Patent Publication Number: US-11033788-B1

Title: Iron-type golf club head

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable. 
     REFERENCE REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     SEQUENCE LISTING 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Disclosure 
     The present disclosure relates to golf clubs, and more specifically to an iron-type golf club head that includes a face insert. 
     2. Description of the Background of the Disclosure 
     Different types of golf clubs are used to effect different types of shots, based on a golfer&#39;s location and ball lie when playing a hole on a golf course. An iron is a golf club that is used to make a variety of shots on a golf hole, for example, approach shots, bunker shots, chips, etc. 
     Conventional iron-type golf club heads may include a face insert that is attached to a body. For example, a conventional face insert may be in the form of 2-D plate that is welded around the periphery of the insert to adjoin to the body. In some configurations, conventional face inserts may define a more complex geometry, such as cup faces and partial cup faces (e.g., L-cups) that are welded around the entire periphery of the insert to adjoin to the club head body. Generally, the complex geometry defined by conventional cup face inserts attempts to move the weld further away from the high stress areas of the face. 
     A major disadvantage of conventional cup faces is that a longer weld bead is required around the entire perimeter of the face insert, when joining it to the body, which increases club head weight and manufacturing time. In addition, conventional cup face inserts are welded to a portion on the sole of the club head body at a location that is at most only half of the width of the sole back from the front of the face (e.g., at most half of the way between a leading edge and a trailing edge). This creates an extremely stiff portion in the middle of the sole and prevents the face and sole from flexing. 
     Therefore, a need exists for an iron-type golf club head with an improved face insert design that provides more efficient manufacturability and increased performance. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides an iron-type golf club head that includes a body and a face insert. A topline and a sole of the iron-type golf club head are integrated into the face insert to reduce a welding perimeter distance, improve control over a thickness of the face insert, and maintain maximum flexibility in the face insert and the sole. 
     In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an iron-type golf club head that includes a body having a toe region, a heel region, and a sole weight bar extending between the toe region and the heel region. The iron-type golf club head further includes a sole defining a toe segment, a medial segment, and a heel segment and a face insert coupled to the body and extending around the sole weight bar to form the medial segment of the sole. 
     In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an iron-type golf club head that includes a body having a toe region, a heel region, and a sole weight bar extending between the toe region and the heel region. The iron-type golf club head further includes a face insert coupled to the body and having a face portion, a sole portion, and a back portion that extend around the sole weight bar. A gap is formed between the sole portion and the sole weight bar. 
     In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides an iron-type golf club head that includes a body including a toe region, a heel region, and a sole weight bar extending between the toe region and the heel region. The iron-type golf club head further includes a face insert coupled to the body at an interface between the face insert and the body. The interface includes a first interface between the face insert and the toe region of the body and a second interface between the face insert and the heel region of the body. The first interface and the second interface are aligned along a sole-topline direction. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded bottom, back, right isometric view of an iron-type golf club head according to the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a top, front, left isometric view of the iron-type golf club head of  FIG. 1  with a face insert coupled to a body; 
         FIG. 3  is a bottom, back, right isometric view of the iron-type golf club head of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of the iron-type golf club head of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a back view of the iron-type golf club head of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the iron-type golf club head of  FIG. 2  taken along line  6 - 6  of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a top, front, right isometric view of the iron-type golf club head of  FIG. 2  illustrating weld lines; 
         FIG. 8  is a top view of the iron-type golf club head of  FIG. 2  illustrating weld lines; 
         FIG. 9  is a bottom view of the iron-type golf club head of  FIG. 2  illustrating weld lines; and 
         FIG. 10  is a top, back, right isometric view of the iron-type golf club head of  FIG. 3  illustrating weld lines. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present disclosure is directed to an iron-type golf club head that is manufactured using a multi-piece design, and that includes a face insert attached to a body. In particular, an iron-type golf club head of the present disclosure includes a body and a face insert that is coupled to the body, and that does not require welding around its entire periphery. Unlike conventional face inserts, the sole and the topline of the club head may integrated into and formed by the face insert, which only requires welding along the interface between the body and the face insert. In particular, welding along the interface between the body and face insert may only occur in a sole-topline direction along the club head (e.g., a vertical direction when the sole is resting on the ground and the club is at address, or a direction generally perpendicular to a heel-toe direction). The lack of heel-toe direction welds required to couple the face insert to the body substantially reduces the length of the weld bead required during manufacturing, which, in turn, reduces a weight of the club head and improves manufacturing efficiency. 
