Hollow, large, metallic, golf club head

• US 5,460,376 A
• Filed: 06/19/1994
• Issued: 10/24/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 10/16/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Callaway Golf Company (Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Callaway Golf Company (Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.)
• Inventors: Schmidt, Glenn, Helmstetter, Richard C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Millin, Vincent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wong, Steven B.
• Application Number:
  US08/263,970
• Time in Patent Office: 492 Days
• Field of Search: 273/167 A-167 E, 273/167 G, 273/167 H, 273/167 K, 273/172, 273/174, 273/167 F
• US Class Current: 473/328
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/01 Special aerodynamic features, e.g. airfoil shapes, wings or air passages
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/04 Heads
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0408 characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0437 with special crown configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/045 Strengthening ribs
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0454 Strengthening ribs on the rear surface of the impact face plate
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0458 with non-uniform thickness of the impact face plate
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0462 characterised by tapering thickness of the impact face plate
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/00 Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like

Abstract

A golf club head comprising a shell having toe and heel portions, a rear wall, a front wall defining a ball-striking face, and top and bottom walls, the bottom wall characterized as having a medial ridge, and as forming two dished shallow recesses, one recess between the ridge and the heel portion, and the other recess between the ridge and the toe portion, the recesses spaced rearwardly from the front wall, the one recess having an arcuate peripheral edge generally convex toward the heel portion, and the other recess having an arcuate peripheral edge generally convex toward the toe portion, the recesses being located in substantially mirror imaged positions with respect to a forwardly extending vertical plane bisecting the ridge, the head, when viewed toward the bottom wall, presents a peripheral outline which, at the toe and rear of the head, has substantial spacing from the other dished shallow recess.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising a heel having toe and heel portions, a rear wall, a front wall defining a ball-striking face, and top and bottom walls, said bottom wall characterized as having a medial ridge, and as forming two dished shallow recesses, one recess between the ridge and the heel portion, and the other recess between the ridge and the heel portion, and the other recess between the ridge and the toe portion, said recesses spaced rearwardly from said front wall, the one recess having an arcuate peripheral edge generally convex toward said heel portion, and the other recess having an arcuate peripheral edge generally convex toward the toe portion, said recesses being located in substantially mirror imaged positions with respect to a forwardly extending vertical plane bisecting said ridge, the head, when viewed toward said bottom wall, presenting a peripheral outline which, at the toe and rear of the head, has substantial spacing from said other dished shallow recess, said medial ridge being a downwardly facing medial ridge spaced below the levels of said recesses, said ridge having rearwardly elongated length at substantially the same elevation and being downwardly convex in a toe to heel direction along said length thereof to define ridge side walls merging with said recesses, said ridge diverging endwise.

2. The club head of claim 1 wherein said spacing between said peripheral outline at the toe and said other dished recess is at least about 5/8 inch.

3. The club head of claim 1 wherein said spacing between said outline at the head rear and said other dished recess is at least about 1 inch.

4. The club head of claim 1 wherein said medial ridge increases in width toward said front wall and between forward extents of said recesses.

5. The club head of claim 1 wherein said bottom wall has a bevel that extends at a rearwardly and upwardly extending angle, beyond rearward extent of said ridge, and between rearward extents of said recesses.

6. The club head of claim 5 wherein said spacing between said outline at the head rear and said bevel, as viewed toward the head bottom wall, is at least about 3/4 inch.

7. The club head of claim 1 wherein the head has downwardly facing surfaces which slope upwardly and outwardly from said other dished recess toward said peripheral outline, as viewed toward the head bottom wall.

8. The club head of claim 5 wherein said peripheral outline encompasses an area A, and said dished recesses, ridge and bevel define an area B, when viewed toward the bottom wall of the head, and where

9. The club head of claim 8 where

10. The club head of claim 1 wherein said recesses have downward facing surfaces with shallow upwardly dished configuration.

11. The club head of claim 1 wherein said bottom wall is in part defined by a sole plate having a peripheral edge rigidly connected to the bounding edge of an opening defined by said bottom wall, whereby the sole plate closes said opening, said ridge and recesses being in part defined by the sole plate.

12. The club head of claim 1 wherein said recesses have surfaces that merge in arcuate relation with opposite sides of said ridge.

13. The club had of claim 1 wherein said front wall has lowermost U-shaped configuration, forwardly of said ridge and recesses.

14. The club head of claim 1 having a substantially continuous, hollow, metallic tube extending within the shell of the heel portion and from proximate the shell top wall to proximate the shell bottom wall, said tube having a bore to receive a club shaft, said bore aligned with said one shallow recess.

