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

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016346642-A1
Application number	US-201514725966-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 with a striking surface configured for striking a ball; an elongated channel extending across a portion of the sole, wherein the sole has an elongated channel recessed from adjacent surfaces of the sole that has a plurality of troughs within the channel to help improve the efficiency of the impact with a golf ball.

First claim

1 . A golf club head comprising:
a club head body member made of a first material comprising a heel, a toe, a portion of a crown, and a portion of a sole; a face member made of a second material comprising a portion of the striking face and a portion of the crown adjacent to the striking face; and an elongated channel extending across a portion of the sole in a heel-to-toe direction, wherein the elongated channel is recessed from adjacent surfaces of the sole and has a depth of recession from the adjacent surfaces of the sole, wherein the sole comprises a plurality of materials such that the elongated channel and its adjacent surfaces are a third material, wherein the elongated channel comprises a plurality of troughs.

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 of the first material.

3 . A golf club head of claim 1 , wherein a width of the elongated channel from a front edge to a rear edge is substantially constant.

4 . A golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of troughs includes a forward trough and a rear trough, wherein a width of the forward trough is greater than a width of the rear trough.

5 . A golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of troughs includes a forward trough and a rear trough, wherein a depth of the forward trough is greater than a depth of the rear trough.

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

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

8 . A golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the third material has a forward edge located a distance measured from the sole-intersection point between in the Y-Axis direction between 5 mm and 20 mm.

9 . A golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of troughs includes a forward trough and a rear trough, wherein a cross-sectional profile of the forward trough is different than a cross-sectional profile of the rear trough.

10 . A golf club head comprising:
a club head body member made of a first material comprising a heel, a toe, a portion of a crown, and a sole; a face member made of a second material comprising a portion of the striking face; and an elongated channel extending across a portion of the sole in a heel-to-toe direction, wherein the elongated channel is recessed from adjacent surfaces of the sole and has a depth of recession from the adjacent surfaces of the sole, wherein the elongated channel comprises a plurality of troughs.

11 . A golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the elongated channel from a front edge of the elongated channel to a rear edge of the elongated channel is substantially constant.

12 . A golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of troughs includes a forward trough and a rear trough, wherein a width of the forward trough is greater than a width of the rear trough.

13 . A golf club head of claim 12 , wherein the width of the forward trough is between 1.5 and 2.5 times greater than the width of the rear trough.

14 . A golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of troughs includes a forward trough and a rear trough, wherein a depth of the forward trough is greater than a depth of the rear trough.

15 . A golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the plurality of troughs includes a forward trough and a rear trough, wherein a cross-sectional profile of the forward trough is different than a cross-sectional profile of the rear trough.

16 . A golf club of claim 10 , wherein the elongated channel has a forward edge located a distance measured from the sole-intersection point between in the Y-axis direction between 5 mm and 20 mm.

17 . A golf club head comprising:
a club head body member made of a first material comprising a heel, a toe, a portion of a crown, and a portion of a sole; a face member made of a second material comprising a portion of the striking face; and an elongated channel comprising a plurality of troughs extending across a portion of the sole in a heel-to-toe direction, wherein the elongated channel is recessed from adjacent surfaces of the sole and has a depth of recession from the adjacent surfaces of the sole, wherein the plurality of troughs is at least three troughs.

18 . A golf club head of claim 17 , wherein the at least three troughs have a width of W T1 , W T2 , and W T3 , where W T1 is the width of a trough nearest the face, W T3 is the width of a trough furthest from the face, and W T2 is the width of a trough therebetween, and further wherein W T1 is larger than W T3 .

19 . A golf club head of claim 18 , wherein W T1 is larger than W T2 and W T3 .

20 . A golf club head of claim 17 , wherein the at least three troughs have a depth of D T1 , D T2 , and D T3 , where D T1 is the width of a trough nearest the face, D T3 is the width of a trough furthest from the face, and D T2 is the width of a trough therebetween, and further wherein D T1 is larger than D T3 .

21 . A golf club head comprising:
a club head body member made of a first material comprising a heel, a toe, a portion of a crown, and a portion of a sole; a face member made of a second material comprising a portion of the striking face; a portion of the sole made of a third material; and an elongated channel comprising a plurality of troughs extending across a portion of the sole with a forward trough having a toe portion, a center portion, and a heel portion.

22 . A golf club head of claim 21 , wherein the plurality of troughs includes the forward trough and a rear trough, wherein a length in a heel-to-toe direction of the forward trough is longer than a length in a heel-to-toe direction of the rear trough.

22 . A golf club head of claim 22 , wherein the rear trough has a toe portion.

23 . A golf club head of claim 21 , wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity lower than a modulus of elasticity of the first material.

24 . A golf club head of claim 23 , wherein the third material has a modulus of elasticity that is at least 10 percent lower than modulus of elasticity of the first material.

25 . A golf club head of claim 21 , wherein at least a portion of the forward trough is made of the third material.

26 . A golf club head of claim 23 , wherein the third material is located rearward of the center portion of the forward trough.

27 . A golf club head of claim 21 , wherein the face member comprises a portion of the striking face and a portion of the crown surface.

28 . A golf club head comprising:
a club head body member made of a first material comprising a heel, a toe, a portion of a crown, and a portion of a sole; a face member made of a second material comprising a portion of the striking face; and an elongated channel comprising a plurality of troughs having a forward trough and a rear trough extending across a portion of the sole having a toe portion, a center portion, and a heel portion, wherein the rear trough has a width at the center portion and a width at the toe portion, wherein the width at the center portion is smaller than the width at the toe portion.

29 . A golf club head of claim 28 , wherein a width of the center portion of the forward trough is the same as the width of the cen

Assignees

• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Akiyama Hiromitsu

Classifications

• A63B60/00

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

• A63B53/0466 Primary

  wood-type · CPC title

• A63B53/04

  Heads · CPC title

• A63B2053/0408

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B2053/0433

  Human Necessities · mapped topic