     In addition, with the face insert defining the sole and only requiring sole-topline-extending welds to couple to the club head body, the welds are arranged away from impact locations on the face insert. In this way, for example, the thickness defined by the face insert may be controlled with tighter tolerances, especially in high stress areas on the face insert. Further, the iron-type golf club head according to the present disclosure may separate (e.g., form a gap between) a sole weight bar formed in the body and the sole formed by the face insert. This may provide a lower center of gravity (e.g., move the center of gravity in a direction toward the sole) and allow the highest possible amount of face and sole flex, which improves performance. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1-5 , an iron-type golf club head  100  is shown in accordance with the present disclosure. The iron-type golf club head  100  includes a body  102  and a face insert  104 , which may be coupled to one another after machining of the body  102 . In some embodiments, the face insert  104  may be manufactured from a different material than the body  102 . For example, the body  102  and the face insert  104  may be manufactured from different metal materials. 
     The iron-type golf club head  100  defines a toe side  106 , a heel side  108 , a front side  110 , a top side  112 , a bottom side  114 , and a rear side  116 . The body  102  includes a toe region  118 , a medial region  120 , a heel region  122 , and a sole weight bar  124  extending through the medial region  120  and between the toe region  118  and the heel region  122 . The medial region  120  is arranged between the toe region  118  and the heel region  122 . The sole weight bar  124  is arranged adjacent to the bottom side  114 . 
     In general, the medial region  120  of the body  102  is devoid of material other than the sole weight bar  124  extending between the toe region  118  and the heel region  122 . With the body  102  including only the sole weight bar  124  in the medial region  120 , a club face, a sole, and a topline of the iron-type golf club head  100  in the medial region  120  may be defined entirely by the face insert  104  as will be described herein. The face insert  104  is designed to fit between the toe region  118  and the heel region  122  (e.g., the face insert  104  is arranged in the medial region  120 ) and fill at least a portion of the void therebetween. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, a portion of the face insert  104  is designed to extend or wrap around the sole weight bar  124 . For example, the face insert  104  includes a top portion  126 , a face portion  128 , a sole portion  130 , and a back portion  132 . A section of the face portion  128 , the sole portion  130 , and the back portion  132  combine to form a generally U-shaped cavity that is designed to extend or wrap around the sole weight bar  124 , when the face insert  104  is coupled to the body  102  (see, e.g.,  FIG. 6 ). 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2-5 , the iron-type golf club head  100  defines a topline  134  extending laterally in a heel-toe direction  136  along the top side  112 , and a sole  138  extending laterally in the heel-toe direction  136  (see  FIGS. 4 and 5 ) along the bottom side  114 . The topline  134  includes a top-toe segment  140 , a top-medial segment  142 , and a top-heel segment  144 . The top-medial segment  142  of the topline  134  extends along the medial region  120  and is formed by the top portion  126  of the face insert  104 . That is, the portion of the topline  134  arranged within the medial region  120  is formed entirely by the top portion  126  of the face insert  104 . This differs from conventional iron-type golf club heads with a face insert where the topline is typically formed by a combination of the body and the face insert, or solely by the body. 
     Similar to the topline  134 , at least a portion of the sole  138  is formed entirely by the face insert  104 . For example, the sole  138  includes a sole-toe segment  148 , a sole-medial segment  150 , and a sole-heel segment  152 . The sole-medial segment  150  of the sole  138  extends along the medial region  120  and is formed by the sole portion  130  of the face insert  104 . That is, the portion of the sole  138  arranged within the medial region  120  is formed entirely by the sole portion  130  of the face insert  104 . This differs from conventional iron-type golf club heads with a face insert where the sole is typically formed by a combination of the body and the face insert, or solely by the body. For example, as described herein, conventional face inserts are typically welded to a portion on the sole of the body at a location that is at most only half of the width of the sole back from the front of the face. In other words, the sole of conventional iron-type golf club heads with a face insert is formed by the face insert from a leading edge (e.g., an edge of the sole adjacent to the front side) to a location at most only half of the way between the leading edge and a trailing edge (e.g., an edge of the sole adjacent to the back side). The remaining portion of the sole is formed by the body, for example, from the location at most only half of the way between the leading edge and the trailing edge to the trailing edge of the sole. Contrary to conventional iron-type golf club heads, the topline  134  and the sole  138  of the iron-type golf club head  100  are integrated into the face insert  104 , which simplifies the manufacture of the iron-type golf club head  100  by only requiring welds in a sole-topline direction  146  at the interface between the body  102  and the face insert  104 , thereby providing several performance benefits. 
     Referring specifically to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the toe region  118 , the medial region  120 , and the heel region  122  are defined by lines or planes P 1  and P 2  that extend through the iron-type golf club head  100  at an interface between the face insert  104  and the laterally-inner edges of the body  102 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the toe region  118  and the heel region  122  are arranged at laterally-opposing ends of the body  102 , and the medial region  120  is arranged laterally between the toe region  118  and the heel region  122 . 
