Aerodynamic golf club head
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An aerodynamic golf club head comprising:
- A) a hollow body (110) having a club head volume of at least 400 cc, a face (200), a sole section (300), a crown section (400), a front (112), a back (114), a heel (116), a toe (118), and a front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.4 inches, whereini) the hollow body (110) has a bore having a center that defines a shaft axis (SA) which intersects with a horizontal ground plane (GP) to define an origin point; and
ii) the hollow body (110) has a center of gravity (CG) located;
(a) vertically toward the crown section (400) from the origin point a distance Ycg in a direction orthogonal to the ground plane (GP), and vertically toward the crown section (400) from a horizontal center face plane a distance Vcg in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal center face plane, wherein the distance Vcg is less than or equal to 0 inches;
(b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe (118) a distance Xcg that is parallel to a vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA) and parallel to the ground plane (GP); and
(c) a distance Zcg from the origin toward the back (114) in a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg;
B) the face (200) having a top edge (210) and a lower edge (220), wherein a top edge height (TEH) is the elevation of the top edge (210) above the ground plane (GP), and a lower edge height (LEH) is the elevation of the lower edge (220) above the ground plane (GP), wherein a portion of the top edge height (TEH) is at least 2 inches; and
C) the crown section (400) having a crown apex (410) located an apex height (AH) above the ground plane (GP), wherein;
i) the crown apex (410) is located behind the forwardmost point on the face (200) a distance that is a crown apex setback dimension (412) measured in a direction toward the back (114) and orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg;
ii) the crown apex (410) is located a distance from the origin toward the toe (118) a crown apex x-dimension (416) distance that is parallel to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA) and parallel to the ground plane (GP);
iii) the crown section (400) includes a post apex attachment promoting region (420) on the surface of the crown section (400) at an elevation above a maximum top edge plane (MTEP) wherein the post apex attachment promoting region (420) begins at the crown apex (410) and extends toward the back (114), and includes;
(a) an attachment promoting region length (422) measured along the surface of the crown section (400) and orthogonal to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA), wherein the attachment promoting region length (422) is at least as great as fifty percent of the crown apex setback dimension (412); and
(b) an apex promoting region width (424) measured along the surface of the crown section (400) in a direction parallel to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA), wherein the attachment promoting region width (424) is at least as great as the difference between the crown apex x-dimension (416) and the distance Xcg;
iv) an apex ratio of the apex height (AH) to the greatest top edge height (TEH) is at least 1.13, and less than 10% of the club head volume is located above the maximum top edge plane (MTEP); and
v) a portion of the crown section (400) is composed of nonmetallic material;
D) the golf club head includes an adjustable loft system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An aerodynamic golf club head with a low center of gravity and producing reduced aerodynamic drag forces. The club head has crown section attributes that impart beneficial aerodynamic properties.
137 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An aerodynamic golf club head comprising:
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A) a hollow body (110) having a club head volume of at least 400 cc, a face (200), a sole section (300), a crown section (400), a front (112), a back (114), a heel (116), a toe (118), and a front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.4 inches, wherein i) the hollow body (110) has a bore having a center that defines a shaft axis (SA) which intersects with a horizontal ground plane (GP) to define an origin point; and ii) the hollow body (110) has a center of gravity (CG) located; (a) vertically toward the crown section (400) from the origin point a distance Ycg in a direction orthogonal to the ground plane (GP), and vertically toward the crown section (400) from a horizontal center face plane a distance Vcg in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal center face plane, wherein the distance Vcg is less than or equal to 0 inches; (b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe (118) a distance Xcg that is parallel to a vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA) and parallel to the ground plane (GP); and (c) a distance Zcg from the origin toward the back (114) in a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; B) the face (200) having a top edge (210) and a lower edge (220), wherein a top edge height (TEH) is the elevation of the top edge (210) above the ground plane (GP), and a lower edge height (LEH) is the elevation of the lower edge (220) above the ground plane (GP), wherein a portion of the top edge height (TEH) is at least 2 inches; and C) the crown section (400) having a crown apex (410) located an apex height (AH) above the ground plane (GP), wherein; i) the crown apex (410) is located behind the forwardmost point on the face (200) a distance that is a crown apex setback dimension (412) measured in a direction toward the back (114) and orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; ii) the crown apex (410) is located a distance from the origin toward the toe (118) a crown apex x-dimension (416) distance that is parallel to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA) and parallel to the ground plane (GP); iii) the crown section (400) includes a post apex attachment promoting region (420) on the surface of the crown section (400) at an elevation above a maximum top edge plane (MTEP) wherein the post apex attachment promoting region (420) begins at the crown apex (410) and extends toward the back (114), and includes; (a) an attachment promoting region length (422) measured along the surface of the crown section (400) and orthogonal to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA), wherein the attachment promoting region length (422) is at least as great as fifty percent of the crown apex setback dimension (412); and (b) an apex promoting region width (424) measured along the surface of the crown section (400) in a direction parallel to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA), wherein the attachment promoting region width (424) is at least as great as the difference between the crown apex x-dimension (416) and the distance Xcg; iv) an apex ratio of the apex height (AH) to the greatest top edge height (TEH) is at least 1.13, and less than 10% of the club head volume is located above the maximum top edge plane (MTEP); and v) a portion of the crown section (400) is composed of nonmetallic material; D) the golf club head includes an adjustable loft system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An aerodynamic golf club head comprising:
