Golf club heads

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10874915-B2
Application number	US-201816161337-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 16, 2018
Priority date	Aug 10, 2017
Publication date	Dec 29, 2020
Grant date	Dec 29, 2020

Abstract

A cast cup can include a forward portion of a golf club head, including a hosel, a face portion, and forward portions of a crown, sole, heel and toe. A rear ring can be formed separately from the cast cup and coupled to heel and toe portions of the cast cup to form a metallic club head body, such that the club head body defines a hollow interior region, a crown opening, and a sole opening. The cast cup and rear ring can be cast of titanium alloys. Composite crown and sole inserts can then be coupled to the crown opening and sole opening. The face portion of the cast cup can have a desirably complex geometry. The rear surface of the face portion of the cast cup can be modified before the rear ring is attached.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A wood-type golf club head comprising:
a metallic cast cup comprising a forward portion of the club head, including a hosel, a face portion having a front surface, a rear surface, and a variable thickness profile, a forward portion of a crown, and a forward portion of a sole;
a metallic rear ring formed separately from the cast cup and coupled to heel and toe portions of the cast cup to form a club head body, the club head body defining a hollow interior region, a crown opening, and a sole opening;
a crown insert coupled to the crown opening;
a sole insert coupled to the sole opening;
an adjustable head-shaft connection assembly coupled to the hosel; and
a forward mass pad located in the sole of the cast cup;
wherein a striking surface of the face portion is twisted such that an upper toe portion of the striking surface is more open than a lower toe portion of the striking surface, and such that a lower heel portion of the striking surface is more closed than an upper heel portion of the striking surface.

2. The club head of claim 1 , wherein the cast cup and rear ring are composed of a titanium alloy.

3. The club head of claim 1 , wherein the cast cup comprises a titanium alloy including 6.75% to 9.75% aluminum by weight and 0.75% to 3.25% molybdenum by weight, and the metallic rear ring comprises an aluminum alloy.

4. The club head of claim 1 , wherein the rear surface of the cast cup has a machined surface and a portion of the machined surface is at an elevation above a face center and a portion of the machined surface is at an elevation below the face center.

5. The club head of claim 1 , wherein the face portion comprises an asymmetric variable face thickness profile.

6. The club head of claim 5 , wherein a central portion thickness of the face portion is less than a maximum thickness of the face portion, and the face portion has a thickness change of at least 25% over the face.

7. The club head of claim 5 , further comprising a rear weight attached to the rear ring.

8. The club head of claim 5 , wherein no portion of the rear ring is within 20 mm from a center face when measured in a front-to-back direction.

9. The club head of claim 8 , further comprising a forward weight attached to the sole of the cast cup and a rearward weight attached to the rear ring.

10. The club head of claim 8 , wherein the metallic rear ring comprises an aluminum alloy.

11. The club head of claim 1 , wherein the cast cup is formed from a first material having a first material density and the rear ring is formed from a second material having a second material density, and the first material density is greater than the second material density.

12. A driver-type golf club head having a volume between 300 cm 3 and 500 cm 3 , comprising:
a cast cup formed from a first material having a first material density, and the cast cup comprising a forward portion of the driver-type golf club head including an integrally formed face portion defining an entire striking surface of the driver-type golf club head, a forward portion of a crown, a forward portion of a sole, a heel portion, a toe portion, and a hosel;
a rear ring formed from a second material having a second material density and formed separately from the cast cup, wherein the rear ring connects to the cast cup, such that a seam is defined between the rear ring and the cast cup, to form a club head body defining a hollow interior region, a crown opening, and a sole opening;
wherein the cast cup includes a forward portion of the crown opening and a forward portion of the sole opening, and the rear ring includes a rearward portion of the crown opening and a rearward portion of the sole opening;
a crown insert is permanently secured by adhesion to both the cast cup and the rear ring thereby enclosing the forward portion of the crown opening and the rearward portion of the crown opening, and the crown insert is formed separately from the cast cup and the rear ring;
a sole insert is permanently secured by adhesion to both the cast cup and the rear ring thereby enclosing the forward portion of the sole opening and the rearward portion of the sole opening, and the sole insert is formed separately from the cast cup, the rear ring, and the crown insert;
wherein the first material and the second material are different materials, and the second material density has a lower density than the first material density; and wherein the metallic cast cup further comprises toe and heel male projections and the metallic rear ring further comprises toe and heel female notches, wherein the toe and heel male projections mate with corresponding ones of the toe and heel female notches to couple the metallic cast cup to the metallic rear ring; or the metallic cast cup further comprises toe and heel female notches and the metallic rear ring further comprises toe and heel male projections, wherein the toe and heel male projections mate with corresponding ones of the toe and heel female notches to couple the metallic rear ring to the metallic cast cup;
wherein the rear ring forms a rear toe portion and a rear heel portion of the club head and defines at least a portion of an outermost perimeter of the golf club head.

13. The driver-type golf club head of claim 12 , wherein the face portion has a front surface and a rear surface defining a variable face thickness profile therebetween and at least a portion of the rear surface of the face portion is a machined surface.

14. The driver-type golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the variable face thickness profile is offset toward a toe side or heel side of the face portion.

15. The driver-type golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the variable face thickness profile is non-symmetrical.

16. The driver-type golf club head of claim 13 , further comprising a rear weight secured to the rear ring.

17. The driver-type golf club head of claim 16 , wherein a central portion thickness of the face portion is less than a maximum thickness of the face portion, and the face portion has a thickness change of at least 25% over the face portion.

18. The driver-type golf club head of claim 17 , further comprising a forward weight secured to a bottom portion of the cast cup.

19. The driver-type golf club head of claim 17 , wherein the first material comprises a titanium alloy.

20. The driver-type golf club head of claim 19 , wherein the second material comprises an aluminum alloy.

21. The driver-type golf club head of claim 12 , wherein the rear ring has at least one engagement projection located on a toe portion of the rear ring and at least one engagement projection located on a heel portion of the rear ring and the cast cup has at least one engagement notch located on a toe portion of the cast cup and sized to receive the at least one engagement projection located on the toe portion of the rear ring and at least one engagement notch located on a heel portion of the cast cup and sized to receive the at least one engagement projection located on the heel portion of the rear ring, and the cast cup lacks an engagement projection in the forward portion of the crown.

22. The driver-type golf club head of claim 12 , wherein:
the forward portion of the crown opening is defined by a forward crown opening recessed ledge of the metallic cast cup;
the rearward portion of the crown opening is defined by a rearward crown opening recessed ledge of the rear ring;
the forward portion of the sole opening is defined by a forward so

Assignees

• Taylor Made Golf Co

Inventors

• Greensmith Matthew
• Johnson Matthew David
• Chao Bing-Ling

Classifications

• A63B2209/00

  Characteristics of used materials · CPC title

• A63B60/00

  Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like · CPC title

• A63B53/0466 Primary

  wood-type · CPC title

• C22C14/00

  Alloys based on titanium · CPC title

• A63B53/0433

  with special sole configurations · CPC title