Co-forged golf club head and method of manufacture

• US 9,616,303 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2014
• Issued: 04/11/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/28/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Wu, Michael, Hebreo, Jonathan
• Primary Examiner(s): HUNTER, ALVIN A
• Application Number:
  US14/580,894
• Publication Number:
  US 20150111660A1
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: 473324-305, 473324-350
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2053/0491 with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/00 Characteristics of used materials
• 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 53/0433 with special sole configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/047 iron-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/06 adjustable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/02 Ballast means for adjusting the centre of mass A63B60/24, A63B60/54 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B21K 17/00 Making sport articles, e.g. skates

Abstract

A co-forged iron type golf club is disclosed. More specifically, the present invention discloses a co-forged iron type golf club with the body portion made out of a first material and at least one weight adjustment portion monolithically encased within the body portion of the co-forged iron type golf club head without the need for secondary attachment or machining operations. The present invention creates of an iron type golf club head from a pre-form billet that already contains two or more materials before the actual forging process resulting in a multi-material golf club head that doesn'"'"'t require any post manufacturing operations such as machining, welding, swaging, gluing, and the like.

Claims

1. A forged golf club head comprising:

a body portion made out of a first material having at least one cavity;

at least one weight adjustment portion made out of a second material encased within said body portion; and

a cap made out of said first material, at least partially enclosing said cavity;

wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is encased monolithically within said body portion,

wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion further comprises one or more indentations,

wherein said first material has a first thermal expansion coefficient and said second material has a second thermal expansion coefficient and wherein said first thermal expansion coefficient is greater than or equal to said second thermal expansion coefficient, and

wherein said first thermal expansion coefficient is about 8.0 μ

in/in°

F., and said second thermal expansion coefficient is about 6.1 μ

in/in°

F.

2. The forged golf club head of claim 1, wherein said one or more indentations are notches.

3. The forged golf club head of claim 1, wherein said one or more indentations are grooves.

4. The forged golf club head of claim 1, wherein said one or more indentations are depressions.

5. The forged golf club head of claim 1, wherein said one or more indentations form a textured surface.

6. The forged golf club head of claim 1, wherein said first material has a first forging temperature and said second material has a second forging temperature;

wherein said first forging temperature and said second forging temperature are substantially the same as one another.

7. The forged golf club head of claim 6, wherein said first forging temperature is about 1,200°

C., and said second forging temperature is about 1,100°

C.

8. The forged golf club head of claim 6, wherein said first material has a first flow stress and said second material has a second flow stress;

Wherein said first flow stress and said second flow stress are different from one another.

9. The forged golf club head of claim 8, wherein said first flow stress is about 10 ksi and said second flow stress is about 12 ksi.

10. A forged golf club head comprising:

a body portion made out of a first material having at least one cavity;

at least one weight adjustment portion made out of a second material within said body portion; and

a cap, at least partially enclosing said cavity;

wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is encased monolithically within said body portion; and

wherein an outer surface area of said at least one weight adjustment portion equals an inner surface area of said at least one cavity; and

wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion further comprises one or more indentations.

11. The forged golf club head of claim 10, wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a sole of said golf club head.

12. The forged golf club head of claim 11, wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a heel portion of said sole of said golf club head.

13. The forged golf club head of claim 11, wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a toe portion of said sole of said golf club head.

14. The forged golf club head of claim 10, wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a striking face portion of said golf club head.

15. The forged golf club head of claim 10, wherein said first material has a first thermal expansion coefficient and said second material has a second thermal expansion coefficient;

wherein said first thermal expansion coefficient is greater than or equal to said second thermal expansion coefficient.

16. The forged golf club head of claim 15, wherein said first thermal expansion coefficient is about 8.0 μ

in/in°

F., and said second thermal expansion coefficient is about 6.1 μ

in/in°

F.