Golf club head with flexure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9561408-B2
Application number	US-201414485571-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 12, 2014
Priority date	Sep 14, 2012
Publication date	Feb 7, 2017
Grant date	Feb 7, 2017

Abstract

A golf club head including a crown, a sole, a hosel, a face and a flexure. The flexure provides compliance during an impact between the golf club head and a golf ball. The flexure is tuned to vibrate, immediately after impact, at a predetermined frequency.

First claim

We claim:

1. A golf club head, comprising:
a crown defining an upper surface of the golf club head;
a sole defining a lower surface of the golf club head;
a side wall extending between the crown and sole;
a hosel extending from the crown and including a shaft bore;
a face defining a ball-striking surface and intersecting the lower surface at a leading edge; and
a flexure that is a tubular member interposed between a face portion and a rear body portion of the golf club head so that it forms an intermediate ring that is spaced aftward of the ball-striking surface,
wherein the sole is constructed of a first material having a first Young's modulus and the flexure is constructed of a second material having a second Young's modulus that is lower than the first Young's modulus,
wherein the flexure is tuned so that the width across the flexure in a face-to-aft direction varies sinusoidally, immediately after impact, at a frequency of about 2900 Hz to about 4000 Hz, and
wherein at least a portion of the flexure is constructed of a β-Ti alloy.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the flexure has a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the flexure is recessed from at least one of the upper surface and the lower surface of the golf club head.

4. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein an outer surface of the flexure is flush with the outer surfaces of the adjacent portions of the golf club head.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the flexure comprises a plurality of components.

6. The golf club head of claim 5 , wherein the flexure comprises a front member, a central member and an aft member, and wherein the central member is constructed from a material and at least one of the front member and the aft member is constructed from a different material.

7. The golf club head of claim 6 , wherein the front member and the aft member are metallic.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the flexure is constructed from a carbon composite ring.

9. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the flexure has a width in a range between about 12.0 mm and about 20.0 mm.

10. The golf club head of claim 9 wherein the flexure has a thickness in a range between about 0.5 mm and about 3.0 mm.

11. A golf club head, comprising:
a crown defining an upper surface of the golf club head;
a sole defining a lower surface of the golf club head;
a side wall extending between the crown and sole;
a hosel extending from the crown and including a shaft bore;
a face defining a ball-striking surface and intersecting the lower surface at a leading edge; and
a flexure component that is spaced afterward of the ball-striking surface, extending in a generally heel-to-toe direction and parallel to the leading edge of the golf club head,
wherein the flexure component is coupled to a forward flange and an aft flange of the golf club head,
wherein the forward flange and the aft flange are angled toward each other,
wherein the sole is constructed of a first material having a first Young's modulus and the flexure is constructed of a second material having a second Young's modulus that is lower than the first Young's modulus,
wherein the flexure component is tuned so that the width across the flexure component in a face-to-aft direction varies sinusoidally, immediately after impact, at a frequency
wherein at least a portion of the flexure component is constructed of a β-Ti alloy, and
wherein the flexure component extends across the body in a generally heel-to-toe direction and within between about 5.0 mm and about 20.0 mm from the leading edge of the golf club head.

12. A golf club head, comprising:
a crown defining an upper surface of the golf club head;
a sole defining a lower surface of the golf club head;
a side wall extending between the crown and sole;
a hosel extending from the crown and including a shaft bore;
a face defining a ball-striking surface and intersecting the lower surface at a leading edge; and
a flexure component that is spaced aftward of the ball-striking surface, extending in a generally heel-to-toe direction and parallel to the leading edge of the golf club head,
wherein the flexure component is coupled to a forward flange and an aft flange of the golf club head,
wherein the flexure component is corrugated,
wherein the sole is constructed of a first material having a first Young's modulus and the flexure is constructed of a second material having a second Young's modulus that is lower than the first Young's modulus,
wherein the flexure is tuned so that the width across the flexure in a face-to-aft direction varies sinusoidally, immediately after impact, at a frequency of about 2900 Hz to about 4000 Hz,
wherein at least a portion of the flexure component is constructed of a β-Ti alloy, and
wherein the flexure component extends across the body in a generally heel-to-toe direction and within between about 5.0 mm and about 20.0 mm from the leading edge of the golf club head.

Assignees

• Acushnet Co

Inventors

• Bezilla Stephanie
• Deshmukh Uday V
• Golden Charles E
• Myrhum Mark C
• De La Cruz Noah
• Morin John
• Galvan Darryl C

Classifications

• A63B2225/01

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

• A63B60/52

  with slits · CPC title

• A63B60/54

  with means for damping vibrations · CPC title

• A63B53/0466 Primary

  wood-type · CPC title

• A63B2209/02

  with reinforcing fibres, e.g. carbon, polyamide fibres · CPC title