US 2,006,122,004 · Filed 2004-12-06
The Sliding Weight System That Lets Golfers Tune Their Clubs
A golf club head with a weight you can slide along a groove in the back and lock into different positions. By moving the weight around and swapping out the ring around it, you change where the club's heaviest point is, which changes how the ball flies—letting each golfer dial in their perfect shot.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a golf club head with a curved groove (trough) running along the back, a sliding weight that seats inside that groove, and a bolt-and-locking-rim system that lets you lock the weight at different positions along the groove. What's protected here is the specific mechanical design: the tapered mouth shape, the locking rim that stretches or retracts when you turn the bolt, and the ability to swap out the ring around the weight to change its mass. Anyone making a golf club with this exact adjustable-weight-in-a-groove system would be infringing.
Why it matters
Golf equipment is a competitive market, and controlling how a club performs—specifically how it launches and feels—is critical to competitive advantage. This patent locks down a clever mechanical solution for letting golfers and manufacturers fine-tune the center of gravity without redesigning the whole club. For a manufacturer, this means a single club design can be customized in the field for different swing styles, which could appeal to retail and custom-fitting operations.
Real-world use
A golfer walks into a pro shop, hits a few balls with a standard club, then the fitter slides the weight forward one notch to increase forgiveness, swaps in a heavier ring, and suddenly the ball flight matches their swing.
Original USPTO abstract
A weight adjustable golf club head is provided. The club head has a trough at a lower part of the club head's back and a weight positioned inside the trough. The trough is arranged to follow the curvature of the club head's bottom. The trough has a tapered mouth along the surface of the club head and a base. There is an insertion hole at a position along the trough. The weight could be inserted into the trough through the insertion hole, and then slid along the trough. The weight contains a seat, a bolt, and a loading ring. The seat has a locking rim and the positioning rim which are inside the trough's base and mouth respectively when the weight is slid into the trough. The seat's body and the locking rim have a number of breaks so that the locking rim could be stretched. When the bolt is screwed into or out of the seat, the locking rim would be stretched or retracted, so that the weight could be locked or un-locked in the trough. The loading ring is put around the seat and could be made of various types of material. By adjusting the position of the weight along the trough and changing the loading ring, the club head's center of gravity could be adjusted to suit a golfer's specific stance, habit, and the specific trajectory required.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 2,006,122,004
- Filing date
- 2004-12-06
- Grant date
- Application — not yet granted
- Assignee
- Hsin-Hua Chen / Jung-Yu Yu
- Inventor(s)
- CHEN HSIN-HUA, YU JUNG-YU
- CPC class
- A63B53/0466
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