Golf club with coefficient of restitution feature

• US 10,080,934 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2017
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Co., Inc.
• Original Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Co., Inc.
• Inventors: Beach, Todd P., Greensmith, Matthew, Johnson, Matthew David, Mata, Jason Andrew, Willett, Kraig Alan, Sargent, Nathan T.
• Primary Examiner(s): BLAU, STEPHEN LUTHER
• Application Number:
  US15/430,342
• Publication Number:
  US 20170151472A1
• Time in Patent Office: 592 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2053/0491 with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/02 Joint structures between the head and the shaft
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/04 Heads
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0408 characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/00 Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/52 with slits

Abstract

A golf club head includes a face; a body, the body defining an interior and an exterior; the face and the body together defining a center of gravity, the center of gravity being proximate the face; a coefficient of restitution feature defined in the body; wherein the coefficient of restitution feature defines a gap in the body. A golf club head includes a face and a golf club body; the face and the golf club body defining a center of gravity, the center of gravity defined a distance, Δ_z, from a ground plane as measured along a z-axis, the center of gravity defined a distance, CG_y, from the center face along the y-axis.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a crown, a sole, a skirt and

a face, the face including a geometric center defining a center face location, the head having a center of gravity,

wherein a reference tangent face plane is defined as a plane tangent to the face at the center face location,

wherein the center of gravity defines a projection orthogonal to the tangent face plane and passing through the center of gravity such that a projection point is defined at the intersection of the projection and the tangent face plane,

wherein a reference ground plane is defined along a bottom end of the body, the ground plane thereby being below the golf club head, and

wherein the projection point is below the center face location;

a body,

wherein the golf club head defines an exterior and an interior that is bounded by the crown, the sole, the skirt and the face;

the face and the body together defining the center of gravity, the center of gravity being proximate the face;

a coefficient of restitution feature (CORF) defined in the sole of the golf club head;

wherein the coefficient of restitution feature defines a gap in the body in the form of a through slot providing a port from the exterior of the golf club head to the interior, wherein the through slot is at least partially filled with a plugging material to prevent debris from entering the interior,

the golf club head further comprising a weight pad located proximate to the CORF, the weight pad having a weight that is 35 to 50 percent of a total weight of the golf club head.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plugging material does not substantially prevent deformation of the face.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plugging material is one of an elastomeric rubber, polymer, foam or polyurethane material.

4. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plugging material is a viscous polyurethane material.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plugging material is a polyurethane reactive adhesive.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plugging material is an injection moldable material.

7. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plugging material having one or more of a viscosity of 7,000 to 20,000 cps, Shore D hardness of 35-55 or modulus of 2,850 to 5,600 psi.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 wherein the plugging material fully engages the entirety of the through slot.

9. The golf club head of claim 1 including an adjustable loft, lie and face angle system located in the sole to enable one or more of a loft angle, lie angle and face angle of the head to be adjusted relative to a golf shaft attached to the head.

10. A golf club head comprising:

a body having a crown, a sole, a skirt and a face, the face including a geometric center defining a center face location, the body having a center of gravity proximate to the face;

wherein a reference tangent face plane is defined as a plane tangent to the face at the center face location,

wherein the center of gravity defines a projection orthogonal to the tangent face plane and passing through the center of gravity such that a projection point is defined at the intersection of the projection and the tangent face plane,

wherein a reference ground plane is defined along a bottom end of the body, the ground plane thereby being below the golf club head, and

wherein the projection point is below the center face location;

wherein the body defines an exterior and an interior bounded by continuous walls on all sides except for a through slot located in the sole proximate to the face, which decouples the face from the sole;

a plugging material at least partially filling the through slot without interfering with the decoupling of the face from the sole;

whereby the through slot creates a passage between the exterior and interior if the plugging material is removed;

including a weight pad located proximate to the through slot, the weight pad having a weight that is 35 to 50 percent of the total weight of the golf club head.

11. The golf club head of claim 10 wherein the plugging material does not substantially prevent deformation of the face.

12. The golf club head of claim 10 wherein the plugging material is one of an elastomeric rubber, polymer, foam or polyurethane material.

13. The golf club head of claim 10 wherein the plugging material is a viscous polyurethane material.

14. The golf club head of claim 10 wherein the plugging material is a polyurethane reactive adhesive.

15. The golf club head of claim 10 wherein the plugging material is an injection moldable material.

16. The golf club head of claim 10 wherein the plugging material having one or more of a viscosity of 7,000 to 20,000 cps, Shore D hardness of 35-55 or modulus of 2,850 to 5,600 psi.

17. The golf club head of claim 10 wherein the plugging material fully engages the entirety of the through slot.

18. The golf club head of claim 10 including an adjustable loft, lie and face angle system located in the sole to enable one or more of a loft angle, lie angle and face angle of the head to be adjusted relative to a golf shaft attached to the head.