Golf clubs with elastomeric vibration dampener

• US 5,643,111 A
• Filed: 07/13/1995
• Issued: 07/01/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 06/02/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lawrence Y. Igarashi
• Original Assignee: Lawrence Y. Igarashi
• Inventors: Igarashi, Lawrence Y.
• Primary Examiner(s): Passaniti, Sebastiano
• Application Number:
  US08/502,262
• Time in Patent Office: 719 Days
• Field of Search: 273/167 R, 273/167 H, 273/169, 273/167 F, 273/80.1, 273/80.2, 273/DIG. 3, 273/DIG. 8, 273/DIG. 10, 273/77 R, 273/170, 273/171, 273/172, 273/173, 473/324, 473/326, 473/329, 473/334, 473/335, 473/341, 473/342, 473/345, 473/346, 473/349, 473/332, 473/350
• US Class Current: 473/332
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/04 Heads
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/047 iron-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0487 for putters A63B53/065 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/00 Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/54 with means for damping vibrations
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 273/08 Urethane

Abstract

A hollow wood-type golf club is fabricated with a thin layer of elastomeric dampening material coating the inner surface region opposite the ball impacting face and within the hollow cavity of the head shell. The layer provides vibration dampening, improving the play of the club. A low cost, simple method to fabricate the head with the layer includes dispensing a quantity of uncured elastomer in liquid form into the cavity, maintaining the head with the inner surface opposite the ball impacting face at a horizontal attitude to cause the liquid to pool over this inner surface region, and curing the elastomer with the head in this attitude until the elastomer has cured and hardened. Golf iron and putter clubs are described with a vibration dampener consisting of a thin layer of elastomer material adhered to a base cavity surface of a cavity backing the ball impacting surface. Methods for fabricating the iron and putter clubs are described.

Claims

1. A vibration-dampened hollow "wood"-type golf club, comprising:

a club shaft; and

a "wood"-type club head, comprising a hollow shell defining a ball striking surface and head body, the shell having an inner surface defining a hollow cavity, said inner surface including a surface region opposed to and at least as large in area as the ball striking surface, and a vibration dampener consisting of a thin layer of an elastomeric material adhered to and covering substantially the entire area of said surface region, the thin layer for dampening vibrations caused by the impact of the ball striking surface with a golf ball, wherein said thin layer of elastomeric material is attached to said surface region of said inner surface without any intermediate coating or adhesive between said thin layer and said surface region of said inner surface.

2. The golf club of claim 1 wherein the thin layer has a thickness in the range of five to ten thousandths of an inch.

3. The golf club of claim 1 wherein the elastomeric material is a polyurethane elastomer.

4. The golf club of claim 1 wherein the elastomeric material has a Shore hardness rating in the range of 70-72.

5. The golf club of claim 1 wherein said shell is fabricated of a metal.

6. A method of fabricating a vibration-dampened "wood"-type golf club, comprising:

providing a hollow "wood"-type shell club head having a hosel with a hosel opening defined therein, the shell club head defining an interior hollow cavity and an exterior ball impacting face, the hosel opening in communication with the cavity, the shell club head including an interior shell surface defining the cavity, said interior shell surface comprising a surface region opposed to and at least as large in area as the ball striking surface;

dispensing a quantity of elastomer material in a liquid, uncured state into the cavity;

supporting the club head so that said interior surface region is generally horizontal, wherein the quantity of elastomer material in a liquid state pools within said cavity to come into direct contact with and cover said interior surface region;

while supporting said club head so that said interior region is generally horizontal, allowing the elastomer material to cure to a solid state to define a thin layer of solid elastomer adhered directly to substantially the entire area of said inner surface region without any intermediate coating or adhesive between the thin layer of elastomer and the inner surface region, thereby providing a vibration-dampening function; and

attaching a club shaft to the hosel.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said step of allowing the elastomer to cure includes baking the club head in an oven at an elevated temperature for a period of time.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein said elastomer is a polyurethane elastomer.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein said elastomer has a Shore hardness rating in the range of 70-72.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein said elastomer layer has a thickness in the range of five to ten thousandths of an inch.

11. A vibration-dampened "iron"-type golf club, comprising:

a club shaft; and

an "iron"-type club head, comprising a head body defining a ball striking surface and a hollow cavity backing the ball striking surface, the cavity defined in part by a cavity base surface; and

a vibration dampener consisting of a homogeneous lightweight layer of an elastomeric material adhered to and covering substantially the entire area of said cavity base surface, wherein said layer of elastomeric material is attached to said cavity base surface without any intermediate coating or adhesive between said thin layer and said cavity base surface, and wherein an outer surface of said layer is exposed to the environment with no coatings or structures attached to said outer surface of said layer, said homogeneous layer of elastomeric material for dampening vibrations caused by the impact of the ball striking surface with a golf ball.

