Golf club with coefficient of restitution feature

• US 10,646,756 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2018
• Issued: 05/12/2020
• 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 L
• Application Number:
  US16/107,876
• Publication Number:
  US 20190030403A1
• Time in Patent Office: 630 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 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 forward mass element located proximate to the through slot, the forward mass element having a weight that is 35 to 50 percent of the 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 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.

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

6. 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.

7. 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;

further including a forward mass element means located proximate to the face and through slot and having a weight that is about 35 to 50 percent of the total weight of the golf club head.

8. The golf club head of claim 7 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.

9. The golf club head of claim 8 wherein the plugging material does not substantially prevent deformation of the face.

10. The golf club head of claim 9 wherein the plugging material is one of an elastomeric rubber, polymer, foam or polyurethane material.

11. The golf club head of claim 9 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.