     The toe region  118  includes a toe portion  154  of the body  102  that is defined by a portion of the body  102  between a distal end of the toe side  106  and the plane P 1 . A toe plane T may intersect the top side  112  of the toe portion  154  at a toe-topline intersection point  156  along the topline  134  where the slope of a line tangent to the topline  134  is approximately zero (e.g., a point where a line tangent to the periphery of the top side  112  is approximately parallel to the ground at address). The toe plane T extends through the toe portion  154  in the sole-topline direction  146  (e.g., a vertical direction from the perspective of  FIGS. 4 and 5 ) to a toe-sole intersection point  158 . 
     The heel region  122  includes a heel portion  160  of the body  102  that is defined by a portion of the body  102  between a distal end of the heel side  108  and the plane P 2 . The heel plane H may intersect the top side  112  at a heel-topline inflection point  162  (e.g., a point where the periphery of the top side  112  transitions from concave down to concave up). The heel plane H extends through the heel portion  160  in the sole-topline direction  146  (e.g., a vertical direction from the perspective of  FIGS. 4 and 5 ) to a heel-sole intersection point  164 . The heel portion  160  includes a hosel  166  that extends from the heel portion  160  at an angle (e.g., a lie angle) in a direction away from the toe portion  154 . The hosel  166  defines a hosel cavity  168  within which a shaft (not shown) may be inserted for coupling to the iron-type golf club head  100 . In some embodiments, a ferrule (not shown) may abut or be at least partially inserted into the hosel  166 . 
     The topline  134  may extend along an outer periphery of the top side  112  from the heel-topline inflection point  162 , along the top portion  126  of the face insert  104 , to the toe-topline intersection point  156 . The top-toe segment  140  may extend along the top side  112  of the toe portion  154  between the plane P 1  and the toe-topline intersection point  156 , and the top-heel segment  144  may extend along the top side  112  of the heel portion  160  between the plane P 2  and the heel-topline inflection point  162 . A toe periphery  170  defines a generally curved shape and may extend around the toe portion  154  from the toe-topline intersection point  156  to the toe-sole intersection point  158 . 
     The sole  138  may extend along a periphery of the bottom side  114  from the toe-sole intersection point  158 , along the sole portion  130  of the face insert  104 , to the heel-sole intersection point  164 . The sole-toe segment  148  may extend along the bottom side  114  of the toe portion  154  between the toe-sole intersection point  158  and the plane P 1 , and the sole-heel segment  152  may extend along the bottom side  114  of the heel portion  160  between the plane P 2  and the heel-sole intersection point  164 . 
     As described herein, the face insert  104  is arranged within the medial region  120 . The face portion  128  is arranged on the front side  110  and defines a striking surface  172  that extends laterally in the heel-toe direction  136  between the planes P 1  and P 2  and vertically in the sole-topline direction  146  between the topline  134  and the sole  138 . The striking surface  172  includes a plurality of grooves  174  formed therein that extend laterally in the heel-toe direction  136  along at least a portion of the striking surface  172 . Each of the grooves  174  is spaced from an adjacent groove  174  in the sole-topline direction  146  (e.g., vertically spaced from the perspective of  FIG. 4 ). 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 and 6 , the sole weight bar  124  includes a weight  176  that is received within a weight cavity  178  that is formed in the sole weight bar  124  and that extends laterally in the heel-toe direction  136  along the sole weight bar  124 . The weight  176  may be fabricated from a higher density material than the material from which the body  102  is fabricated. In one embodiment, the weight  176  may be fabricated from a tungsten material. The weight  176  within the sole weight bar  124  is configured to lower a center of gravity defined by the iron-type golf club head  100 , which aids in performance (e.g., higher launch angle). 
     With specific reference to  FIG. 6 , the face insert  104  may be formed as a unitary component (e.g., a single piece of material). The face portion  128  and the striking surface  172  are generally planar and are angled relative to a plane normal to the ground (not shown) on which the sole  138  may rest at address (e.g., a loft angle). This angle may be adjusted based on the type of iron (e.g., 2-iron, 7-iron, wedge, etc.) that the iron-type golf club head  100  is formed into. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the top portion  126  of the face insert  104  extends away from the face portion  128 . Specifically, the top portion  126  extends from the top side  112  of the face portion  128  in a direction toward the rear side  116 . In the illustrated embodiment, the top portion  126  extends toward the rear side  116  at a downward angle (e.g., angled toward the bottom side  114 ). At the bottom side  114  of the face portion  128 , the sole portion  130  extends toward the rear side  116  to form a leading edge  180  arranged adjacent to the front side  110  to a trailing edge arranged adjacent to the rear side  116 . In the illustrated embodiment, the sole portion  130  defines a generally rounded or curved shape. 
