GOLF CLUB HAVING A LOW MODULUS CROWN

• US 20190275384A1
• Filed: 03/06/2018
• Published: 09/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Martens, Grant M., Deshmukh, Uday V., Frame, Nick, Cleghorn, Richard L., Funaki, Takeshi Casey, Takehara, Doug M.
• Granted Patent: US 10,583,334 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/00 Characteristics of used materials
• 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 53/0466 wood-type

Abstract

A golf club head with a crown comprising an inner crown portion and an outer crown portion. The inner crown portion may be made of a low density or low elastic modulus material. The outer portion of the crown defines an opening to the cavity, a riser extending into the cavity, and a ledge extending from the edge of the riser. The ledge may define a first channel and a second channel that extend around the ledge. The first channel is filled with adhesive to secure the inner portion of the crown to the ledge. The inner portion of the crown is attached to the ledge such that the opening is covered by the inner portion of the crown. The golf club head may also have a sole comprising an inner sole portion and an outer sole portion.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a sole positioned on a bottom side of the golf club head;

a striking face positioned toward the front of the golf club head and attached to at least a portion of the sole; and

a crown positioned on a top side of the golf club head such that a cavity is formed between the sole, the striking face, and the crown, wherein the crown includes an outer portion made of a first material and an inner portion made of a second material;

wherein the outer portion defines;

an opening to the cavity, wherein the opening has a center;

a riser extending into the cavity, the riser having a bottom edge; and

a ledge extending from the edge of the riser towards the center;

wherein the ledge defines a first channel and a second channel that extend around the ledge, wherein the first channel is filled with an adhesive to secure the inner portion of the crown to the ledge; and

wherein the inner portion of the crown is attached to the ledge such that the opening is covered by the inner portion of the crown.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the first channel has a volume greater than a volume of the second channel.

3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a distance between the first channel and the riser is less than a distance between the second channel and an inner edge of the ledge.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a width of the ledge varies around a perimeter of the opening such that a maximum ledge width is disposed proximate the striking face of the golf club head and a minimum ledge width is disposed proximate a rear of the golf club head.

5. The golf club head of claim 4, wherein a ratio between the maximum ledge width and the minimum ledge width is at least 2:

1.

6. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a thickness of the ledge is less than a thickness of a remainder of the outer portion of the crown.

7. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the inner portion of the crown comprises at least about 85% of an exterior surface area of the crown.

8. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the second material is at least one of a wood-based material and a material displaying an elastic modulus of about 10 GPa to about 50 GPa.

9. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein an offset distance between the striking face and the inner portion of the crown is between about 10 mm to about 20 mm.

10. A golf club head comprising:

a sole positioned on a bottom side of the golf club head;

a striking face positioned toward the front of the golf club head and attached to at least a portion of the sole;

a crown positioned on a top side of the golf club head such that a cavity is formed in between the sole, the striking face, and the crown, wherein the crown includes an outer portion made of a first material and an inner portion made of a second material, wherein the outer portion defines an opening to the cavity, wherein the opening has a center;

a shelf attached to an internal surface of the outer portion of the crown around a perimeter of the opening, wherein the shelf extends towards the center; and

wherein the inner portion of the crown is attached to the shelf such that the opening is covered by the inner portion of the crown.

11. The golf club head of claim 10, wherein the first material is titanium and the second material is one of a wood-based material and a magnesium-based material.

12. The golf club head of claim 10, wherein the second material displays an elastic modulus of between about 5 GPa to about 20 GPa.

13. The golf club head of claim 10, wherein the inner portion of the crown is formed from a polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) material and a composite material.

14. The golf club head of claim 13, wherein the PPS material comprises at least about 90% of a volume of the inner portion of the crown.

15. The golf club head of claim 10, wherein the inner portion is separated from the outer portion by one of the shelf or a polymer spacer around a perimeter of the inner portion.

16. The golf club head of claim 10, wherein the shelf is adhesively attached to the internal surface of the outer portion of the crown and the inner portion of the crown is adhesively attached to the shelf.

17. A golf club head, comprising:

a sole positioned on a bottom side of the golf club head, wherein the sole includes an outer sole portion made of a first material and an inner sole portion made of a second material;

a striking face positioned toward the front of the golf club head and attached to at least a portion of the sole; and

a crown positioned on a top side of the golf club head such that a cavity is formed between the sole, the striking face, and the crown, wherein the crown includes an outer crown portion made of the first material and an inner crown portion made of the second material;

wherein the outer crown portion defines;

a first opening to the cavity, wherein the first opening has a center;

a crown riser extending into the cavity, the crown riser having a bottom edge; and

a crown ledge extending from the bottom edge of the crown riser towards the center of the first opening;

wherein the outer sole portion defines;

a second opening to the cavity, wherein the second opening has a center;

a sole riser extending into the cavity, the sole riser having a top edge; and

a sole ledge extending from the top edge of the sole riser towards the center of the second opening;

wherein the inner crown portion is attached to the crown ledge such that the first opening is covered by the inner crown portion; and

wherein the inner sole portion is attached to the sole ledge such that the second opening is covered by the inner sole portion.

18. The golf club head of claim 17, wherein the first opening and second opening are portions of a single continuous opening.

19. The golf club head of claim 17, wherein the inner sole portion and the inner crown portion are portions of a single continuous portion made of the second material.

20. The golf club head of claim 17, wherein the sole ledge defines a first channel and a second channel that extend around the sole ledge, wherein the first channel is filled with an adhesive to secure the inner sole portion to the sole ledge.