US20100160076A1

US20100160076A1 - Golf club head

Info

Publication number: US20100160076A1
Application number: US12/338,549
Authority: US
Inventors: Chi-Wen Ling; Wen-Ching Hou; Chiang-Iai Lin
Original assignee: Fu Sheng Industrial Co Ltd; Nelson Precision Casting Co Ltd
Current assignee: Fu Sheng Industrial Co Ltd; Nelson Precision Casting Co Ltd
Priority date: 2008-12-18
Filing date: 2008-12-18
Publication date: 2010-06-24

Abstract

A golf club head includes a front face having a grooved striking zone for impacting a golf ball, a rear face opposite to said front face, a top portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a heel portion, a hosel portion having a shaft-receiving bore. The toe portion surface meets the front face along a first edge, and the toe portion extends outwardly from the first edge in a direction away from the hosel portion such that the vertical projection of the toe portion onto a plane containing the front face is substantially located outside of the front face. Besides, the sole surface meets the rear face along a trailing edge and meets the toe portion surface along a second edge, and the angle included between the trailing edge and the second edge is less than 90 degrees.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club head with a high moment of inertia.
2. Description of Related Art
Two important factors involved for resulting in an ideal impacting of a golf ball are, first, that the impact point on the front face of the golf club head should ideally be in alignment with the center of gravity of the golf club head and with the center of gravity of the golf ball; secondly, that the front face of the golf club head should be square with the intended travel path of the golf ball. At the time of impact, deviations from the ideal alignment of the impact point on the front face of the golf club head, the center of gravity of the golf club head and the center of gravity of the golf ball will result in less than a maximum transfer of energy, that is to say, the travel length of the golf ball is shortened. At the time of impact, if the front face of the golf club head is not perpendicular to the intended travel path of the golf ball, the golf ball will deviate from the intended travel path.
Referring to FIG. 4, if the impact point 402 on the front face 408 of the golf club head is laterally offset toward the toe of the golf club head such that the ideal alignment of the impact point 402 on the front face 408 of the golf club head, the center of gravity 404 of the golf club head and the center of gravity 406 of the golf ball is not achieved, the offset of the impact point 402 will cause the golf club head to rotate at the time of impact about an axis which passes through the center of gravity of the golf club head besides shortening the travel length of the golf ball such that a impact accuracy is affected.
It will be appreciated that it can be very difficult even for experienced golfers to achieve the ideal impacting of a golf ball. Therefore, it is needed to provide a new golf club head for reducing the gyrations caused by the offset of the impact point.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf club head with high moments of inertia for providing better gyration dampening characteristics to reduce the gyrations caused by the offset of the impact point.
To achieve the above listed and other objects, a golf club head according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a front face having a grooved striking zone for impacting a golf ball, a rear face opposite to said front face, a top portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a heel portion, and a hosel portion having a shaft-receiving bore. The toe portion surface meets the front face along a first edge, and the toe portion extends outwardly from the first edge in a direction away from the hosel portion such that the vertical projection of the toe portion onto a plane containing the front face is substantially located outside of the front face. Besides, the sole surface meets the rear face along a trailing edge and meets the toe portion surface along a second edge, and the angle included between the trailing edge and the second edge is less than 90 degrees.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an iron type golf club head including a front face having a grooved striking zone for impacting a golf ball, a rear face opposite to said front face, a top portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a heel portion, and a hosel portion having a shaft-receiving bore. The toe portion surface meets the front face along a first edge, and the toe portion extends outwardly from the first edge in a direction away from the hosel portion such that the vertical projection of the toe portion onto a plane containing the front face is substantially located outside of the front face. Besides, the sole surface meets the rear face along a trailing edge and meets the toe portion surface along a second edge, and the angle included between the trailing edge and a tangent line drawn tangent to the toe portion at the outmost point of the toe portion as viewed in a top view is less than 90 degrees.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an iron type golf club head including a front face having a grooved striking zone for impacting a golf ball, a rear face opposite to said front face, a top portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a heel portion, and a hosel portion having a shaft-receiving bore. The toe portion surface meets the front face along a first edge, and the toe portion extends outwardly from the first edge in a direction away from the hosel portion such that the vertical projection of the toe portion onto a plane containing the front face is substantially located outside of the front face. Besides, the sole surface meets the rear face along a trailing edge and at least a central portion of the trailing edge is indented toward the front face.
The present invention has the advantage of improving the impact accuracy of the golfers at the time of impact to raise the scores and competitiveness of the golfers in races.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It is emphasized that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity of discussion. In the accompanying figures:

FIG. 1A is a front view of a golf club head according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a bottom view of the golf club head of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1C is a top view of the golf club head of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1D is a side view of the golf club head of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a golf club head according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a front view of a golf club head according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a bottom view of the golf club head of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3C is a top view of the golf club head of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3D is a top view of the golf club head of FIG. 3A; and

FIG. 4 is a front view of the relative positions between a golf club head and a golf ball at the time of impact.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there are presently preferred embodiments shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment illustrated.
Referring to FIG. 1A to 1D, which show a golf club head 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The golf club head 100 is a hollow club head including a front face 102, a rear face 104 opposite to the front face 102 (see FIG. 1C), a top portion 112 forming an upper part of the golf club head (see FIG. 1C), a sole portion 114 forming a lower part of the golf club head (see FIG. 1B), a toe portion 108, a heel portion 106, a hosel portion 120 having a shaft-receiving bore 120 a, wherein the front face 102 has a grooved striking zone 102 a for impacting a golf ball (see FIG. 1A) and a plurality of score lines 102 b extending horizontally on the grooved striking zone 102 a in a direction substantially parallel to sole portion 114.
A golf club head is generally composed of two components, a faceplate, and a main body. The aforementioned grooved striking zone 102 a is disposed on the faceplate surface which constitutes one part of the front face 102. The faceplate could be composed of a forged metal (e.g., Cp-Ti, 6-4 titanium alloy, titanium 15-3-3-3 alloy, and pure titanium). In certain embodiments, metals for the faceplate include stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum alloy, other high strength steel alloy metals and amorphous metals. The main body includes the aforementioned portions of golf club head except the faceplate, and the main body could be composed of metals such as carbon steel (e.g. carbon steel corresponding to JIS S20C or S25C), stainless steel (e.g. 17-4PH stainless steel), alloy steel, Fe—Mn—Al alloy, nickel based alloys, cast iron, super alloy steel, pure titanium, titanium alloy (e.g. 6-4 titanium alloy or Cp-Ti), aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy, or copper alloy. The aforementioned faceplate and main body could be integrally formed as one unit. Alternatively, the golf club head of the present invention may be manufactured by integrally casting a main body having a faceplate-fitting opening by a lost wax method, fitting a faceplate in the opening, and welding the faceplate to the main body. If a welding process is conducted, the welded product may be further subjected to grinding or age hardening. Furthermore, the aforementioned faceplate and main body could be manufactured through casting, forging, forming, machining, powdered metal forming, metal-injection-molding, electro chemical milling, and the like.
It is noted that the toe portion 108 surface of the golf club head 100 meets the front face 102 along a edge 110 (see FIG. 1A), and the toe portion 108 extends outwardly from the edge 100 in a direction away from the hosel portion 120 such that the vertical projection of the toe portion 108 onto a plane containing the front face 102 is substantially located outside of the front face 102. In FIG. 1C, dash lines illustrate the outline of a conventional golf club head, wherein the vertical projection of its toe portion onto a plane containing its front face is located completely inside of its front face. One purpose of the present invention is to redistribute