Golf club heads with ribs and related methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9393465-B2
Application number	US-201414260694-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 24, 2014
Priority date	May 2, 2013
Publication date	Jul 19, 2016
Grant date	Jul 19, 2016

Abstract

A golf club head comprising a ribbed region on at least one of a heel portion, a toe portion, sole, or crown. The ribbed region comprises a ribbed wall with an interior surface facing an interior of the golf club head, and a ribbed wall exterior facing an exterior of the golf club head. The ribbed region further comprises at least one rib protruding from the ribbed region. The first rib comprises a first rib length measured along a rib centerline of the first rib, a first rib interior section located at the ribbed wall interior surface, and a first rib exterior section located at the ribbed wall exterior surface.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A golf club head comprising:
a heel portion comprising a heel end;
a toe portion comprising a toe end;
a sole;
a crown; and
a ribbed region comprising at least part of at least one of the heel portion, the toe portion, the sole, or the crown;
wherein:
the ribbed region comprises:
a ribbed wall comprising:
a ribbed wall interior surface facing an interior of the golf club head; and
a ribbed wall exterior surface facing an exterior of the golf club head opposite the ribbed wall interior surface;

and
one or more ribs protruding from the ribbed wall and comprising:
a first rib comprising:
 a first rib length measured along a rib centerline of the first rib;
 a first rib interior section, located at the ribbed wall interior surface, and extended along the first rib length; and
 a first rib exterior section, located at the ribbed wall exterior surface, and extended along the first rib length opposite the first rib interior section;
 the first rib interior section comprises a first rib interior height; and
 the first rib exterior section comprises a first rib exterior height greater than the first rib interior height.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the first rib interior section protrudes past the ribbed wall interior surface throughout the first rib length; and
the first rib exterior section protrudes past the ribbed wall exterior surface throughout the first rib length.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the ribbed region comprises a first ribbed wall thickness of approximately 0.13 mm to approximately 1.27 mm between the ribbed wall interior surface and the ribbed wall exterior surface;
the first rib interior section comprises a first rib interior height of up to approximately 2.5 mm past the ribbed wall interior surface and substantially constant along a majority of the first rib length; and
the first rib exterior section comprises a first rib exterior height of up to approximately 2.5 mm past the ribbed wall exterior surface and substantially constant along a majority of the first rib length.

4. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the first rib interior section comprises:
a first rib interior height substantially constant along a majority of the first rib length.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the first rib exterior section comprises:
a first rib exterior height substantially constant along a majority of the first rib length.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the ribbed region comprises a first ribbed wall thickness of approximately 0.38 mm to approximately 0.76 mm between the ribbed wall interior surface and the ribbed wall exterior surface;
the first rib interior section comprises a first rib interior height of approximately 0.25 mm to approximately 1.27 mm past the ribbed wall interior surface; and
the first rib exterior section comprises a first rib exterior height of approximately 0.25 mm to approximately 1.27 mm past the ribbed wall exterior surface.

7. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the first rib exterior section comprises a first rib exterior height; and
the first rib interior section comprises a first rib interior height greater than the first rib exterior height.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the first rib interior section comprises a first rib interior width;
the first rib exterior section comprises a first rib exterior width; and
the first rib exterior width is greater than the first rib interior width.

9. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the first rib interior section comprises a first rib interior width;
the first rib exterior section comprises a first rib exterior width; and
the first rib interior width is greater than the first rib exterior width.

10. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the ribbed region comprises at least part of the sole.

11. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the ribbed region comprises at least part of the crown.

12. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising:
a second ribbed region comprising at least part of the sole and having a second ribbed wall thickness of approximately 0.13 mm to approximately 1.27 mm.

13. The golf club head of claim 12 , further comprising:
a skirt between the sole and the crown;
a third ribbed region comprising at least part of the sole and having a third ribbed wall thickness of approximately 0.13 mm to approximately 1.27 mm; and
a sole thick region located at the sole and separating the second ribbed region from the third ribbed region;
wherein:
the sole thick region has a thickness of approximately 0.5 mm to approximately 6.35 mm;
the second ribbed region extends to the skirt and is located at the toe portion of the golf club head; and
the third ribbed region extends to the skirt and is located at the heel portion of the golf club head.

14. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the sole comprises:
a sole thick region located between the heel portion and the toe portion and comprising a thickness greater than the ribbed region and less than or equal to a first rib thickness of the first rib;
a sole-heel region located between the sole thick region and the heel end; and
a sole-toe region located between the sole thick region and the toe end;

the ribbed region is located outside the sole thick region and comprises at least one of:
the sole-heel region; or
the sole-toe region.

15. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more ribs comprise a plurality of ribs including the first rib; and
each rib of the plurality of ribs protrudes towards the interior of the golf club head past the ribbed wall interior surface; and
each rib of the plurality of ribs protrudes towards the exterior of the golf club head past the ribbed wall exterior surface.

16. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more ribs comprise a plurality of ribs, including the first rib; and
at least a portion of the one or more ribs are arranged in at least one of:
a parallelogram pattern; or
an isogrid pattern.

17. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the first rib comprises a first rib centerplane extending along the rib centerline and substantially orthogonal to the ribbed wall;
the first rib interior section comprises a first rib interior section centerline extended substantially parallel to the first rib centerline;
the first rib exterior section comprises a first rib exterior section centerline extended substantially parallel to the first rib centerline;
the first rib centerplane traverses each of the first rib interior section and the first rib exterior section; and
at least one of the first rib interior section centerline or the first rib exterior section centerline is offset from the first rib centerplane.

18. A method for manufacturing a golf club head, the method comprising:
providing a body comprising:
a heel portion;
a toe portion;
a sole; and
a crown;

providing a ribbed region comprising:
a ribbed wall; and
one or more ribs protruding from the ribbed wall;

wherein:
the ribbed region is located at at least part of at least one of the heel portion, the toe portion, the sole, or the crown;
the ribbed wall comprises:
a ribbed wall interior surface facing an interior of the golf club head; and
a ribbed wall exterior surface facing an exterior of the golf club head opposite the ribbed wall interior surface;

and
the one or more ribs comprise:
a first rib comprising:
a first rib length measured along a rib centerl

Assignees

• Karsten Mfg Corp

Inventors

• Stokke Ryan M
• Jertson Martin R

Classifications

• A63B2053/0408

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B2053/0433

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B2053/045

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B2053/0437

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B53/0466 Primary

  wood-type · CPC title