Golf club with improved weighting and vibration dampening

• US 6,045,456 A
• Filed: 01/23/1998
• Issued: 04/04/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 01/23/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cobra Golf Company (Puma SE)
• Original Assignee: Cobra Golf Company (Puma SE)
• Inventors: Davidson, William F., Best, Christopher B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Passaniti, Sebastiano
• Application Number:
  US09/012,712
• Time in Patent Office: 802 Days
• Field of Search: 473/324, 473/290, 473/291, 473/332, 473/350, 473/342, 473/329, 473/349
• US Class Current: 473/291
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/005 Club sets
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/04 Heads
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0408 characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0416 Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/047 iron-type
• 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

Abstract

A golf clubhead having a cavity back design and a three piece construction. The clubhead body portion includes a strike face insert cavity for receiving a strike face insert and further includes a central aperture. An additional recess is formed within the strike face insert cavity and may receive vibration dampening material. The sizes of the strike face insert cavity, vibration dampening insert recess and aperture may be progressively varied, or varied in other desirable manners in accordance with the particular golf club characteristics, to improve weight distribution and/or vibration dampening and to increase strike face surface area.

Claims

1. A golf club with improved weight distribution, the golf club comprising:

a shaft;

a head including a body portion having a front cavity and a rear cavity with an aperture extending through said body portion and communicating with said cavities;

a strike face insert attached within said front cavity,

wherein said body portion further defines a recess disposed within said front cavity below the aperture, where said recess extends longitudinally across substantially the entire lower front portion of said front cavity.

2. The golf club of claim 1 wherein said recess in said front cavity is for eliminating weight generally from central portions of the clubhead.

3. The golf club of claim 2 wherein the recess contains a vibration dampening material.

4. The golf club of claim 1, wherein said club is one club in a set of similarly constructed clubs and wherein the strike face insert is progressively larger throughout the set.

5. A golf club with improved weight distribution, the golf club comprising:

a shaft;

a head having a front portion and a back portion;

a front cavity formed within said front portion;

an aperture through said back portion communicating with said front cavity;

a strike face insert attached within said front cavity;

wherein said head further defines a recess disposed within said front cavity below the aperture, where said recess extends longitudinally across substantially the entire lower front portion of said front cavity.

6. The golf club of claim 5 further comprising a recess formed within a central region of the front portion which eliminates material and weight generally from said central region the head.

7. The golf club of claim 6 further comprising a back cavity formed within said back portion wherein said back cavity surrounds said aperture.

8. The golf club of claim 7, wherein the body portion is made from a first material and the strike face insert is made from a second material having a strength to weight ratio greater than said first material.

9. The golf club of claim 7, wherein:

said club forms one club of a set of long to short iron-type golf clubs;

said aperture has a depth and is surrounded by an area having a predetermined width to define a shelf surrounding said aperture; and

said shelf encompasses a volume of material, said volume progressively increasing from long irons to short irons in said set.

10. The golf club of claim 9, included in said set of iron-type golf clubs, wherein:

the set includes 3 through 9 irons;

each strike face insert has a progressively larger surface area in said irons from the 3 iron to the 9 iron; and

the volume of said recess has a first value for the 3 through 5 irons and a second smaller value for the 6 through 9 irons.

11. The golf club of claim 6, wherein the recess contains a vibration dampening material.

12. The golf club of claim 6, wherein:

said club forms one club of a set of long to short iron-type golf clubs; and

the recess has a volume that decreases from long irons to short irons in said set.

13. A golf club of the iron-type with improved weight distribution, the golf club comprising:

a shaft; and

a head having a body, a strike face insert and a vibration dampening material;

wherein said body has a front portion and a back portion, said front portion having a first cavity and a second cavity formed therein, with said strike face insert positioned in said first cavity and said vibration dampening material positioned within said second cavity;

wherein said back portion has a third cavity with an aperture disposed therethrough such that said aperture is adjacent to a rear surface of the strike face insert; and

wherein the body is made from a first material and the strike face insert is made from a second material having a strength to weight ratio greater than said first material.

14. A set of golf clubs, comprising a plurality of clubs wherein each club comprises a shaft and a clubhead, the shaft of each club being shorter in length than the shaft of a preceding club in said set, wherein:

each clubhead has a front portion and a back portion;

the front portion defines a front cavity and a recess formed within each said front cavity for eliminating weight generally from a central portion of each clubhead of said plurality of clubs;

the back portion defines and surrounds a back cavity with an aperture therein communicating with said front cavity;

a shelf surrounding the aperture, said shelf having a volume which increases corresponding to a decrease in club length for at least some of the clubs in said set; and

a strike face insert attached within each said front cavity.

15. The set of golf clubs as claimed in claim 14, wherein the volume of the recess progressively decreases from clubs having a longer length to clubs having a shorter length.

16. The set of golf clubs as claimed in claim 15 wherein each recess contains a vibration dampening material.

17. The set of golf clubs as claimed in claim 16, comprising 3 through 9 irons, wherein:

said strike face insert has a progressively larger surface area on at least some of the irons from the 3 iron to the 9 iron; and

the volume of said recess has one value for the 3-5 irons and a second value for the 6-9 irons.

18. A set of golf clubs, comprising at least a first club and a second club, wherein:

each club comprises a shaft and a clubhead, the first club having a longer shaft and lighter clubhead than the second club;

each clubhead comprises a body with front and rear faces, said front face defining a front cavity receiving a strike face insert therein and said rear face defining a rear cavity communicating via an aperture with said front cavity, wherein each clubhead further defines a recess disposed within said front cavity below the aperture, where said recess extends longitudinally across substantially the entire lower front portion of said front cavity.

19. The set of clubs according to claim 18, wherein said front face further defines a recess within said front cavity, said recess having a greater volume in said first club than in said second club.

20. The set of clubs according to claim 18, wherein said rear face defines a shelf within said rear cavity, said shelf surrounding said aperture, and said shelf having a lesser volume in said first club than in said second club.