushioning effect.

To this end the invention comprises the novel construction hereinafter described and defined by the appended claims.

In order that the invention may be better understood, reference is made to the accom³⁰ panying drawings, in which:—

Figure 1 is a view showing the club head and shaft, partly broken away, before assembly.

Fig. 2 is a view of the same assembled and ³⁵ partly in section, but before the end of the hosel is contracted.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with the hosel contracted or reduced to exert its compressive force upon the sleeve.

⁴⁰ Fig. 4 is a view of a form in which the hosel is compressed or contracted at its upper end, and the distortable sleeve is shorter than the hosel so that the upper contracted end of the latter contacts with the metal shaft.

⁴⁵ Fig. 5 is a view of a modified form, and like in Fig. 2 the parts are shown assembled but before the upper end of the hosel is deformed or compressed onto the rubber sleeve.

Fig. 6 is a view of another form of the invention in which the hosel is formed with 50 a main part and a removable section adapted when in place to exert pressure upon the distortable sleeve.

Referring by reference characters to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the club 55 head which is intended to be representative of any type, such as mid-iron, mashie, etc., metal club head of the driver type now coming into use, or any head having a metal hosel. 2 designates the tubular steel shaft ⁶⁹of customary form.

The bore of the hosel l^a is made sufficiently larger in internal diameter to provide a space between it and the shaft when the latter is inserted, which space is designed to receive ⁶⁵a sleeve 3 of distortable material. Preferably the shaft end and bore are made cylindrical, the latter being of larger diameter as stated, but this cylindrical feature is not material as they might be made with a slight ⁷⁹taper without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Prior to the insertion of the shaft end in the bore of the hosel a sleeve of distortable material is placed on the shaft end as shown ⁷⁵in Fig. 1.

The material I prefer to use for the sleeve is rubber which may be vulcanized on the shaft, or secured thereto by a suitable cement, whereby it is caused to adhere to the shaft, ⁸⁹whereafter the end of the latter is inserted in the bore of the hosel, which is of such a size as to enable the shaft end and sleeve to be inserted therein with a driving fit..

After the shaft with the sleeve of distort- ⁸⁵able material is fitted into the hosel, the upper thinned or tapered end of the hosel is subjected to pressure and is thereby caused to contract from the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 to that shown in Fig. 3. This makes the ⁹⁹

1,906,239 bore of the hosel at its upper or outlet end of smaller diameter than the diameter of the bore at points intermediate its ends. By comparing Figs. 2 and 3, this reduction of 5 the bore at its outlet end may be appreciated.

Tlie reduction in internal diameter is gradual, from said point B, to the upper end A of the hosel, see Fig. 2.

This contracting of the tipper end of the 10 hosel may be accomplished in various ways, as by means of dies, or by rolling, not necessary to be specifically disclosed herein.

The contracting of the upper end of the metallic hosel upon the distortable material 15 effects the permanent attachment of the head and shaft firmly together, while at the same time the interposed distortable material will provide the desired torsional cushioning effect.

In the use of rubber, for example, which is not compressible but is distortable, the effect of the compressive force resulting from the contraction or reducing of the upper end of the metallic hosel is to distort the said 25 rubber sleeve in the sense that it will flow or extrude from the end of the hosel, and this projecting portion will be cut off in completing the article.

The tendency of the distortable material· to 30 flow is present throughout the mass composing the wall of the sleeve and hence there is a tendency for the rubber also to flow, or expand, as it were, into the non-contracted part of the hosel and accommodate itself to 35 any accidental irregularities of the bore of the hosel.

Pressure exerted on that portion of the rubber sleeve near the upper or outlet end of the hosel is communicated to all parts of the ⁴⁰ mass of rubber, which, if it, as intended, initially completely fills the bore of the hosel, will result in a firm pressure contact of the rubber with all portions of the wall defining the bore of the hosel, and hence a substan45 tially equal gripping effect throughout the entire length of the sleeve will result.

