Golf club head

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12350557-B2
Application number	US-202318229972-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2023
Priority date	May 29, 2020
Publication date	Jul 8, 2025
Grant date	Jul 8, 2025

Abstract

A golf club head includes a center of gravity spaced less than 5 mm from a vertical center plane that is perpendicular to a striking face plane and extends through a striking face center. The golf club head also includes a first component having a first melting point and a first density and a second component having a second melting point higher than the first melting point and a second density less than the first density. And the second component (i) is at least partially encapsulated by the first component, (ii) extends into a hosel portion below a hosel bore, and (iii) has a mass less than about 5 g.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A golf club head that, when oriented in a reference position, comprises:
a top portion;
a sole portion;
a heel portion;
a toe portion opposite the heel portion;
a hosel portion extending from the heel portion and comprising a hosel bore with an open end for receiving a shaft and a bottom surface opposite of the open end;
a striking face defining a virtual face plane and having a face center and a plurality of score lines;
a virtual vertical plane perpendicular to the virtual face plane and extending through the face center;
a ceramic component that is substantially encapsulated by a metallic material; and
a center of gravity that is located no more than 5 mm from the virtual vertical plane,
wherein the metallic material that surrounds the ceramic component has a minimum wall thickness of at least 0.5 mm.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic component has a mass no greater than 5.0 g.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the golf club head further comprises an overall head mass and the ceramic component has a mass less than 1.5% of the overall head mass.

4. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein at least 60% of the ceramic component is aluminum oxide.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic component has a density no greater than 3 g/cm 3 .

6. The golf club head of claim 5 , wherein the density is no greater than 2 g/cm 3 .

7. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the ceramic component is injection molded.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising a solidified polymeric foam that is located entirely heel-ward of the score lines.

9. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising a loft angle no less than 40 degrees.

10. A wedge-type golf club head that, when oriented in a reference position, comprises:
a top portion;
a sole portion;
a heel portion;
a toe portion opposite the heel portion;
a striking face defining a virtual face plane and having a face center and a plurality of score lines;
a virtual vertical plane perpendicular to the virtual face plane and extending through the face center;
a ceramic component;
a center of gravity;
a moment of inertia about a vertical axis through the center of gravity no less than 3,000 g*cm 2 ; and
a moment of inertia about a horizontal axis parallel to the virtual face plane and through the center of gravity no less than 1,000 g*cm.

11. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the ceramic component has a mass no greater than 5.0 g.

12. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the golf club head further comprises an overall head mass and the ceramic component has a mass less than 1.5% of the overall head mass.

13. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein at least 60% of the ceramic component is aluminum oxide.

14. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the ceramic component has a density no greater than 3 g/cm 3 .

15. The golf club head of claim 14 , wherein the density is no greater than 2 g/cm 3 .

16. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the ceramic component is injection molded.

Assignees

• Sumitomo Rubber Ind

Inventors

• Brekke Dustin
• Lambeth Jacob
• Grenier Jake
• Chen Joseph

Classifications

• B22D19/00 Primary

  Casting in, on, or around objects which form part of the product (B22D23/04 takes precedence; alumino-thermic welding B23K23/00; coating by casting molten material on the substrate C23C6/00) · CPC title

• B29C2045/0079

  applying a coating or covering · CPC title

• A63B2053/0479

  Wedge-type clubs, details thereof · CPC title

• B29L2031/5227

  Clubs · CPC title

• B29C45/0053

  combined with a final operation, e.g. shaping (injection-compression moulding B29C45/561) · CPC title