Iron type golf club head
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A clubbead for an iron-type golf club, comprising:
- an iron-type body having a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, and a face portion, wherein said sole portion extends rearwardly from a lower end of said face portion, the body further defining a rear void;
wherein the face portion includes an ideal striking location that defines the origin of a coordinate system in which an x-axis is tangential to the face portion at the ideal striking location and is parallel to a ground plane when the body is in a normal address position, a y-axis extends perpendicular to the x-axis and is also parallel to the ground plane, and a z-axis extends perpendicular to the ground plane, wherein a positive x-axis extends toward the heel portion from the origin, a positive y-axis extends rearwardly from the origin, and a positive z-axis extends upwardly from the origin;
wherein the body includes a central region which extends along the x-axis from a location greater than about −
25 mm to a location less than about 25 mm;
wherein the sole portion that is contained within the central region includes a forward sole region located adjacent to the face portion and a sole bar located rearward of the forward sole region, with the forward sole region defining a wall having a minimum forward sole thickness TFS and the sole bar defining a body having a maximum sole bar thickness TSB;
wherein the sole bar defines a channel extending in a substantially heel-to-toe direction of the sole portion and having a channel opening located on a bottom surface of the sole bar, the first channel defining a path that extends through the sole portion and into the rear void;
wherein the iron-type body has a hollow construction which defines an internal cavity and the internal cavity is filled with foam;
wherein the forward sole region defining a wall having the minimum forward sole thickness TFS and the sole bar defining the maximum sole bar thickness TSB, such that 0.04<
TFS/TSB<
0.50.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Iron-type golf club heads are disclosed having a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a front portion, a rear portion, and a striking face. The iron-type golf club heads include a flexible boundary structure (“FBS”) that is provided at one or more locations on the club head. The flexible boundary structure may comprise, in several embodiments, a slot, a channel, a gap, a thinned or weakened region, or other structure that enhances the capability of an adjacent or related portion of the golf club head to flex or deflect and to thereby provide a desired improvement in the performance of the golf club head.
40 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A clubbead for an iron-type golf club, comprising:
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an iron-type body having a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, and a face portion, wherein said sole portion extends rearwardly from a lower end of said face portion, the body further defining a rear void; wherein the face portion includes an ideal striking location that defines the origin of a coordinate system in which an x-axis is tangential to the face portion at the ideal striking location and is parallel to a ground plane when the body is in a normal address position, a y-axis extends perpendicular to the x-axis and is also parallel to the ground plane, and a z-axis extends perpendicular to the ground plane, wherein a positive x-axis extends toward the heel portion from the origin, a positive y-axis extends rearwardly from the origin, and a positive z-axis extends upwardly from the origin; wherein the body includes a central region which extends along the x-axis from a location greater than about −
25 mm to a location less than about 25 mm;wherein the sole portion that is contained within the central region includes a forward sole region located adjacent to the face portion and a sole bar located rearward of the forward sole region, with the forward sole region defining a wall having a minimum forward sole thickness TFS and the sole bar defining a body having a maximum sole bar thickness TSB; wherein the sole bar defines a channel extending in a substantially heel-to-toe direction of the sole portion and having a channel opening located on a bottom surface of the sole bar, the first channel defining a path that extends through the sole portion and into the rear void; wherein the iron-type body has a hollow construction which defines an internal cavity and the internal cavity is filled with foam; wherein the forward sole region defining a wall having the minimum forward sole thickness TFS and the sole bar defining the maximum sole bar thickness TSB, such that 0.04<
TFS/TSB<
0.50. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A clubhead for an iron-type golf club, comprising:
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an iron-type body having a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, and a face portion, wherein said sole portion extends rearwardly from a lower end of said face portion; wherein the face portion includes an ideal striking location that defines the origin of a coordinate system in which an x-axis is tangential to the face portion at the ideal striking location and is parallel to a ground plane when the body is in a normal address position, a y-axis extends perpendicular to the x-axis and is also parallel to the ground plane, and a z-axis extends perpendicular to the ground plane, wherein a positive x-axis extends toward the heel portion from the origin, a positive y-axis extends rearwardly from the origin, and a positive z-axis extends upwardly from the origin; wherein the body includes a central region which extends along the x-axis from a location greater than about −
