METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACTIVE CONTROL OF GOLF CLUB IMPACT
First Claim
1. A golf club head having a hitting surface for impacting a golf ball;
- the head comprising;
a transducer for converting mechanical energy from said surface during a golf ball impact event to electrical energy;
a circuit coupled to said transducer for selectively generating a triggering signal responsive to said electrical energy; and
an actuator mechanically coupled to said hitting surface and actuated responsive to said triggering signal, said actuator mechanically altering said hitting surface and thereby altering golf ball impact in adaptively controlled manner during said impact event in response to said electrical energy.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for actively controlling the impact between a club head and a golf ball. A golf club head has a face with an actuator material or device mechanically coupled to influence face motion. The face actuation controls impact parameters, impact properties, or resulting ball parameters such as speed, direction and spin rates resulting from the impact event between the face of the club and the golf ball. Further, the apparatus has a control device for determining the actuation of the face. Several embodiments are presented for controlling parameters such as ball speed and direction. The invention can use energy derived from the ball impact, converted into electrical energy, and then reapplied in a controlled fashion to influence an aspect of the face, such as position, velocity, deformation, stiffness, vibration, motion, temperature, or other physical parameter.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. A golf club head having a hitting surface for impacting a golf ball;
- the head comprising;
a transducer for converting mechanical energy from said surface during a golf ball impact event to electrical energy; a circuit coupled to said transducer for selectively generating a triggering signal responsive to said electrical energy; and an actuator mechanically coupled to said hitting surface and actuated responsive to said triggering signal, said actuator mechanically altering said hitting surface and thereby altering golf ball impact in adaptively controlled manner during said impact event in response to said electrical energy. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
- the head comprising;
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20. A method of reducing the effective coefficient of friction between the face of a golf club head and a golf ball;
- the method comprising the steps of;
establishing a transducer in said golf club head; and
,automatically actuating said transducer to convert the energy upon ball impact with said face during an impact event into an electro-mechanically actuated ultra-sonic vibration of said face to thereby mechanically alter said face for the interaction of said face and said ball in adaptively controlled manner during said impact event. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
- the method comprising the steps of;
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23. A golf club head comprising:
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a hitting surface; and
,a variable stiffening element coupled to said hitting surface for automatic electro-mechanical actuation, said variable stiffening element selectively increasing and decreasing the stiffness of said hitting surface of said head in adaptively controlled manner during an impact event responsive to impact with a ball during said impact event. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification