Patent Grant
10617920
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to a golf club head. More specifically, the present invention relates to a golf club head with an internal stiffening structure connecting a crown portion with a sole portion and disposed proximate a striking face section.
The prior art discloses various golf club heads having interior structures. For example, Yabu, U.S. Pat. No. 6,852,038 for a Golf Club Head And Method Of Making The Same, discloses a golf club head with a sound bar, Galloway, U.S. Pat. No. 7,118,493 for a Multiple Material Golf Club Head discloses a golf club head with a composite aft body having an interior sound component extending upward from a sole section of a metal face component, Seluga et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,834,294 for a Golf Club Head With Center Of Gravity Adjustability discloses a golf club head with a tube having a mass for adjusting the CG of a golf club head, and Dawson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,900,070 for a Weighted Golf Club Head discloses a golf club head with an interior weight lip extending from the sole towards the face. However, the prior art fails to disclose an interior structure that increases ball speed through reducing stress in the striking face section at impact, with a minimal increase in mass to the golf club head.
The golf club head comprises a stiffening structure connecting a crown section to a sole section to reduce the stress in a striking face section during impact with a golf ball. In some embodiments, the stiffening structure is an X- or H-shaped structure.
One aspect of the present invention is a golf club head comprising a body comprising a striking face section, a sole section, a return section, and an upper opening, the return section extending away from an upper edge of the striking face section and disposed between the striking face section and the upper opening, a crown section disposed on the body to close the upper opening and define a hollow interior, and a stiffening structure comprising a heel side connector, a toe side connector, and a middle connector, wherein the striking face section comprises a face center and a rear face surface facing the hollow interior, and wherein each of the heel side connector and toe side connector extends from the return section to the sole section approximately parallel with the rear face surface within the hollow interior without contacting the rear face surface, wherein the middle connector connects the heel side connector to the toe side connector, wherein the entire stiffening structure is located a first distance of less than 0.500 inch from the rear face surface, wherein the first distance is measured along a plane extending through face center, the plane extending along a vertical Z-axis and a horizontal X-axis extending perpendicular to the striking face section, and wherein the stiffening structure reduces stress placed on the striking face section when the striking face section impacts a golf ball.
In some embodiments, the stiffening structure may have a shape selected from the group consisting of X-shape and H-shape. For example, the middle connector may extend approximately perpendicular to the heel side and toe side connectors. In other embodiments, the middle connector may comprise a central section and a plurality of trusses, and each of which may extend at an angle of less than 90° with respect to at least one of the heel side connector and the toe side connector. In still other embodiments, the stiffening structure may have a mass of less than 10 grams.
In some embodiments, each of the heel side and toe side connector may be a linear rod, and the heel side connector may extend approximately parallel with the toe side connector along the vertical Z-axis. In other embodiments, each of the heel and toe side connectors may be located a second distance of no more than 1 inch away from the center of the face, the second distance measured along a Y-axis extending parallel with the face and perpendicular to the X and Z axes. In a further embodiment, the second distance may be variable, such that portions of the heel and toe side connectors extend towards or away from one another. In still other embodiments, at least one of the heel side and toe side connector may comprise a curvature, and in a further embodiment, at a portion of the heel side connector may curve towards the toe side connector, and a portion of the toe side connector may curve towards the heel side connector. In a further embodiment, the middle connector may be a plate comprising at least one through-hole.
In other embodiments, the return section may comprise a heel side aperture and a toe side aperture, an upper end of the heel side connector may be disposed within the heel side aperture, and an upper end of the toe side connector may be disposed within the toe side aperture. In still other embodiments, the golf club head may comprise heel and toe side bosses extending from the sole section into the hollow interior, a lower end of the heel side connector may be received within the heel side boss, and a lower end of the toe side connector may be received within the toe side boss. In any of the embodiments, a portion of the middle connector may be aligned with the face center along the X-axis. In some embodiments, each of the heel side and toe side connectors may be a solid cylindrical rod, and in a further embodiment, the middle connector may be a thin plate comprising first and second triangular cutouts.
Another aspect of the present invention is a wood-type golf club head comprising a body comprising a striking face section, a sole section, and a crown section, and a stiffening structure comprising a heel side connector, a toe side connector, and a middle connector, wherein the striking face section comprises a face center and a rear face surface facing the hollow interior, and wherein each of the heel side connector and toe side connector extends from the crown section to the sole section approximately parallel with the rear face surface within the hollow interior without contacting the rear face surface, wherein a portion of the heel side connector curves towards the toe side connector and a portion of the toe side connector curves towards the heel side connector, wherein the middle connector connects the heel side connector to the toe side connector, wherein the entire stiffening structure is located a first distance of less than 0.433 inch from the rear face surface, wherein the first distance is measured along a plane extending through face center, the plane extending along a vertical Z-axis and a horizontal X-axis extending perpendicular to the striking face section, wherein each of the heel and toe connectors is located a second distance of no more than 1 inch away from the center of the face, the second distance measured along a Y-axis extending parallel with the face and perpendicular to the X and Z axes, wherein the stiffening structure comprises a mass of less than 10 grams, and wherein the stiffening structure reduces stress placed on the striking face section when the striking face section impacts a golf ball. In some embodiments, a portion of the middle connector may be aligned with the face center along the X-axis. In other embodiments, the middle connector may be a plate comprising at least one through-hole, which may have a triangular shape.
