Golf club head

• US 7,588,502 B2
• Filed: 12/04/2006
• Issued: 09/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited
• Original Assignee: SRI Sports Limited (Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Nishino, Takumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Hunter; Alvin A
• Application Number:
  US11/607,866
• Publication Number:
  US 20070149316A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,016 Days
• Field of Search: 473324-350
• US Class Current: 473/332
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2053/0491 with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable
• 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 53/0433 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 60/02 Ballast means for adjusting the centre of mass A63B60/24, A63B60/54 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/54 with means for damping vibrations

Abstract

A golf club head comprises a main body provided with at least two holes and detachable parts attached to said holes, the detachable parts including a weight member and a damper, the weight member having a specific gravity larger than the main body, the damper having a specific gravity different from the weight member and made of elastic material at least partially for absorbing a vibration of the main body, and the damper and the weight member being attached to the holes of the main body so that each position can be exchanged.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising

a main body provided with at least two holes separately and detachable parts attached to said holes,

the main body comprising

a face portion whose front face defines a club face for hitting a ball,

a sole portion extending from a lower edge of the club face toward a back face of the club head and

a turnup wall turned up at a rear side of the sole portion so as to form a gap behind the face portion,

the holes being provided in the sole portion and/or the turnup wall, and being through holes passing through the sole portion and/or the turnup wall, and

the detachable parts including a weight member attached to one of the holes and a damper attached to another of the holes,

the weight member having a specific gravity larger than the specific gravity of the main body,

the damper having a specific gravity different from the specific gravity of the weight member and made of elastic material at least partially for absorbing a vibration of the main body, and the damper having a protruding portion extending from the hole into the gap, and

said holes having the substantially identical shapes so that the position of each of the detachable parts can be exchanged.

2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein in a standard condition where the golf club head is placed on a horizontal plane at its lie and loft angles, each center of gravity of the weight member and the damper is within 15.0 mm from the horizontal plane.

3. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein

the weight member and the damper each comprise a screw part having an external thread, and each hole of the main body comprises an internal thread engaging with the external thread.

4. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein

the detachable parts comprises two dampers,

the holes comprise a toe-side hole, a heel-side hole and a middle hole therebetween,

the weight member is attached to the middle hole, and

a damper is attached to each of the toe-side hole and the heel-side hole.

5. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the specific gravity of the weight member is from 5.0 to 22.0, and the specific gravity of the damper is from 0.5 to 2.2.

6. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the holes are provided in the turnup wall.

7. The golf club head according to claim 6, wherein

the holes are through holes passing through the turnup wall, and

the damper has a protruding portion extending from the hole into the gap.

8. The golf club head according to claim 7, wherein an axial length of the protruding portion is in a range of from 2.0 to 10.0 mm.

9. The golf club head according to claim 7, wherein an end of the protruding portion comes in contact with the back surface of the face portion.

10. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion has a length in a range of from 2.0 to 10.0 mm.

11. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein an end of the protruding portion comes in contact with the back surface of the face portion.

12. A golf club head comprising

a main body provided with at least two holes and

detachable parts attached to said holes,

the detachable parts including a weight member and a damper,

the weight member having a specific gravity larger than the specific gravity of the main body,

the damper having a specific gravity different from the specific gravity of the weight member and made of elastic material at least partially for absorbing a vibration of the main body, and

the damper and the weight member being attached to the holes of the main body so that the position of each of the weight member and the damper can be exchanged, wherein

in a standard condition where the golf club head is placed on a horizontal plane at its lie and loft angles, each center of gravity of the weight member and the damper is within 15.0 mm from the horizontal plane.

13. The golf club head according to claim 12, wherein

each weight member and the damper comprises a screw part having a external thread, and

each hole of the main body comprises an internal thread engaging with the external thread.

14. The golf club head according to claim 12, wherein the main body comprises

a face portion whose front face defines a club face for hitting a ball,

a sole portion extending from a lower edge of the club face toward a back face of the club head and

a turnup wall turned up at a rear side of the sole portion so as to form a gap behind the face portion, and

the holes are provided in the sole portion and/or the turnup wall.

15. A golf club head comprising

a main body provided with at least two holes separately and detachable parts attached to said holes,

the main body comprising

a face portion whose front face defines a club face for hitting a ball,

a sole portion extending from a lower edge of the club face toward a back face of the club head and

a turnup wall turned up at a rear side of the sole portion so as to form a gap behind the face portion,

the holes provided in the sole portion and/or the turnup wall, and comprising a toe-side hole, a heel-side hole and a middle hole therebetween,

the detachable parts including a weight member and two dampers,

the weight member having a specific gravity larger than the specific gravity of the main body and attached to the middle hole,

each damper having a specific gravity different from the specific gravity of the weight member and made of elastic material at least partially for absorbing a vibration of the main body and attached to the each of the toe-side hole and the heel side hole, and

said holes having the substantially identical shapes so that the position of each of the detachable parts can be exchanged.

16. The golf club head according to claim 15, wherein each weight member and the damper comprises a screw part having a external thread, and each hole of the main body comprises an internal thread engaging with the external thread.