US 11,752,409 B1
Apparatus and method for measuring lie and loft of a golf club
Alex Power, Carlsbad, CA (US); and Dan Marin, Ramona, CA (US)
Assigned to Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp., Carlsbad, CA (US)
Filed by Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp., Carlsbad, CA (US)
Filed on Dec. 20, 2022, as Appl. No. 18/85,164.
Application 18/085,164 is a division of application No. 17/190,100, filed on Mar. 2, 2021, granted, now 11,554,302.
Int. Cl. A63B 60/42 (2015.01); G06T 7/73 (2017.01); A63B 53/02 (2015.01)
CPC A63B 60/42 (2015.10) [G06T 7/73 (2017.01); A63B 53/02 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30221 (2013.01)] 3 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising the steps of:
placing a head of a golf club within a clamping apparatus so that a shaft of the golf club head extends approximately vertically from the head;
tightening the clamping apparatus to immobilize the golf club head;
aligning loft and lie sensors using a programmable logic controller to center the shaft within a sensor display;
capturing an image of scorelines on a face of the golf club head using one or more scoreline lines, scoreline lenses, and scoreline sensors;
calculating a scoreline angle using the scoreline image;
capturing at least one shaft image using one or more loft and lie lights, loft and lie lenses, and loft and lie sensors;
calculating preliminary loft and lie angles of the shaft using the at least one shaft image;
transmitting the scoreline angle and preliminary loft and lie angles to a computer comprising a calibration algorithm; and
computing with the calibration algorithm final loft and lie angles of the golf club;
wherein the step of tightening the clamping apparatus comprises the steps of increasing pressure within a tank and directing the increased pressure through a cylinder to the clamp, wherein the tank and the cylinder are operatively connected to the clamping apparatus.