Hollow golf club head having crown stress reducing feature
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A hollow golf club head (400) comprising:
- (i) a face (500) positioned at a front portion (402) of the golf club head (400) where the golf club head (400) impacts a golf ball, opposite a rear portion (404) of the golf club head (400), wherein the face (400) includes an engineered impact point (EIP), a top edge height (TEH), and a lower edge height (LEH);
(ii) a sole (700) positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head (400);
(iii) a crown (600) positioned at a top portion of the golf club head (400);
(iv) a bore having a center that defines a shaft axis (SA) which intersects with a horizontal ground plane (GP) to define an origin point, wherein the bore is located at a heel side (406) of the golf club head (400), and wherein a toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) is located opposite of the heel side (406);
(v) a center of gravity (CG) located;
(a) vertically toward the crown (600) of the golf club head (400) from the origin point a distance Ycg;
(b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) a distance Xcg that is generally parallel to the face (500) and the ground plane (GP); and
(c) a distance Zcg from the origin toward the rear portion (404) in a direction generally orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and generally orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; and
(vi) a stress reducing feature (1000) including a crown located SRF (1100) located on the crown (600), wherein the crown located SRF (1100) has a CSRF length (1110) between a CSRF toe-most point (1112) and a CSRF heel-most point (1116), a CSRF leading edge (1120) having a CSRF leading edge offset (1122), a CSRF width (1140), and a CSRF depth (1150), wherein the maximum CSRF width (1140) is at least ten percent of the Zcg distance and the maximum CSRF depth (1150) is at least ten percent of the Ycg distance, and wherein the face (500) has a characteristic time of at least 220 microseconds, and a head volume is less than 200 cubic centimeters.
14 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A hollow golf club head incorporating a stress reducing feature including a crown located stress reducing feature. The location and size of the crown stress reducing feature, and their relationship to one another and other club head engineering variables, play a significant role in selectively increasing deflection of the face.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A hollow golf club head (400) comprising:
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(i) a face (500) positioned at a front portion (402) of the golf club head (400) where the golf club head (400) impacts a golf ball, opposite a rear portion (404) of the golf club head (400), wherein the face (400) includes an engineered impact point (EIP), a top edge height (TEH), and a lower edge height (LEH); (ii) a sole (700) positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head (400); (iii) a crown (600) positioned at a top portion of the golf club head (400); (iv) a bore having a center that defines a shaft axis (SA) which intersects with a horizontal ground plane (GP) to define an origin point, wherein the bore is located at a heel side (406) of the golf club head (400), and wherein a toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) is located opposite of the heel side (406); (v) a center of gravity (CG) located; (a) vertically toward the crown (600) of the golf club head (400) from the origin point a distance Ycg; (b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) a distance Xcg that is generally parallel to the face (500) and the ground plane (GP); and (c) a distance Zcg from the origin toward the rear portion (404) in a direction generally orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and generally orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; and (vi) a stress reducing feature (1000) including a crown located SRF (1100) located on the crown (600), wherein the crown located SRF (1100) has a CSRF length (1110) between a CSRF toe-most point (1112) and a CSRF heel-most point (1116), a CSRF leading edge (1120) having a CSRF leading edge offset (1122), a CSRF width (1140), and a CSRF depth (1150), wherein the maximum CSRF width (1140) is at least ten percent of the Zcg distance and the maximum CSRF depth (1150) is at least ten percent of the Ycg distance, and wherein the face (500) has a characteristic time of at least 220 microseconds, and a head volume is less than 200 cubic centimeters. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A hollow golf club head (400) comprising:
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(i) a face (500) positioned at a front portion (402) of the golf club head (400) where the golf club head (400) impacts a golf ball, opposite a rear portion (404) of the golf club head (400), wherein the face (400) includes an engineered impact point (EIP), a top edge height (TEH), and a lower edge height (LEH); (ii) a sole (700) positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head (400); (iii) a crown (600) positioned at a top portion of the golf club head (400); (iv) a bore having a center that defines a shaft axis (SA) which intersects with a horizontal ground plane (GP) to define an origin point, wherein the bore is located at a heel side (406) of the golf club head (400), and wherein a toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) is located opposite of the heel side (406); (v) a center of gravity (CG) located; (a) vertically toward the crown (600) of the golf club head (400) from the origin point a distance Ycg; (b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) a distance Xcg that is generally parallel to the face (500) and the ground plane (GP); and (c) a distance Zcg from the origin toward the rear portion (404) in a direction generally orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and generally orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; (vi) wherein the engineered impact point (EIP) is located; (a) vertically toward the crown (600) of the golf club head (400) from the origin point a distance Yeip, wherein 0.5″
>
(Yeip−
Ycg)>
−
0.5″
;(b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) a distance Xeip that is generally parallel to the face (500) and the ground plane (GP), wherein 0.5″
>
(Xeip−
Xcg)>
−
0.5″
; and(c) a distance Zeip from the origin toward the face (500) in a direction generally orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and generally orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg, wherein (Zeip+Zcg)<
2.0″
