GOLF CLUB

• US 20150148149A1
• Filed: 12/30/2013
• Published: 05/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Co., Inc.
• Original Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Co., Inc.
• Inventors: Beach, Todd P., Chao, Bing-Ling, Greaney, Mark Vincent, Lorentzen, John Francis
• Granted Patent: US 9,861,864 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 473/349
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2053/0491 with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0408 characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0412 Volume
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type

Abstract

A golf club head includes a club body including a crown, a sole, a skirt disposed between and connecting the crown and the sole and a face portion connected to a front end of the club body. The face portion includes a geometric center defining the origin of a coordinate system when the golf club head is ideally positioned, the coordinate system including an x-axis being tangent to the face portion at the origin and parallel to a ground plane, a y-axis intersecting the origin being parallel to the ground plane and orthogonal to the x-axis, and a z-axis intersecting the origin being orthogonal to both the x-axis and the y-axis. The golf club head defines a center of gravity CG, the CG being a distance CG_Y from the origin as measured along the y-axis and a distance CG_Z from the origin as measured along the z-axis.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a club body including a crown, a sole, and a skirt disposed between and connecting the crown and the sole; and

a face portion connected to a front end of the club body, the face portion including a geometric center defining the origin of a coordinate system when the golf club head is ideally positioned, the coordinate system including

an x-axis being tangent to the face portion at the origin and parallel to a ground plane,

a y-axis intersecting the origin being parallel to the ground plane and orthogonal to the x-axis, and

a z-axis intersecting the origin being orthogonal to both the x-axis and the y-axis;

the golf club head defining a center of gravity CG, the CG being a distance CG_Y from the origin as measured along the y-axis and a distance CG_Z from the origin as measured along the z-axis;

wherein the golf club head has a crown height to face height ratio of at least 1.12 and

wherein the golf club head has a moment of inertia (I_XX) about a CG x-axis, the CG x-axis being parallel to the x-axis and passing through the center of gravity (CG) of the golf club head, wherein a ratio of CG_Z/CG_Y satisfies the inequality

CG_Z/CG_Y<

0.000222×

I_XX−

0.272.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the distance CG_Z is not greater than −

7.0.

3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the crown portion is convex at all locations.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, further comprising at least one mass element connected to the body portion of the golf club head.

5. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the CG is located a distance Δ

_Z from a ground plane, the ground plane being defined as a plane in contact with the sole of the golf club head in ideal address position, wherein Δ

_Z is at most 24.6 mm.

6. The golf club head of claim 5, wherein a CG effectiveness product (CG_eff) is defined as

CG_eff=CG_Y×

Δ

_z

wherein CG_eff is less than 1031 mm².

7. A golf club head comprising:

a club body including a crown, a sole, and a skirt disposed between and connecting the crown and the sole; and

a face portion connected to a front end of the club body, the face portion including a geometric center defining the origin of a coordinate system when the golf club head is ideally positioned, the coordinate system including

an x-axis being tangent to the face portion at the origin and parallel to a ground plane,

a y-axis intersecting the origin being parallel to the ground plane and orthogonal to the x-axis, and

a z-axis intersecting the origin being orthogonal to both the x-axis and the y-axis;

a leading edge disposed along the face portion;

a trailing edge disposed along the club body, the leading edge and the trailing edge being disposed on opposing ends of the golf club head;

the golf club head defining a center of gravity CG;

the golf club head being characterized by a forward mass box and a rearward mass box,

the forward mass box having a first dimension of about 35 mm parallel to the y-axis and a second dimension of about 20 mm parallel to the z-axis, the first dimension and the second dimension thereby defining a geometric center of the forward mass box,

the rearward mass box having a first dimension of about 35 mm parallel to the y-axis and a second dimension of about 30 mm parallel to the z-axis, the first dimension and the second dimension thereby defining a geometric center of the rearward mass box,

wherein a forwardmost end of the forward mass box is tangent to the leading edge and wherein a rearward most end of the rearward mass box is tangent to the trailing edge;

the golf club head defining a vector triangle, the vector triangle including a first leg being the vector between the geometric center of the forward mass box and the CG in a y-z plane defined by the y-axis and the z-axis, a second leg being the vector between the geometric center of the rearward mass box and the CG in the y-z plane, and a third leg being the vector between the geometric center of the forward mass box and the geometric center of the rearward mass box in the y-z plane;

wherein the rearward mass box defines greater than 13.2 grams of mass.

8. The golf club head of claim 7, wherein an MOI effectiveness summation (MOI_eff) is defined by the equation

MOI_eff=m_FL_F²+m_RL_R²

wherein m_F is the mass defined within the forward mass box,

wherein L_F is the length of the first leg of the vector triangle,

wherein m_R is the mass defined within the rearward mass box,

wherein L_R is the length of the second leg of the vector triangle,

and wherein MOI_eff is greater than 81.5 kg·

mm².

9. The golf club head of claim 8, wherein MOI_eff is at least 128.2 kg·

mm².

10. The golf club head of claim 8, wherein MOI_eff is at least 240.8 kg·

mm².

11. The golf club head of claim 8, wherein an MOI effectiveness summation ratio (R_MOI) is defined as a ratio of MOI_eff to a moment of inertia (I_XX) of the golf club head about a CG x-axis, the CG x-axis being parallel to the x-axis and passing through the center of gravity (CG) of the golf club head, wherein R_MOI is greater than 0.327.

12. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein R_MOI is at least 0.453.

13. The golf club head of claim 7, wherein the golf club head has a moment of inertia (I_XX) about a CG x-axis, the CG x-axis being parallel to the x-axis and passing through the center of gravity (CG) of the golf club head, wherein a ratio of CG_Z/CG_Y satisfies the inequality

CG_Z/CG_Y<

0.000222×

I_XX−

0.272.

