US1573707A - Steel golf-club shaft - Google Patents

Description

W. F. HOERLE sfr/FEL GOLF CLUB SHAFT Feb. 16 1926.

' Filed Nov. 18, 1924 Patented Feb. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES APA'rlazNr OFFICE.

WILLIAM FERDINAND HOERLE, OF TORRINGTON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO UNION HARDWARE COMPANY, OF TORRINGTON, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION F CONNECTICUT.

Application filed November To all whom #may concer/n.'

Be Lit known" that I, WILLIAM F. I-IonRLE, a citizenp'ofthe United States of America, residing at .'lorrington, county of Litchfield',

' STEEL GpLF-CLUB SHAFT.

18, 1924. Serial No. 750,516.

views showing different ways of fastening a shaft in a head.

The blank 7 is` preferably of seamless tubing of loW carbon steel having say from State of Connecticut, have inventedga new 10 to 20 points of carbon, that is from .1 to

and useful Steel Golf-Club Shaft, of which the following is a specification.

My inventlon relates to handles or shafts for golfclubs.

The ordinary Wooden shaft is, of course, quite flexible and has desirable torsional characteristics which make the club lively, but it is very fragile, uncertain in quality and) considerably affected by moisture. It has heretofore. been proposed to. make such devices of steel. Some of these devices, however, have been very heavy and `rigid and others very' fragile. Shafts have been made of steel strips formed into t-ubes but these are difficult to make uniformly and are likely to split open. So far as I know no one has heretofore been abfe to produce commercially an integral or seamless tubular golf club shaft sufficiently Well balanced, light and pliable t0 be useful and yet suf- .bility of the tube gradually increases as the cientlyv strong to stand the severe stresses'v to which such a shaft is subjected. V The main object of my invention is to provide a light but strong, smooth and durable metallic shaft which will look and act very much like a first-class4 Wooden shaft and yet not have the objectionable characterisv ticsof Wood.

I have also sought to provide a shaft capable of commercial production according to standard specifications and ata loW cost.

I have found it possible to make a satis factoryshaft froman ordinary cylindrical low carbon seamless steel tubeV by shaping or drawing it into taper form, then carbonizing the tapered tube and heat treating and finishing it.

Figure 1 is a side vieu7 of a golf club of r standard form having-a shaft embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of a tubular blank from which a shaft is made.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the finishedshaft. Figs. l and 5 are transverse-sectional views of the shaft on' an enlarged scale taken respectively at the upper and lower ends of theshaft.

Figs. 6 and 7 are-enlargeddetail sectional .2 of one per centum of carbon. The outside diameter of the blankis preferably about of an inch. The gauge of the metal is preferably `from .015 to .018, although it may be lighter or heavier. About .0167' is quite desirable for a driver shaft.

This blank is rolled or sWaged to the desired taper. For instance an ordinary golf club shaft Would be something over 3 feet long and approximately {'26- of an inch in diameter at the smallest point in the neck 8. The tapering process should preferably elongate the tube and draw it down so that 'there Will be less metal in the cross-section in the smallest point than there is in the largest diameter of the tube and leave the Wall thicker in the neck than at the larger end. Ah elongation of ten per cent is usual. 4That is', from say 36 to 40.

section is taken nearer the small end. This also makes the' tube more flexible in the neck. A satisfactory thickness of the Wall at the neck' would be .019, although it may ble a little thicker or a little thinner than t iis.

After the tube has been Workedto the ydesire'lshape and size, it is carbonized in a suitable manner, for instancein a gas fired tube or in a charcoal or coke furnace 'or electrically. This is' done, preferably. at a comparatively lou7 temperature, say '1450o F. seas not to injurethe steel. This carbonizing is continued until the carbon content of theJ steel is increased to a suitable amount for thepurpose required, say from six tenths to one per centum. The carbon content can be increased even somewhat above one per cent by careful treatmentbit I do ,not consider it necessary to go above .75 .to .8O and in some cases a tube with even less than .75 per centum of carbon can be Vheat treated and hardened. The tube is then heat treated and drawn to the desired temper and then provided Witlna suitable .non-corrosive'finish. Such a shaft should ,Weigh from about lfive to'six ounces.