Having briefly described the present invention, the above and further objects, features, and advantages thereof will be recognized by those skilled in the pertinent art from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Within the hollow interior 27, a stiffening structure 100 extends from the sole section 22 upward to the return section 32. In an alternative embodiment, the stiffening structure 100 may extend to the crown insert 42 instead, and in another, alternative embodiment, the body 20 may lack an upper opening 26 entirely and the crown section 40 may extend from the upper edge 33 of the striking face section all the way to the aft end 28; what is important is that, as shown in
As shown in
In each embodiment, at least a portion of the middle connector 130 is aligned with the center 34 of the striking face section 30 along a horizontal X-axis extending through the face center 34 perpendicular to the striking face section 30 (e.g., in a face-aft direction), and the middle connector 130 does not make contact with the upper ends 112, 122 or lower ends 114, 124 of the heel and toe side connectors 110, 120, instead connecting with the middle portions 116, 126 of the heel and toe side connectors 110, 120 that are suspended within the hollow interior 27 of the golf club head 10. The middle connector 130 thereby provides structural support for the heel and toe side connectors 110, 120.
In the embodiment shown in
In the embodiments shown in
In the embodiments shown in
As shown in
Locating the stiffening structure 100 as defined above and in
As shown in the Figures, the heel and toe side connectors 110, 120 preferably are solid, approximately cylindrical rods composed of a lightweight, strong metal material such as titanium alloy or steel, though in an alternative embodiment the heel and toe side connectors 110, 120 each may be a hollow tube made of a strong lightweight metal or a composite material. In another embodiment, the golf club head 10 may include one or more of both the solid rod and hollow tube types of heel and toe side connectors 110, 120. In the preferred embodiment, each of the heel and toe side connectors 110, 120 preferably has a diameter ranging from 0.050 inch to 0.200 inch and a length ranging from 1 to 2.5 inches.
The heel and toe side connectors 110, 120, of the stiffening structure 100 may be composed of any strong material, but preferably are composed of the same material as that of the body 20 of the golf club head 10, which may be steel or titanium alloy. In any of the embodiments shown herein, the middle connector 130 may be composed of carbon composite, steel, titanium alloy, plastic, or other such materials, but is preferably co-cast with the heel and toe side connectors 110, 120 from the same material(s) used to make those portions of the stiffening structure 100. In any event, it is critical that the stiffening structure 100 have an overall mass of less than 10 grams, and more preferably less than 8 grams, in order to conserve discretionary mass and avoid undesirable changes to the mass properties (such as center of gravity location) of the golf club head 10.
In each of the embodiments disclosed herein, the golf club head 10 preferably has a Characteristic Time (CT) of the face close to, but not exceeding, the 257 microsecond (“μS”) limit set by the USGA.
In any of the embodiments disclosed herein, when the golf club head 10 is designed as a driver, it preferably has a volume from 200 cubic centimeters to 600 cubic centimeters, more preferably from 300 cubic centimeters to 500 cubic centimeters, and most preferably from 420 cubic centimeters to 470 cubic centimeters, with a most preferred volume of 460 cubic centimeters. In the preferred embodiment, the golf club head 10 has a volume of approximately 450 cc to 460 cc. The volume of the golf club head 10 will also vary between fairway woods (preferably ranging from 3-woods to eleven woods) with smaller volumes than drivers.
When designed as a driver, the golf club head 10 preferably has a mass of no more than 215 grams, and most preferably a mass of 180 to 215 grams; when designed as a fairway wood, the golf club head 10 preferably has a mass of 135 grams to 200 grams, and preferably from 140 grams to 165 grams.
In each of the embodiments disclosed herein, the striking face section 30 preferably has a varying thickness such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,448,960, for a Golf Club Head With Variable Face Thickness, which pertinent parts are hereby incorporated by reference. Other alternative embodiments of the thickness of the striking face section 30 are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,666, for a Golf Club Striking Plate With Variable Thickness, U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,603, for a Contoured Golf Club Face and U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,234, for a Golf Club Striking Plate Having Elliptical Regions Of Thickness, all of which are owned by Callaway Golf Company and which pertinent parts are hereby incorporated by reference. Alternatively, the striking face section 30 may have a uniform thickness.
