Tommy Armour Golf Company

Jessica A Laprade

James E Karner

An apparatus and method for first reliably and accurately aligning the shafts of golf clubs in consistent orientation relative to corresponding club heads during assembly thereof, and second for performing inductive curing on the aligned golf club. A golf club is supported in an address position in a combination alignment/inductive cure station. The club shaft is supported by an inclined V-shaped channel, and the club head is supported in a club head support which includes a gel-filled trough for conforming to the sole of the club head. The leading edge of the club head is aligned against two substantially vertical alignment posts extending from the club head support, and reference graphics on the shaft are used in combination with an alignment panel to visually obtain the desired relative orientation of the shaft and club head. The club is then clamped in place, and an inductive heating element heats the joint of the shaft and club head to activate a bonding agent. A separate cold air cooling member returns the golf club joint to an operator handable temperature for speed of production.

Apparatus for assembling and curing golf clubs

An apparatus and method for maintaining proper alignment of an iron-style golf club prior to and during installation of a handle grip includes generally U-shaped shaft supports and a biased, preferably gravity-driven, self-adjusting, leading edge alignment assembly creating a vertical plane defined by at least a pair of parallel horizontal rails positioned one over the other, the horizontal rails being slidable along inclined linear bearings to facilitate adjustment until the leading edge of the strike face of an iron-style club head contacts two of the rails to ensure vertical alignment. A clamp is further provided to lock a properly aligned iron-style golf club in place prior to installing a handle grip on the butt-end of the shaft.

Growing community of inventors

Des Plaines, IL, United States of America

Jessica A Laprade