Patent Publication Number: US-11027176-B2

Title: Golf club head with hosel support structure

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/435,836, filed on Jun. 10, 2019, and issued on Feb. 25, 2020, as U.S. Pat. No. 10,569,142, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/133,698, filed on Sep. 18, 2018, and issued on Jun. 18, 2019, as U.S. Pat. No. 10,322,319, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/709,015, filed on Sep. 19, 2017, and issued on Sep. 18, 2018, as U.S. Pat. No. 10,076,687, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/408,139, filed on Oct. 14, 2016, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a golf club head having a bendable hosel and an internal support structure located proximate the hosel to reduce stresses placed on certain areas of the golf club head during hosel bending processes. 
     Description of the Related Art 
     When a golf club is fitted to a particular golfer, the lie, loft, and/or face angle of the golf club may be adjusted by bending the hosel portion of the club. This process places a great deal of stress on the hosel and the surrounding regions of the club head, however, which leads manufacturers to place extra material at the hosel to increase its durability. This increased mass at the hosel region raises the center of gravity of the club head, which is undesirable in many golf club heads, including wood-type heads such as fairway woods and drivers, and also negatively affects other mass properties of the golf club heads. Furthermore, increasing the durability of the hosel by itself does not protect the crown of the club head when the crown is formed from a non-metal material such as composite. Composite crowns tend to be extremely thin, and bending the hosel of a club head having a metal body and a composite crown often leads to unwanted warping or breakage in the crown and/or failure of adhesive material connecting the crown to the body. Therefore, there is a need for a golf club head having a lightweight, bendable hosel and a body structure that adequately distributes the stresses created by bending processes. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One aspect of the present invention is a golf club head comprising a body comprising a sole, a heel side, a toe side, a front wall, a rear side opposite the front wall, a return portion extending away from the front wall towards the rear side, a front opening in the front wall, a hollow interior, and an upper opening, a hosel connected to the body at the heel side, the hosel comprising a tube portion and a shaft receiving bore, a face component affixed to the body to close the front opening, a flange region defined as an interface between the tube portion and the body, a crown affixed to the body to close the upper opening and enclose the hollow interior, and a support rod disposed within the hollow interior, wherein the support rod extends from the sole to the return portion proximate the flange region, wherein the support rod is disposed entirely behind the hosel along a horizontal, front-to rear x-axis, and heel-ward of a vertical xz plane extending through a heel-most side of the front opening. 
     In some embodiments, the golf club head may further comprise a bond flange, which may encircle the upper opening. In other embodiments, the golf club head may be selected from the group consisting of a fairway wood, a driver, and a hybrid. In still other embodiments, the body may be composed of a first material having a first density, the hosel may be composed of a second material having a second density, the crown may be composed of a third material having a third density, and the first density may be greater than the second density and the third density. In a further embodiment, the first material may be a metal alloy, and the third material may be a carbon composite. In a further embodiment, the second material may be an aluminum alloy. In any of these embodiments, the support rod may be integrally cast with the body, and in a further embodiment, the hosel may also be integrally cast with the body. 
     In another embodiment, the body may be composed of a first material having a first density, the support rod may be composed of a second material having a second density, and the first density may be greater than the second density. In yet another embodiment, the body may be integrally cast with the hosel and the support rod from a material selected from the group consisting of titanium alloy and steel, and the crown may be composed of a carbon composite material. In any of the embodiments, the golf club head may have a volume of 50 to 250 cubic centimeters. In another embodiment, the golf club head may further comprise at least one of a weight port and a weight lip, and in a further embodiment, the golf club head comprises two weight ports and a weight lip. 
     Another aspect of the present invention is a wood-type golf club head comprising a cast metal body comprising a sole, a heel side, a toe side, a front wall, a rear side opposite the front wall, a return portion extending away from the front wall towards the rear side, an upper opening, a front opening in the front wall, a hosel, a flange region, a support rod, and a volume of 50-250 cubic centimeters, a face component affixed to the body to close the front opening, and a carbon composite crown affixed to the body to close the upper opening and define a hollow interior, wherein the flange region is defined as an interface between the hosel and the rest of the body, wherein the support rod is disposed within the hollow interior proximate the flange region and extends from the sole to the return portion approximately parallel with the front wall, and wherein the support rod is disposed entirely behind the hosel along a horizontal, front-to rear x-axis, and heel-ward of a vertical xz plane extending through a heel-most side of the front opening. 
