Golf club head

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12070666-B2
Application number	US-202318109760-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 14, 2023
Priority date	Sep 18, 2012
Publication date	Aug 27, 2024
Grant date	Aug 27, 2024

Abstract

A golf club head comprises a body having a face, a crown and a sole together defining an interior cavity. The body having a head-shaft connection system, a rear weight fastened to the golf club head proximate the rear end of the club head and proximate the Y-Z plane, and a front weight port or an internal cap connection system for securing the rear weight; in combination with specific windows regarding the moments of inertia and center of gravity.

First claim

We claim:

1. A golf club head comprising:
a body having front end, a rear end, a top side, a lower side, a toe end, a heel end, and a hosel positioned at a heel side of the body, a sole positioned at the lower side of the body, and a crown positioned at the top side of the body, the golf club head having a volume greater than 400 cm 3 , a head mass less than 220 grams, and an interior cavity;
a face positioned at the front end of the golf club head and including a striking surface having a face thickness that varies, the striking surface having a club head origin positioned at a geometric center of the striking surface;
the club head origin defining a head origin coordinate system including a z-axis extending through the head origin in a generally vertical direction relative to the ground when the golf club head is in a normal address position, an x-axis extending through the head origin in a toe-to-heel direction generally perpendicular to the z-axis, and a y-axis extending through the head origin in a front-to-back direction and generally perpendicular to the x-axis and to the z-axis;
wherein the x-axis extends in a positive direction from the club head origin toward the heel end of the golf club head, the y-axis extends in a positive direction from the club head origin towards the rear end of the golf club head, and the z-axis extends in a positive direction from the club head origin towards the crown of the golf club head;
a Y-Z plane defined by the y-axis and z-axis;
a heel opening located on the heel end of the body, the heel opening configured to receive a fastening member;
a head-shaft connection system including a sleeve that is secured by the fastening member in a locked position, the head-shaft connection system configured to allow the golf club head to be adjustably attachable to a golf club shaft in a plurality of different positions resulting in an adjustability range of different combinations of loft angle, face angle, or lie angle; and
a rear weight connected to the golf club head proximate the rear end of the golf club head and proximate the Y-Z plane;
wherein the golf club head has a center of gravity (CG) with a head origin x-axis (CGx) coordinate between about −4 mm and about 9 mm, a head origin y-axis (CGy) coordinate between about 15 mm and about 50 mm, and a head origin z-axis (CGz) between about −8 mm and about 0 mm;
wherein a moment of inertia about a golf club head center of gravity x-axis (Ixx) generally parallel to the head origin x-axis is between 250-500 kg-mm 2 ;
wherein a moment of inertia about a golf club head center of gravity y-axis (Iyy) generally parallel to the head origin y-axis is between 250-350 kg-mm 2 and less than Ixx;
wherein a moment of inertia about a golf club head center of gravity z-axis (Izz) generally parallel to the head origin z-axis is between 350-600 kg-mm 2 , and Izz is no more than 210 kg-mm 2 greater than Ixx;
wherein at least a portion of the crown is formed from a first fiber reinforced polymer material;
wherein a portion of the face is formed from a second fiber reinforced polymer material; and
wherein the second fiber reinforced polymer material is at least partially covered by a polymer cover comprising a textured striking surface for contacting a golf ball at impact.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the face has a face thickness that varies, including a maximum face thickness and a minimum face thickness, and wherein the maximum face thickness is at least 25% greater than the minimum face thickness.

3. The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein the golf club head has a depth dimension of 111.76-127 mm, and the CGz coordinate is less than about −3 mm.

4. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the first fiber reinforced polymer material and the second fiber reinforced polymer material have different fiber areal weights.

5. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the first fiber reinforced polymer material and the second fiber reinforced polymer material comprise different resins.

6. The golf club head of claim 3 , further comprising a slot located in a forward portion of the sole of the golf club head proximate a forwardmost portion of the sole.

7. The golf club head of claim 6 , further comprising a weight connected to the golf club head proximate the slot.

8. The golf club head of claim 7 , wherein at least a portion of the weight extends across at least a portion of the slot.

9. The golf club head of claim 3 , further comprising two or more ribs located within the interior cavity and proximate the rear weight and the rear weight at least partially sits within a rear recessed portion.

10. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein at least a forward portion of the crown formed from the first fiber reinforced polymer material overlaps a forward portion of the club head, and the overlapping portion has a length measured in a front to back direction that is at least four times a thickness of the crown portion formed from the first fiber reinforced polymer material.

11. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the golf club head Izz is 140-190 kg-mm 2 greater than Ixx.

12. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein Izz is at least 500 kg-mm 2 and Ixx is at least 310 kg-mm 2 .

13. The golf club head of claim 12 , wherein the portion of the face formed from the second fiber reinforced polymer material comprises a plurality of composite prepreg plies, wherein the plurality of composite prepreg plies includes a plurality of prepreg panels and at least one cluster comprising a plurality of prepreg strips, wherein the plurality of prepreg strips overlap each other.

14. The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the polymer cover having a cover thickness of 0.1-3.0 mm; and the polymer cover includes a plurality of surface features that have a peak to trough height of 2-25 μm.

15. The golf club head of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of surface features create a plurality of ridges extending in a heel-toe direction with each ridge having an upwardly facing first surface and a downwardly facing second surface creating a surface texture that is asymmetric in a sole-crown direction and having a plurality of peaks and valleys.

16. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein at least a portion of the sole is formed from a third fiber reinforced polymer material.

17. The golf club head of claim 16 , wherein a majority of the sole has a sole thickness of 0.9 mm or less.

18. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising a front weight connected to the club head at a forward portion of the club head and toe-ward of the heel opening, wherein a distance between the front weight and the rear weight is between 40-100 mm.

19. The golf club head of claim 18 , wherein the rear weight at least partially sits within a rear recessed portion, and at least one of the rear weight and the front weight are non-circular.

20. The golf club head of claim 19 , further comprising a front recessed portion surrounding an aperture and the front weight at last partially sits within the front recessed portion, wherein the Izz is at least 466.2 kg-mm 2 , and the CGz coordinate is less than about −3 mm.

21. A golf club head comprising:
a body having front end, a rear end, a top side, a lower side, a toe end, a heel end, and a hosel positioned at a heel side of the body, a sole positioned at the lower side of the body, and a crown positioned at the top side of the body, the golf club head having a volume greater than 400 cm 3 , a head mass less than 220 grams, and an i

Assignees

• Taylor Made Golf Co

Inventors

• Nielson Joseph Reeve
• Sargent Nathan T
• Harbert Christopher John
• Beach Todd P
• Bazzel Brian
• Greaney Mark Vincent
• Wester Christian Reber
• Slyfield Craig Richard
• Johnson Matthew David
• Greensmith Matthew
• Willett Kraig Alan

Classifications

• A63B53/0487

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

• A63B53/047

  iron-type · CPC title

• A63B60/002

  Resonance frequency related characteristics · CPC title

• A63B53/0454

  Strengthening ribs on the rear surface of the impact face plate · CPC title

• A63B53/0437

  with special crown configurations · CPC title