Patent Application
20180171180
This present technology generally relates to systems, devices, and methods related to golf clubs, and more specifically to the manufacture of golf club heads having a hollow enclosed cavity.
In order to continually improve the performance of a golf club, golf club designers are constantly searching for new and innovative ways make a golf club perform better. One way to improve the performance of golf club head, particularly an iron type golf club head, is to form a hollow enclosed cavity. This construction can be used to increase performance characteristics of the golf club head, including center of gravity location, coefficient of restitution, and moment of inertia. Including a hollow enclosed cavity introduces an additional challenge to golf club head construction however. Hollow enclosed cavities can trap particles, including portions of weld beads inside the cavity. These particles inside the cavity can rattle inside the golf club head. In order to prevent the trapped particles from rattling against the walls of the cavity, a hole can be machined creating an injection hole, allowing hot melt to be injected from the exterior of the golf club head into the cavity. Hot melt is sometimes also referred to as rat glue. After injecting hot melt, the injection hole is plugged with a plastic plug or covered with a medallion. The hot melt remains in the cavity, and remains sticky, such that any particles in the cavity moving around in the cavity stick to the hot melt, preventing rattles.
The process of machining the hot melt injection hole adds cost to the golf club manufacturing process. Additionally, the plug can be undesirable to the aesthetics of the golf club head. Thus, there exists a need for an improved method of constructing a golf club head with a hollow interior cavity.
The systems, methods, and devices described herein have innovative aspects, no single one of which is indispensable or solely responsible for their desirable attributes. Without limiting the scope of the claims, some of the advantageous features will now be summarized.
One non-limiting embodiment of the present technology includes a method of forming a golf club head, including: forming a first portion of the golf club head; wherein the first portion of the golf club head comprises a rear portion of a blade portion of the golf club head; wherein the first portion comprises a first half of an injection hole at a periphery of the first portion; forming a second portion of a golf club head; wherein the second portion of the golf club head comprises a striking face of the blade portion of the golf club head; wherein the second portion comprises a second half of the injection hole at a periphery of the second portion; placing the first portion adjacent the second portion; wherein the first half of the injection hole is adjacent the second half of the injection hole; welding the first portion to the second portion forming a first weld bead, wherein the first weld bead does not seal the injection hole; injecting hot melt into an interior of the golf club head through the injection hole; welding the injection hole shut, forming a second weld bead; and polishing the first weld bead and the second weld bead.
An additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology includes a method of forming a golf club head, including: forming a first portion of the golf club head; forming a second portion of a golf club head; placing the first portion adjacent the second portion; welding the first portion to the second portion forming a first weld bead; wherein an injection hole is located at the intersection of the first portion and the second portion; wherein the first weld bead does not fill the injection hole; injecting hot melt into an interior of the golf club head through the injection hole; and welding the injection hole shut, forming a second weld bead.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the first portion of the golf club head comprises a rear portion of a blade portion of the golf club head.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the second portion of the golf club head comprises a striking face of the blade portion of the golf club head.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the injection hole is partially formed in the first portion and partially formed in the second portion.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the second weld bead is formed via spot welding.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the golf club head is an iron-type golf club head including a hollow cavity.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the injection hole is located on a sole of the golf club head.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the injection hole is located on a toe of the golf club head.
An additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology includes polishing the first weld bead and the second weld bead.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the injection hole is formed via casting.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the injection hole is formed via forging.
An additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology includes a method of forming a golf club head, including: placing a first portion of the golf club head adjacent a the second portion of the golf club head; welding the first portion to the second portion forming a first weld bead; injecting hot melt into an interior of the golf club head through an injection hole after forming the first weld bead; and welding the injection hole shut, forming a second weld bead.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the first portion of the golf club head comprises a rear portion of a blade portion of the golf club head.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the second portion of the golf club head comprises a striking face of the blade portion of the golf club head.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology n the injection hole is located adjacent the first weld bead.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the golf club head is an iron-type golf club head including a hollow cavity.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the injection hole is located on a sole of the golf club head.
In an additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology the injection hole is located on a toe of the golf club head.
An additional non-limiting embodiment of the present technology includes polishing the first weld bead and the second weld bead.
The accompanying drawings form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith. The illustrated embodiments, however, are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.
In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the present disclosure. The illustrative embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented herein. It will be readily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the Figures, can be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and form part of this disclosure. For example, a system or device may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, such a system or device may be implemented or such a method may be practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than one or more of the aspects set forth herein. Alterations and further modifications of inventive features illustrated herein, and additional applications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention.
Other than in the operating examples, or unless otherwise expressly specified, all of the numerical ranges, amounts, values and percentages such as those for amounts of materials, moments of inertias, center of gravity locations, loft and draft angles, and others in the following portion of the specification may be read as if prefaced by the word “about” even though the term “about” may not expressly appear with the value, amount, or range. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by the present invention. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques.
Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently contains certain errors necessarily resulting from the standard deviation found in their respective testing measurements. Furthermore, when numerical ranges of varying scope are set forth herein, it is contemplated that any combination of these values inclusive of the recited values may be used.
In describing the present technology, the following terminology may have been used: The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to an item includes reference to one or more items. The term “plurality” refers to two or more of an item. The term “substantially” means that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide. A plurality of items may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same lists solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary. Furthermore, where the terms “and” and “or” are used in conjunction with a list of items, they are to be interpreted broadly, in that any one or more of the listed items may be used alone or in combination with other listed items. The term “alternatively” refers to a selection of one of two or more alternatives, and is not intended to limit the selection of only those listed alternative or to only one of the listed alternatives at a time, unless the context clearly indicated otherwise.
Features of the present disclosure will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading the section entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how the illustrated features serve to explain certain principles of the present disclosure.
Embodiments described herein generally relate to systems, devices, and methods related to golf club heads having a hollow enclosed cavity. More specifically, the present invention includes a method of incorporating hot melt into the hollow interior cavity of a golf club head at minimal expense and with superior aesthetic qualities.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Both the striking face 106 and the rear portion 108 can incorporate at least a portion of an injection hole 120. The injection hole 120 can be located on the sole 114 or on the toe 112.
The different pieces of the golf club head 100, including the striking face 106 and the rear portion 108 can be formed in a variety of ways, which may include, for example, casting, stamping, forging, etc. The injection hole 120 can be formed in the pieces during those manufacturing processes, rather than requiring an additional machining operation. Additionally, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
It is important that the majority of the welding is completed prior to injecting the hot melt. After the majority of welding is completed, the head is allowed to cool before injecting the hot melt. Then the final spot weld is applied. The hot melt can only withstand a certain temperature before it becomes permanently ineffective at catching particles within the golf club head. If the hot melt were injected prior to the majority of the welding, the hot melt would be destroyed. By waiting, and only performing a small weld of the injection hole after injecting hot melt, the temperature of the golf club head is only elevated slightly, and the hot melt remains effective. Additionally, by locating the injection hole 120 on the weld line 109, the process of creating the injection hole when creating the pieces of the golf club head 100 is easier. Additionally, the polishing process after welding is also easier as the polishing is still confined to the weld line, and doesn't require an additional area to be polished.
In describing the present technology herein, certain features that are described in the context of separate implementations also can be implemented in combination in a single implementation. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single implementation also can be implemented in multiple implementations separately or in any suitable sub combination. Moreover, although features may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, one or more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to a sub combination or variation of a sub combination.
Various modifications to the implementations described in this disclosure may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other implementations without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to the implementations shown herein, but are to be accorded the widest scope consistent with this disclosure as well as the principle and novel features disclosed herein.
