Golf club head

• US 10,279,230 B2
• Filed: 05/18/2016
• Issued: 05/07/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited
• Original Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited
• Inventors: Abe, Hiroshi, Mizutani, Naruhiro, Kohno, Daisuke
• Primary Examiner(s): Pierce, William M
• Application Number:
  US15/157,855
• Publication Number:
  US 20160361612A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,084 Days
• Field of Search: 473334-339, 473349
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2053/0491 with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2071/0694 Visual indication, e.g. Indicia
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/06 adjustable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/002 Resonance frequency related characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/02 Ballast means for adjusting the centre of mass A63B60/24, A63B60/54 take precedence

Abstract

Provided is a golf club head that is able to suppress lowering of the pitch of a ball hitting sound. The golf club head according to the present invention includes a crown portion, a face portion, and a sole portion having at least one recessed portion. The recessed portion is configured to house a weight member such that the weight member does not protrude externally. The sole portion is provided with a placement region connected to the face portion and to be at least partially placed on a placement surface in a reference state, and a rear region arranged further to a back side in a face-back direction than the placement region and in which the recessed portion is arranged. The rear region inclines upward relative to the placement region toward the back side.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a crown portion;

a face portion;

a sole portion having at least one recessed portion;

a hosel portion having an insertion hole for insertion of a shaft; and

a weight member disposed in said recessed portion,

wherein a reference state is defined as a state in which a central axis of the insertion hole is in a reference perpendicular plane that is configured to be perpendicular to a placement surface receiving the golf club head having a predetermined lie angle and loft angle,

wherein a face-back direction is a direction that is perpendicular to a toe-heel direction and parallel to the placement surface, the toe-heel direction is a direction of a line of intersection of the reference perpendicular plane and the placement surface,

wherein a heel side is a side on which the hosel portion is placed, a toe side is an opposite side to the heel side, a face side is a side on which the face portion is placed, a back side is a side opposite to the face side,

wherein in the reference state, a placement surface side on which the sole portion is placed is a down side, a side opposite to the placement surface side is an up side,

wherein the sole portion includes;

a placement region connected to the face portion, and to be at least partially placed on the placement surface in the reference state; and

a rear region arranged further to the back side in the face-back direction than the placement region, and in which the recessed portion is arranged,

wherein the rear region inclines upward relative to the placement region toward the back side,

wherein the placement region and the rear region are formed in a raised portion, the raised portion protruding outwardly from an exterior surface of the sole portion, the exterior surface of the sole portion being spaced from the at least one recessed portion of the sole portion, and

wherein the raised portion comprises;

a first edge portion that extends from the toe side to a vicinity of the hosel portion along a vicinity of a boundary between the face portion and the sole portion,

a second edge portion that extends from an edge of the first edge portion that is in a vicinity of the hosel portion to the vicinity of a midpoint in the toe-heel direction, along a vicinity of a boundary between the crown portion and the sole portion,

a third edge portion that joins an end portion of the first edge portion on the toe side and an end portion of the second edge portion on the toe side,

a first step is a step from the first edge portion to a region in an exterior surface of the sole portion adjacent the first edge portion,

a second step is a step from the second edge portion to a region in the exterior surface of the sole portion adjacent the second edge portion,

a third step is a step from the third edge portion to a region in the exterior surface of the sole portion adjacent the third edge portion, and

the second step is bigger than the first step and the third step is bigger than the first step, and

wherein a boundary between the placement region and the rear region is formed along a peripheral edge of the recessed portion.

2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the rear region inclines at an angle of 4 to 10 degrees relative to the placement region.

3. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the placement region and the rear region integrally protrude towards a down side.

4. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the placement region is formed to have a flat shape.

5. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the recessed portion is arranged further to the back side and to the heel side in the toe-heel direction than a center of gravity of the golf club head.

6. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the recessed portion has a bottom surface, the recessed portion has a fixing hole, at a center of the bottom surface, whose size is smaller than that of the recessed portion and that extends inward from the sole portion,

wherein the weight member has a shaft portion, and

wherein the shaft portion of the weight member is fitted in the fixing hole.

7. The golf club head according to claim 6, wherein the weight member further has a head portion whose diameter is bigger than that of the shaft portion, and

wherein the head portion of the weight member is arranged on the bottom surface of the recessed portion.

8. The golf club head according to claim 1, further comprising:

a decoration member arranged in the recessed portion,

wherein the decoration member is fixed in the recessed portion by the weight member.

9. The golf club head according to claim 8, wherein, in a plane view, the decoration member is bigger than the weight member and has a step portion that houses the head portion of the weight member at the center thereof, and

wherein the head portion of the weight member is housed in the step portion of the decoration member.

10. The golf club head according to claim 9, wherein an exposure surface of the head portion of the weight member and an exposure surface of the decoration member are arranged on the same plane.

11. The golf club head according to claim 10, wherein an exposure surface of the weight member and the exposure surface of the decoration member coincide with an exposure surface of the sole portion or are positioned inside the exposure surface of the sole portion.

12. The golf club head according to claim 7, further comprising:

a decoration member that is to be arranged at the bottom surface of the recessed portion, in a plane view,

wherein the decoration member is bigger than the weight member and has a step portion that houses the head portion of the weight member at the center thereof and a through hole at the center thereof, and

wherein the decoration member is fixed at the bottom surface of the recessed portion by the head portion of the weight member being housed in the step portion of the decoration member and the shaft portion of the weight member being fitted in the through hole of the decoration member and the fixing hole of the recessed portion.

13. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein, in a plane view of the sole portion, the recessed portion is formed to have circular shape.

14. The golf club head according to claim 13, wherein, in a plane view of the sole portion, the weight member is formed to have circular shape along the recessed portion.