;(vii) a blade length (BL) of at least 3.0 inches when the blade length (BL) is measured horizontally from the origin point toward the toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) to the most distant point on the golf club head in this direction, wherein the blade length (BL) includes a toe blade length section (Bbl) and a heel blade length section (Abl) measured in the same direction as the blade length (BL) from the origin point to the engineered impact point (EIP), wherein the heel blade length section (Abl) is at least 0.8 inches; and (viii) a stress reducing feature (1000) including a crown located SRF (1100) located on the crown (600), wherein the crown located SRF (1100) has a CSRF length (1110) between a CSRF toe-most point (1112) and a CSRF heel-most point (1116), a CSRF leading edge (1120) having a CSRF leading edge offset (1122), a CSRF width (1140), and a CSRF depth (1350, wherein (a) the maximum CSRF width (1340) is at least ten percent of the Zcg distance; (b) the maximum CSRF depth (1350) is at least ten percent of the Ycg distance and at least five percent of the difference between the maximum top edge height (TEH) and the minimum lower edge height (LEH); (c) the CSRF length (1310) is at least as great as the heel blade length section (Abl); and (d) at least a portion of the crown located SRF (1100) has a CSRF wall thickness (1160) that is less than sixty percent of a maximum face thickness (530), and the face (500) has a characteristic time of at least 220 microseconds. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A hollow golf club head (400) comprising:
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(i) a face (500) positioned at a front portion (402) of the golf club head (400) where the golf club head (400) impacts a golf ball, opposite a rear portion (404) of the golf club head (400), wherein the face (400) includes an engineered impact point (EIP), a top edge height (TEH), and a lower edge height (LEH); (ii) a sole (700) positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head (400); (iii) a crown (600) positioned at a top portion of the golf club head (400); (iv) a bore having a center that defines a shaft axis (SA) which intersects with a horizontal ground plane (GP) to define an origin point, wherein the bore is located at a heel side (406) of the golf club head (400), and wherein a toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) is located opposite of the heel side (406); (v) a center of gravity (CG) located; (a) vertically toward the crown (600) of the golf club head (400) from the origin point a distance Ycg; (b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) a distance Xcg that is generally parallel to the face (500) and the ground plane (GP); and (c) a distance Zcg from the origin toward the rear portion (404) in a direction generally orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and generally orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; and (vi) a stress reducing feature (1000) including a crown located SRF (1100) located on the crown (600), wherein the crown located SRF (1100) has a CSRF length (1110) between a CSRF toe-most point (1112) and a CSRF heel-most point (1116), a CSRF leading edge (1120) having a CSRF leading edge offset (1122), a CSRF width (1140), and a CSRF depth (1150), wherein the maximum CSRF width (1140) is at least ten percent of the Zcg distance and the maximum CSRF depth (1150) is at least ten percent of the Ycg distance, and wherein the face (500) has a characteristic time of at least 220 microseconds, a head volume is less than 200 cubic centimeters, and at least a portion of the crown located SRF (1100) has a CSRF wall thickness (1160) that is less than sixty percent of a maximum face thickness (530). - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. A hollow golf club head (400) comprising:
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(i) a face (500) positioned at a front portion (402) of the golf club head (400) where the golf club head (400) impacts a golf ball, opposite a rear portion (404) of the golf club head (400), wherein the face (400) includes an engineered impact point (EIP), a top edge height (TEH), and a lower edge height (LEH); (ii) a sole (700) positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head (400); (iii) a crown (600) positioned at a top portion of the golf club head (400); (iv) a bore having a center that defines a shaft axis (SA) which intersects with a horizontal ground plane (GP) to define an origin point, wherein the bore is located at a heel side (406) of the golf club head (400), and wherein a toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) is located opposite of the heel side (406); (v) a center of gravity (CG) located; (a) vertically toward the crown (600) of the golf club head (400) from the origin point a distance Ycg; (b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) a distance Xcg that is generally parallel to the face (500) and the ground plane (GP); and (c) a distance Zcg from the origin toward the rear portion (404) in a direction generally orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and generally orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg; (vi) wherein the engineered impact point (EIP) is located; (a) vertically toward the crown (600) of the golf club head (400) from the origin point a distance Yeip, wherein 0.5″
>
(Yeip−
Ycg)>
−
0.5″
;(b) horizontally from the origin point toward the toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) a distance Xeip that is generally parallel to the face (500) and the ground plane (GP), wherein 0.5″
>
(Xeip−
Xcg)>
−
0.5″
; and(c) a distance Zeip from the origin toward the face (500) in a direction generally orthogonal to the vertical direction used to measure Ycg and generally orthogonal to the horizontal direction used to measure Xcg, wherein (Zeip+Zcg)<
2.0″
;(vii) a blade length (BL) of at least 3.0 inches when the blade length (BL) is measured horizontally from the origin point toward the toe side (408) of the golf club head (400) to the most distant point on the golf club head in this direction, wherein the blade length (BL) includes a toe blade length section (Bbl) and a heel blade length section (Abl) measured in the same direction as the blade length (BL) from the origin point to the engineered impact point (EIP), wherein the heel blade length section (Abl) is at least 0.8 inches; and (viii) a stress reducing feature (1000) including a crown located SRF (1100) located on the crown (600), wherein the crown located SRF (1100) has a CSRF length (1110) between a CSRF toe-most point (1112) and a CSRF heel-most point (1116), a CSRF leading edge (1120) having a CSRF leading edge offset (1122), a CSRF width (1140), and a CSRF depth (1350, wherein (a) the maximum CSRF width (1340) is at least ten percent of the Zcg distance; (b) the maximum CSRF depth (1350) is at least ten percent of the Ycg distance and at least five percent of the difference between the maximum top edge height (TEH) and the minimum lower edge height (LEH); (c) the CSRF length (1310) is at least as great as the heel blade length section (Abl); (d) at least a portion of the crown located SRF (1100) has a CSRF wall thickness (1160) that is less than sixty percent of a maximum face thickness (530), and the face (500) has a characteristic time of at least 220 microseconds; and (e) the CSRF leading edge (1120) is curved and has a CSRF leading edge radius of curvature (1124) that is within twenty percent of a curvature of a bulge of the face (500). - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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Specification