Aerodynamic golf club head

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9950221-B2
Application number	US-201615334790-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 26, 2016
Priority date	Jul 15, 2008
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

An aerodynamic golf club head producing reduced aerodynamic drag forces via the curvature of a crown section. At least a portion of the crown section may be composed of low density materials, including nonmetallic materials.

First claim

We claim:

1. An aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) comprising:
A) a hollow body ( 110 ) having a club head volume of at least 400 cc, a face ( 200 ), a sole section ( 300 ), a crown section ( 400 ), a front ( 112 ), a back ( 114 ), a heel ( 116 ), and a toe ( 118 );
B) the face ( 200 ) having a top edge ( 210 ) and a lower edge ( 220 ), wherein a top edge height (TEH) is the elevation of the top edge ( 210 ) above the ground plane (GP), and a maximum top edge height (TEH) is at least 2 inches; and
C) the crown section ( 400 ) having a crown apex ( 410 ) located an apex height (AH) above a ground plane (GP) and having an apex ratio of the apex height (AH) to the maximum top edge height (TEH) of at least 1.13, wherein:
(i) within a front-to-back vertical section through the crown apex ( 410 ) and perpendicular to a vertical plane created by a shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) between the crown apex ( 410 ) and the face ( 200 ) has an apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f), and a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) between the crown apex ( 410 ) and the back ( 114 ) of the hollow body ( 110 ) has an apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r),
(ii) within a heel-to-toe vertical section through the crown apex ( 410 ) and parallel to the vertical plane created by the shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) above the top edge height (TEH) has a heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t);
(iii) a majority portion of the crown section ( 400 ) is composed of a nonmetallic material having a density less than a portion of the sole section ( 300 ), and a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) has at least one of (a) the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) in contact with the crown apex ( 410 ) is less than 4 inches, (b) the apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) is greater than 5 inches on a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) above the top edge height (TEH) that is composed of the nonmetallic material, and (c) the apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f) in contact with the crown apex ( 410 ) is at least 25% less than a portion of the apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) located above the top edge height (TEH);
(iv) the crown apex ( 410 ) is behind the forward-most point on the face ( 200 ) a distance that is a crown apex setback dimension ( 412 ), the crown apex setback dimension is less than 1.75 inches, the crown section ( 400 ) includes a post apex attachment promoting region ( 420 ) on the surface of the crown section ( 400 ) at an elevation above a maximum top edge plane, wherein the post apex attachment promoting region ( 420 ) begins at the crown apex ( 410 ) and extends toward the back ( 114 ), and the post apex attachment promoting region ( 420 ) includes an attachment promoting region length ( 422 ) measured along the surface of the crown section ( 400 ) and orthogonal to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA), and the attachment promoting region length ( 422 ) is at least as great as fifty percent of the crown apex setback dimension ( 412 ); and
(v) wherein within a vertical section through the crown apex ( 410 ) and parallel to the vertical plane created by the shaft axis (SA), a portion of the post apex attachment promoting region ( 420 ) has a heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) that is less than 4 inches.

2. The aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) of claim 1 , wherein the hollow body ( 110 ) has a front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.4 inches, and a second moment of inertia (MOIx) about a horizontal axis through the center of gravity (CG) is at least 2000 g*cm 2 .

3. The aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) of claim 2 , wherein the front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.6 inches, a first moment of inertia (MOIy) about a vertical axis through a center of gravity (CG) of the golf club head ( 100 ) is at least 4000 g*cm 2 , the apex ratio is at least 1.20, and 5-10% of the club head volume is above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH).

4. The aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) of claim 1 , wherein the apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f) in contact with the crown apex ( 410 ) is less than 3 inches.

5. The aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) above the top edge height (TEH) has an apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) that is less than 3.75 inches.

6. The aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) of claim 1 , wherein the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) in contact with the crown apex ( 410 ) is less than 4 inches, and the apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f) in contact with the crown apex ( 410 ) is at least 25% less than a portion of the apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) located above the top edge height (TEH).

7. The aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) of claim 1 , wherein the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) in contact with the crown apex ( 410 ) is less than 4 inches, and the apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) is greater than 5 inches on a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) located above the top edge height (TEH) and composed of the nonmetallic material.

8. An aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) comprising:
A) a hollow body ( 110 ) having a club head volume of at least 400 cc, a face ( 200 ), a sole section ( 300 ), a crown section ( 400 ), a front ( 112 ), a back ( 114 ), a heel ( 116 ), and a toe ( 118 );
B) the face ( 200 ) having a top edge ( 210 ) and a lower edge ( 220 ), wherein a top edge height (TEH) is the elevation of the top edge ( 210 ) above the ground plane (GP), and a maximum top edge height (TEH) is at least 2 inches; and
C) the crown section ( 400 ) having a crown apex ( 410 ) located an apex height (AH) above a ground plane (GP) and having an apex ratio of the apex height (AH) to the maximum top edge height (TEH), wherein:
(i) within a front-to-back vertical section through the crown apex ( 410 ) and perpendicular to a vertical plane created by a shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) between the crown apex ( 410 ) and the face ( 200 ) has an apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f), and a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) between the crown apex ( 410 ) and the back ( 114 ) of the hollow body ( 110 ) has an apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r),
(ii) within a heel-to-toe vertical section through the crown apex ( 410 ) and parallel to the vertical plane created by the shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section ( 400 ) above the top edge height (TEH) has a heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t); and
(iii) the crown section ( 400 ) has:
(a) the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) in contact with the crown apex ( 410 ) is less than 4 inches; and
(b) the apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f) in contact with the crown apex ( 410 ) is at least 25% less than a portion of the apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) located above the top edge height (TEH).

9. The aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) of claim 8 , wherein the hollow body ( 110 ) has a front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.4 inches, and a second moment of inertia (MOIx) about a horizontal axis through the center of gravity (CG) is at least 2000 g*cm 2 .

10. The aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) of claim 9 , wherein the apex ratio is at least 1.13, and a first moment of inertia (MOIy) about a vertical axis through the center of gravity (CG) of the golf club head ( 100 ) is at least 4000 g*cm 2 .

11. The aerodynamic golf club head ( 100 ) of claim 8 , wherein the crown apex ( 410 ) is behind the forward-most point on the face ( 200 ) a distance that is a crown apex setback dimension ( 412 ), the crown apex setback dimension is less than 1.75 inches, and the crown section ( 400 ) includes a post apex attachment promoting region

Assignees

• Taylor Made Golf Co

Inventors

• Albertsen Jeffrey J
• Burnett Michael Scott

Classifications

• A63B2225/01

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

• A63B53/0466 Primary

  wood-type · CPC title

• A63B2053/0408

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B2053/0437

  Human Necessities · mapped topic

• A63B2060/006

  Human Necessities · mapped topic