     The back portion  132  extends in a direction toward the top side  112  (e.g., upwardly from the perspective of  FIG. 6 ) from the trailing edge  182  to a location between the top side  112  and the bottom side  114 . In the illustrated embodiment, the back portion  132  extends toward the top side  112  a distance sufficient to cover the sole weight bar  124 , when the iron-type golf club head  100  is viewed from the rear side  116  (see, e.g.,  FIG. 5 ). 
     In general, the geometry defined by the face insert  104  conforms to the geometry defined by the laterally-inner edges of the toe portion  154  and the heel portion  160 . In this way, for example, when the face insert  104  is coupled to the body  102 , the outer surfaces of the face insert  104  are arranged flush with the outer surfaces of the toe portion  154  and the heel portion  160  of the body  102 . 
     As described herein, a section of the face portion  128  (e.g., adjacent to the bottom side  114 ), the sole portion  130 , and the back portion  132  combine to form a generally U-shaped cavity that is designed to extend or wrap around the sole weight bar  124 . In the illustrated embodiment, the face insert  104  extends around the sole weight bar  124 , such that the face insert  104  is separated from the sole weight bar  124 . That is, a gap  184  is formed between the sole portion  130  and the sole weight bar  124 . In the illustrated embodiment, the gap  184  extends around an outer periphery of the sole weight bar  124  and is formed between the sole weight bar  124  and each of the face portion  128 , the sole portion  130 , and the back portion  132 . The separation or gap  184  between the sole weight bar  124  and the face insert  104  keeps the center of gravity of the iron-type golf club head  100  low (e.g., in a direction toward the sole  138 ) and maintains the highest amount of flex possible in the face portion  128  and the sole  138 , which improves club head performance (e.g., improved distance, accuracy, forgiveness, etc.). 
     The rear side  116  of the face insert  104  may be generally devoid of material, other than the top portion  126  and the back portion  132 . In this way, for example, the iron-type golf club head  100  may define a generally open back cavity (e.g., a back cavity that is devoid of club head material), which further aids in lowering the center of gravity defined by the iron-type golf club head  100 . 
     As described herein, the topline  134  and the sole  138  can be integrated into the face insert  104 , which only requires welding in the sole-topline direction  146  at the interface between the face insert  104  and the body  102  to couple the face insert  104  to the body  102 . Referring to  FIGS. 7-10 , the interface between the face insert  104  and the body  102  (highlighted using bold lines) is aligned entirely along the sole-topline direction  146 . In the illustrated embodiment, the interface between the body  102  and the face insert  104  includes a first interface  186  between the laterally-inner edge of the toe portion  154  and the face insert  104  and a second interface  188  between the laterally-inner edge of the heel portion  160  and the face insert  104 . Each of the first interface  186  and the second interface  188  is aligned along the sole-topline direction  146 . 
     With the first interface  186  and the second interface  188  being aligned along the sole-topline direction  146 , the iron-type golf club head  100  only requires welds along the sole-topline direction  146  to couple the face insert  104  to the body  102 . For example, to manufacture the iron-type golf club head  100 , the face insert  104  may be inserted into the medial region  120 , such that the face insert  104  is flush with the toe portion  154  and the heel portion  160 . Welding may then occur along the first interface  186  and the second interface  188  to couple the face insert  104  to the body  102 . 
     The design and properties of the iron-type golf club head  100  provide several advantages over conventional iron-type golf club heads. For example, the lack of heel-toe direction  136  welds across the topline  134  and/or the sole  138  reduces a weld perimeter distance during manufacture, which results in weight being saved by having a shorter weld bead length. In addition, welding time is reduced, which results in manufacturing cost savings. Further, the ability to move the welds farther away from the impact location on the face portion  128  (e.g., the first interface  186  and the second interface  188  are arranged on the laterally-outer edges of the striking surface  172 ) provides greater control and tighter tolerances over the thickness of the face insert  104 , especially in the high stress areas. Further still, the separation between the face insert  104  and the sole weight bar  124  allows for the maximum possible amount of face and sole flexibility. Each of these advantages drive performance increases for the iron-type golf club head  100  over conventional iron-type golf club heads. 
     As noted previously, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that while the disclosure has been described above in connection with particular embodiments and examples, the disclosure is not necessarily so limited, and that numerous other embodiments, examples, uses, modifications and departures from the embodiments, examples and uses are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto. The entire disclosure of each patent and publication cited herein is incorporated by reference, as if each such patent or publication were individually incorporated by reference herein. Various features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the following claims. 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     Numerous modifications to the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is presented for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The exclusive rights to all modifications which come within the scope of the appended claims are reserved.