Golf club head with elastically deforming face and back plates
First Claim
1. A golf club, comprising a head having a body that defines a cavity, a toe, a heel, and a face plate, the face plate arranged to contact a golf ball when the club is properly swung by a player, the head further having a back plate located in the cavity proximate the face, the back plate and the face plate bounding a space that occupies only a portion of the cavity, the back plate being fluidly coupled to the face plate and being designed to deform elastically in response to deformation of the face plate.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A golf club head is disclosed having a club face comprised of a plurality of plates that act in concert to provide a spring-like response when the club impacts a golf ball. The plates are fluidly coupled by providing appropriate surfaces to the plates at their interface or by locating a viscous fluid between the plates. The plates are held in place by coupling them to the head body. One or more plates may be integrally formed with the body of the golf club head. Various parameters may be selected to optimize response or to customize the response for different golfing styles including the relative thickness of the plates, the presence of a viscous fluid between the plates, the type and viscosity of the viscous fluid, the material of the plates, (and hence, their coefficient of elasticity) and the type of mechanical coupling of the plates to the body of the golf club head.
380 Citations
38 Claims
- 1. A golf club, comprising a head having a body that defines a cavity, a toe, a heel, and a face plate, the face plate arranged to contact a golf ball when the club is properly swung by a player, the head further having a back plate located in the cavity proximate the face, the back plate and the face plate bounding a space that occupies only a portion of the cavity, the back plate being fluidly coupled to the face plate and being designed to deform elastically in response to deformation of the face plate.
- 16. A golf club, comprising a head having a ball-contacting portion, the ball-contacting portion including an external plate and an internal plate, the plates being substantially planar and separated by less than about 2.54 mm (0.10 inches), the separation defining a gap between the plates, the gap being filled with a viscous fluid, and the fluid aiding the plates to move relative to one another.
- 25. A golf club, comprising a head having a ball-contacting portion, the ball-contacting portion including an external plate and an internal plate, the plates being substantially planar and separated by less than about 2.54 mm (0.10 inches) so that when the external plate elastically deforms due to impact with a golf ball the internal plate elastically deforms, and wherein the external plate has a first thickness and the internal plate has a second thickness and when the head hits a golf ball the external plate deforms a first amount and the internal plate deforms a second amount and the first thickness and second thickness are selected so that the first amount of deformation is substantially equal to the second amount of deformation.
- 28. A golf club, comprising a head having a body that defines a cavity, the head including a leaf spring face having a plurality of plates fluidly coupled together for deflection in substantial unison when the face impacts a golf ball during a golf swing by a golfer, the leaf spring face temporarily storing energy imparted by the impact between the face and the golf ball and then returning the energy to the golf ball.
- 35. A golf club, comprising a head having a body that defines a cavity, a toe, a heel, and a face plate, the face plate arranged to contact a golf ball when the club is properly swung by a player and deflect in response thereto, the head further having a back plate located in the cavity proximate the face, the back plate being fluidly coupled to the face plate, the face plate and the back plate having geometries and physical properties selected so that when the golf club impacts a golf ball, the back plate deforms approximately the same amount as the face plate.
Specification