In Fig. 4 the rubber sleeve is fixed to the metallic shaft by cement or vulcanization and then the end of tins shaft with, the sleeve 50 affixed thereto is forced into the metallic hosel with a driving fit, so as to firmly grip the wall of the bore of said hosel. The sleeve in this instance is somewhat shorter than the bore of the hosel, so that the end of the hosel 55 extends along the shaft beyond the end of the sleeve. In this case, the tapered upper end of the hosel is pressed by rolling or by a die action inwardly, so as to contact with the shaft at a point above but adjacent the «0 end of the rubber sleeve. This will lock the head onto the shaft, and resist any tendency for the head and shaft to be relatively displaced in a direction lengthwise of the club.

.¥^or obtaining the proper degree of torque, 35 reliance is had in this form upon the initial frictional grip of the rubber sleeve upon the interior wall of the hosel.

While the two forms above described have a feature in common, in that the upper externally tapered end of the hosel is reduced 7η or contracted after the shaft with the rubber sleeve is inserted therein, there is a material difference between these forms in that in the form first described the distortable material is subjected to pressure, after being placed, 75 due to the contraction of the upper end of the hosel upon the upper portion of said material, causing it to flow, so to speak, or to transmit the compressive force so that the material of the sleeve will fill all parts of go the hosel bore or cavity, and will firmly grip the wall of the hosel as a result of the tendency of the material to distort throughout its mass, due to said compressive force exerted at its upper portion. ₈₅

It will be noted that in both forms of the invention the hosel at its upper end is thinned by tapering it externally upwardly. This construction lends itself to the ready contraction of said upper end of the hosel 90 about the shaft.

In Figs. 1 to 3 the diameter of the small or lower end of the shaft is say .355. The taper is .092. per foot. The hosel is reamed with a straight reamer to make a cylindrical 95 bore. The rubber sleeve is cylindrical exteriorly to fit this bore. The upper tapered end of the hosel from A to B is the portion which is compressed onto the rubber by the rolling or die action. ₁₀₀

Instead of having the parts of the above formation they may be as shown in Fig. 5 which shows the parts assembled but before the upper end of the hosel is deformed or compressed to exert pressure upon the sleeve 105 and reduce the outlet opening of the hosel.

In this form the shaft tapers as before towards its lower end .092 per foot and terminates with a diameter of .355. The rubber sleeve 3a, however, tapers to correspond 110 1. e. .092 per foot, and the bore of the hosel is reamed with a taper reamer so that it tapers towards the lower end in conformity with the taper of the rubber sleeve and shaft. After these parts are assembled with a driv- 115 ing nt into the hosel the upper tapered end of the hosel is compressed or deformed from A to B so as to exert pressure on the rublier sleeve, with substantially the same effect as in the form first described. Any rubber which 120 extrudes from the outlet opening of the hosel may be cut off.

In this form like in that first described, the rubber sleeve may be vulcanized or cemented to the shaft. ₁₂₅

Aⁿθ I show a form of connection in which the shaft has attached thereto a rubber sleeve 3δ winch in molding is tapered from its middle portion towards each end. The mam part lb of the hosel has its bore tapered 130

1,906,380 downwardly and receives the lower tapered end of the rubber sleeve. The upper end of the hosel section 1 receives an extension or ferrule portion lc externally tapered upwardly and having a bore tapered upwardly to receive the upward taper of the upper end of the sleeve. This ferrule may be attached to the main part of the hosel, of which it forms an extension, in different ways one of which may be by having the lower end of the ferrule reduced in diameter and screw threaded to fit into a socket of the hosel, which socket is screw threaded to correspond. This construction is shown at 4. This ferrule exerts pressure on and distorts the rubber sleeve and aids in effecting strong frictional engagement of the rubber with the hosel as thus completed.

In this form of the invention the part 1Z> and the ferrule portion lc make up the complete hosel.