Golf club head

• US 6,929,565 B2
• Filed: 10/22/2002
• Issued: 08/16/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Yokohama Rubber Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Yokohama Rubber Company Limited
• Inventors: Yamamoto, Shinji, Mori, Tomoaki, Nakahara, Norihiko, Nishizawa, Yoh
• Primary Examiner(s): Passaniti, Sebastiano
• Application Number:
  US10/274,960
• Publication Number:
  US 20030083151A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,029 Days
• Field of Search: 473/324, 473/345, 473/346, 473/349, 473/350, 473/290, 473/291
• US Class Current: 473/345
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/02 with reinforcing fibres, e.g. carbon, polyamide fibres
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/04 Heads
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0416 Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert
• 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 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 club head capable of obtaining both vibration damping performance and pleasant hitting sound by combining materials different in kind. This golf club head has a hollow structure, and a constitution where fiber reinforced plastic having a mass ratio of 4% or more in the entire head is used for at least one of neck, face, sole, crown and side portions, and the rest is made of metal. An outer shell of the hollow structure includes both of a part made of only metal and a part made of only fiber reinforced plastic.

Claims

1. A golf club head of the wood type comprising a golf club head having a hollow structure, said hollow structure having a neck portion, a face portion, a sole portion, a crown portion, and a side portion, the neck and face portions being made of metal and the outer surface of the crown portion being made of a fiber reinforced plastic material with the sole and side portions being made of a fiber reinforced plastic material or metal, wherein the crown portion is a two layered structure, an inner layer thereof being made of metal and an outer layer thereof being an outer shell made of said fiber reinforced plastic material, and wherein the fiber reinforced plastic material has a mass ratio of 4% or more with respect to the total mass of the golf club head.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the inner layer has a hole therein that is covered by said outer shell.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 or 2, wherein for the metal, two or more different kinds of metals are used for different portions of the golf club head.

4. The golf club head of claim 1 or 2, wherein for the fiber reinforced plastic material, two or more different kinds of fiber reinforced plastic materials are used for different portions of the golf club head.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 or 2, wherein an elastic modulus of fibers used in the fiber reinforced plastic material is less than 27 tons/mm².

6. The golf club head of claim 1 or 2, wherein an elastic modulus of fibers used in the fiber reinforced plastic material is 27 tons/mm² or more.

7. The golf club head of claim 1 or 2, wherein the sole and side portions are of metal.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 or 2, wherein the sole portion is made of a fiber reinforced plastic material and the side portion is of metal.