15. The club head of claim 10 wherein said downward facing surfaces are concave in front-to-rear directions.

16. The club head of claim 15 wherein said downward facing surfaces are also concave in directions between the heel and toe.

17. The club head of claim 5 wherein said bottom wall includes a sole plate peripherally connected to a shell rim defining a bottom opening, said sole plate defining major extents of said shallow recesses.

18. The club head of claim 5 wherein said bottom wall includes a sole plate peripherally connected to a shell rim defining a bottom opening, said sole plate defining major extents of said shallow recesses, said sole plate also defining said ridge and said bevel.

19. The club head of claim 14 wherein said bottom wall includes a sole plate peripherally connected to a shell rim defining a bottom opening, said sole plate defining major extents of said shallow recesses, said shell defining a bottom wall corner plate section integral with said tube, said sole plate also connected to said corner plate section, said corner plate section forming a portion of said one shallow recess between said ridge and heel portion.

20. The club head of claim 1 including a first group of narrow, metallic, shock wave distributing dendrites extending from said front wall generally rearwardly adjacent the underside of the shell top wall and integral therewith, said dendrites projecting toward said two shallow recesses.

21. The club head of claim 20 including a second group of dendrites integral with said top wall and which are spaced apart, and which extend generally rearwardly to merge rearwardly and downwardly with a rear wall defined by the shell to transfer rearward loading from said top wall in response to front wall impact with a golf ball, said second group of dendrites also projecting toward said two shallow recesses.

22. The club head of claim 21 wherein the dendrites of each group are spaced apart in a toe-to-heel direction.

24. A club head of claim 1 wherein the ridge co-acts with said recesses during a club stroke to direct the turf toward and into the recesses, the recesses having surfaces inclined forwardly and upwardly to be engaged by the turf moving relatively rearwardly, for creating lift forces at opposite sides of the ridge, urging the bottom wall and head in an upward direction.

25. The head of claim 5 wherein the head has a center of gravity located at approximately 42% to 50% of the head height, as measured upwardly from the lowermost head surface to the uppermost head surface, viewed from the front of the head.

26. The club head of claim 1 which is metallic and comprises titanium.

27. The club head of claim 8 which is metallic and consists essentially of titanium.

28. The club head of claim 26 wherein at least one of said head walls has minimum thickness less than about 0.060 inch.

29. The club head of claim 1 wherein said top wall has thickness of about 0.055 inch, and said front wall has minimum thickness less than about 0.130 to 0.110 inch.

33. The head of claim 1 having a center of gravity located at approximately 42% to 50% of the head height, as measured upwardly from the lowermost head surface to the uppermost head surface, viewed from the front of the head.

34. A set of golf club heads, each head having a configuration, as defined in claim 1.

35. The set of heads, as defined in claim 34, wherein each head has a center of gravity located at approximately 42% to 50% of the head height, as measured upwardly from the lowermost head surface to the uppermost head surface, viewed from the front of the head.

23. A golf club head having a metal shell defining top, bottom, front, rear, toe, and heel walls, and including

a) dendrites integral with the inner sides of said top and rear walls, and

b) the bottom wall having two upwardly dished wall sections projecting toward the dendrites integral with the top wall, and spaced between the heel and toe, one dished wall section defining one recess relatively closer to the toe and the other dished wall section defining another recess relatively closer to the heel,

c) the head, when viewed toward said bottom wall, presenting a peripheral outline which, at the toe and rear of the head, has substantial spacing from said other dished shallow recess,

d) said bottom wall having a downwardly facing medial ridge space below the levels of said recesses, said ridge having rearwardly elongated length at substantially the same elevation and being downwardly convex in a toe to heel direction along said length thereof to define ridge side walls merging with said recesses, said ridge diverging endwise.

30. The golf club head comprising a metallic shell having toe and heel portions, a rear wall, a front wall defining a ball stoking face, and top and bottom walls, the bottom wall characterized as having localized undulant and angled surfaces delineated within a first peripheral outline for turf engagement and for urging the head upwardly in response to turf engagement, the head, when viewed toward said bottom wall, presenting a second peripheral overall outline having substantial spacing from said first peripheral outline at least toward said toe and toward the club rear, the club head shell sloping arcuately upwardly and outwardly between said first and second outline, the bottom wall defining a downwardly facing medial ridge and two shallow recesses at opposite sides of the ridge, said ridge spaced below the levels of said recesses, said ridge having rearwardly elongated length at substantially the same elevation and being downwardly convex in a toe to heel direction along said length thereof to define ridge side walls merging with said recesses, said ridge diverging endwise.

31. The head of claim 30 wherein said first peripheral outline encompasses an area B, and said second peripheral outline encompasses an area A, where

32. The head of claim 31 wherein