Golf club head with variable thickness face to body transition

• US 9,144,721 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2013
• Issued: 09/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Golden, Charles E., Morin, John W., Galvan, Darryl C., Cleghorn, Richard L., Murphy, Stephen S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Layno, Benjamin
• Application Number:
  US14/025,535
• Publication Number:
  US 20150072803A1
• Time in Patent Office: 747 Days
• Field of Search: 473/349, 473/345, 473/346
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/04 Heads
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0408 characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 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 60/00 Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/02 Ballast means for adjusting the centre of mass A63B60/24, A63B60/54 take precedence

Abstract

A golf club having variable face to body transition is disclosed herein. More specifically, the present invention relates to a golf club head having an indented transition region that helps facilitate the transition of thickness variation from the striking face to a rear aft body. The indented transition region may be located on the crown, the skirt, or the sole, and achieves improved performance by achieving an increased thickness reduction slope.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

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

a body portion connect to an aft portion of said striking face portion,

wherein said body portion further comprises;

a crown portion connected to an upper portion aft of said striking face portion;

a sole portion connected to a bottom portion aft of said striking face portion; and

a skirt portion circumferentially connecting said crown portion to said bottom portion;

wherein at least one of said crown portion, said sole portion, and said skirt portion comprises an indented transition region;

said indented transition region has an Indented Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope of greater than about 0.06;

said Indented Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope defined as a change in thickness of said indented transition region divided by a length of said indented transition region.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said Indented Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope is greater than about 0.07.

3. The golf club head of claim 2, wherein said Indented Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope is greater than about 0.08.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said indented transition region is located on a crown portion of said golf club head.

5. The golf club head of claim 4, wherein said intended transition region is located away from a central transition region of said crown.

6. The golf club head of claim 5, wherein said central transition region has a Central Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope of less than about 0.06;

said Central Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope defined as a change in thickness of said central transition region divided by a length of said central transition region.

7. The golf club head of claim 6, wherein said Central Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope is less than about 0.055.

8. The golf club head of claim 7, wherein said Central Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope is less than about 0.05.

9. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said indented transition region is located on a skirt portion of said golf club head.

10. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said indented transition region is located internally within a cavity of said golf club head.

11. A golf club head comprising:

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

a body portion connect to an aft portion of said striking face portion;

wherein said body portion further comprises;

a crown portion connected to an upper portion aft of said striking face portion;

a sole portion connected to a bottom portion aft of said striking face portion; and

a skirt portion circumferentially connecting said crown portion to said bottom portion;

wherein said crown portion further comprises;

a central transition region; and

a plurality of two or more indented transition regions;

wherein said plurality of two or more indented transition regions are located away from said central transition region in a heel and toe direction;

wherein said plurality of two or more indented transition region have an Indented Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope of greater than about 0.06;

said Indented Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope defined as a change in thickness of said indented transition region divided by a length of said indented transition region.

12. The golf club head of claim 11, where each of said plurality of two or more indented transition regions all have identical Indented Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope.

13. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein at least one said plurality of two or more indented transition regions all have a different Indented Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope than another one of said plurality of two or more indented transition regions.

14. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein said central transition region has a Central Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope of less than about 0.06;

said Central Transition Region Thickness Reduction Slope defined as a change in thickness of said central transition region divided by a length of said central transition region.

15. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein said plurality of two or more indented transition regions have a length distance of less than about 7.0 mm.

16. The golf club head of claim 15, wherein said length distance is less than about 6.5 mm.

17. The golf club head of claim 16, wherein said length distance is less than about 6.0 mm.

18. The golf club head of claim 11, wherein said indented transition region is placed internally within a cavity of said golf club head.