Golf club head with center of gravity adjustability

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9345936-B1
Application number	US-201514622606-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Feb 13, 2015
Priority date	Jun 8, 2012
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

A golf club head comprising an adjustable weighting feature including a tube extending from the crown to the sole of the golf club head is disclosed herein. More specifically, a golf club head formed from three pieces, namely a first piece comprising a face, a crown portion, a sole portion, and a hosel, a second piece comprising a rear end, a crown portion, and a sole portion, and a tube, wherein these pieces are welded to one another, is disclosed herein. Each of these pieces may be separately cast, forged, or formed from a metal material such as stainless steel, titanium alloy, and aluminum alloy.

First claim

We claim as our invention the following:

1. A golf club head comprising:
a first piece comprising a face, a first crown portion with a cover, a first sole portion, and a hosel;
a second piece affixed to the first piece, the second piece comprising a second crown portion, a second sole portion, and a rear portion; and
a hollow tube having an upper opening and a lower opening, the hollow tube inserted in both the first piece and the second piece, and spaced from the hosel, wherein the cover of the first crown portion closes the entire upper opening of the hollow tube.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the hollow tube is composed of a composite material.

3. The golf club head of claim 2 further comprising a carrier, wherein the carrier is sized to fit through the lower opening of the hollow tube, wherein the carrier is sized to fit within the hollow interior of the hollow tube, wherein the carrier comprises a first material and a second material, and wherein the specific gravity of the first material is less than the specific gravity of the second material.

4. The golf club head of claim 3 wherein the first material is located at a first end of the carrier, wherein the second material is located at a second end of the carrier, and wherein changing the orientation of the carrier within the hollow tube adjusts the location of the center of gravity of the golf club head along a vertical Z axis.

5. The golf club head of claim 4 wherein changing the orientation of the carrier changes the location of the golf club head center of gravity by no less than 0.050 inch and no more than 0.100 inch.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein each of the first piece, second piece, and hollow tube is composed of a metal material, wherein the hollow tube is welded to at least one of the first piece and the second piece, and wherein the first piece is welded to the second piece.

7. The golf club head of claim 6 wherein the metal material is selected from the group consisting of stainless steel and titanium alloy.

8. The golf club head of claim 7 further comprising a cap, wherein the cap closes the lower opening of the tube and is removably affixed to a sole of the golf club head.

9. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein each of the first piece and the second piece comprises an opening sized to receive at least part of the hollow tube, wherein the tube is cylindrical, and wherein each opening is semicircular.

10. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein each of the first piece and the second piece comprises approximately 50% of the golf club head.

11. A golf club head comprising:
a first piece comprising a face, a first crown portion, a first sole portion, and a hosel;
a second piece affixed to the first piece, the second piece comprising a second crown portion with a cover, a second sole portion, and a rear portion; and
a hollow tube having an upper opening and a lower opening, the hollow tube inserted in both the first piece and the second piece, and spaced from the hosel, wherein the cover of the second crown portion closes the entire upper opening of the hollow tube.

12. The golf club head of claim 11 wherein the hollow tube is composed of a composite material.

13. The golf club head of claim 12 further comprising a carrier, wherein the carrier is sized to fit through the lower opening of the hollow tube, wherein the carrier is sized to fit within the hollow interior of the hollow tube, wherein the carrier comprises a first material and a second material, and wherein the specific gravity of the first material is less than the specific gravity of the second material.

14. The golf club head of claim 13 wherein the first material is located at a first end of the carrier, wherein the second material is located at a second end of the carrier, and wherein changing the orientation of the carrier within the hollow tube adjusts the location of the center of gravity of the golf club head along a vertical Z axis.

15. The golf club head of claim 14 wherein changing the orientation of the carrier changes the location of the golf club head center of gravity by no less than 0.050 inch and no more than 0.100 inch.

16. The golf club head of claim 11 wherein each of the first piece, second piece, and hollow tube is composed of a metal material, wherein the hollow tube is welded to at least one of the first piece and the second piece, and wherein the first piece is welded to the second piece.

17. The golf club head of claim 16 wherein the metal material is selected from the group consisting of stainless steel and titanium alloy.

18. The golf club head of claim 17 further comprising a cap, wherein the cap closes the lower opening of the hollow tube and is removably affixed to a sole of the golf club head.

19. The golf club head of claim 11 wherein each of the first piece and the second piece comprises an opening sized to receive at least part of the tube, wherein the hollow tube is cylindrical, and wherein each opening is semicircular.

20. The golf club head of claim 11 wherein each of the first piece and the second piece comprises approximately 50% of the golf club head.

Assignees

• Callaway Golf Co

Inventors

• Westrum Joshua D
• Seluga James A
• Dawson Patrick
• Griffin Sean P

Classifications

• A63B53/04 Primary

  Heads · CPC title

• A63B2053/0408

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B2053/0491

  with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable · CPC title

• A63B2243/0029

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B53/06 Primary

  adjustable · CPC title