Method of manufacturing golf club head having stress-reducing features

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11433281-B2
Application number	US-202117375180-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 14, 2021
Priority date	Jan 5, 2017
Publication date	Sep 6, 2022
Grant date	Sep 6, 2022

Abstract

Methods of manufacturing a golf club head with one or more stiffening members proximate the face, and particularly solid rods or a plate with one or more cutouts, is disclosed herein. One method includes the steps of preparing a wax mold of a golf club head including a plate stiffening member with excess material, casting the golf club head, and machining away the excess material. Another method includes the steps of casting a golf club body, providing a plate stiffening member, providing a face component such as a face cup, tack welding the plate stiffening member and the face component to the golf club body, and welding these parts together.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method comprising the steps of:
preparing a wax mold of a golf club head body, the wax mold comprising a striking face section, a front opening, a sole section extending from a lower edge of the striking face section, a return section extending from an upper edge of the striking face section, and a plate stiffening member extending from the return section to the sole section, the striking face section, sole section, and return section defining a hollow body interior;
casting from the wax mold a preliminary golf club head comprising a plate stiffening member with excess material; and
machining the excess material away from the plate;
wherein the plate has a thickness ranging from 0.020 inch to 0.160 inch,
wherein the plate is located within 1 inch of a rear surface of the striking face section measured along a vertical plane extending through a face center perpendicular to the striking face section, and
wherein no portion of the plate makes contact with the striking face section.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plate is spaced a distance of no more than 0.210 inch from the rear surface.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of casting a golf club head from the wax mold comprises casting the golf club head from a titanium alloy.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plate comprises at least one cutout.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the at least one cutout aligns with the face center along the vertical plane.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plate has a length of 1 inch to 2.5 inches.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plate stiffening member extends through the hollow body interior approximately parallel with the rear surface.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the excess material follows an s-curve shape.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sole section comprises an interior weight, and wherein the plate stiffening member extends from the interior weight to the return section.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the excess material comprises a heel side wall extending in a front-rear direction from a heel-side portion of the striking face section and a toe side wall extending in a front-rear direction from a toe-side portion of the striking face section.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of affixing a face component to the preliminary golf club head to enclose the hollow body interior.

Assignees

• Callaway Golf Co

Inventors

• Seluga James A
• Myers Matthew
• Nunez Christopher A G
• Scott Timothy G
• Hanhart Jeremy R
• Bazshushtari Kelsey
• Gonczi Robert S
• Power Alex
• Tomimbang Romulus M
• Del Rosario Justin

Classifications

• A63B53/0466 Primary

  wood-type · CPC title

• A63B53/0458

  with non-uniform thickness of the impact face plate · CPC title

• A63B53/0433

  with special sole configurations · CPC title

• A63B53/0437

  with special crown configurations · CPC title

• A63B2053/0491

  with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable · CPC title