Golf club head set

• US 5,643,107 A
• Filed: 08/14/1995
• Issued: 07/01/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Co., Inc.
• Original Assignee: Dunlop Maxfli Sports Corporation
• Inventors: Gorman, Geoffrey W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong, Steven B.
• Application Number:
  US08/514,605
• Time in Patent Office: 687 Days
• Field of Search: 473/287, 473/289, 473/290, 473/291, 473/292, 473/324, 473/328, 473/327, 473/334, 473/341, 473/345, 473/350, 473/349, 473/344
• 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 53/005 Club sets
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/04 Heads
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0441 with visual indicators for aligning the golf club
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/045 Strengthening ribs
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/52 with slits

Abstract

A wood-type golf club head comprising toe, heel, top and sole portions, a front face bounded by the toe, heel, top and sole portions, and a rear wall bounded by the toe, heel, top and sole portions, a peripheral wall depending from the periphery of the sole portion to define a sole cavity in the sole portion, and two struts extending from a portion of the peripheral wall adjacent the front face to a portion of the peripheral wall adjacent the rear wall, the struts being in part substantially parallel to each other and in part diverging from each other and defining therebetween and in cooperation with the portion of the peripheral wall adjacent the front face, a central portion of the sole cavity, the peripheral wall being interrupted adjacent the rear wall, such that the central portion of the sole cavity is open to the rear of the club head.

A set of wood-type golf clubs, in which each club in the set has strut members on the bottom of the club defining a sole cavity, and the center of gravity is placed at the optimum location for each club in the set. On the lower lofted clubs the center of gravity is positioned lower in the club, toward the sole. As the loft of the club increases, the center of gravity moves higher, toward the top portion of the club, with the center of gravity highest on the highest lofted club.

Claims

1. A set of golf club heads, comprising at least a first and second golf club head, each having a toe portion, a heel portion, a top portion, a sole portion, a front face bounded by said toe, heel, top and sole portions, and a rear wall bounded by said toe, heel, top and sole portions, a peripheral wall depending from the periphery of said sole portion to define a sole cavity in the sole portion, and two struts extending from a portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said front face to a portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said rear wall, said struts being substantially parallel to each other adjacent said portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said front face and diverging from each other toward said portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said rear wall, said struts defining therebetween and in cooperation with said portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said front face a central portion of said sole cavity, said first golf club head having a loft of less than a loft of the second golf club head, and said central portion of said sole cavity of said first golf club head having a depth of less than a depth of said sole cavity of said second golf club head, wherein a location of a center of gravity in said first golf club head is lower in said first golf club head than a location of the center of gravity in said second club head.

2. The set of golf club heads of claim 1, wherein said peripheral wall is interrupted adjacent said rear wall, and a bottom surface of said central portion of said sole cavity intersects said rear wall and in cooperation with said two struts defining said interruption in said peripheral wall, defines an opening rearwardly of said club head.

3. The set of golf club heads of claim 1 wherein the location of the center of gravity in each golf club head in the set is raised as the loft of the golf club head increases.

4. The set of golf club heads of claim 1 wherein said first and second golf club head each have struts extending outwardly from the club sole portion further than said peripheral wall.

5. The set of golf club heads of claim 4 wherein said struts of said second golf club head extend further from said sole portion than said struts of said first golf club head.

6. The set of golf club heads of claim 1 wherein a depth of said central cavity of each golf club head in said set increases as the loft of said golf club head increases.

7. The set of golf club heads of claim 1 wherein the golf club heads range in loft from approximately 8.5 degrees for a least lofted club to a maximum of 27 degrees for a highest lofted club.

8. The set of golf club heads of claim 7 wherein the center of gravity is placed toward the sole of the club on the least lofted club and toward the top of the club on the highest lofted club.

9. The set of golf clubs of claim 1 wherein the location of the center of gravity is not uniform for all of the clubs in the set.

10. The set of golf club heads of claim 1 wherein the location of the center of gravity for the first and second golf club heads is at the approximate center of the golf club head relative to the face and rear of the golf club head.

11. The set of golf clubs of claim 1 wherein the struts are approximately 8 to 8.5 mm wide where they are substantially parallel to each other.

12. The set of golf clubs of claim 1 wherein the struts are approximately 5.5 to 6.0 mm wide where they are diverging from each other.

13. A set of golf clubs, comprising at least a first and second golf club, each having

a hosel, and

a head attached to said hosel, each head having a toe portion, a heel portion, a top portion, a sole portion, a front face bounded by said toe, heel, top and sole portions, and a rear wall bounded by said toe, heel, top and sole portions, a peripheral wall depending from the periphery of said sole portion to define a sole cavity in the sole portion, and two struts extending from a portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said front face to a portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said rear wall, said struts being substantially parallel to each other adjacent said portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said front face and diverging from each other toward said portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said rear wall, said struts defining therebetween and in cooperation with said portion of said peripheral wall adjacent said front face a central portion of said sole cavity, said head of said first golf club having a loft of less than a loft of said head of said second golf club, and said central portion of said sole cavity of said first golf club having a depth of less than a depth of said sole cavity of said second golf club,

wherein a location of a center of gravity in said head of said first golf club is lower in said head than a location of the center of gravity in said head of said second golf club head, and said hosel of said second golf club is longer than said hosel of said first golf club.