     In some embodiments, the wood-type golf club head may further comprise a bond flange, which may encircle the upper opening, and the crown may be permanently affixed to an exterior surface of the bond flange with an adhesive material. In a further embodiment, the wood-type golf club head may comprise at least one of a weight port and a weight lip, and may in some embodiments, comprise one or more weight ports and a weight lip. 
     Having briefly described the present invention, the above and further objects, features and advantages thereof will be recognized by those skilled in the pertinent art from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is rear perspective view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  with its face component and crown removed 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  along lines  3 - 3 . 
         FIG. 4  is an enlarged view of the circled portion of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is an enlarged view of the circled portion of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         FIG. 6  is front perspective view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1  along lines  7 - 7 . 
         FIG. 8  is a top plan view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 8  along lines  9 - 9 . 
         FIGS. 10A and 10B  are crown stress contour plots of CAD models of golf club heads undergoing a flat lie bending process. 
         FIGS. 11A and 11B  are crown stress contour plots of CAD models of golf club heads undergoing a strong loft bending process. 
         FIGS. 12A and 12B  are adhesive stress contour plots of CAD models of golf club heads without their crowns undergoing a flat lie bending process. 
         FIGS. 13A and 13B  are adhesive stress contour plots of CAD models of golf club heads without their crowns undergoing a strong loft bending process. 
         FIG. 14  is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the golf club head of the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is another cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 15 . 
         FIGS. 16A and 16B  are adhesive stress contour plots of CAD models of golf club heads without their crowns undergoing a strong loft bending process. 
         FIGS. 17A and 17B  are crown stress contour plots of CAD models of golf club heads undergoing a strong loft bending process. 
         FIGS. 18A and 18B  are body stress contour plots of CAD models of golf club heads undergoing a strong loft bending process. 
         FIG. 19  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the golf club head of the present invention without a crown. 
         FIG. 20  is a cross-sectional view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 19 . 
         FIG. 21  shows stress plots of a golf club head with and without a hosel support rod undergoing bending processes. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a golf club head having a body with a face, sole, crown, hosel, and hollow interior, and a support structure disposed within the hollow interior proximate the hosel and supporting the area surrounding the hosel. A first embodiment of this golf club head  10  is shown in  FIGS. 1-9 , a second embodiment of this golf club head  10  is shown in  FIGS. 14-15 , and a preferred embodiment is shown in  FIGS. 19-20 . Though each embodiment of the golf club head  10  of the present invention is illustrated as a fairway wood or low-volume driver, the inventive concept can be used in connection with other types of hollow-body golf club heads, including drivers, irons, hybrids, and putters. 
     The first embodiment of the golf club head  10  includes a body  20  having a sole  30 , a hosel  40  located at a heel side  21 , a rear side  22 , a toe side  23 , a front wall  24  with an opening  25 , a return portion  60  extending away from the front wall  24  towards the rear side  22  of the body  20 , a support ring  50 , a hollow interior  26 , and an upper opening  27  encircled by a bond flange  65 , a crown  35  sized to cover the upper opening  27 , and a face component  38  sized to cover the opening  25 . The body  20  also includes a front-side weight port  70  and a rear-side weight port  75 , which are approximately aligned with one another along a horizontal x-axis extending perpendicular to the front wall  24 . 
     The hosel  40  preferably includes a tube portion  42  with a shaft-receiving bore  44  and an internal shelf portion  48 , against which the end of a shaft (not shown) abuts, protruding into the hollow interior  26  of the body  20 . A flange region  46  is defined as the interface between the tube portion  42  and the remainder of the body  20 . The internal shelf portion  48  is at least partially encircled by the support ring  50 , which is entirely located within the hollow interior  26  of the body and has a maximum vertical length Lr of at least 0.050 inch, and more preferably approximately 0.125 inch, and a maximum thickness Tr of at least 0.010 inch, and more preferably approximately 0.060 inch. The support ring  50  extends from the heel side  21  of the body  20 , follows the circumference of the flange region  46 , and blends into the return portion  60  at the uppermost edge of the inner surface of the front wall  24 . 
