Golf Club Head or Other Ball Striking Device Having Impact-Influencing Body Features

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016346641-A1
Application number	US-201514725841-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 29, 2015
Priority date	May 29, 2015
Publication date	Dec 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A ball striking device, such as a golf club head, has a face member with a striking surface configured for striking a ball and a flange that comprises a portion of the crown. The flange being made of at least two members that are made of different materials, where a second material has a lower modulus of elasticity than the first material. The second member has a length, a width, a thickness and a location proximate to the ball striking surface to improve the impact efficiency of a collision with a golf ball.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A golf club head comprising:
a club head body member made of at least a first material comprising a heel, a toe, a portion of a crown, a sole, and a portion of a striking face; and a face member made of a plurality of materials comprising a portion of the striking face and a portion of the crown, wherein the plurality of materials of the face member comprises at least a second material and a third material, wherein the third material is located entirely on the crown of the club head.

2 . A golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity that is lower than a modulus of elasticity than either of the first material or the second material.

3 . A golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity that is lower than a modulus of elasticity of the second material.

4 . A golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the third material is gum metal.

5 . A golf club head of claim 1 , wherein face member is made from at least a first member made of the second material comprising a portion of the ball striking surface and a portion of the crown and a second member made of the third material comprising a portion of the crown, wherein the second member has a length of at least 65 percent of a longest dimension of the crown portion of the face member in a heel-to-toe direction.

6 . A golf club head of claim 5 , wherein a ratio of a center width of the second member measured in a front-to-back direction of the golf club head compared to a breadth dimension of the golf club head is between 1:8 and 1:26.

7 . A golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity that is at least 10 percent lower than a modulus of elasticity of the first material.

8 . A golf club head comprising:
a club head body made of a first material comprising a heel, a toe, a portion of a crown, a sole, and a portion a striking face extending from the heel and the toe; and a face member made of a plurality of members, wherein a first member made of a second material comprises a portion of the striking face and a portion of the crown adjacent to the striking face and a second member made of a third material comprising a portion of the crown, wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity that is less than a modulus of elasticity of either of the first material or second material.

9 . A golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the first material and the second material are the same material.

10 . A golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the first material is a titanium alloy.

11 . A golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the third material is gum metal.

12 . A golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the second member has a length of at least 65 percent of a longest dimension of the crown portion of the face member in a heel-to-toe direction.

13 . A golf club head of claim 8 , wherein a ratio of a size of the second member measured in a front-to-back direction of the golf club head compared to a breadth dimension of the golf club head is between 1:8 and 1:26.

14 . A golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the second member has a thickness less than or equal to the thickness of the first member adjacent to it.

15 . A golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the second member is adjacent to the first member on at least four sides.

16 . A golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the second member has a constant width.

17 . A golf club head of claim 8 , wherein the second member has a forward most edge located between 2 mm and 25 mm from a face-crown intersection point measured in a Y-Axis direction.

18 . A golf club head comprising:
a club head body comprising a plurality of materials where a toe, a heel, a sole, and a portion of a crown may be made of a first material and a region comprising a portion of the crown made of a third material; and a face member made of a second material comprising a ball striking surface, wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity that is less than a modulus of elasticity of either of the first material or second material.

19 . A golf club head of claim 18 , wherein the third material is gum metal.

20 . A golf club head of claim 18 , wherein the region has a forward most edge located between 5 mm and 15 mm of a face-crown intersection point measured in a front to back direction.

21 . A method of forming a golf club head, comprising:
forming a golf club head body of a first material comprising a heel, a toe, a sole, a portion of a crown, and a portion of a striking surface; integrally joining a plurality of materials to form a compound material; forming a face member comprising a portion of the ball striking surface and a portion of the crown from the compound material; and connecting the golf club head body and the face member using an integral joining technique.

22 . A method of claim 21 , wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity lower than a modulus of elasticity of the first material.

23 . A method of claim 21 , wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity lower than a modulus of elasticity of the second material.

24 . A method of claim 21 , wherein the first material is a titanium alloy.

25 . A method of claim 21 , wherein the third material is a beta-titanium alloy.

26 . A method of claim 21 , wherein the third material is gum metal.

27 . A method of claim 21 , wherein the golf club head body and the face member are welded together.

28 . A method of claim 21 , wherein the golf club head body and the face member are adhesively joined together.

29 . A golf club head comprising:
a club head body member made of at least a first material comprising a heel, a toe, a portion of a crown, a sole; and a face member made of at least a first member made of a second material comprising a portion of a ball striking surface and a portion of the crown and at least a second member made of a third material located entirely on the crown of the club head, wherein the second member has a substantially constant width when measured in the Y-Axis direction and has a forward most edge located between 2 mm and 25 mm from a face-crown intersection point measured in a Y-Axis direction, wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity that is lower than a modulus of elasticity than the first material and the second material.

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Akiyama Hiromitsu

Classifications

• A63B60/00

  Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like · CPC title

• A63B53/04

  Heads · CPC title

• A63B53/0466 Primary

  wood-type · CPC title

• A63B2209/00

  Characteristics of used materials · CPC title

• A63B53/0408

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