Golf club heads and methods of manufacturing golf club heads

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9987529-B2
Application number	US-201615355160-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2016
Priority date	Apr 3, 2012
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

A golf club head, and method of manufacturing said golf club head are described herein. The golf club head comprises a club face with a face portion, and grooves positioned on the club face. The grooves comprise a bottom, a first side wall adjacent the bottom, a second side wall adjacent the bottom, a first top radius adjacent the first side wall, and a second top radius adjacent the second side wall. The club face further comprises a second portion positioned between the face portion, and the first top radius and the second top radius. The second portion of the club face allows for the grooves to appear visually wider to a player, which can provide psychological effects to benefit performance, while still conforming to USGA groove widths standards.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A golf club head comprising:
a club face comprising:
a loft;
a face portion;
at least one groove in the club face, the at least one groove having a bottom with a bottom width ranging between approximately 0.009 inch to approximately 0.012 inch, a first side wall adjacent to the bottom, a second side wall adjacent to the bottom, a first groove radius adjacent to the first side wall, and a second groove radius adjacent to the second side wall;
a land width adjacent to a first top radius of the at least one groove and a second top radius of a second groove;
a pitch of the at least one groove ranging between approximately 0.110 inch and approximately 0.125 inch;
a depth of the at least one groove ranging between approximately 0.015 inch and approximately 0.021 inch; and
a second portion located between the face portion and one of the first top radius or the second top radius, the second portion is a substantially flat plane at a first angle with the face portion and has a length of between approximately 0.002 inch and 0.047 inch;

wherein:
the first angle is between approximately eight and eighteen degrees relative to the face portion; and
the at least one groove is compliant with a Thirty Degree Rule when measured from the first top radius and the second top radius.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising a loft of the club face ranging between 56 degrees and 60 degrees.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the pitch of the at least one groove is 0.118 inch.

4. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the bottom width of the at least one groove is 0.010 inch.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the depth of the at least one groove is 0.018 inch.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
a surface of the club face has a first reflectivity;
a surface of the least one groove has a second reflectivity; and
the first reflectivity is less than the second reflectivity.

7. The golf club head of claim 1 , further comprising:
a coating over a portion of the club face;
wherein:
the at least one groove is devoid of the coating.

8. The golf club head of claim 7 , wherein:
a thickness of the coating is less than 0.001 inch.

9. The golf club head of claim 8 , wherein:
a surface roughness of the coating is different than a surface roughness of a surface of the at least one groove.

10. The golf club had of claim 9 , wherein:
the surface roughness of the coating is 140 micro-inches to 180 micro-inches; and
the surface roughness of the surface of the at least one groove is 30 micro-inches to 40 micro-inches.

11. A golf club head comprising:
a club face comprising:
a face portion;
at least one groove in the club face comprising:
a bottom;
a first side wall adjacent to the bottom, having a first side wall angle ranging between approximately 25 degrees and approximately 30 degrees;
a second side wall adjacent to the bottom, opposite the first side wall, having a second side wall angle ranging between approximately 25 degrees and approximately 30 degrees;
a first groove radius adjacent to the first side wall, ranging between approximately 0.0038 inch and approximately 0.0044 inch;
a second groove radius adjacent to the second side wall, ranging between approximately 0.0038 inch and approximately 0.0044 inch; and
a second portion located between the face portion and one of a first top radius or a second top radius of the at least one groove, the second portion is a substantially flat plane at a first angle with the face portion and has a length of approximately 0.002 inch to 0.047 inch;

wherein:
the first angle is between approximately eight and eighteen degrees relative to the face portion; and
the at least one groove is compliant with a Thirty Degree Rule when measured from the first top radius and the second top radius.

12. The golf club of claim 11 , further comprising a loft of the club face ranging between 56 degrees and 60 degrees.

13. The golf club of claim 11 , wherein:
the first side angle and the second side angle are both 28 degrees.

14. The golf club of claim 11 , wherein:
the first groove radius and the second groove radius are both 0.004 inch.

15. The golf club head of claim 11 , further comprising:
a coating over a portion of the club face;
wherein:
the at least one groove is devoid of the coating.

16. The golf club head of claim 15 , wherein:
a thickness of the coating is less than 0.001 inch.

17. The golf club head of claim 15 , wherein:
a surface roughness of the coating is different than a surface roughness of a surface of the at least one groove.

18. The golf club head of claim 17 , wherein:
the surface roughness of the coating is 80 micro-inches to 110 micro-inches; and
the surface roughness of the surface of the at least one groove is 20 micro-inches to 30 micro-inches.

Assignees

• Karsten Mfg Corp

Inventors

• Jertson Marty R
• Petersen David L
• Clarke Jacob T

Classifications

• A63B53/04

  Heads · CPC title

• A63B53/047 Primary

  iron-type · CPC title

• A63B2053/0479

  Wedge-type clubs, details thereof · CPC title

• Y10T409/303752

  Process · CPC title

• B23C5/14

  essentially comprising curves {(B23C5/1009 takes precedence)} · CPC title