In each of the embodiments disclosed herein, the body 20 is preferably cast from molten metal in a method such as the well-known lost-wax casting method. The metal for casting is preferably titanium or a titanium alloy such as 6-4 titanium alloy, alpha-beta titanium alloy or beta titanium alloy for forging, and 6-4 titanium for casting. Alternatively, the body 20 is composed of 17-4 steel alloy. Additional methods for manufacturing the body 20 include forming the body 20 from a flat sheet of metal, super-plastic forming the body from a flat sheet of metal, machining the body 20 from a solid block of metal, electrochemical milling the body 20 from a forged pre-form, casting the body using centrifugal casting, casting the body 20 using levitation casting, and like manufacturing methods.
In other embodiments, the golf club head 10 may have a multi-material composition such as any of those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,244,976, 6,332,847, 6,386,990, 6,406,378, 6,440,008, 6,471,604, 6,491,592, 6,527,650, 6,565,452, 6,575,845, 6,478,692, 6,582,323, 6,508,978, 6,592,466, 6,602,149, 6,607,452, 6,663,504, 6,669,578, 6,739,982, 6,758,763, 6,860,824, 6,994,637, 7,025,692, 7,070,517, 7,112,148, 7,118,493, 7,121,957, 7,125,344, 7,128,661, 7,163,470, 7,226,366, 7,252,600, 7,258,631, 7,314,418, 7,320,646, 7,387,577, 7,396,296, 7,402,112, 7,407,448, 7,413,520, 7,431,667, 7,438,647, 7,455,598, 7,476,161, 7,491,134, 7,497,787, 7,549,935, 7,578,751, 7,717,807, 7,749,096, and 7,749,097, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety herein.
From the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention and will readily understand that while the present invention has been described in association with a preferred embodiment thereof, and other embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, numerous changes, modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which is intended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in the following appended claims. Therefore, the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims.
The present invention is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/812,674, filed on Nov. 14, 2017, and issued on Apr. 16, 2019, as U.S. Pat. No. 10,258,846, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/423,347, filed on Feb. 2, 2017, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/385,549, filed on Dec. 20, 2016, and issued on Oct. 3, 2017, as U.S. Pat. No. 9,776,058, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/051,361, filed on Feb. 23, 2016, and issued on Sep. 12, 2017, as U.S. Pat. No. 9,767,629, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/997,199, filed on Jan. 15, 2016, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/788,326, filed on Jun. 30, 2015, and issued on Mar. 21, 2017, as U.S. Pat. No. 9,597,558, and which is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/794,578, filed on Jul. 8, 2015, and issued on Nov. 14, 2017, as U.S. Pat. No. 9,814,947, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/755,068, filed on Jun. 30, 2015, and issued on Apr. 18, 2017, as U.S. Pat. No. 9,623,302, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/498,843, filed on Sep. 26, 2014, and issued on Feb. 16, 2016, as U.S. Pat. No. 9,259,627, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/173,615, filed on Feb. 5, 2014, and issued on Nov. 10, 2015, as U.S. Pat. No. 9,180,349, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/898,956, filed on Nov. 1, 2013, and which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/039,102, filed on Sep. 27, 2013, and issued on Sep. 16, 2014, as U.S. Pat. No. 8,834,294, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/797,404, filed on Mar. 12, 2013, now abandoned, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/665,203, filed on Jun. 27, 2012, and 61/684,079, filed on Aug. 16, 2012, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2386552 | Hill | Oct 1945 | A |