f The length of course is a matter of accommodation to the'individual. The Weight will necessarily .rary vriththe length. The weight and .stiffness of'some clubs. is ofcourse less critical than others. For instance, a putter shaft doesnotneed to be asoflexibleor tol'- 'sible as a driver.

l'Allow carbon steel tube is notonlyflc'ss expensive than a' high carbontube .but it' isxinuch. cheaper and easier to Work without injury to the metal. 4 The rolling or `I OSWaging is preferablyV done coldjand not4 only compacts the metal but drawsout the fibre in the direction of the length of the shaft particularly in- .the smaller part so as. to utilize the strengthof the'metalof greelthan would be possiblewit 'steel when. properly donejproduce's a` cons get in a tubemade fr dition 'Wherether'e is. morel carbon in lthe metalnear the surface than there 'is inside.' Consequently when hardened and tempered 'We have a hard exterior orskilr and' a softer y interior and the tube is resilient 'and yet tougher and stronger than is possible to .carbon steel.

The 'upper orhandleend'of the tube may be left 0f uniform diameter if desired and provided with any suitable .forni/of grip 1 0. f

The shaft may be4 used any.. style provide .thel lower end -v i of the shaft with a tapered enlargement 12" integral with' the shaftand adapted to be fitted Vand lheld inkthesbcket of the head" in the sa-Inemanner that' afwooden 'shaft is held. It should be'understood',i of course,`

--h'owever,4 thatfthe' lower end may"be inlsertedand he-ldin any form ofjwooden head in substantially thell same' manner' that' a Wooden shaft is held.

In some cases it may bedesirable to reinforee 4thetube adjacent thehead by' means I ,Sonia in' attesa 14 per-mas aight bend-.-

V ing of the shaft'and yet reinforee'siit fatv this point'. where the-stressisf'verygreat.- f

of a. ferru'le' or plugsuchas 13 .inF-ig". 6.`

The curvedend adjacent thev 'entrance v'to the -reinforce thel tubeat this point. v v- Such a shaft no t. only-has the requisite.

content at; the

In case the socket 15 ofthe head is larger .than the end 'of 'theshaft I may .employ a illerferrul'e 16.. nnerfplugl' may beused to s readf the end oflthe shaft -in an .prevent .the metal from bucklApin 18 n'iay be Aused to'holdfA thevparts' together. Thefiller and plug both serveto strength to resist crushing and. bending but lit has' torsional vand.fle1ible.clniracteristics Acloselyresemblin those of a'wooden shaft of high grade. iiice the shaftji's'drawn, rolled lor swaged from a seamless' tube, Vthere are no joints 'liable to'fopen When4 the club is used and subjecte'dto'the severestrains j of ordinary play. "By this process Zit is possible to make s afts. commercially inquan Y tity production andf. with such standard characteristics'as may be 4desired as to' cost., Weight, -iexibility and' torsibility;.

The method or process of formi filed July l2, 1925.`

'1. A 'fiexi'ble, torsionable, sfaainl-less,'thin-v Walled, tubular golf club -shaft smaller-.in

nglthe shaft is claimed in -my application 41,229"

diameter at one .en d' than atthe. other,"'

formed fof a low carbon steel tube mechanically Worked so as to elongate it and reduce `the diameter atone'end, carbonized to in-.

crease the carbon .content at the surface to A,atleast siii:l tenths of one per cent of'ca r bon, said shaft' being heattreated, hardened head. In Figure 1 Ihave Vsho-Wn a putter a or iron provlded with a socketfll. 'Tofit such a socket I 'may and" tempered. y '2. A to'rsionable'- t il seamless tubular golfclub, shaft formedof low carhons teelfrolledlongitudinally, carbonized to increase carbon surface, vheat treated and tem'- peredf havingj its fibre elongatedy longitudinally-7 and ca-rbonized, heat .treatedand tempered and. containing approximately per centimr 4. A `-torsionable*tapered tubular golf-'A club .shaft formed "of `low carbon yseamless u contain from six .tenths to one per centurn of about five to six ounces.

carbon in. the surface layer and Weighing 3. A torsionable seamless tubular golf club shaft 'formed of-low carbon steel and

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