Golf club heads with energy storage characteristics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12263384-B2
Application number	US-202217819747-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 15, 2022
Priority date	Oct 24, 2014
Publication date	Apr 1, 2025
Grant date	Apr 1, 2025

Abstract

Embodiments of golf club heads with energy storage characteristics are presented herein. In some embodiments, a golf club head comprises a hollow body comprising a strikeface, a heel region, a toe region opposite the heel region, a sole, a top rail and an inflection point. The inflection point provides increase bending of the strikeface thereby providing performance enhancement over clubs without an inflection point.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A hollow golf club head having a closed internal volume, the hollow golf club head comprising:
a strikeface;
a rear wall on an opposite side of the closed internal volume from the strikeface;
the rear wall forming an upper rear wall and a lower rear wall;
a sole coupling the strikeface with the lower rear wall;
a top rail coupling the strikeface with the upper rear wall on an opposite side of the closed internal volume from the sole;
a rear external cavity formed between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall;
wherein the rear external cavity is bounded by a cavity top wall adjacent to the upper rear wall and a cavity back wall adjacent to the lower rear wall;
a first inflection point located at a juncture of the cavity top wall and the cavity back wall;
a first reference point located at a juncture of the top rail and the upper rear wall;
a second reference point located at a juncture of the upper rear wall and the cavity top wall;
a third reference point located on the cavity top wall at a point closest to the strikeface;
a first reference line connecting the first reference point and the second reference point;
a second reference line connecting the second reference point and the third reference point;
a third reference line connecting the third reference point and the first inflection point;
wherein the cavity top wall, the upper rear wall, and the cavity back wall define a continuous and uninterrupted surface and have a uniform thickness from the first reference point, through the second and third reference points, to the first inflection point;
wherein an inflection angle is measured between the third reference line and the cavity back wall;
wherein the inflection angle is between 70 degrees and 150 degrees;
a ground plane which is a plane tangent to a lowermost point of the sole when the hollow golf club head is placed in an address position;
wherein a maximum rear external cavity width is measured between the second reference point and the third reference point in a direction substantially parallel to the ground plane; and
wherein the maximum rear external cavity width is between 0.15 inch and 1 inch.

2. The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the inflection angle is between 90 degrees and 130 degrees.

3. The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the sole comprises a uniform thinned region transitioning from a bottom of the strikeface to the sole, wherein the uniform thinned region comprises a thickness between 0.040 inch and 0.080 inch.

4. The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the hollow golf club head further comprises a polymer material that at least partially fills the closed internal volume.

5. The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the cavity top wall is curved.

6. The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the top rail comprises a thickness that decreases from the strikeface toward the rear wall.

7. A hollow golf club head having a closed internal volume, the hollow golf club head comprising:
a strikeface;
a rear wall on an opposite side of the closed internal volume from the strikeface;
the rear wall forming an upper rear wall and a lower rear wall;
a sole coupling the strikeface with the lower rear wall;
a top rail coupling the strikeface with the upper rear wall on an opposite side of the closed internal volume from the sole;
a rear external cavity formed between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall;
wherein the rear external cavity is bounded by a cavity top wall adjacent to the upper rear wall and a cavity back wall adjacent to the lower rear wall;
a first inflection point located at a juncture of the cavity top wall and the cavity back wall;
a first reference point located at a juncture of the top rail and the upper rear wall;
a second reference point located at a juncture of the upper rear wall and the cavity top wall;
a third reference point located on the cavity top wall at a point closest to the strikeface;
a first reference line connecting the first reference point and the second reference point;
a second reference line connecting the second reference point and the third reference point;
a third reference line connecting the third reference point and the first inflection point;
wherein the cavity top wall, the upper rear wall, and the cavity back wall define a continuous and uninterrupted surface and have a uniform thickness from the first reference point, through the second and third reference points, to the first inflection point;
wherein an inflection angle is measured between the third reference line and the cavity back wall;
wherein the inflection angle is between 70 degrees and 130 degrees;
a ground plane which is a plane tangent to a lowermost point of the sole when the hollow golf club head is placed in an address position;
wherein a maximum rear external cavity width is measured between the second reference point and the third reference point in a direction substantially parallel to the ground plane;
wherein the maximum rear external cavity width is between 0.15 inch and 1 inch;

a minimum gap measured perpendicularly from the first reference point to an inner surface of the strikeface; and
wherein the minimum gap is between 0.39 inch and 0.79 inch.

8. The hollow golf club head of claim 7 , further comprising a maximum upper distance, measured as a maximum perpendicular distance from an external surface of the strikeface to an external surface of the upper rear wall, wherein the maximum upper distance is between 0.20 inch and 0.59 inch.

9. The hollow golf club head of claim 7 , wherein at least a portion of the cavity top wall is curved.

10. The hollow golf club head of claim 7 , further comprising an internal radius transition region extending from the strikeface to the sole; wherein the internal radius transition region comprises a first tier comprising a first tier thickness, a second tier comprising a second tier thickness smaller than the first tier thickness, and a tier transition region between the first tier and the second tier.

11. A hollow golf club head having a closed internal volume, the hollow golf club head comprising:
a strikeface;
a rear wall on an opposite side of the closed internal volume from the strikeface;
the rear wall forming an upper rear wall and a lower rear wall;
a sole coupling the strikeface with the lower rear wall;
a top rail coupling the strikeface with the upper rear wall on an opposite side of the closed internal volume from the sole;
a rear external cavity formed between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall;
wherein the rear external cavity is bounded by a cavity top wall adjacent to the upper rear wall and a cavity back wall adjacent to the lower rear wall;
a first reference point located at a juncture of the top rail and the upper rear wall;
a second reference point located at a juncture of the upper rear wall and the cavity top wall;
a third reference point located on the cavity top wall at a point closest to the strikeface;
a first inflection point located at a juncture of the cavity top wall and the cavity back wall;
a first reference line connecting the first reference point and the second reference point;
a second reference line connecting the second reference point and the third reference point;
a third reference line connecting the third reference point and the first inflection point;
an inflection angle measured between the third reference line and the cavity back wall;
wherein the cavity top wall, the upper rear wall, and the cavity back wall define a continuous and uninterrupted surface and have a uniform thickness from the first referenc

Assignees

• Karsten Mfg Corp

Inventors

• Jertson Martin R
• Morales Eric J
• Bacon Cory S
• Wang Calvin
• Chen Xiaojian
• Milleman Travis D

Classifications

• A63B2209/00

  Characteristics of used materials · CPC title

• A63B60/002

  Resonance frequency related characteristics · CPC title

• A63B53/0437

  with special crown configurations · CPC title

• A63B53/0433

  with special sole configurations · CPC title

• A63B53/0408

  characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness · CPC title