| 3368812 | Baldwin, Sr. | Feb 1968 | A |
| 3652094 | Glover | Mar 1972 | A |
| 4618149 | Maxel | Oct 1986 | A |
| 4938470 | Antonious | Jul 1990 | A |
| 5067715 | Schmidt | Nov 1991 | A |
| 5141231 | Cox | Aug 1992 | A |
| 5180166 | Schmidt | Jan 1993 | A |
| 5397126 | Allen | Mar 1995 | A |
| 5467983 | Chen | Nov 1995 | A |
| 5505453 | Mack | Apr 1996 | A |
| 5533729 | Leu | Jul 1996 | A |
| 5547194 | Aizawa | Aug 1996 | A |
| 5564994 | Chang | Oct 1996 | A |
| 5669826 | Chang | Sep 1997 | A |
| 5718641 | Lin | Feb 1998 | A |
| 5941782 | Cook | Aug 1999 | A |
| 6030295 | Takeda | Feb 2000 | A |
| 6306048 | McCabe | Oct 2001 | B1 |
| 6319150 | Werner | Nov 2001 | B1 |
| 6695714 | Bliss | Feb 2004 | B1 |
| 6852038 | Yabu | Feb 2005 | B2 |
| 7771291 | Willett | Aug 2010 | B1 |
| 7914393 | Hirsch | Mar 2011 | B2 |
| 8834294 | Seluga | Sep 2014 | B1 |
| 8956244 | Westrum | Feb 2015 | B1 |
| 8961336 | Parsons | Feb 2015 | B1 |
| 9067110 | Seluga | Jun 2015 | B1 |
| 9162115 | Beach | Oct 2015 | B1 |
| 9199140 | Schweigert | Dec 2015 | B1 |
| 9486677 | Seluga | Nov 2016 | B1 |
| 9597558 | Seluga | Mar 2017 | B1 |
| 9597561 | Seluga | Mar 2017 | B1 |
| 9687701 | Seluga | Jun 2017 | B1 |
| 9687702 | Seluga | Jun 2017 | B1 |
| 9694257 | Seluga | Jul 2017 | B1 |
| 9757629 | Seluga | Sep 2017 | B2 |
| 9776058 | Seluga | Oct 2017 | B2 |
| 9782646 | Seluga | Oct 2017 | B2 |
| 9814947 | Seluga | Nov 2017 | B1 |
| 9821199 | Seluga | Nov 2017 | B1 |
| 9889349 | Seluga | Feb 2018 | B1 |
| 9901792 | Franklin | Feb 2018 | B2 |
| 9937390 | Luttrell | Apr 2018 | B2 |
| 9950219 | Larson | Apr 2018 | B2 |
| 10046211 | Franklin | Aug 2018 | B2 |
| 10130849 | Franklin | Nov 2018 | B2 |
| 10238933 | Seluga | Mar 2019 | B1 |
| 10369435 | Myers | Aug 2019 | B1 |
| 10518146 | Myers | Dec 2019 | B2 |
| 20010001774 | Antonious | May 2001 | A1 |
| 20020137576 | Dammen | Sep 2002 | A1 |
| 20030176231 | Hasebe | Sep 2003 | A1 |
| 20080119303 | Bennett | May 2008 | A1 |
| 20100267463 | Stites | Oct 2010 | A1 |
| 20110124432 | Oldknow | May 2011 | A1 |
| 20110312437 | Sargent | Dec 2011 | A1 |
| 20120165115 | Matsunaga | Jun 2012 | A1 |
| 20120289360 | Breier | Nov 2012 | A1 |
| 20140080634 | Golden | Mar 2014 | A1 |
| 20150094166 | Taylor | Apr 2015 | A1 |
| 20150231454 | Parsons | Aug 2015 | A1 |
| 20150231806 | Parsons | Aug 2015 | A1 |
| 20150367198 | Seagram | Dec 2015 | A1 |
| 20160059090 | Parsons | Mar 2016 | A1 |
| 20160166893 | Akiyama | Jun 2016 | A1 |
| 20160310809 | Boggs | Oct 2016 | A1 |
| 20160317880 | Boggs | Nov 2016 | A1 |
| 20160367876 | Taylor | Dec 2016 | A1 |
| 20170072277 | Mata | Mar 2017 | A1 |
| 20180028879 | Ines | Feb 2018 | A1 |
| 20180028882 | Hebreo | Feb 2018 | A1 |
| 20190091524 | Slaughter | Mar 2019 | A1 |
| 20190168087 | Martens | Jun 2019 | A1 |
| 20190232129 | Nunez | Aug 2019 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20190232129 A1 | Aug 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61898956 | Nov 2013 | US | |
| 61665203 | Jun 2012 | US | |
| 61684079 | Aug 2012 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15812674 | Nov 2017 | US |
| Child | 16380897 | US | |
| Parent | 13797404 | Mar 2013 | US |
| Child | 14039102 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15423347 | Feb 2017 | US |
| Child | 15812674 | US | |
| Parent | 15385549 | Dec 2016 | US |
| Child | 15423347 | US | |
| Parent | 15051361 | Feb 2016 | US |
| Child | 15385549 | US | |
| Parent | 14997799 | Jan 2016 | US |
| Child | 15051361 | US | |
| Parent | 14788326 | Jun 2015 | US |
| Child | 14997799 | US | |
| Parent | 14794578 | Jul 2015 | US |
| Child | 14788326 | US | |
| Parent | 14755068 | Jun 2015 | US |
| Child | 14794578 | US | |
| Parent | 14498843 | Sep 2014 | US |
| Child | 14755068 | US | |
| Parent | 14173615 | Feb 2014 | US |
| Child | 14498843 | US | |
| Parent | 14039102 | Sep 2013 | US |
| Child | 14173615 | US |
