Composite golf club head with improved sound

• US 9,056,230 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2011
• Issued: 06/16/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Golden, Charles E., Deshmukh, Uday V.
• Primary Examiner(s): Passaniti, Sebastiano
• Application Number:
  US13/307,280
• Publication Number:
  US 20130137531A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,294 Days
• Field of Search: 473324-350, 473287-292, 473/224, 473/234
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2053/0491 with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/02 with reinforcing fibres, e.g. carbon, polyamide fibres
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/023 Long, oriented fibres, e.g. wound filaments, woven fabrics, mats
• 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 53/042 the face insert consisting of a material different from that of the head
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0429 the face insert comprising two or more layers of material
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0437 with special crown configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0462 characterised by tapering thickness of the impact face plate
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/002 Resonance frequency related characteristics
• 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 composite golf club head with improved sound characteristics is disclosed herein. More specifically, the present invention relates to a golf club head that utilizes a unique composite type material having a low damping coefficient; creating more discretionary weight to optimize performance without comprising the sound of the golf club head. Depending on the amount of discretionary weight desired, the present invention could replace parts of the crown, the sole, the striking face, or even all three of the above referenced components with a low-damping composite material to improve the performance. The low-damping composite material used in accordance with the current invention may generally have a damping loss factor (η) of less than about 0.02.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a striking face placed at a frontal portion of said golf club head; and

a body portion having a crown and a sole, attached to an aft portion of said striking face;

wherein at least a portion of one of said striking face, said crown, or said sole is formed out of a low-damping composite;

said low-damping composite comprising a plurality of fibers, a majority of said plurality of fibers oriented in a first direction, a remainder of said plurality of fibers offset from said first direction, said remainder of said plurality of fibers offset less than 45 degrees from said first direction;

said low-damping composite has a damping loss factor of less than about 0.02;

wherein said golf club head has a first peak in sound power occurring at greater than about 3,500 hertz and less than about 4,500 hertz;

said first peak in sound power is defined as a sound power output of greater than about 0.1 watts.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said damping loss factor is less than about 0.01.

3. The golf club head of claim 2, wherein said damping loss factor is less than about 0.005.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said crown is formed from said low damping composite.

5. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said golf club head has a first peak in sound power occurring at greater than about 3,750 hertz and less than about 4,250 hertz;

said first peak in sound power is defined as a sound power output of greater than about 0.1 watts.

6. The golf club head of claim 5, wherein said golf club head has a first peak in sound power occurring at about 4,000 hertz;

said first peak in sound power is defined as a sound power output of greater than about 0.1 watts.

7. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said remainder of said plurality of fibers is offset less than 30 degrees from said first direction.

8. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said remainder of said plurality of fibers is offset less than 15 degrees from said first direction.

9. A golf club head comprising:

a striking face placed at a frontal portion of said golf club head; and

a body portion having a crown and a sole, attached to an aft portion of said striking face;

wherein at least a portion of one of said striking face, said crown, or said sole is formed out of a low-damping composite,

said low-damping composite comprising a plurality of fibers, a majority of said plurality of fibers oriented in a first direction, a remainder of said plurality of fibers offset from said first direction, said remainder of said plurality of fibers offset less than 45 degrees from said first direction;

wherein said low-damping composite has a performance factor of greater than about 1,100 GPa*cc/g;

said performance factor defined as the Young'"'"'s Modulus of said low-damping composite divided by the damping loss factor and the density of said low-damping composite;

wherein said golf club head has a first peak in sound power occurring at greater than about 3,500 hertz and less than about 4,500 hertz;

said first peak in sound power is defined as a sound power output of greater than about 0.1 watts.

10. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein said low-damping composite has a performance factor of greater than about 4,000 GPa*cc/g.

11. The golf club head of claim 10, wherein said low-damping composite has a performance factor of greater than about 10,000 GPa*cc/g.

12. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein at least a portion of said crown is formed from said low damping composite.

13. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein said golf club head has a first peak in sound power occurring at greater than about 3,750 hertz and less than about 4,250 hertz;

said first peak in sound power is defined as a sound power output of greater than about 0.1 watts.

14. The golf club head of claim 13, wherein said golf club head has a first peak in sound power occurring at about 4,000 hertz;

said first peak in sound power is defined as a sound power output of greater than about 0.1 watts.

15. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein said low-damping composite forms an internal portion of said striking face of said golf club head.

16. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein said remainder of said plurality of fibers is offset less than 30 degrees from said first direction.

17. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein said remainder of said plurality of fibers is offset less than 15 degrees from said first direction.

18. A golf club head comprising:

a striking face placed at a frontal portion of said golf club head; and

a body portion having a crown and a sole, attached to an aft portion of said striking face; and

a low damping composite attached to an internal portion of said striking face;

said low-damping composite comprising a plurality of fibers, a majority of said plurality of fibers oriented in a first direction, a remainder of said plurality of fibers offset from said first direction, said remainder of said plurality of fibers offset less than 45 degrees from said first direction;

wherein said golf club head has a first peak in sound power occurring at greater than about 3,500 hertz and less than about 4,500 hertz;

said first peak in sound power is defined as a sound power output of greater than about 0.1 watts.

19. The golf club head of claim 18, wherein said remainder of said plurality of fibers is offset less than 30 degrees from said first direction.

20. The golf club head of claim 18, wherein said remainder of said plurality of fibers is offset less than 15 degrees from said first direction.