14. A golf club head comprising:

a club body including a crown, a sole, and a skirt disposed between and connecting the crown and the sole; and

a face portion connected to a front end of the club body, the face portion including a geometric center defining the origin of a coordinate system when the golf club head is ideally positioned, the coordinate system including

an x-axis being tangent to the face portion at the origin and parallel to a ground plane,

a y-axis intersecting the origin being parallel to the ground plane and orthogonal to the x-axis, and

a z-axis intersecting the origin being orthogonal to both the x-axis and the y-axis;

a leading edge disposed along the face portion;

a trailing edge disposed along the club body, the leading edge and the trailing edge being disposed on opposing ends of the golf club head;

the golf club head defining a center of gravity CG;

the golf club head being characterized by a forward mass box and a rearward mass box,

the forward mass box having a first dimension of about 35 mm parallel to the y-axis and a second dimension of about 20 mm parallel to the z-axis, the first dimension and the second dimension thereby defining a geometric center of the forward mass box,

the rearward mass box having a first dimension of about 35 mm parallel to the y-axis and a second dimension of about 30 mm parallel to the z-axis, the first dimension and the second dimension thereby defining a geometric center of the rearward mass box,

wherein a forwardmost end of the forward mass box is tangent to the leading edge and wherein a rearwardmost end of the rearward mass box is tangent to the trailing edge;

the golf club head defining a vector triangle, the vector triangle including a first leg being the vector between the geometric center of the forward mass box and the CG in a y-z plane defined by the y-axis and the z-axis, a second leg being the vector between the geometric center of the rearward mass box and the CG in the y-z plane, and a third leg being the vector between the geometric center of the forward mass box and the geometric center of the rearward mass box in the y-z plane;

wherein a vector ratio is defined as a ratio of the sum of the lengths of the first leg and the second leg to the length of the third leg,

wherein the vector ratio is less than 1.1281.

15. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the vector triangle has an area of not greater than 591 mm².

16. The golf club head of claim 15, wherein the vector triangle has an area of not greater than 456 mm².

17. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the vector ratio is at most 1.0577.

18. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein an MOI effectiveness summation (MOI_eff) is defined by the equation

MOI_eff=m_FL_F²+m_RL_R²

wherein m_F is the mass defined within the forward mass box,

wherein L_F is the length of the first leg of the vector triangle,

wherein m_R is the mass defined within the rearward mass box,

wherein L_R is the length of the second leg of the vector triangle,

and wherein MOI_eff is greater than 81.5 kg·

mm².

19. The golf club head of claim 18, wherein an MOI effectiveness summation ratio (R_MOI) is defined as a ratio of MOI_eff to a moment of inertia (I_XX) of the golf club head about a CG x-axis, the CG x-axis being parallel to the x-axis and passing through the center of gravity (CG) of the golf club head, wherein R_MOI is greater than 0.327.

20. The golf club head of claim 18, wherein a center of gravity (CG) of the golf club head is located a distance CG_Y from the center face as measured along the y-axis and a distance CG_Z from the center face as measured along the z-axis, and wherein the golf club head has a moment of inertia (I_XX) about a CG x-axis, the CG x-axis being parallel to the x-axis and passing through the center of gravity (CG) of the golf club head, wherein a ratio of CG_Z/CG_Y satisfies the inequality

CG_Z/CG_Y<

0.000222×

I_XX−

0.272.

21. The golf club head of claim 20, wherein the crown portion is convex at all locations.

22. A golf club head comprising:

a club body including a crown, a sole, and a skirt disposed between and connecting the crown and the sole; and

a face portion connected to a front end of the club body, the face portion including a geometric center defining the origin of a coordinate system when the golf club head is ideally positioned, the coordinate system including

an x-axis being tangent to the face portion at the origin and parallel to a ground plane,

a y-axis intersecting the origin being parallel to the ground plane and orthogonal to the x-axis, and

a z-axis intersecting the origin being orthogonal to both the x-axis and the y-axis;

a leading edge disposed along the face portion;

a trailing edge disposed along the club body, the leading edge and the trailing edge being disposed on opposing ends of the golf club head;

the golf club head defining a center of gravity CG, the CG being a distance CG_Y from the origin as measured along the y-axis and a distance CG_Z from the origin as measured along the z-axis;

wherein the CG is located a distance Δ

_Z from a ground plane, the ground plane being defined as a plane in contact with the sole of the golf club head in ideal address position,

wherein the golf club head has a crown height (Hc) as measured parallel to the z-axis from a highest point on the crown to a lowest point on the sole when the golf club head is ideally positioned,

wherein the golf club head has a distance being the front-to-back length, the front-to-back length being the maximum distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge as measured parallel to the y-axis, the front-to back length being at least 110.8 mm,

wherein the golf club head has a moment of inertia (I_XX) about a CG x-axis, the CG x-axis being parallel to the x-axis and passing through the center of gravity (CG) of the golf club head,

wherein the golf club head satisfies the inequality

23. The golf club head of claim 22, wherein the distance CG_Z is not greater than −

7.0.

24. The golf club head of claim 22, wherein the crown portion is convex at all locations.

25. The golf club head of claim 22, further comprising at least one mass element connected to the body portion of the golf club head.

26. The golf club head of claim 22, wherein the CG is located a distance Δ

_Z from a ground plane, the ground plane being defined as a plane in contact with the sole of the golf club head in ideal address position, wherein Δ

_Z is at most 24.6 mm.

27. The golf club head of claim 26, wherein a CG effectiveness product (CG_eff) is defined as

CG_eff=CG_Y×

Δ

_Z

wherein CG_eff is less than 1031 mm².