Patent Application
20150306475
The invention relates to golf club heads.
Most sports are characterized by uniform playing fields that must meet detailed regulations. In tennis, for example, the tennis court must be 78 feet long. Every run in baseball requires 360 feet of running-90 feet between each base. By contrast, every golf course is unique. A golf course can be designed to reflect and complement its natural setting. In fact, one of the reasons many people are fond of golf is for the opportunity to spend time outdoors in different beautiful places.
Just as every golf course is unique, so too is every person who plays. Some golfers naturally hit further and faster than others. One player may have trouble with shots that consistently fade to the right, while his buddy may be getting poor scores due to a consistent unintended hook.
Some golf clubs are adjustable, with the idea being that a golfer can tailor the club to his or her unique playing style. Unfortunately, adjustment mechanisms add complexity to club manufacturing, which increases costs. For example, a weight port or weight track with multiple internally-facing surfaces can be very difficult to form by molding or casting due to the challenges in removing the part from the complex 3D mold. Moreover, the adjustment mechanisms themselves require mass that adversely influences a club head's mass distribution.
The invention provides a golf club head with a recess or opening for use in an adjustment mechanism and in which the recess or opening is covered from within by a lightweight cap. For example, the recess can provide a weight track along a sole of the club head as an open slot with edges to which a repositionable weight member can be mounted. The open slot is covered from within by a cap, which can be provided by a molded lightweight material cemented to an inside surface of the sole of the club head. The described construction is easy to mold or cast and minimizes mass in undesired locations of the club head. Since the open recess is straightforward to manufacture, the cost of the club head can be kept low. Since the lightweight cap does not adversely affect the mass distribution of the club head, the club head performs well, giving a golfer consistent shots with good ball flight characteristics. Thus a recess or opening in a club head, covered with a lightweight cap, can be used to provide a club head with an adjustment mechanism, such as a repositionable weight member. An adjustment mechanism can be used to adjust heel-toe weighting, helping a golfer correct a hook or slice. An adjustment mechanism can be used to move a club head center of gravity up-down or front-back, allowing golfers to increase shot distance or get better loft. Additionally moving mass backwards or outwards can increase a club head's moment of inertia about a vertical axis (relative to address) thereby making a club head more forgiving to off-center hits. Thus a golf club head of the invention can include an adjustment mechanism that allows the golf club to be tailored to a golfer's unique playing style, while also not adversely influence cost of performance of the club head.
In a preferred embodiment, the invention is used within a trench or track system within a sole of a club head. The sole may be made predominantly of a first material such as titanium or other suitable metal. To avoid manufacturing challenges and poor performance characteristics that would be associated with a metal trench featuring internal ledges and undercuts used for mounting a weight member to the weight track, the invention provides a trench system that is light and easy to manufacture. This may be accomplished using a “cap” that is designed to encapsulated the trench or track. The cap preferably includes a second material lighter than the first such as a polymer, plastic, composite, fabric, or other suitable material. The capped track or trench provides several advantages. One advantage is ease of casting, as the design removes all undercuts from the trench/track portion of the casting. All load bearing structures may be kept in the same locations or dimensions in this design as compared to a monolithic version. The described structure is much lighter than a corresponding monolithic structure and the weight savings can be used to locate the saved mass in preferable locations. The described design creates a “platform” that can be used in several different embodiments or features. Additionally, the described structure improves the sound of the club head relative to a monolithic construction.
The invention provides methods of manufacturing the described club heads. In one method, a club head component such as a sole is initially cast with two or more pockets to accept repositionable weights. A trench or opening is then cut through the casting, e.g., to decrease weight of the component or to connect the casted pockets. The trench or opening may be created by laser cutting. A cap is then fixed (e.g., epoxied) into the head to encapsulate the trench.
In certain aspects, the invention provides a golf club head that includes a crown, sole, face, and hosel cooperating to define a hollow club head body comprising at least a first material. The club head has an opening through the hollow body in which at least a portion of an edge around the opening is provided by the first material and a cap member mounted to an inside surface of the hollow body and enclosing the opening. The cap member may include a second material less dense than the first material. The cap member may be attached to the inside surface of the hollow body e.g., by a cement such as epoxy.
In some embodiments, the opening is contained within a recess and the recess is configured to retain an accessory. The recess may include a channel with interior walls. Preferably, the recess provides the channel within the sole of the club head and the golf club head further includes a weight member repositionably mounted within the channel. In a preferred embodiment, the channel extends from a forward portion of the sole proximal to the face to an aft portion of the sole distal to the face. At least a portion of the cap member may be spaced away from the inside surface of the sole to accommodate a portion of a mounting mechanism of the weight member in a space between the portion of the cap member and the inside surface of the sole.
In certain embodiments, the first material is a metal and the second material is a polymer. The opening may be in the sole and edges of the opening provide a track for a repositionable weight. The cap may define a box-shaped portion to accommodate the repositionable weight. The golf club head can include a weight member repositionably mounted in the opening, at least partially disposed within the box-shaped portion of the cap.
Aspects of the invention provide a golf club head with a hollow, wood-type club head body having a face, hosel, crown portion, and sole portion. An adjustment mechanism is accessible at the sole and extends into the club head body relative to the sole. The club head includes a cap member over the adjustment mechanism, attached to the club head body and recessed into the club head wherein the cap member houses the adjustment mechanism on the outside of an enclosed volume defined by the club head body and the cap member. The adjustment mechanism may include a weight track, e.g., extending in a fore-aft direction. The club head may include a repositionable weight member capable of being fixed at a plurality of positions along the weight track. In some embodiments, the weight track and the cap member cooperate to define an exposed ledge with an undercut. In certain embodiments, the adjustment mechanism includes a weight port recess and a removable weight member. The sole may be metal and the cap may be a lower-weight polymer fixed to the sole by an adhesive. The cap member may include one or more ribs or stiffening elements extending across or through the cap member to provide stiffness, improved hitting properties, sound tuning, or strength.
In some arrangements, the various parts of the club head 102 may be joined by mechanical connectors (such as threads, screws, nuts, bolts, or other connectors), and the like. In some embodiments, the mating edges of various parts of the club head structure 102 (e.g., the edges where heel, toe, crown, sole, ball-striking face, and/or other parts of the body contact and join to one another) may include one or more raised ribs, tabs, ledges, or other engagement elements that fit into or onto corresponding grooves, slots, surfaces, ledges, openings, or other structures provided in or on the facing side edge to which it is joined. Cements, adhesives, mechanical connectors, finishing material, or the like may be used in combination with the raised rib/groove/ledge/edge or other connecting structures described above to further help secure the various parts of the club head structure 102 together.
As shown, the track 126 is generally linear and extends from the front portion 110 to the rear portion 111 of the club head 102. It should be understood, however, that a club head 102 consistent with the present disclosure may include any number of tracks 126 having any number of configurations, geometries, shapes, etc. For example, as described in greater detail herein, a club head according to some embodiments may include multiple tracks formed along different portions of the sole, resulting in a variety of different positions in which to mount a weight assembly, thereby providing multiple performance characteristics from which a golfer may choose. Track 126 further includes a channel 132 extending from an exterior surface of the sole 118 towards an internal cavity 138 of the club head body 108. The channel 132 lies along a plane that extends generally from the sole 118 to the crown 116 of the club head body 108. The channel 132 includes upper inner walls 133, inner sidewalls 135 extending from the upper inner walls 133 and towards a bottom inner wall 137. The inner walls 133, 135, 137 generally form a groove 134 that extends along length of the channel 132. The groove 134 lies along a plane that extends generally from the heel 112 to the toe 114 of the club head body 108, such that the plane along which the groove 134 lies is substantially orthogonal to the plane upon which the channel 132 lies.
The groove 134 is a shape and/or sized to receive a retaining member (e.g., washer, nut, etc.) therein by way of an entrance portion 136 formed proximate the first end 128 of the track. The entrance portion 136 is generally a portion of groove 134 in which side walls 135 of the channel 132 have been widened to allow a retaining member to pass into the groove 134. As described in greater detail herein, the weight assembly is coupled to the sole 118 by way of a fastening mechanism, including a mechanical fastener (e.g., bolt) extending through a portion of the weight assembly, into the channel 132, and engaging the retaining member positioned within the groove 134. Accordingly, the retaining member is adapted to retain the weight assembly along a portion of the sole 118 by way of engagement with the mechanical fastener. The retaining member is further adapted to slide along the groove so as to allow the weight assembly to move along a length of the track 126 when positioning the weight assembly, thereby allowing the weight assembly to remain coupled to the sole 118 during arrangement of the weight assembly, as described in greater detail herein.
As shown, the depth of the channel 132 may vary along a length of the track 126. For example, the channel 132 may be deeper at each of the first and second ends 128, 130 of the track 126 and may taper to a more shallow depth at or near a center point of the track 126 (at a position between the first and second ends 110, 111). For example, the channel 132 may include first and second ends 140, 142 adjacent the first and second ends 128, 130 of the track 126. The first and second ends 140, 142 may generally form pockets or bosses of empty space providing sufficient clearance for receipt of a portion of the mechanical fastener when the weight assembly is positioned within and secured to either of the first or second ends 128, 130, described in greater detail herein.
A golf club head 102 consistent with the present disclosure, including one or more parts (e.g., heel, toe, crown, sole, etc.), as well as separate components (e.g., fastener, retaining member, etc.) may be fabricated using an additive process, such as, powdered metal sintering and metal deposition. For example, the sole 118, including the track 126, the channel 132 and groove 134 formed therein, as well as the retaining member, can be fabricated via additive manufacturing processes, such that the retaining member is simultaneously formed within the groove as a result of the manufacturing processes, as described for example in Soracco et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 8,007,373), Soracco et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0277313), and Soracco et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013/0097050), the contents of each of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
One way to improve performance of the club, or accuracy, distance, etc. of a shot, is by adjusting mass distribution properties of the club head to one or more regions in order to adjust a center of gravity, mass moment of inertia, or swing weight of the club head. The track 126 provides a mechanism for adjusting the mass distribution properties of club head 102.
The retaining member 150 is positioned within and retained by the groove 134 formed within the channel 132 of the track 126. The groove 134 is generally shaped and/or sized to allow the retaining member 150 to translate (e.g., slide) along a length of the groove 134 from the first end 128 of the track 126 to the second end 130 of the track 126. Accordingly, upon extending the fastener 148 through a portion of the weight assembly 144, into the channel 132, and in engagement with the retaining member 150 (which is positioned within the groove 134), the weight assembly 144 is adapted to move along a length of the track 126 between a first position and a second position, and any intermediate positions in between, while remaining coupled to the sole 118 at any position.
In the embodiment depicted in
A mechanical fastener 148 secures the weight assembly 144 against the support surface 129 of the first end 128 by drawing a retaining member 150 against the upper inner wall 133 of the channel. As the fastener 148 engages a threaded portion of the retaining member 150, a portion of the fastener (e.g., head) engages a portion of the weight assembly 144 and draws the weight assembly 144 in a direction towards the support surface 129 of the first end 128, as indicated by arrow 158. Similarly, the tightening action further draws the retaining member 150 in a direction towards the upper inner wall 133 of the channel 132, as indicated by arrow 160. The weight assembly 144 and the retaining member 150 are both drawn towards one another until both engage either side of a casting wall 156 which is formed by the support surface 129 and the upper inner wall 133. Accordingly, the weight assembly 144 and retaining member 150 effectively clamp the casting wall 156, thereby securing the weight assembly 144 against the support surface 129 of the first end 128 and the retaining member 150 against the upper inner wall 133 of the channel 132.
