Golf club head

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11865418-B2
Application number	US-201916458820-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 1, 2019
Priority date	Jul 1, 2019
Publication date	Jan 9, 2024
Grant date	Jan 9, 2024

Abstract

A putter-type golf club head, when oriented in a reference position, includes a main body, a weight insert, a center of gravity CG with a center of gravity depth CGD, a golf club head length L from a forwardmost extent of the golf club head to its rearwardmost extent, and a ratio of CGD/L no more than 0.30. The main body includes a front portion having a face defining a face plane, a rear portion extending rearwardly from the front portion, a heel, and a toe opposite the heel. The weight insert, which is denser than the main body, includes an insert CG that is located rearwardly from the face plane by a distance no greater than 1.0 cm.

First claim

We claim:

1. A putter-type golf club head that, when oriented in a reference position, comprises:
a main body including:
a heel;
a toe opposite the heel;
a front portion having a face defining a virtual face plane, the face including a forward-most extent of the front portion;
a rear portion extending rearwardly from the front portion and having a rearward-most extent of the golf club head, the rear portion including:
a heel projection projecting rearwardly from the front portion;
a toe projection projecting rearwardly from the front portion; and
a central section between the heel projection and the toe projection, the central section projecting less rearwardly from the front portion than each of the heel projection and the toe projection by at least 30.0 mm; and

a sole surface including a plurality of empty sole recesses located entirely rearwardly of a golf club head center of gravity CG, the plurality of empty sole recesses being located in the heel projection and the toe projection, with each of the heel projection and the toe projection containing a sole recess of the plurality of empty sole recesses, each of the plurality of empty sole recesses being in the form of a blind hole and comprising a plurality of sub-recesses arranged in a front to rear direction, at least a portion of each of the plurality of sub-recesses of the plurality of empty sole recesses being located rearward of the central section, and in each of the plurality of empty sole recesses, each sub-recess has a same depth on a side of the sole recess facing toward the central section as the other sub-recesses in that empty sole recess and a different depth on a side of the sole recess facing away from the central section than the other sub-recesses in that empty sole recess;

a weight insert that is denser than the main body and includes an insert CG located rearwardly from the virtual face plane by a distance no more than 1.0 cm;
a CG depth CGD that is measured along a depth axis that passes through the CG and is normal to the virtual face plane, the CGD being no greater than 25.0 mm;
a golf club head length L measured in the front to rear direction from the forward-most extent of the front portion to the rearward-most extent of the rear portion, L being no less than 75.0 mm; and
a ratio of CGD/L of no less than 0.15 and at most 0.30.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the face includes a heel side recess and a toe side recess; and
the weight insert comprises:
a heel insert received in the heel side recess; and
a toe insert received in the toe side recess.

3. The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein the heel insert has a first volume and the toe insert has a second volume that is substantially equal to the first volume.

4. The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein the heel insert and the toe insert comprise a heel face and a toe face, respectively, that are substantially coplanar with the virtual face plane.

5. The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein the face includes a central recess with a central insert received therein, the central recess being located between the heel side recess and the toe side recess.

6. The golf club head of claim 5 , wherein the heel insert has a first density, the toe insert has a second density greater than the first density, and the central insert has a third density less than the first density.

7. The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein a mass of the heel insert is less than a mass of the toe insert.

8. The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein a density of the heel insert is no less than 9 g/cm 3 , no greater than 15 g/cm 3 , and less than a density of the toe insert.

9. The golf club head of claim 8 , wherein a density of the heel insert is about 12 g/cm 3 .

10. The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein a density of the toe insert is no less than 15 g/cm 3 and no greater than 20 g/cm 3 .

11. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the weight insert has a mass mw, the golf club head has a mass mh, and:

m
⁢
w

m
⁢
h

≥

8
.
0

⁢

%
.

12. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein:

m
⁢
w

m
⁢
h

≥

1
⁢

0
.
0

⁢

%
.

13. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising a moment of inertia about a vertical axis through the CG, Izz, no less than 4000 g*cm 2 .

14. A putter-type golf club head that, when oriented in a reference position, comprises:
a main body including:
a heel;
a toe opposite the heel;
a face defining a virtual face plane, the face including a heel side recess and a toe side recess;
a main body length L measured in a front to rear direction from a forward-most extent of the main body to a rearward-most extent of the main body, L being no less than 75.0 mm;
a heel projection projecting rearwardly from the face;
a toe projection projecting rearwardly from the face;
a central section between the heel projection and the toe projection, the central section projecting less rearwardly from the face than each of the heel projection and the toe projection by at least 30.0 mm; and
a sole surface including a plurality of empty sole recesses located entirely rearwardly of a golf club head center of gravity CG, the plurality of empty sole recesses being located in the heel projection and the toe projection, with each of the heel projection and the toe projection containing a sole recess of the plurality of empty sole recesses, each of the plurality of empty sole recesses being in the form of a blind hole and comprising a plurality of sub-recesses arranged in the front to rear direction, at least a portion of each of the plurality of sub-recesses of the plurality of empty sole recesses being located rearward of the central section, and in each of the plurality of empty sole recesses, each sub-recess has a same depth on a side of the sole recess facing toward the central section as the other sub-recesses in that empty sole recess and a different depth on a side of the sole recess facing away from the central section than the other sub-recesses in that empty sole recess;

a heel insert having a forward surface that is substantially coplanar with the virtual face plane;
a toe insert having a forward surface that is substantially coplanar with the virtual face plane; and
a CG depth CGD measured along a depth axis that extends through the CG normal to the virtual face plane, the CGD being no greater than 25.0 mm, and CGD/L being no less than 0.15 and no greater than 0.30.

15. The golf club head of claim 14 , wherein the heel insert has a first thickness and the toe insert has a secon

Assignees

• Sumitomo Rubber Ind

Inventors

• Lambeth Jacob
• Seagram Phillip C
• Brekke Dustin

Classifications

• A63B53/0487 Primary

  for putters (A63B53/065 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A63B53/0437

  with special crown configurations · CPC title

• A63B53/0441

  with visual indicators for aligning the golf club · CPC title

• A63B2053/0491

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

• A63B53/04 Primary

  Heads · CPC title