25 mm to a location less than about 25 mm;wherein the sole portion includes within the central region a forward sole wall located adjacent to the face portion and a thickened sole wall forming a sole bar rearward of the forward sole wall, the sole bar at least partially defining a channel extending in a substantially heel-to-toe direction of the sole portion and having a channel opening located in a bottom portion of the sole bar; the channel having a channel depth within the central region from about 5 mm to about 25 mm, the channel depth defined by a vertical distance between the ground plane and an uppermost point of the channel; wherein the iron-type body has a hollow construction which defines an internal cavity and the internal cavity is filled with foam; wherein the forward sole wall defines a wall having a minimum sole thickness TFS and the sole bar has a maximum sole bar thickness TSB, such that 0.04<
TFS/TSB<
0.50. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A clubbead for an iron-type golf club, comprising:
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an iron-type body having a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, and a face portion, wherein said sole portion extends rearwardly from a lower end of said face portion; wherein the face portion includes an ideal striking location that defines the origin of a coordinate system in which an x-axis is tangential to the face portion at the ideal striking location and is parallel to a ground plane when the body is in a normal address position, a y-axis extends perpendicular to the x-axis and is also parallel to the ground plane, and a z-axis extends perpendicular to the ground plane, wherein a positive x-axis extends toward the heel portion from the origin, a positive y-axis extends rearwardly from the origin, and a positive z-axis extends upwardly from the origin; wherein the body includes a central region which extends along the x-axis from a location greater than about −
25 mm to a location less than about 25 mm;wherein the sole portion includes within the central region a forward sole wall located adjacent to the face portion and a thickened sole wall forming a sole bar rearward of the forward sole wall, the sole bar at least partially defining a channel extending in a substantially heel-to-toe direction of the sole portion and having a channel opening located in a bottom portion of the sole bar, wherein the sole bar and face portion are spaced from one another to define a recess therebetween; wherein the body has a volume V that satisfies the inequality;
10 cc<
V<
120 cc;wherein the iron-type body has a hollow construction which defines an internal cavity and the internal cavity is filled with foam; wherein the forward sole wall defines a wall having a minimum sole thickness TFS and the sole bar has a maximum sole bar thickness TSB, such that 0.04<
TFS/TSB<
0.50. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A clubhead for an iron-type golf club, comprising:
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an iron-type body having a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, and a face portion, wherein said sole portion extends rearwardly from a lower end of said face portion; wherein the face portion includes an ideal striking location that defines the origin of a coordinate system in which an x-axis is tangential to the face portion at the ideal striking location and is parallel to a ground plane when the body is in a normal address position, a y-axis extends perpendicular to the x-axis and is also parallel to the ground plane, and a z-axis extends perpendicular to the ground plane, wherein a positive x-axis extends toward the heel portion from the origin, a positive y-axis extends rearwardly from the origin, and a positive z-axis extends upwardly from the origin; wherein the body includes a central region which extends along the x-axis from a location greater than about −
25 mm to a location less than about 25 mm;wherein the sole portion includes within the central region a forward sole wall located adjacent to the face portion and a thickened sole wall forming a sole bar rearward of the forward sole wall; wherein the sole portion and sole bar at least partially define a rear void and channel in a lower portion of the body, the rear void and channel each extending in a substantially heel-to-toe direction of the sole portion across at least the central region, the channel having a channel width and the rear void having a rear void width, the rear void width being greater than the cavity width, the channel having a channel opening located in a bottom portion of the sole bar; the channel having a lower path starting at the channel opening and extending substantially parallel to the face portion, and an intermediate path extending substantially perpendicular from the lower path to the recess; wherein the forward sole wall defines a wall having a minimum sole thickness TFS and the sole bar has a maximum sole bar thickness TSB, such that 0.04<
TFS/TSB<
0.50. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification