Golf club head with adjustable resting face angle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11020641-B2
Application number	US-202016860455-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 28, 2020
Priority date	May 5, 2017
Publication date	Jun 1, 2021
Grant date	Jun 1, 2021

Abstract

A golf club head includes a club body and a resting face angle adjuster. The club body includes a crown opposite a sole, a toe end opposite a heel end, a back end opposite a face, and a hosel. The sole includes a sole surface. The resting face angle adjuster includes an adjustment member having a keel surface, and a recess formed in the sole such that a portion of the sole surface at least partially bounds the recess. The adjustment member is disposed in the recess and positionable between a first adjustment position and a second adjustment position. In the first adjustment position, the keel surface is at a first distance relative to the portion of the sole surface. In the second adjustment position, the keel surface is at a second distance relative to the portion of the sole surface not equal to the first distance in the direction.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A golf club head comprising
a club body having a crown opposite a sole, a toe end opposite a heel end, a back end opposite a face, and a hosel, the sole including a sole surface; and
a resting face angle adjuster including:
an adjustment member positionable within a recess formed in the sole, the adjustment member including a keel surface positionable between a first adjustment position and a second adjustment position; and
a fastener that selectively secures the adjustment member in each of the first adjustment position and the second adjustment position;
wherein the resting face angle adjuster is configured such that when the adjustment member is positioned in the first adjustment position, the adjustment member effects a keel point at a first location on the club body, and when the adjustment member is positioned in the second adjustment position, the adjustment member effects a keel point at a second location on the club body different than the first location; and
wherein the adjustment member includes a through-slot; and the resting face angle adjuster is configured such that the fastener is translatable relative to the adjustment member within the through-slot.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
a resting face angle is measured, with the club head at address, between the face and an imaginary line that extends from a golf ball along an intended target line at address;
the resting face angle is zero when the face is perpendicular to the intended target line;
when the adjusting member is repositioned from the first adjustment position to the second adjustment position, the resting face angle change is altered by a degree amount selected from the group consisting of: 1 degree, 2 degrees, 3 degrees, 4 degrees, 5 degrees, 6 degrees, 7 degrees, 8 degrees, 9 degrees, and 10 degrees.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the fastener is engaged with the recess when the adjustment member is secured in the first adjustment position and second adjustment position;
the adjustment member can be rotated, removed, reinserted, or replaced with another adjustment member when the fastener is disengaged from the recess.

4. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the fastener is not removable from the recess.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the adjustment member is slidable within the recess relative to the club body between the first and second adjustment positions.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the slot comprises one or more narrowed portions and one or more widened portions that cooperate to form a discrete number of positions for receiving the fastener.

7. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the adjustment member is further positionable in a plurality of intermediate adjustment positions between the first adjustment position and the second adjustment position.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the recess comprises a variable recess depth, measured orthogonal to a sliding surface of the recess, between the sliding surface and an adjacent portion of the sole surface; wherein the sliding surface is configured to slidably engage the adjustment member.

9. The golf club head of claim 8 , wherein:
the recess extends longitudinally from a recess closed end, closer to the face than the rear end, to a recess open end, closer to the rear end than the face; and
the recess depth is greater near the closed end and smaller near the open end.

10. The golf club head of claim 9 , wherein the recess depth varies linearly between the open and closed ends of the recess.

11. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the recess is positioned on the sole closer to the heel end than to the toe end.

12. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
a first keel height is measured with the adjustment member in the first adjustment position; wherein the first keel height is measured orthogonal to an adjacent sole surface to the keel surface of the adjustment member;
a second keel height is measured with the adjustment member in the second adjustment position; wherein the second keel height is measured orthogonal to the adjacent sole surface to the keel surface of the adjustment member; and
the second keel height is greater than the first keel height.

13. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the golf club head comprises a center of gravity;
the first location and the second location of the keel point are both located behind the center of gravity when the club head is at address position.

14. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the golf club head comprises a center of gravity;
the first location of the keel point is located in front of the center of gravity when the club head is at address position; and
the second location of the keel point is located behind the center of gravity when the club head is at address position.

15. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the first location is closer to the face than the second location.

16. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
a resting face angle is measured, with the club head at address, between the face and an imaginary line that extends from a golf ball along an intended target line at address;
the resting face angle is zero when the face is perpendicular to the intended target line;
by positioning the adjusting member in the first adjustment position, the resting face angle of the golf club head is a more open position than that of a similar club head lacking the adjustment member in the first adjustment position; and
by positioning the adjusting member in the second adjustment position, the resting face angle of the golf club head is a more closed position than that of a similar club head lacking the adjustment member in the second adjustment position.

17. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the adjustment member is entirely within the recess when the adjustment member is positioned in the first adjustment position.

18. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the recess further comprises sidewalls comprising one or more notches,
the adjustment member further comprises a sidewall with one or more ridges that cooperate with the one or more notches of the recess to hold the adjustment member in a discrete number of adjustment positions.

19. The golf club head of claim 18 , wherein the one or more notches and one or more ridges cooperate to hold the adjustment member in the first adjustment position or the second adjustment position.

Assignees

• Karsten Mfg Corp

Inventors

• Jertson Martin R
• Lee Daniel K
• Chen Xiaojian
• Milleman Travis D

Classifications

• A63B60/02

  Ballast means for adjusting the centre of mass (A63B60/24, A63B60/54 take precedence) · CPC title

• A63B53/0433 Primary

  with special sole configurations · CPC title

• A63B53/0466

  wood-type · CPC title

• A63B60/52

  with slits · CPC title

• A63B2102/32

  Golf · CPC title