Golf club head having sole stress reducing feature

• US 9,566,479 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2015
• Issued: 02/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Co., Inc.
• Original Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Co., Inc.
• Inventors: Albertsen, Jeffrey J., Burnett, Michael Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): HUNTER, ALVIN A
• Application Number:
  US14/873,477
• Publication Number:
  US 20160023065A1
• Time in Patent Office: 501 Days
• Field of Search: 473324-350
• 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 53/0412 Volume
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0437 with special crown configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0458 with non-uniform thickness of the impact face plate
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/047 iron-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/00 Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like

Abstract

A golf club head incorporating a stress reducing feature including at least one sole located stress reducing feature located at least partially on the sole. The location, curvature, and size of the sole stress reducing feature, and their relationship to one another, and other club head engineering variables, improve the performance of the club head.

Claims

1. A 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 (500) includes a bulge, 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; 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 face (500) has a blade length (BL) 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); and

(vii) a stress reducing feature (1000) including a sole located SRF (1300) located at least partially on the sole (700), wherein the sole located SRF (1300) has a SSRF length (1310), a SSRF leading edge (1320) having a SSRF leading edge offset (1322) and a SSRF leading edge radius of curvature (1324), a SSRF width (1340), and a SSRF depth (1350, wherein the SSRF depth (1350) of a portion of the sole located SRF (1300) is at least ten percent of the Ycg distance, and majority of the SSRF leading edge (1320) is curved with the SSRF leading edge radius of curvature (1324) being within forty percent of the curvature of the bulge of the face (500).

2. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein majority of the SSRF leading edge (1320) is curved with the SSRF leading edge radius of curvature (1324) being within twenty percent of the curvature of the bulge of the face (500).

3. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein the minimum SSRF leading edge offset (1322) is at least ten percent of the difference between the maximum top edge height (TEH) and the minimum lower edge height (LEH).

4. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein the greatest SSRF leading edge offset (1322) is less than seventy-five percent of the difference between the maximum top edge height (TEH) and the minimum lower edge height (LEH).

5. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein the SSRF width (1340) of a portion of the sole located SRF (1300) is at least ten percent of the Zcg distance.

6. The golf club head (400) of claim 5, wherein the SSRF width (1340) of a portion of the sole located SRF (1300) is at least fifty percent of the minimum SSRF leading edge offset (1322).

7. The golf club head (400) of claim 6, wherein the SSRF depth (1350) of a portion of the sole located SRF (1300) is at least twenty percent of the difference between the maximum top edge height (TEH) and the minimum lower edge height (LEH).

8. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein the SSRF length (1310) is at least as great as the heel blade length section (Abl).

9. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the SSRF leading edge (1320) is located behind a plane defined by the shaft axis (SA) and the Xcg direction.

10. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein a club moment arm (CMA) from the CG to the engineered impact point (EIP) is less than 1.3 inches and the club head (400) has a characteristic time of at least 220 microseconds.

11. The golf club head (400) of claim 10, wherein the club moment arm (CMA) is less than 1.1 inches.

12. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the sole located SRF (1300) has a SSRF wall thickness (1360) that is less than sixty percent of a greatest face thickness (530).

13. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein a portion of the golf club head is made of a nonmetallic composite material having a density of less than 5 g/cc.

14. The golf club head (400) of claim 1, wherein the stress reducing feature (1000) includes at least two sole located SRF (1300) located at least partially on the sole (700).

15. The golf club head (400) of claim 14, wherein at least one of the at least two sole located SRF (1300) is located on each side of a front-to-rear vertical CG plane.

16. A 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 (500) includes a bulge, 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; 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) wherein the face (500) has a blade length (BL) 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); and

(viii) a stress reducing feature (1000) including a sole located SRF (1300) located at least partially on the sole (700), wherein the sole located SRF (1300) has a SSRF length (1310), a SSRF leading edge (1320) having a SSRF leading edge offset (1322) and a SSRF leading edge radius of curvature (1324), a SSRF width (1340), and a SSRF depth (1350, wherein the SSRF width (1340) of a portion of the sole located SRF (1300) is at least ten percent of the Zcg distance, and majority of the SSRF leading edge (1320) is curved with the SSRF leading edge radius of curvature (1324) being within forty percent of the curvature of the bulge of the face (500).

17. The golf club head (400) of claim 16, wherein majority of the SSRF leading edge (1320) is curved with the SSRF leading edge radius of curvature (1324) being within twenty percent of the curvature of the bulge of the face (500).

18. The golf club head (400) of claim 16, wherein the minimum SSRF leading edge offset (1322) is at least ten percent of the difference between the maximum top edge height (TEH) and the minimum lower edge height (LEH).

19. The golf club head (400) of claim 16, wherein the greatest SSRF leading edge offset (1322) is less than seventy-five percent of the difference between the maximum top edge height (TEH) and the minimum lower edge height (LEH).

20. The golf club head (400) of claim 16, wherein the SSRF width (1340) of a portion of the sole located SRF (1300) is at least fifty percent of the minimum SSRF leading edge offset (1322).

21. The golf club head (400) of claim 16, wherein the SSRF depth (1350) of a portion of the sole located SRF (1300) is at least ten percent of the Ycg distance.

22. The golf club head (400) of claim 16, wherein the SSRF length (1310) is at least as great as the heel blade length section (Abl).

23. The golf club head (400) of claim 16, wherein the club head (400) has a characteristic time of at least 220 microseconds.