materials within the dash lines to the toe portion 108 for increasing the club head's moment of inertia. Besides, the surface of the sole portion 114 of the golf club head 100 meets the rear face 104 along a trailing edge 116 (see FIGS. 1B and 1C), and meets the surface of the toe portion 108 along a edge 118, wherein the angleθ 1 (see FIG. 1B) included between the trailing edge 116 and the edge 118 is designed to be less than 90 degrees. In certain embodiments, the angleθ 1 (see FIG. 1B) between the trailing edge 116 and the edge 118 is designed to be between 30 degree and 90 degree. Such designs allow materials of the golf club head to be redistributed to the toe portion 108.
The golf club heads having features of the present invention have a moment of inertia ranging from 3000 grams-centimeters squared to 6000 grams-centimeters squared, wherein the moment of inertia is defined about a vertical axis L (see FIG. 1A) passing through the center of gravity CG of the golf club head 100 and perpendicular to a ground G (see FIG. 1A) upon which the golf club head 100 rests. According to the definition of the moment of inertia, I=∫r²dm, a distance r between a differential mass dm of the golf club head 100 and a rotation axis has more influence on computing the moment of inertia than the differential mass dm, so the present invention's design could effectively increase the club head's moment of inertia about the vertical axis L.
The moment of inertia of the golf club head 100 is a design property that has a bearing on the amount of “forgiveness” that a club head offers for mis-hits. The larger the golf club head 100, and/or the more the designer incorporates perimeter weighting, the higher the moment of inertia of the golf club head 100 about its vertical axis L passing through the center of gravity CG will be. The higher the moment of inertia of the golf club head 100 about its vertical axis L, the less the golf club head 100 will twist in response to a mis-hit, and the less distance will be lost from that mis-hit. For this reason, the impact accuracy, which may be adversely affected by misalignment of the impact point on the front face 102 of the golf club head 100 with the center of gravity CG of the golf club head 100 and the center of gravity of a golf ball, could be improved as the moment of inertia of the golf club head 100 increases.
In certain embodiments, the trailing edge 116 of the golf club head 100 has a central portion indented toward the front face 102 such that more weight of the golf club head 100 could be distributed to the toe portion 108 or the heel portion 106 thereby further increasing the moment of inertia of the golf club head 100. In certain embodiments, the central portion of the trailing edge 116 of the golf club head 100 is of arcuately extending configuration, but not intended to limit the invention to this specific embodiment illustrated, for example, that the central portion of the trailing edge 116 may be of substantially linearly extending configuration.
Referring to FIG. 2, in certain embodiments, in order to further increase moment of inertia of the golf club head 200, the rear face 104 a of the head 200 may be provided with a cavity 104 b indented toward the front face 102 for distributing more materials to the toe portion 108 or the heel portion 106 of the golf club head 200.
In certain embodiments, the angleθ 2 included between the trailing edge 116 of the golf club head 100 and a tangent line 122 (see FIG. 1C) may be designed to be less than 90 degrees, wherein the tangent line 122 is drawn tangent to the toe portion 108 at the outmost point A of the toe portion 108 as viewed in a top view. In certain embodiments, the angle θ2 (see FIG. 1C) between the trailing edge 116 and the tangent line 122 may be designed to be between 30 degree and 90 degree.
The impact accuracy problem caused by the impact point offset could be improved when the angleθ 1 and/or the angleθ 2 is designed to be less than 90 degree for increasing the moment of inertia of the golf club head 100.
In certain embodiments, the distance AB between a point A (see FIG. 1A), which is the outmost point of the toe portion 108 as viewed in a front view, and a point B (see FIG. 1A), which is the outermost point of the edge 110 as viewed in a front view, is at least 4 mm.
When the sole 114 of the golf club head 100 rests on the ground G as shown in FIG. 1A, the distance CD between a point C and a point D is substantially larger than a distance DE between the point D and a point E, wherein the point C represents a vertical projection point on the aforementioned ground G of the outmost point A of the toe portion 108 as viewed in a front view, the point D represents a projection point on the ground G of the central axis of the shaft-receiving bore 120 a of the hosel portion 120, and the point E represents a vertical projection point on the ground G of the outermost point of the edge 110 as viewed in a front view. In certain embodiments, the distance CD is larger than the distance DE by at least 4 mm.
Referring to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, which show a golf club head 300 according to another embodiment of the present invention, the golf club head 300 is a iron type club head including a front face 102, a rear face 104 c opposite to the front face 102 (see FIG. 3C), a top portion 112 (see FIG. 3C), a sole portion 114 a (see FIG. 3B), a toe portion 108, a heel portion 106, a hosel portion 120 having a shaft-receiving bore 120 a, wherein the front face 102 has a grooved striking zone 102 a for impacting a golf ball and a plurality of score lines 102 b extending horizontally on the grooved striking zone 102 a in a direction substantially parallel to sole portion 114 a.
In this embodiment, the surface of the toe portion 108 of the golf club head 300 meets the front face 102 along a edge 110 (see FIG. 3A), and the toe portion 108 extends outwardly from the edge 100 in a direction away from the hosel portion 120 such that the vertical projection of the toe portion 108 onto a plane containing the front face 102 is substantially located outside of the front face 102. Referring to FIG. 3D, dash lines are used to illustrate the outline of a conventional golf club head, wherein the projection of its toe portion onto a plane containing its front face is located completely inside of its front face. One purpose of the present invention is to redistribute materials within the dash lines to the toe portion 108 for increasing the moment of inertia of the golf club head. Besides, the surface of the sole portion 114 a of the golf club head 300 meets the rear face 104 c along a trailing edge 116 a (see FIGS. 3B and 3C), and the trailing edge 116 a includes at least a central portion indented toward the front face 102 (see FIGS. 3B and 3C). This design also can increase the moment of inertia of the golf club head for improving the impact accuracy problem caused by the impact point offset.
In this embodiment, the central portion of the trailing edge 116 a is of arcuately extending configuration. Alternatively, the central portion of the trailing edge 116 a may be of substantially linearly extending configuration. The golf club head 300 of this embodiment has a moment of inertia ranging from 3000 grams-centimeters squared to 6000 grams-centimeters squared, wherein the moment of inertia is calculated in the same manner as above. In certain embodiments, a rear face 104 c of the golf club head 300 may include a cavity 104 d indented toward the front face 102 to distribute more materials to the toe portion 108.
In certain embodiments as shown in FIG. 3A, the distance AB between a point A and a point B is at least 4 mm, and the distance CD is substantially larger than a distance DE when the sole 114 a rests on the ground G (see FIG. 3A), wherein the definition of correlated points and distances thereof is the same as the definition aforementioned in the embodiments shown in FIG. 1A, so that there is no more description again.
The foregoing has outlined features of several embodiments so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description that follows. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a front face having a grooved striking zone for impacting a golf ball;