     When the tube portion  42  of the hosel  40  is subjected to bending forces to change the loft or lie of the golf club head  10 , the relative force is applied through the support ring  50  instead of the crown  35  or the thinner parts of the body  20 , and particularly the bond flange  65  where the crown  35  is affixed to the body  20  with an adhesive material  15 , thus preventing warping or breakage in these parts of the golf club head  10 .  FIGS. 10-14  are side by side comparisons of the preferred embodiment (B) and a golf club head having the same features except for the support ring  50  (A) being subjected to bending forces. As shown in these Figures, the support ring  50  reduces the peak stress: placed on the crown  35  during a flat lie bending process from approximately 19.9 ksi to 18 ksi ( FIG. 10 ); placed on the crown  35  during a strong loft bending process from approximately 32.7 to 31.6 ksi ( FIG. 11 ); placed on the adhesive material  15  during a flat lie bending process from approximately 5.6 ksi to 4.6 ksi ( FIG. 12 ); and placed on the adhesive material  15  during a strong loft bending process from approximately 9.3 ksi to 9.0 ksi ( FIG. 13 ). 
     An alternative embodiment of the golf club head  10  of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 14-15 . This embodiment has all of the same features as the preferred embodiment, except that it lacks the weight ports  70 ,  75  of the preferred embodiment and instead has a weight lip  80  like the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,257,195, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, and a slightly thicker wall  28  at the heel side  21  proximate the hosel  40 .  FIGS. 16-18  are side by side comparisons of this alternative embodiment (B) and a golf club head having all of the same features except for the support ring  50  and the thicker heel wall  28  (A) being subjected to bending forces. As shown in these Figures, the support ring  50  reduces the peak stress: placed on the adhesive material  15  during a strong loft bending process from approximately 9.4 ksi to 8.1 ksi ( FIG. 16 ); placed on the crown  35  during a strong loft bending process from approximately 27.9 ksi to 9.3 ksi ( FIG. 17 ); and placed on the heel side  21  of the body  20  during a strong loft bending process from approximately 223.5 ksi to 184.0 ksi ( FIG. 18 ). 
     The third, preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 19 and 20 . This embodiment includes many of the same features as the first and second embodiments, including both weight ports  70 ,  75  and a weight lip  80 , but instead of a support ring  50 , it includes a hosel support rod  100 . The hosel support rod  100  extends approximately parallel with the front wall  24  through the hollow interior  26  between the sole  30  and the bond flange  65  that extends from the return portion  60 . The hosel support rod  100  is entirely disposed behind the hosel  40  along a front-to-rear horizontal x-axis and heel-ward of a vertical xz plane  150  extending through the heel-most side of the opening  25  in the front wall  24 . As shown in the stress plots in  FIG. 21 , the hosel support rod  100  reduces stress placed on the junction between the bond flange  65  and the crown  35  while the hosel undergoes flat, weak, strong, and upright, bending by 1-2° when compared with a golf club head  10  having the same features as the preferred embodiment but lacking the hosel support rod  100 . 
     The preferred embodiment also includes stress reduction rods  120 ,  125  proximate the opening  25  in the front wall, which may have any of the features disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 10,010,771, 9,687,701, 9,687,702, 9,694,257, 9,757,629, 9,776,058, 9,908,017, and 9,855,476, the disclosure of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     In each of the embodiments disclosed herein, the body  20  preferably is composed of a metal alloy material, and more preferably is integrally cast with the hosel  40  and support ring  50  or support rod  100  from a material such as titanium alloy or steel, though in one alternative embodiment the hosel  40  is formed separately from a lightweight material with a density of less than 3.5 g/cc, such as carbon composite or plastic, to move the center of gravity of the golf club head  10  towards the toe side  23  and to increase the bendability of the hosel  40 . The support ring  50  or support rod  100  may, in alternative embodiments, be welded into the body  20  after manufacturing so that it can be made from a different material than the body  20 . If a manufacturer wishes to lower the center of gravity of the club head, the support ring  50  or support rod  100  can be formed from a lightweight alloy material such as aluminum alloy, and the body  20  can be formed from a higher density alloy. The crown  35  preferably is composed of a lightweight material such as carbon composite or plastic, and is fixed to the outer surface  66  or inner surface  67 , but preferably the outer surface  66 , of the bond flange  65  with a permanent adhesive material  15 . 
     From the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention and will readily understand that while the present invention has been described in association with a preferred embodiment thereof, and other embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, numerous changes, modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which is intended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in the following appended claims. Therefore, the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims.