Golf club having an adjustable weight assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12102895-B2
Application number	US-202218069829-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 21, 2022
Priority date	Apr 18, 2019
Publication date	Oct 1, 2024
Grant date	Oct 1, 2024

Abstract

A golf club head includes a body including: a striking face and a sole; a recessed channel formed in the sole and having a first sidewall, wherein one or more dimples are formed in the first sidewall; a weight assembly including: a weight at least partially disposed within the recessed channel, a cover adapted to releasably secure the weight within the recessed channel, and a fastener coupling the cover to the body, wherein the cover is positionable in at least: an unlocked configuration whereby the cover is raised at least partially out of the recessed channel; and a locked configuration whereby the cover is at least partially disposed within the recessed channel and a gap between the sole and a portion of an exterior surface of the cover proximal to the first sidewall is within a range of 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A golf club head, comprising:
a body comprising:
a striking face having a lower leading edge, and
a sole extending from the lower leading edge;

a recessed channel formed in the sole and having a first sidewall extending along a toe-heel direction, wherein one or more dimples are formed in the first sidewall;
a weight assembly comprising:
a weight at least partially disposed within the recessed channel and configured to move therein,
a cover adapted to releasably secure the weight within the recessed channel, and
a fastener coupling the cover to the body,

wherein the cover is positionable in at least:
an unlocked configuration whereby the cover is raised at least partially out of the recessed channel and the weight is selectively movable within the recessed channel; and
a locked configuration whereby the cover is at least partially disposed within the recessed channel, the weight is secured within the recessed channel, and a gap between the sole and a portion of an exterior surface of the cover proximal to the first sidewall is within a range of 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm, and

wherein the weight comprises a weight main body and a position indicator protruding from the weight main body and shaped and sized to selectively engage with the one or more dimples.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the golf club head is a wood golf club head or a hybrid golf club head, and the golf club head comprises a crown coupled between the striking face and the sole.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein between about 0% and about 30% of an outer surface of the weight is visible in the locked configuration.

4. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the fastener is configured to retain the weight within the recessed channel only indirectly by the cover.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the gap is between 1.1 mm and 1.3 mm.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein a cover thickness between the exterior surface and an interior surface of the cover opposite to the exterior surface decreases along a thinning direction that is perpendicular to a striking face plane tangential to an outermost surface of the striking face.

7. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the cover is shaped and sized such that, when in the locked configuration, a depth of the exterior surface within the recessed channel increases along a set direction perpendicular to a striking face plane tangential to an outermost surface of the striking face.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the portion of the exterior surface proximal to the first sidewall is an edge of the exterior surface proximal to the first sidewall.

9. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the recessed channel has a second sidewall opposite to the first sidewall and extending along the toe-heel direction, and
wherein the first and second sidewalls are respectively proximal and distal to the lower leading edge.

10. A golf club head, comprising:
a body comprising:
a striking face having a lower leading edge,
a sole extending from the lower leading edge, and
a crown coupled between the striking face and the sole;

a recessed channel formed in the sole and having a first sidewall extending along a toe-heel direction, wherein one or more dimples are formed in the first sidewall; and
a weight assembly comprising:
a weight at least partially disposed within the recessed channel and configured to move therein,
a cover adapted to releasably secure the weight within the recessed channel, and
a fastener coupling the cover to the body,

wherein a cover thickness between an exterior surface of the cover and an interior surface of the cover opposite to the exterior surface decreases along a thinning direction perpendicular to a striking face plane tangential to an outermost surface of the striking face such that, when the cover is at least partially disposed in the recessed channel, a gap between the sole and a portion of the exterior surface proximal to the first sidewall is greater than or equal to 0.9 mm.

11. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the fastener is adapted to retain the weight within the recessed channel only indirectly by the cover.

12. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the cover thickness of the cover is tapered so that the cover thickness gradually decreases along the thinning direction.

13. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the body comprises a heel, a hosel disposed at the heel, and a toe, and
wherein a thickness of the cover at a heel-side edge of the cover proximal to the heel decreases along the thinning direction.

14. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the golf club head is a fairway golf club head.

15. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the recessed channel has a second sidewall opposite to the first sidewall and extending along the toe-heel direction, and
wherein the first and second sidewalls are respectively proximal and distal to the lower leading edge.

16. A golf club head, comprising:
a body comprising:
a striking face having a lower leading edge, and
a sole extending from the lower leading edge;

a recessed channel formed in the sole and having a first sidewall and a second sidewall opposite to the first sidewall, wherein the first and second sidewalls each extend along a toe-heel direction, and wherein one or more dimples are formed in the first sidewall; and
a weight assembly comprising:
a weight at least partially disposed within the recessed channel and configured to move therein,
a cover at least partially covering the recessed channel, and
a fastener coupling the cover to the body and adapted to retain the weight in the recessed channel only indirectly by the cover,

wherein the golf club head and weight assembly are configured such that, when the cover is disposed at least partially in the recessed channel, a first gap between the sole and a first portion of an exterior surface of the cover proximal to the first sidewall is greater than a second gap between the sole and a second portion of the exterior surface of the cover proximal to the second sidewall.

17. The golf club head of claim 16 , wherein a cover thickness between the exterior surface and an interior surface of the cover opposite to the exterior surface decreases along a thinning direction perpendicular to a striking face plane tangential to an outermost surface of the striking face such that, when the cover is disposed at least partially in the recessed channel, the first gap is greater than or equal to 0.9 mm.

18. The golf club head of claim 16 , wherein the recessed channel has a bottom track between the first and second sidewalls and offset from the sole, and a depth of the bottom track increases along a direction perpendicular to a striking face plane tangential to an outermost surface of the striking face such that, when the cover is disposed at least partially in the recessed channel, the first gap is greater than or equal to 0.9 mm.

19. The golf club head of claim 16 , wherein the recessed channel has a bottom track between the first and second sidewalls and offset from the sole, and the body comprises one or more locating lugs protruding at least partially into the recessed channel from the bottom track, and
wherein the weight has an indent shaped and sized to receive at least part of the one or more locating lugs such that the weight is selectively engageable with the one or more locating lugs.

Assignees

• Acushnet Co

Inventors

• Funaki Takeshi Casey
• Bac Mitchell E
• Bennett Thomas Orrin

Classifications

• A63B53/0466 Primary

  wood-type · CPC title

• A63B53/0433

  with special sole configurations · CPC title

• A63B2053/0491

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

• A63B53/06

  adjustable · CPC title

• A63B60/04

  Movable ballast means {(A63B15/005 takes precedence)} · CPC title