As previously described, the groove 134 may be shaped and/or sized to prevent rotation of the retaining member 150 therein, thereby allowing the fastener 148 to increase/decrease engagement (e.g., tighten or loosen) with the retaining member 150. The first end 140 of the channel 132 provides sufficient clearance for an end of the fastener 148, as indicated by arrow 154. In the illustrated embodiment, the first end 128 has a shape corresponding to a shape and/or contour of the weight assembly 144.
With reference back to
While the foregoing embodiment relates to an internal cap 707 that covers an elongated recess such as a weight track, an internal cap may also or separately be used to cover a “discrete” recess—i.e., a recess that does not define an elongated track or channel that provides for sliding motion of an adjustment mechanism.
As shown in
The outer cover 244 and weight member 246 may be secured to one another via press-fit, bonding with adhesives or cements, welding (e.g., laser welding), soldering, brazing, or other fusing techniques, etc., such that they are fixed to one another. The support member 248 may be formed from a foam or other supportive material and may be secured to the base of the weight member 246 and outer cover 244 by way of adhesive. The support member 248 may be adapted to provide a supportive interface between the weight assembly 222 and the weight mounting portion 220 and further dissipate and/or manage vibration, rattling, and/or sound.
It should be noted that all embodiments of a weight assembly consistent with the present disclosure may be coupled to the fastener by way of a retaining element (e.g., spring clip). For example, the weight assembly 144 may be coupled to the fastener 148 by way of the spring clip 230. In particular, the bore 146 of the weight assembly 144 may include a channel formed along an inner wall and a corresponding channel may be formed on an outer surface of the head of the fastener 148, wherein each of the channels is shaped and/or sized to receive a portion of the spring clip 130 within. The spring clip may first be placed in either of the channels prior to insertion of the head of the fastener 148 within the bore 146 of the weight assembly 146. Accordingly, upon insertion of the head of the fastener 148 into the bore 146 of the weight assembly 144, the spring clip is received within the channels of the bore 146 and the head of the fastener 148, thereby coupling the weight assembly 144 to the fastener 148, while still allowing rotation of the fastener 148.
In certain embodiments, the invention provides a golf club head with an adjustment mechanism and a cap member in the club head, housing the adjustment mechanism, and in which the adjustment mechanism provides a weight track in the sole with a plurality of distinct positions for a repositionable weight. The club may further include a repositionable weight member capable of being fixed at a plurality of positions along the weight track.
Ribs 2256 may provide stiffening elements to the cap structure 2207. Advantages of including the ribs 2256 may include that they are lighter than having metal ribs cast into the club head. Additionally, ribs 2256 may be found to provide additional bonding ledge area. Further, the inclusion of one or more ribs 2256 on cap 2207 avoids manufacturing problems that may be associated with undercuts, rib sink, or rib shadow (e.g., on on exterior surface). Also, including a rib 2256 on cap 2207 provide the ability to easily mold different shapes such as T-ribs.
It can be seen from the foregoing that the invention provides various embodiments of a golf club head with an opening covered from within by a lightweight cap. The opening can be part of, e.g., a weight track. The club head includes a crown, sole, face, and hosel cooperating to define a hollow club head body comprising at least a first material. The club head has an opening through the hollow body. Part of an edge around the opening is provided by a first material and a cap member of a second material less dense than the first material is mounted e.g., by an adhesive to an inside surface of the hollow body and enclosing the opening. The described construction is easier to mold or cast that other forms featuring undercuts and does not unduly interfere with a club head center of gravity.
References and citations to other documents, such as patents, patent applications, patent publications, journals, books, papers, web contents, have been made throughout this disclosure. All such documents are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
Various modifications of the invention and many further embodiments thereof, in addition to those shown and described herein, will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the full contents of this document, including references to the scientific and patent literature cited herein. The subject matter herein contains important information, exemplification and guidance that can be adapted to the practice of this invention in its various embodiments and equivalents thereof.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/261,974, filed Apr. 25, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14261974 | Apr 2014 | US |
| Child | 14639573 | US |