a rear face opposite to said front face;

a top portion;

a sole portion;

a toe portion;

a heel portion; and

a hosel portion having a shaft-receiving bore,

wherein the toe portion surface meets said front face along a first edge, and said toe portion extends outwardly from said first edge in a direction away from said hosel portion such that the vertical projection of said toe portion onto a plane containing said front face is substantially located outside of said front face,

wherein the sole surface meets said rear face along a trailing edge and meets said toe portion surface along a second edge, and the angle included between said trailing edge and said second edge is less than 90 degrees.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the angle included between said trailing edge and said second edge is between 30 and 90 degrees.

3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said trailing edge has a central portion indented toward said front face.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the golf club head has a moment of inertia about a vertical axis between 3000 grams-centimeters squared and 6000 grams-centimeters squared, and said vertical axis passes through the center of gravity of the golf club head and said vertical axis is perpendicular to a ground the golf club head rests on.

5. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the distance AB between a point A, which is the outmost point of said toe portion as viewed in a front view, and a point B, which is the outermost point of said first edge as viewed in a front view, is at least 4 mm.

6. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein when said sole rests on a ground, a distance AB between a point A, which is a vertical projection point on said ground of the outmost point of said toe portion as viewed in a front view, and a point B, which is a projection point on the ground of the central axis of said shaft-receiving bore, is substantially larger than a distance BC between said point B and a point C, which is a vertical projection point on the ground of the outermost point of said first edge as viewed in a front view.

7. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein said rear face has a cavity indented toward said front face.

8. An iron type golf club head comprising:

a front face having a grooved striking zone for impacting a golf ball;

a rear face opposite to said front face;

a top portion;

a sole portion;

a toe portion;

a heel portion; and

a hosel portion having a shaft-receiving bore;

wherein the toe portion surface meets said front face along a first edge and said toe portion extends outwardly from said first edge in a direction away from said hosel portion such that the vertical projection of said toe portion onto a plane containing said front face is substantially located outside of said front face;

wherein the sole surface meets said rear face along a trailing edge and the angle included between said trailing edge and a tangent line drawn tangent to said toe portion at the outmost point of said toe portion as viewed in a top view is less than 90 degrees.

9. The iron type golf club head of claim 8, wherein the angle included between said trailing edge and said tangent line is between 30 and 90 degrees.

10. The iron type golf club head of claim 8, wherein said trailing edge has a central portion indented toward said front face.

11. The iron type golf club head of claim 8, wherein the iron type golf club head has a moment of inertia about a vertical axis between 3000 grams-centimeters squared and 6000 grams-centimeters squared, and said vertical axis passes through the center of gravity of the iron type golf club head and said vertical axis is perpendicular to a ground the iron type golf club head rests on.

12. The iron type golf club head of claim 8, wherein the distance AB between a point A, which is the outmost point of said toe portion as viewed in a front view, and a point B, which is the outermost point of said first edge as viewed in a front view, is at least 4 mm.

13. The iron type golf club head of claim 8, wherein when said sole rests on a ground, a distance AB between a point A, which is a vertical projection point on said ground of the outmost point of said toe portion as viewed in a front view, and a point B, which is a projection point on the ground of the central axis of said shaft-receiving bore, is substantially larger than a distance BC between said point B and a point C, which is a vertical projection point on the ground of the outermost point of said first edge as viewed in a front view.

14. The iron type golf club head of claim 8, wherein said rear face has a cavity indented toward said front face.

15. An iron type golf club head comprising:

a front face having a grooved striking zone for impacting a golf ball;

a rear face opposite to said front face;

a top portion;

a sole portion;

a toe portion;

a heel portion; and

a hosel portion having a shaft-receiving bore;

wherein the toe portion surface meets said front face along a first edge, and said toe portion extends outwardly from said first edge in a direction away from said hosel portion such that the vertical projection of said toe portion onto a plane containing said front face is substantially located outside of said front face;

wherein the sole surface meets said rear face along a trailing edge and at least a central portion of said trailing edge is indented toward said front face.

16. The iron type golf club head of claim 15, wherein the iron type golf club head has a moment of inertia about a vertical axis between 3000 grams-centimeters squared and 6000 grams-centimeters squared, and said vertical axis passes through the center of gravity of the iron type golf club head and said vertical axis is perpendicular to a ground the iron type golf club head rests on.

17. The iron type golf club head of claim 15, wherein the distance AB between a point A, which is the outmost point of said toe portion as viewed in a front view, and a point B, which is the outermost point of said first edge as viewed in a front view, is at least 4 mm.

18. The iron type golf club head of claim 15, wherein when said sole rests on a ground, a distance AB between a point A, which is a vertical projection point on said ground of the outmost point of said toe portion as viewed in a front view, and a point B, which is a projection point on the ground of the central axis of said shaft-receiving bore, is substantially larger than a distance BC between said point B and a point C, which is a vertical projection point on the ground of the outermost point of said first edge as viewed in a front view.

19. The iron type golf club head of claim 15, wherein said rear face has a cavity indented toward said front face.