Method of manufacturing golf club head having stress-reducing features

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9931550-B1
Application number	US-201715808025-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 9, 2017
Priority date	Jun 27, 2012
Publication date	Apr 3, 2018
Grant date	Apr 3, 2018

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a golf club head including a plurality of structural connectors, and particularly solid rods proximate the face, is disclosed herein. The method includes the steps of preparing a wax of a golf club head body, the body including first and second through-holes, a hollow interior, and first and second receiving pockets, preparing waxes of first and second solid rods, inserting the first solid rod wax into the first through-hole and seating its lower end in the first receiving pocket, inserting the second solid rod wax into the second through-hole and seating its lower end in the second receiving pocket, bonding each of the first and second solid rods to the body with an adhesive material to form a combined wax mold, and casting a golf club head from the combined wax mold.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method comprising:
preparing a wax of a golf club head body, the wax of the golf club head body comprising a striking face section, a sole section extending from a lower edge of the striking face section, and a return section extending from an upper edge of the striking face section, the striking face section, sole section, and return section defining a hollow body interior, the return section comprising a through-hole, and the sole section comprising a receiving pocket;
preparing a wax of a solid rod comprising an upper end and a lower end;
inserting the solid rod into the through-hole and seating the lower end in the receiving pocket;
bonding the solid rod to the body with an adhesive material to form a combined wax mold; and
casting a golf club head from the combined wax mold,
wherein the through-hole is aligned with the receiving pocket,
wherein the solid rod is cylindrical and has a diameter of 0.050 inch to 0.200 inch,
wherein the solid rod is located within 1 inch of a rear surface of the striking face section measured along a vertical plane extending through a face center perpendicular to the striking face section, and
wherein no portion of the solid rod makes contact with the striking face section.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rod is spaced a distance of no more than 0.210 inch from the rear surface.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of bonding the solid rod to the body comprises applying glue around an entire circumference of each of the upper and lower ends of the solid rod.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of applying hot wax to the upper end of the solid rod to seal it to the return section after the step of bonding the solid rod to the body.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of casting a golf club head from the combined wax mold comprises casting the golf club head from a titanium alloy.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wax of the golf club head body comprises at least one cutout in a center area of the sole section.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the striking face section comprises a varying thickness.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wax of the golf club head body comprises a shallow depression extending into an outer surface of the sole section, wherein the shallow depression is aligned with the receiving pocket.

9. A method comprising:
preparing a wax of a golf club head body, the wax of the golf club head body comprising a striking face section, a sole section extending from a lower edge of the striking face section, and a return section extending from an upper edge of the striking face section, the striking face section, sole section, and return section defining a hollow body interior, the return section comprising a receiving pocket, and the sole section comprising a through-bore;
preparing a wax of a solid rod comprising an upper end and a lower end;
inserting the solid rod into the through-bore and seating the upper end in the receiving pocket so that the solid rod is located within 1 inch of a rear surface of the striking face section measured along a vertical plane extending through a face center perpendicular to the striking face section;
bonding the solid rod to the body with an adhesive material to form a combined wax mold; and
casting a golf club head from the combined wax mold,
wherein the through-bore is aligned with the receiving pocket,
wherein the solid rod has a diameter of 0.050 inch to 0.200 inch and a length of 1 inch to 2.5 inches, and
wherein no portion of the solid rod makes contact with the striking face section.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of bonding the solid rod to the body comprises applying glue around an entire circumference of each of the upper and lower ends of the solid rod.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the step of applying hot wax to the lower end of the solid rod to seal it to the sole section after the step of bonding the solid rod to the body.

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of casting a golf club head from the combined wax mold comprises casting the golf club head from a titanium alloy.

13. A method comprising:
preparing a wax of a golf club head body, the golf club head body comprising a striking face section, a sole section extending from a lower edge of the striking face section, and a return section extending from an upper edge of the striking face section, the striking face section, sole section, and return section defining a hollow body interior, the return section comprising first and second through-holes, and the sole section comprising first and second receiving pockets;
preparing a wax of first and second solid rods, the first solid rod comprising a first upper end and a first lower end, and the second solid rod comprising a second upper end and a second lower end;
inserting the first solid rod into the first through-hole and seating the first lower end in the first receiving pocket;
inserting the second solid rod into the second through-hole and seating the second lower end in the second receiving pocket;
bonding each of the first and second solid rods to the body with an adhesive material to form a combined wax mold; and
casting a golf club head from the combined wax mold using a titanium alloy material,
wherein each of the first and second solid rods is located within 1 inch of a rear surface of the striking face section measured along a vertical plane extending through a face center perpendicular to the striking face section, and
wherein no portion of the first and second solid rods makes contact with the striking face section.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising the step of applying hot wax to the first and second upper ends, wherein the step of applying hot wax occurs after the step of bonding each of the first and second solid rods to the body.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of bonding each of the first and second solid rods to the body with an adhesive material to form a combined wax mold comprises applying glue around an entire circumference of the first and second upper ends and the first and second lower ends.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein each of the first and second upper ends are spaced a first distance from the rear surface, wherein each of the first and second lower ends are spaced a second distance from the rear surface, and wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first distance is 0.120 inch to 0.150 inch, and wherein the second distance is 0.180 inch to 0.210 inch.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first solid rod is spaced a distance of 0.500 inch to 2.00 inch from the second solid rod.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein at least one of the first and second solid rods extends through the hollow body interior approximately parallel with the rear surface.

20. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first solid rod extends approximately parallel with the second solid rod.

Assignees

• Callaway Golf Co

Inventors

• Seluga James A
• Myers Matthew
• Hannen Matthew
• Fliers Bart R
• Gonczi Robert S

Classifications

• A63B53/047

  iron-type · CPC title

• A63B60/52

  with slits · CPC title

• B22C9/24

  for hollow articles · CPC title

• B22C7/02

  Lost patterns · CPC title

• B21K17/00

  Making sport articles, e.g. skates · CPC title