Golf club

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12128281-B2
Application number	US-202117530331-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2021
Priority date	May 16, 2008
Publication date	Oct 29, 2024
Grant date	Oct 29, 2024

Abstract

A golf club comprises a shaft, a club head, and a connection assembly that allows the shaft to be easily disconnected from the club head. In particular embodiments, the connection assembly includes a removable hosel sleeve that allows a shaft to be supported a desired predetermined orientation relative to the club head. In this manner, the shaft loft and/or lie angle of the club can be adjusted without resorting to traditional bending of the shaft. In another embodiment, the club head has an adjustable sole that can be adjusted upwardly and downwardly relative to the strike face of the club head, which is effective to adjust the face angle of the club head.

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 side, a heel side, and a hosel positioned at the 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 cm3, a head mass less than 220 grams, and an interior cavity;
an adjustable head-shaft connection assembly coupled to the hosel and configured to adjust an orientation of the golf club head relative to a golf club shaft, wherein the adjustable head-shaft connection assembly includes a shaft sleeve having a sleeve mass, and a sleeve screw having a sleeve screw mass, wherein the adjustable head-shaft connection assembly is configured to have at least four discrete positions and produce a maximum loft change of at least 3.0 degrees by changing a rotational position of the shaft sleeve within the hosel;
a weight having a weight mass, and a weight port configured to receive at least a portion of the weight, wherein the weight port is located proximate the rear end, and the weight mass is greater than a sum of the sleeve mass and the sleeve screw mass; and
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 side 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;
wherein the golf club head has a center of gravity (CG) with a head origin x-axis (CGx) coordinate between about −2 mm and about 8 mm, a head origin y-axis (CGy) coordinate between about 15 mm and about 50 mm, and a head origin z-axis (CGz) coordinate 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 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 250-350 kg·mm 2 and less than the Ixx; and
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 3-50400-600 kg·mm 2 , the Izz is no more than 210 kg·mm 2 greater than the Ixx, and the Izz is at least 160 kg·mm 2 greater than the Iyy.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein at least 50 percent of the crown has a thickness less than about 0.8 mm, the Izz is at least 500 kg·mm 2 , and the CGz coordinate is less than about −2 mm.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein at least 50 percent of the crown has an areal weight less than 0.4 g/cm2.

4. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the body further comprises a face opening and a composite face insert received in the face opening.

5. The golf club head of claim 4 , wherein the composite face insert includes a metallic layer attached to a composite material.

6. The golf club head of claim 4 , wherein the composite face insert includes a polymer layer attached to a composite material.

7. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the face has a face thickness that varies including a maximum face thickness, a minimum face thickness, and the face thickness has a thickness change of at least 25% between the maximum face thickness and the minimum face thickness.

8. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the Iyy is within 60 kg·mm 2 of Ixx.

9. The golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the Izz is no more than 170 kg·mm 2 greater than the Ixx, the Izz is no more than 190 kg·mm 2 greater than the Ivy, and the CGz coordinate is less than about −3 mm.

10. The golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the Izz is no more than kg·mm 2 greater than the Iyy, and the CGz coordinate is less than about −3 mm.

11. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the at least a portion of the weight intersects a vertical plane including the head origin y-axis, the Izz is at least 500 kg·mm 2 , the Izz is no more than 170 kg·mm 2 greater than the Ixx, and the CGz coordinate is less than about −3 mm.

12. The golf club head of claim 3 , further comprising second weight, and a second weight port formed in the golf club head, and the second weight port is configured to at least partially retain the second weight, and the CGz coordinate is less than about −2 mm.

13. The golf club head of claim 12 , wherein the second weight has a second weight mass, and a difference between the weight mass and the second weight mass is at least 9 grams.

14. The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the second weight is secured to the golf club head at a location heelward of the head origin y-axis and forward of the weight.

15. The golf club head of claim 14 , wherein a port distance, between the weight port and the second weight port, multiplied by the weight mass is between about 200 mm-g to 2,000 mm-g.

16. The golf club head of claim 15 , wherein the port distance multiplied by the weight mass is between about 450 mm-g to 2,000 mm-g, the at least a portion of the weight intersects a vertical plane including the head origin y-axis, and the second weight mass is less than the sleeve mass.

17. The golf club head of claim 15 , wherein a port distance between the second weight port and the weight port is 40-100 mm.

18. The golf club head of claim 17 , wherein a port distance between the weight port and the second weight port, multiplied by the maximum loft change, multiplied by the weight mass, equals no more than about 6,000 mm·g·degrees, the Izz is at least 500 kg·mm 2 , and the Izz is no more than 190 kg·mm 2 greater than the Ixx, and the CGz coordinate is less than about −3 mm.

19. The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the second weight further comprises a second weight driving feature, the weight further comprises a weight driving feature, and the sleeve screw further comprises a sleeve screw driving feature, wherein at least a portion of the sleeve screw driving feature, a portion of the weight driving feature, and a portion of the second weight driving feature have an identical shape.

20. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the Izz is at least 160 kg·mm 2 greater than the Ixx, and the CGz coordinate is less than about −2 mm.

21. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the hosel defines an upper opening;
the sole defines a lower opening;
the shaft sleeve is adapted to be received in the upper opening of the hosel, and the shaft sleeve has a lower end portion defining a threaded opening;
the sleeve screw has a screw head, an externally threaded screw shaft extending from the screw head, and releasably secures the shaft sleeve to the club head by inserting the sleeve screw through the lower opening and tightening the sleeve screw into the threaded op

Assignees

• Taylor Made Golf Co

Inventors

• Beach Todd P
• Greaney Mark V
• Wright Ian C
• Willett Kraig A
• Sargent Nathan T
• Johnson Matthew D
• Zimmerman Gery M
• Harper Kevin R

Classifications

• A63B53/06

  adjustable · CPC title

• A63B53/0458

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

• A63B53/0454

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

• A63B53/0433

  with special sole configurations · CPC title

• A63B53/0425

  the face insert comprising two or more different materials · CPC title