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A) a hollow body (110) having a club head volume of at least 400 cc, a face (200), a sole section (300), a crown section (400), a front (112), a back (114), a heel (116), a toe (118), and a front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.4 inches, wherein i) the hollow body (110) has a bore having a center that defines a shaft axis (SA) which intersects with a horizontal ground plane (GP) to define an origin point; and ii) the hollow body (110) has a center of gravity (CG) located; (a) vertically toward the crown section (400) from the origin point a distance Ycg in a direction orthogonal to the ground plane (GP), and vertically toward the crown section (400) from a horizontal center face plane a distance Vcg in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal center face plane, wherein the distance Vcg is less than or equal to 0 inches; (b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe (118) a distance Xcg that is parallel to a vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA) and parallel to the ground plane (GP); and (c) a distance Zcg from the origin toward the back (114) in a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; B) the face (200) having a top edge (210) and a lower edge (220), wherein a top edge height (TEH) is the elevation of the top edge (210) above the ground plane (GP), and a lower edge height (LEH) is the elevation of the lower edge (220) above the ground plane (GP), wherein a portion of the top edge height (TEH) is at least 2 inches; and C) the crown section (400) having a crown apex (410) located an apex height (AH) above the ground plane (GP), wherein; i) the crown apex (410) is located behind the forwardmost point on the face (200) a distance that is a crown apex setback dimension (412) measured in a direction toward the back (114) and orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; ii) the crown apex (410) is located a distance from the origin toward the toe (118) a crown apex x-dimension (416) distance that is parallel to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA) and parallel to the ground plane (GP);
iii) the crown section (400) includes a post apex attachment promoting region (420) on the surface of the crown section (400) at an elevation above a maximum top edge plane (MTEP) wherein the post apex attachment promoting region (420) begins at the crown apex (410) and extends toward the back (114), and includes;(a) an attachment promoting region length (422) measured along the surface of the crown section (400) and orthogonal to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA), wherein the attachment promoting region length (422) is at least as great as fifty percent of the crown apex setback dimension (412); and (b) an apex promoting region width (424) measured along the surface of the crown section (400) in a direction parallel to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA), wherein the attachment promoting region width (424) is at least as great as the difference between the crown apex x-dimension (416) and the distance Xcg; iv) a portion of the crown section (400) at an elevation above the maximum top edge plane (MTEP) is composed of nonmetallic material and wherein the crown section (400) at the crown apex (410) is composed of nonmetallic material, and less than 10% of the club head volume is located above the maximum top edge plane (MTEP); and v) a portion of the crown section (400) at an elevation above the maximum top edge plane (MTEP) has at least one of; (a) a portion of the crown section (400) between the crown apex (410) and the face (200) has an apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f), wherein the portion of the apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f) in contact with the crown apex (410) is less than 3 inches; (b) a portion of the crown section (400) between the crown apex (410) and the back (114) of the hollow body (110) has an apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r), wherein at least a portion of the apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) is greater than 5 inches;
or(c) a portion of the crown section (400) has a heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t), wherein the portion of the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) in contact with the crown apex (410) is less than 4 inches; and D) the golf club head includes an adjustable loft system and has a first moment of inertia (MOIy) about a vertical axis through a center of gravity (CG) of the high volume aerodynamic golf club head (100) that is at least 4000 g*cm2, and a second moment of inertia (MOIx) about a horizontal axis through the center of gravity (CG) that is at least 2000 g*cm2.
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19. An aerodynamic golf club head comprising:
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A) a hollow body (110) having a club head volume of at least 400 cc, a face (200), a sole section (300), a crown section (400), a front (112), a back (114), a heel (116), a toe (118), and a front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.4 inches, wherein i) the hollow body (110) has a bore having a center that defines a shaft axis (SA) which intersects with a horizontal ground plane (GP) to define an origin point; and ii) the hollow body (110) has a center of gravity (CG) located; (a) vertically toward the crown section (400) from the origin point a distance Ycg in a direction orthogonal to the ground plane (GP), and vertically toward the crown section (400) from a horizontal center face plane a distance Vcg in a direction orthogonal to the horizontal center face plane, wherein the distance Vcg is less than or equal to 0 inches; (b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe (118) a distance Xcg that is parallel to a vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA) and parallel to the ground plane (GP); and (c) a distance Zcg from the origin toward the back (114) in a direction orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; B) the face (200) having a top edge (210) and a lower edge (220), wherein a top edge height (TEH) is the elevation of the top edge (210) above the ground plane (GP), and a lower edge height (LEH) is the elevation of the lower edge (220) above the ground plane (GP), wherein a portion of the top edge height (TEH) is at least 2 inches; and C) the crown section (400) having a crown apex (410) located an apex height (AH) above the ground plane (GP), wherein; i) the crown apex (410) is located behind the forwardmost point on the face (200) a distance that is a crown apex setback dimension (412) measured in a direction toward the back (114) and orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; ii) the crown apex (410) is located a distance from the origin toward the toe (118) a crown apex x-dimension (416) distance that is parallel to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA) and parallel to the ground plane (GP); iii) the crown section (400) includes a post apex attachment promoting region (420) on the surface of the crown section (400) at an elevation above a maximum top edge plane (MTEP) wherein the post apex attachment promoting region (420) begins at the crown apex (410) and extends toward the back (114), and includes; (a) an attachment promoting region length (422) measured along the surface of the crown section (400) and orthogonal to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA), wherein the attachment promoting region length (422) is at least as great as fifty percent of the crown apex setback dimension (412); and (b) an apex promoting region width (424) measured along the surface of the crown section (400) in a direction parallel to the vertical plane defined by the shaft axis (SA), wherein the attachment promoting region width (424) is at least as great as the difference between the crown apex x-dimension (416) and the distance Xcg; and iv) an apex ratio of the apex height (AH) to the greatest top edge height (TEH) is at least 1.13, and less than 10% of the club head volume is located above the maximum top edge plane (MTEP). - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification