Method and apparatus for active control of golf club impact
First Claim
1. A golf club head having a hitting surface for impacting a golf ball;
- the head comprising;
a transducer for converting mechanical energy from said surface impacting a golf ball to an electrical energy;
a circuit for selectively steering and applying said electrical energy; and
an actuator mechanically coupled to said hitting surface and responsive to said electrical energy for affecting said hitting surface and altering golf ball impact in response to said electrical energy.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for actively controlling the impact between a club head and a golf ball. A golf club head has a face with an actuator material or device mechanically coupled to influence face motion. The face actuation controls impact parameters, impact properties, or resulting ball parameters such as speed, direction and spin rates resulting from the impact event between the face of the club and the golf ball. Further, the apparatus has a control device for determining the actuation of the face. Several embodiments are presented for controlling parameters such as ball speed and direction. The invention can use energy derived from the ball impact, converted into electrical energy, and then reapplied in a controlled fashion to influence an aspect of the face, such as position, velocity, deformation, stiffness, vibration, motion, temperature, or other physical parameter.
132 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A golf club head having a hitting surface for impacting a golf ball;
- the head comprising;
a transducer for converting mechanical energy from said surface impacting a golf ball to an electrical energy;
a circuit for selectively steering and applying said electrical energy; and
an actuator mechanically coupled to said hitting surface and responsive to said electrical energy for affecting said hitting surface and altering golf ball impact in response to said electrical energy. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 30)
- the head comprising;
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22. A golf club head having a ball impacting face for hitting a stationary golf ball, the head comprising;
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a transducer for converting first mechanical energy of golf ball impact into input electrical energy and for converting output electrical energy into second mechanical energy; and
a circuit for receiving said input electrical energy and supplying said output electrical energy;
said input electrical energy being a pulse signal responsive to the first mechanical energy and said output electrical energy being an oscillating signal. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of reducing the effective coefficient of friction between the face of a golf club head and a golf ball;
- the method comprising the step of;
converting the energy of ball impact with said face into an ultra-sonic vibration of said face to affect the interaction of said face and said ball during said impact. - View Dependent Claims (29)
- the method comprising the step of;
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31. A method of altering the interaction between a golf club head hitting surface and a golf ball being impacted by the hitting surface;
- the method comprising the steps of;
coupling a piezoelectric element to said hitting surface to generate a first electrical signal in response to said hitting surface impacting said golf ball;
converting said first electrical signal into a selected second electrical signal;
selectively connecting said second electrical signal to said piezoelectric element to create a mechanical effect on said hitting surface to alter the behavior of said golf ball. - View Dependent Claims (32)
- the method comprising the steps of;
- 33. A golf club head having a hitting surface and comprising a device responsive to impact of said hitting surface with a golf ball for stiffening said hitting surface when the force of said impact exceeds a selected threshold.
- 39. A golf club head comprising a variable stiffening element for selectively increasing and decreasing the stiffness of a hitting surface of said head.
Specification