Metal-organic composite golf club head
First Claim
1. A golf club head comprising:
- a hollow body formed of a metallic material, said hollow body having an inner surface, an outer surface, a heel end, a toe end, a front wall and a rear body portion, said front wall including a metallic face arranged for impacting a golf ball, said rear body portion including a crown, a sole, a skirt and an arcuate perimeter region extending substantially continuously from said toe end to said heel end, said arcuate perimeter region forming a junction between said crown and said skirt, said hollow body having an aperture formed in one of said crown and said skirt; and
a layer of nonmetallic material attached to the inner surface of said hollow body, said layer of nonmetallic material extending across and closing said aperture from an inner side of said aperture.
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.
28 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A golf club head comprising:
-
a hollow body formed of a metallic material, said hollow body having an inner surface, an outer surface, a heel end, a toe end, a front wall and a rear body portion, said front wall including a metallic face arranged for impacting a golf ball, said rear body portion including a crown, a sole, a skirt and an arcuate perimeter region extending substantially continuously from said toe end to said heel end, said arcuate perimeter region forming a junction between said crown and said skirt, said hollow body having an aperture formed in one of said crown and said skirt; and
a layer of nonmetallic material attached to the inner surface of said hollow body, said layer of nonmetallic material extending across and closing said aperture from an inner side of said aperture. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. 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 metallic face arranged 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, said rear body portion having an inner surface and an outer surface, said crown having an aperture formed therein;
at least one metallic rib having an inward-facing bottom surface and an outward-facing top surface, said at least one metallic rib extending across said aperture from proximal said arcuate perimeter region toward said front wall; and
a composite filler extending from said at least one metallic rib generally toward said heel;
end and toward said toe end of said hollow body to form at least a portion of said crown, at least a portion of said composite filler being attached to said inner surface ;
of said rear body portion,;
, said outward-facing top surface of said at least one metallic rib remaining, uncovered by said composite filler. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification