Iron-type golf club head

• US 20040204263A1
• Filed: 05/03/2004
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Roger Cleveland Golf Company Incorporated (Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Roger Cleveland Golf Company Incorporated (Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Fagot, Jacques, Roberts, Douglas E., Poincenot, Lionel
• Application Number:
  US10/836,244
• Publication Number:
  US 20040204263A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 473/291
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2053/0491 with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/005 Club sets
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/04 Heads
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0437 with special crown configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/047 iron-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 set of golf clubs of the “iron” type, each club having a head, said head having a rear face, said rear face having a cavity delimited by walls, namely at least one lower wall forming the sole and an upper wall, said upper wall having several faces, namely a rear face, an upper face, a lower face facing the cavity and lateral faces, in which several clubs of said set have a head which has at least one recess made in the upper wall and opening onto a single face of said upper wall, away from the upper and lower faces, and wherein, the volume and/or the position inside the upper wall of said at least one recess varies from one club to another within said set, so that the position of the center of gravity of each head varies from one club to another.

Claims

1-13. -13. (Cancelled)

14. An iron-type golf club head, comprising:

a golf ball hitting face,

a rear face behind said hitting face, said rear face comprising perimeter weighting at the perimeter of the rear face and defining a cavity inward of the perimeter and facing generally rearwardly,

said perimeter weighting including a lower portion having a lower surface that comprises at least a part of the sole of the club head,

said perimeter weighting also including an upper portion having an upper surface that comprises at least a part of the top rail of the club head, said top rail also having a rear surface portion facing generally rearwardly and defining, together with the hitting face, the face-to-rear thickness of the top rail,

said top rail also comprising a plurality of recesses opening only rearwardly through the rear surface of the top rail, said recesses being aligned end-to-end in the length direction of the top rail and separated from each other by reinforcing portions of said thickness of the top rail, each of said recesses having a depth from the rear surface of the top rail of greater than half of said thickness of the top rail, the reinforcing portions for maintaining the strength and rigidity of the top perimeter of the club head.

15. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the perimeter weighting extends continuously around the perimeter of the rear face of the club head.

16. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the depth of the recesses may comprise up to 90% of said thickness of the top rail.

17. The golf club head of claim 14, having no more than 5 recesses.

18. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the reinforcing portions are coextensive with said thickness of the top rail.

19. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the total length of said recesses comprises about 90% of the length from a heel portion to a toe portion of the top rail.