Multi-material golf club head

• US 10,343,030 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2016
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Funaki, Takeshi Casey, Kawaguchi, Hiroshi, Zimmerman, Gery M., Bennett, Thomas Orrin, Myrhum, Mark C., Galvan, Darryl C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Legesse, Nini F
• Application Number:
  US15/204,736
• Publication Number:
  US 20170136317A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,097 Days
• Field of Search: 473345, 473346, 473349
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/00 Characteristics of used materials
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/02 with reinforcing fibres, e.g. carbon, polyamide fibres
• 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 53/0437 with special crown configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/002 Resonance frequency related characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/50 with through-holes A63B60/18 takes precedence; for stringing purposes A63B49/00
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/52 with slits

Abstract

A golf club head made out of multi-material is disclosed herein. More specifically, the golf club head in accordance with the present invention has at least a portion of the body of the golf club head that is further comprised out of a base layer and a lightweight cover layer. The base layer may have a plurality of cutouts to help reduce unnecessary mass and the lightweight cover layer may be made out of an ultra-lightweight material to further reduce the unnecessary mass. The resulting golf club head may generally have a deep CG wherein the CG-B location is about 37 mm, and a CG-C location is greater than about 30 mm.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a striking face portion located at a frontal portion of said golf club head; and

a body portion attached to an aft portion of said striking face portion further comprising a crown portion and a sole portion;

wherein at least one of said crown portion or said sole portion further comprises a base layer and a lightweight cover layer;

said base layer further comprises a plurality of cutouts, and

said lightweight cover layer has an Internal Exposure Percentage of greater than about 25% and less than about 45°

%,

wherein a transition region between said base layer and said lightweight cover layer further comprises a blend, said blend creates a smooth thickness transition between said base layer and said lightweight cover layer.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said blend is applicable at a transition region located at said crown portion.

3. The golf club head of claim 2, wherein said blend is applicable at both said transition region located at said crown portion and at a transition region at said sole portion.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said base layer comprising a plurality of cutouts wraps around a toe portion of said body portion of said golf club head.

5. The golf club head of claim 4, wherein said lightweight cover layer wraps around a toe portion of said body portion of said golf club head.

6. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said lightweight cover layer has an Internal Exposure Percentage of between about 20% to about 50%.

7. The golf club head of claim 6, wherein said lightweight cover layer has an Internal Exposure Percentage of between about 25% to about 45%.

8. The golf club head of claim 7, wherein said base layer has a maximum thickness of less than about 0.50 mm, and said lightweight cover layer has a maximum thickness of less than about 0.30 mm.

9. The golf club head of claim 8, wherein said base layer has a maximum thickness of less than about 0.40 mm, and said lightweight cover layer has a maximum thickness of less than about 0.25 mm.

10. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein said base layer has a maximum thickness of less than about 0.35 mm, and said lightweight cover layer has a maximum thickness of less than about 0.20 mm.

11. A golf club head comprising:

a striking face portion located at a frontal portion of said golf club head; and

a body portion attached to an aft portion of said striking face portion further comprising a crown portion and a sole portion;

wherein at least one of said crown portion or said sole portion further comprises a base layer and a lightweight cover layer;

said base layer further comprises a plurality of cutouts, and

said lightweight cover layer has an Internal Exposure Percentage of greater than about 25% and less than about 45%,

wherein at least one of said plurality of cutouts further comprises a stiffening member around a perimeter of said cutout.

12. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein said stiffening member is a bevel.

13. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein said stiffening member is an extension leg.

14. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein said stiffening member is a round.

15. The golf club head of claim 11, further comprising an adhesive layer sandwiched between said base layer and said lightweight cover layer.

16. The golf club head of claim 15, wherein said adhesive layer is a film type adhesive.

17. The golf club head of claim 16, wherein said film type adhesive has a thickness of less than about 15 mils.

18. A golf club head comprising:

a striking face portion located at a frontal portion of said golf club head; and

a body portion attached to an aft portion of said striking face portion further comprising a crown portion and a sole portion;

wherein at least one of said crown portion or said sole portion further comprises a base layer, a lightweight cover layer, and an adhesive layer sandwiched between said base layer and said lightweight cover layer;

said base layer further comprises a plurality of cutouts,

said lightweight cover layer has an Internal Exposure Percentage of greater than about 25% and less than about 45%, and

wherein said adhesive layer is a film type adhesive having a thickness of less than about 15 mils.

19. The golf club head of claim 18, a transition region between said base layer and said lightweight cover layer further comprises a blend, said blend creates a smooth thickness transition between said base layer and said lightweight cover layer.

20. The golf club head of claim 19, wherein said blend is applicable at a transition region located at said crown portion.