Metal-organic composite golf club head
First Claim
1. A golf club head comprising:
- a hollow body having a heel end, a toe end, a front wall and a rear body portion;
said front wall including a metal face adapted for impacting a golf ball; and
said rear body portion forming a shell, at least a portion of which is made from a metal/organic composite material.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A golf club head is formed of a hollow body, the rear body portion of which includes a metallic stringer that extends along the crown-skirt interface and a plurality of ribs intersecting the metallic stringer to form a lattice frame, the openings of which are filled with an organic composite material such as graphite epoxy. An additional aperture formed in the skirt is also filled with the same graphite epoxy material. Because the graphite epoxy is lighter than the surrounding metal frame, the rear body portion of the golf club head is lighter than a comparable all metal club head. Yet, the presence of the metallic stringer and frame renders the metal-organic composite rear body portion substantially stiffer than a comparable all-composite rear body portion.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A golf club head comprising:
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a hollow body having a heel end, a toe end, a front wall and a rear body portion;
said front wall including a metal face adapted for impacting a golf ball; and
said rear body portion forming a shell, at least a portion of which is made from a metal/organic composite material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 29)
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10. A golfclub head comprising:
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a hollow body having a heel end, a toe end, a front wall and a rear body portion, said front wall including a metallic face adapted for impacting a golf ball, said rear body portion including a crown, a sole and a skirt, the crown and the skirt meeting along an arcuate perimeter region;
a metallic stringer integrally attached to said front wall and extending along at least a portion of said arcuate perimeter region; and
a composite filler extending from said metallic stringer generally toward said front wall to form at least a portion of said hollow body. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A golf club head comprising:
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a hollow body having a heel end, a toe end, a front wall and a rear body portion, said front wall including a metallic face adapted for impacting a golf ball, said rear body portion including a metallic lattice frame having a plurality of ribs intersecting at least one stringer; and
at least one layer of fiber reinforced organic resin extending across said metallic lattice frame covering said plurality of apertures.
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21. A method of fabricating a golf club comprising:
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forming club head having a crown, a sole, a skirt, a heel end and a toe end, said club head comprising a hollow body having an integral metallic face and a metallic rear body portion, said metallic rear body portion including an arcuate perimeter region extending continuously from said toe end to said heel end; and
attaching a fiber reinforced organic resin to said metallic perimeter region to extend from said metallic perimeter region toward said metallic face to form at least a portion of one of said crown and said skirt of said club head. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A golf club head comprising:
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a hollow body made of high density material, said hollow body having a heel end, a toe end, a front wall and a rear body portion;
said rear body portion including a crown, a sole, a skirt extending between said crown and said sole, and an arcuate perimeter region formed where said crown and said skirt meet;
a stringer spaced radially inwardly from said arcuate perimeter region and a plurality of ribs connecting said arcuate perimeter region and said stringer; and
said arcuate perimeter region, said stringer and said ribs defining a lattice which includes a plurality of apertures formed in said crown. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification