Golf club head with flexure

• US 9,675,850 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2015
• Issued: 06/13/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Murphy, Stephen S., Cleghorn, Richard L., Bennett, Thomas Orrin, Frame, Nick
• Primary Examiner(s): Passaniti, Sebastiano
• Application Number:
  US14/832,587
• Publication Number:
  US 20150352415A1
• Time in Patent Office: 662 Days
• Field of Search: 473324-350, 473287-292
• 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 2209/02 with reinforcing fibres, e.g. carbon, polyamide fibres
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0408 characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0412 Volume
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/042 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 53/0437 with special crown configurations
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/045 Strengthening ribs
• 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 53/06 adjustable
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/00 Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/002 Resonance frequency related characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/52 with slits
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/54 with means for damping vibrations

Abstract

A golf club head including a crown, a sole, a hosel, a face and a flexure. The flexure provides compliance during an impact between the golf club head and a golf ball, and is tuned to vibrate, immediately after impact, at a predetermined frequency. A slot is included in a portion of the golf club head and works with the flexure to further tune performance.

Claims

1. A golf club head, comprising:

a crown defining an upper surface of the golf club head;

a sole defining a lower surface of the golf club head, comprising a transmittal portion, a flexure and a rear portion, wherein the transmittal portion includes an elongate slot defining an aperture that extends through the sole;

a side wall extending between the crown and the sole;

a hosel extending from the crown and including a shaft bore; and

a face defining a front ball-striking surface and a back surface, the face intersecting the transmittal portion at a leading edge,

wherein the golf club head defines an origin at a location on a shaft axis defined by the shaft bore in a plane defined by a proximal end of the hosel, an x-axis extending from the origin in a heel to toe direction and parallel to a plane that is tangent to the face at a geometric face center of the ball-striking surface, a y-axis extending vertically through the origin and perpendicular to a ground plane when the golf club head is in an address position on the ground plane, and a z-axis extending in a face to aft direction parallel to the ground plane when the golf club head is in an address position,

wherein the flexure is spaced aftward of the ball-striking surface by the transmittal portion, and comprises a front wall, wherein the front wall extends into a cavity defined by the golf club head, and

wherein the elongate slot intersects a vertical plane parallel to the y-axis and the z-axis and extending through the geometric face center of the ball-striking surface.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the slot extends from the back surface of the face to a front surface of the front wall of the flexure.

3. The golf club head of claim 2, wherein the back surface of the face is angled relative to the front surface of the front wall of the flexure, and the slot is tapered so that a width of the slot in a face to aft direction along an axis parallel to the z-axis varies over a depth of the slot that is measured along an axis that is parallel to the y-axis.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, further comprising an elastic insert that at least partially fills the slot, wherein the insert is constructed of a material having a hardness between about 30 and about 90 on a Shore A hardness scale.

5. The golf club head of claim 1, further comprising an elastic insert that at least partially fills the slot, wherein the insert is constructed of a material having a hardness between about 20 and about 40 on a Shore D hardness scale.

6. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the back surface of the face forms a front wall of the slot, and wherein the thickness of a portion of a face adjacent and toward the ball-striking surface from the slot has a thickness that is within 35% of the minimum thickness of the face.

7. The golf club head of claim 6, wherein the thickness of the portion of the face adjacent and toward the ball-striking surface from the slot has a thickness that is within 25% of the minimum thickness of the face.

8. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a maximum length of the slot in a heel to toe direction parallel to the x-axis is at least about 50% of a maximum length of the flexure in a heel to toe direction parallel to the x-axis.

9. The golf club head of claim 8, wherein the maximum length of the slot in a heel to toe direction parallel to the x-axis is between about 50 mm and about 90 mm.

10. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a maximum width of the slot in a face to aft direction along an axis parallel to the z-axis is between about 1.0 mm and about 4.0 mm.

11. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a distance between a ball-striking surface plane and a leading edge of the slot is between about 1.0 mm and about 8.0 mm, wherein the ball-striking surface plane is a plane that is tangent to the geometric face center of the ball-striking surface of the face.

12. A golf club head, comprising:

a crown defining an upper surface of the golf club head;

a sole defining a lower surface of the golf club head, comprising a transmittal portion, a flexure and a rear portion, wherein the transmittal portion includes an elongate slot defining an aperture that extends through the sole;

a side wall extending between the crown and the sole;

a hosel extending from the crown and including a shaft bore; and

a face defining a front ball-striking surface and a back surface, the face intersecting the transmittal portion at a leading edge,

wherein the golf club head defines an origin at a location on a shaft axis defined by the shaft bore in a plane defined by a proximal end of the hosel, an x-axis extending from the origin in a heel to toe direction and parallel to a plane that is tangent to the face at a geometric face center of the ball-striking surface, a y-axis extending vertically through the origin and perpendicular to a ground plane when the golf club head is in an address position on the ground plane, and a z-axis extending in a face to aft direction parallel to the ground plane when the golf club head is in an address position,

wherein the flexure is spaced aftward of the ball-striking surface by the transmittal portion, and comprises a front wall, wherein the front wall extends into a cavity defined by the golf club head,

wherein the elongate slot intersects a vertical plane parallel to the y-axis and the z-axis and extending through the geometric face center of the ball-striking surface,

wherein the back surface of the face forms a front wall of the slot, and

wherein a thickness of a portion of the face adjacent and toward the ball-striking surface from the slot has a thickness that is within 35% of the minimum thickness of the face, and

wherein a maximum width of the slot in a face to aft direction along an axis parallel to the z-axis is between about 1.0 mm and about 4.0 mm.

13. The golf club head of claim 12, wherein the thickness of the portion of the face adjacent and toward the ball-striking surface from the slot has a thickness that is within 25% of the minimum thickness of the face.

14. The golf club head of claim 12, wherein the slot extends from a back surface of the face to a front surface of the front wall of the flexure.

15. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the back surface of the face is angled relative to the front surface of the front wall of the flexure, and the slot is tapered so that a width of the slot in a face to aft direction along an axis parallel to the z-axis varies over a depth of the slot that is measured along an axis that is parallel to the y-axis.

16. The golf club head of claim 12, further comprising an elastic insert that at least partially fills the slot, wherein the insert is constructed of a material having a hardness between about 30 and about 90 on a Shore A hardness scale.

17. The golf club head of claim 12, further comprising an elastic insert that at least partially fills the slot, wherein the insert is constructed of a material having a hardness between about 20 and about 40 on a Shore D hardness scale.

18. The golf club head of claim 12, wherein a maximum length of the slot in a heel to toe direction parallel to the x-axis is at least about 50% of a maximum length of the flexure in a heel to toe direction parallel to the x-axis.

19. The golf club head of claim 18, wherein the maximum length of the slot in a heel to toe direction parallel to the x-axis is between about 50 mm and about 90 mm.

20. The golf club head of claim 19, wherein a distance between a ball-striking surface plane and a leading edge of the slot is between about 1.0 mm and about 8.0 mm, wherein the ball-striking surface plane is a plane that is tangent to the geometric face center of the ball-striking surface of the face.