12. The golf club of claim 11 wherein the layer has a thickness in the range of one-sixteenth to one-quarter of an inch.

13. The golf club of claim 11 wherein the elastomeric material is a polyurethane elastomer.

14. The golf club of claim 11 wherein the elastomeric material has a Shore hardness rating in the range of 70-72.

15. The golf club of claim 11 wherein said club head body is fabricated of a metal.

16. The golf club of claim 11 wherein said base cavity surface is generally parallel to the ball impacting face.

17. The golf club of claim 11 wherein said layer of elastomeric material is translucent.

18. The golf club of claim 11 wherein said layer of elastomeric material is tinted with a colorant to produce a layer having a visible color shade.

19. The golf club of claim 11 wherein said layer of elastomeric material is free of any air bubbles.

20. The golf club of claim 11 wherein the layer of elastomeric material has a uniform thickness.

21. A method of fabricating a vibration-dampened "iron"-type golf club, comprising:

providing a "iron"-type club head body, the club head body defining an exterior ball impacting face and exterior hollow cavity backing the face, the club head body including a base cavity surface defining the cavity;

positioning the club head body so that said base cavity surface is generally horizontal;

dispensing a quantity of homogeneous elastomer material in a liquid, uncured state into the cavity so that said elastomer pools at the base of the cavity to form a layer covering the base cavity surface;

while supporting said club head so that said base cavity surface is generally horizontal, allowing the elastomer material to cure to a solid state to define a lightweight homogeneous layer of solid elastomer adhered to substantially the entire area of said base cavity surface, thereby providing a vibration-dampening function, wherein said layer of elastomeric material is attached to said base cavity surface without any intermediate coating or adhesive between said thin layer and said base cavity surface, and wherein an outer surface of said layer is exposed to the environment with no coatings or structures attached to said outer surface of said layer; and

attaching a club shaft to the hosel.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein said step of allowing the elastomer to cure includes baking the club head in an oven at an elevated temperature for a period of time.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein said elastomer is a polyurethane elastomer.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein said elastomer has a Shore hardness rating in the range of 70-72.

25. The method of claim 21 wherein said elastomer layer has a thickness in the range of one-sixteenth to one-quarter of an inch.

26. The method of claim 21 further comprising the step of removing any air bubbles from the liquid elastomer prior to dispensing said liquid elastomer into said cavity.

27. The method of claim 21 wherein the layer of elastomeric material has a uniform thickness.

28. A vibration-dampened golf putter club, comprising:

a club shaft; and

a putter club head, comprising a putter head body defining a ball impacting surface and a hollow cavity backing the ball impacting surface, the cavity defined in part by a cavity base surface;

a thin label insert element attached to said cavity base surface;

a vibration dampener consisting of a translucent lightweight layer of an elastomeric material covering substantially the entire area of said cavity base surface and said label insert element, said layer attached to said label insert, wherein an outer surface of said layer is exposed to the environment with no coatings or structures attached to said outer surface of said layer so that said label insert element is visible through the translucent layer, the layer for dampening vibrations caused by the impact of the ball striking surface with a golf ball.

29. The golf club of claim 28 wherein the elastomeric material is a polyurethane elastomer.

30. The golf club of claim 28 wherein the elastomeric material has a Shore hardness rating in the range of 70-72.

31. The golf club of claim 28 wherein said club head body is fabricated of a metal.

32. The golf club of claim 28 wherein said base cavity surface is generally parallel to the ball impacting face.

33. The golf club of claim 28 wherein the elastomer layer substantially fills the cavity.

34. A method of fabricating a vibration-dampened golf putter club, comprising:

providing a putter club head body, the club head body defining an exterior ball impacting face and exterior hollow cavity backing the face, the club head body including a base cavity surface defining the cavity;

attaching a thin label insert element to said base cavity surface;

positioning the club head body so that said base cavity surface is generally horizontal;

dispensing a quantity of translucent elastomer material in a liquid, uncured state into the cavity so that said elastomer pools at the base of the cavity to form a layer covering the base cavity surface and the label insert element;

while supporting said club head so that said interior region is generally horizontal, allowing the elastomer material to cure to a solid state to define a translucent layer of solid elastomer adhered to said label insert element and covering substantially the entire area of said base cavity surface, thereby providing a vibration-dampening function; and

attaching a club shaft to the hosel.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein said step of allowing the elastomer to cure includes baking the club head in an oven at an elevated temperature for a period of time.

36. The method of claim 34 wherein said elastomer is a polyurethane elastomer.

37. The method of claim 34 wherein said elastomer has a Shore hardness rating in the range of 70-72.