Contoured golf club face
First Claim
1. A golf club face comprisinga vertical stiffening region located along a vertical central axis of the face, wherein the vertical stiffening region has a first thickness, anda horizontal stiffening region located along a horizontal central axis of the face, wherein the horizontal stiffening region has the first thickness proximal the vertical central axis and a second thickness distal from the vertical central axis, wherein the first thickness is thicker than the second thickness.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A contoured golf club face provides increased structural integrity for a given weight and size is described and shown along with a method for its design. The contoured golf club face includes a vertical stiffening region, a tapered horizontal stiffening region, four similar contoured quadrants of increasingly thinning material toward the center of each quadrant, and thickening regions at face/sole and face/crown intersection regions. The thicknesses of adjoining regions are gradually blended to provide a smooth contoured surface. The present golf club face is light weight, is structurally resistant to impact deformation, is resistant to initial and long-term failure, has its mass center located at its sweet spot, exhibits inertial axes which are aligned with vertical and horizontal axes (i.e. primary club force directions: ball impact force and club centrifugal force directions), and produces acoustical tones. A club incorporating the present contoured golf club face may be provide a certain first acoustical sound when used to hit a ball with a certain first specific area of the face (e.g. the sweet spot or sweet spot region) and to provide a different second acoustical sound when used to hit a ball with an area of the face other than that first area (e.g. other than the sweet spot or sweet spot region). Thus, the present invention may be used to provide an educational tool for use in teaching and/or learning to consistently impact a ball on the optimal region of the club face.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A golf club face comprising
a vertical stiffening region located along a vertical central axis of the face, wherein the vertical stiffening region has a first thickness, and a horizontal stiffening region located along a horizontal central axis of the face, wherein the horizontal stiffening region has the first thickness proximal the vertical central axis and a second thickness distal from the vertical central axis, wherein the first thickness is thicker than the second thickness.
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8. A golf club face comprising
a ball hitting surface, and a back surface which is opposite the ball hitting surface, wherein the back surface is contoured to give the face more than one thickness, wherein the thickness of the face at a given location is proportional to the bending stresses experienced by the given location of the face upon a force being applied to the ball hitting surface.
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11. A golf club face comprising
a ball-hitting surface, and a back surface which is opposite the ball-hitting surface, wherein the back surface is contoured to give the face two or more thicknesses, wherein regions of the face which experience a similar magnitude of stress load upon a force being applied to the ball-hitting surface have similar thicknesses, and wherein the back surface is smoothly contoured between regions of differing thickness.
Specification