Golf club assembly and golf club with aerodynamic features

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9370696-B2
Application number	US-201414256372-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 18, 2014
Priority date	May 13, 2009
Publication date	Jun 21, 2016
Grant date	Jun 21, 2016

Abstract

A golf club head includes a body member having a ball striking face, a crown, a toe, a heel, a sole, and a skirt extending between the crown and the sole and between the toe and the heel. The club head includes a drag-reducing structure that may include one or both of a continuous groove extending from a front portion to a rear edge of the toe, and along an entire length of the skirt, and a substantially V-shaped recess formed in the sole and having a vertex positioned proximate the ball striking face and the heel and away from the skirt and the toe, and a pair of legs extending to a point proximate the toe and away from the ball striking face, and curving toward the skirt and away from the ball striking face.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A golf club head comprising:
a body member having a ball striking face, an upper surface, a toe, a heel, and a lower surface;
a recess formed in the lower surface;
two or more secondary recesses formed in a bottom surface of the recess, each secondary recess having:
a first base and a second base,
a width that varies as the secondary recess extends from the first base to the second base, and
a depth that decreases as the secondary recess extends from the first base to the second base.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the secondary recesses are arranged in a series such that a second base of a first secondary recess lies adjacent to a first base of an adjacent second secondary recess.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein a first end of the recess is closer to the striking face than a second end of the recess.

4. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the secondary recesses are arranged in a series extending in a direction from the first end of the recess to the second end of the recess.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the recess generally diverges at a first end and converges at a second end.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the secondary recesses are trapezoidally shaped.

7. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the first base and the second base of each secondary recess extends across a width of the recess.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the sides of each secondary recess join the first base to the second base.

9. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein at least three secondary recesses are formed in the bottom surface of the recess.

10. A golf club head comprising:
a body member having a ball striking face, an upper surface, a toe, a heel, and a lower surface;
a recess formed in the lower surface; and
two or more secondary recesses formed in a bottom surface of the recess, each secondary recess having a first base and a second base,
wherein the secondary recesses are arranged in a series such that a second base of a first secondary recess lies adjacent to a first base of an adjacent second secondary recess, and
wherein each of the secondary recesses have a depth that decreases as the secondary recess extends from the first base to the second base.

11. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein a first end of the recess is closer to the striking face than a second end of the recess.

12. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the series of secondary recesses extend in a direction from the first end of the recess to the second end of the recess.

13. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the recess generally diverges at a first end and converges at a second end.

14. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the secondary recesses are trapezoidally shaped.

15. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein the first base and the second base of each secondary recess extends across a width of the recess.

16. The golf club head of claim 10 , wherein at least three secondary recesses are formed in the bottom surface of the recess.

17. A golf club head comprising:
a body member having a ball striking face, an upper surface, a toe, a heel, and a lower surface;
a recess formed in the lower surface, wherein a first end of the recess is closer to the striking face than a second end of the recess; and
three secondary recesses formed in a bottom surface of the recess, each secondary recess having a first base and a second base, wherein the secondary recesses extend in a direction from the first end of the recess to the second end of the recess,
wherein a second base of a first secondary recess lies adjacent to a first base of an adjacent second secondary recess and a second base of a second secondary recess lies adjacent to a first base of an adjacent third secondary recess, and
wherein each of the secondary recesses have a depth that decreases as the secondary recess extends from the first base to the second base.

Assignees

• Nike Inc
• Nike Inc

Inventors

• Tavares Gary G
• Boyd Robert
• Stites John T
• Oldknow Andrew G V

Classifications

• A63B60/00

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

• A63B53/0466

  wood-type · CPC title

• A63B53/04 Primary

  Heads · CPC title

• A63B2225/01

  Special aerodynamic features, e.g. airfoil shapes, wings or air passages · CPC title

• A63B60/52

  with slits · CPC title