Source: https://patents.justia.com/patent/6991559
Timestamp: 2019-08-24 15:50:19
Document Index: 99999912

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 9', 'art 9', 'art 9', 'art 9', 'art 9', 'art 9', 'art 9', 'art 9', 'art 10']

US Patent for Golf club head Patent (Patent # 6,991,559 issued January 31, 2006) - Justia Patents Search
Justia Patents Vibratory Wave (e.g, Shock Wave, Etc.) Modifying FeatureUS Patent for Golf club head Patent (Patent # 6,991,559)
Jun 6, 2003 - SRI Sports Limited
Latest SRI Sports Limited Patents:
Golf club cover having a pull member
Shaft fitting system
FIGS. 4a and 4b are enlarged cross sectional views for explaining a method of fixing the face plate to the clubhead main body.
The face plate 2 has a front surface (F), a back surface 2b and a circumferential side surface 2a. The front surface defines a major part of the club face F for hitting a ball. In this example, the front surface defines the entirety of the club face F.
The clubhead main body 3 comprises a top portion 3a, a sole portion 3b, a toe portion 3c, a heel portion 3d and a hosel 3e. The toe portion 3c is taller in height than the heel portion 3d, and the top portion 3a, sole portion 3b, toe portion 3c and heel portion 3d are circularly arranged to form a through hole (O) surrounded thereby. Thus, the through hole (O) has an opening at the front of the clubhead main body 3 and an opening at the rear of the clubhead main body 3. The hosel 3e is formed integrally with the heel portion 3d and provided with a shaft inserting hole. The central axis CL of the shaft inserting hole is utilized to set the club head with the lie angle α.
The side-support wall 4A gives side support to the face plate 2 by its inward surface which extends continuously through the portions 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d and comes into contact with the circumferential side surface 2a of the face plate 2.
The back-support wall 4B gives back support to the face plate 2 by its front surface which protrudes perpendicularly to the above-mentioned inward surface of the side-support wall 4A from the rear edge of the inward surface and extends continuously through the portions 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d so as to contact with the periphery part of the back surface 2b.
FIGS. 4a and 4b show a method of fixing the face plate 2 to the clubhead main body 3 by caulking. In this example, the front edge of the circumferential side surface 2a of the face plate 2 is cut away by a constant depth and a constant width, and as a result, a step 6 is continuously formed. FIG. 4a shows the face plate mount 4 before caulking. At this moment, the side-support wall 4A has a frontward extension 7 protruding from the front face of the clubhead main body 3. In this example, the frontward extension 7 has a trapezoidal sectional shape whose inner side 7b is aligned with the side-support wall 4A, and outer side 7a is inclined towards the inside or the center of the face plate mount from the back side to the front side of the clubhead main body 3. The face plate 2 is put in the face plate mount 4, and the head main body 3 is pressed between press dies D1 and D2 to cause the frontward extension 7 plastic deformation as shown in FIG. 4b, namely, the frontward extension 7 collapses into the step 6 to secure the periphery of the face plate 2 between the collapsed frontward extension 7′ and back-support wall 4B.
In order to make the center G of the gravity deeper and lower, the sole portion 3b is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, provided with a massive backward extension 3f forming the sole of the club head 1. Further, a backside wall 9 is provided. The backside wall 9 together with the backward extension 3f is formed as a part of the above-mentioned integral molding of the metal material (stainless steel in this example).
The backside wall 9 extends towards the upside from the sole portion 3b, while leaving a space between this backside wall 9 and the face plate 2. The backside wall 9 comprises a main part 9A extending almost uprightly from the rear end of the backward extension 3f, and an upper part 9B extending towards the face plate 2 from the upper edge of the main part 9A. The example of the upper part 9B shown in FIG. 5 is very small, but it may be formed to have a substantial dimension as shown in FIG. 7. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 8, the backside wall 9 has an arched shape, and a maximum height lies in its central part 9a, and the height progressively decreases from the central part 9a towards both the toe-side and heel-side ends 9b. Aside from the arched shape, various shapes may be employed as follows: a trapezoidal shape as shown in FIG. 9 where the hole (O) comes to on both sides thereof; a straight shape as shown in FIG. 10 where the upper edge is sloped from the toe to the heel in substantially parallel with the top portion 3a; and a reversed arched shape or V-shape as shown in FIG. 11. In any case, the backside wall 9 is generally shorter in height than the upper edge of the club face F.
Between the upper edge 9t of the backside wall 9 and the back surface 2b of the face plate 2, an elastic insert 5 is disposed.
The elastic insert 5 has dimensions capable of bridging a gap between the upper edge 9t and the back surface 2b and extending along the overall length of the upper edge 9t, thereby, the above-mentioned space is closed and a closed hollow (i) is formed behind a lower part of the face plate 2 whereas an upper part (r) of the face plate 2 is exposed through the hole (O). Not to heighten the center of gravity of the club head, the specific gravity of the elastic insert 5 is set to be smaller than that of the clubhead main body 3.
Although the result depending on the material used, if the thickness T of the elastic insert 5 between the front end 9t of the backside wall 9 and the back face 2b of the face plate 2 is too small, the restitution coefficient of the clubface F tends to decrease because the flexure of the face plate 2 at impact is excessively restricted. If the thickness T is too large, it becomes difficult to control the frequency of the face portion. Therefore, the thickness T of the elastic material 5 between the upper edge or front end 9t of the backside wall 9 and the back face 2b of the face plate 2 is set in the range of less than 10.0 mm, preferably less than 5.0 mm, more preferably less than 3.0 mm, but more than 0.5 mm, preferably more than 1.0 mm.
If the contact area Sa of the elastic material 5 with the back face 2b is too narrow, it is difficult to control the frequency, and it becomes difficult to maintain the necessary strength. If the contact area Sa is too wide, the flexure of the face plate 2 at impact is excessively restricted, and the restitution coefficient is liable to decrease. Further, there is a possibility that the difference in rigidity between the lower part and upper part of the face portion becomes large to decrease the directionality. Therefore, the total contact area Sa of the insert 5 with the face plate back face 2b is preferably set in the range of from 50 to 500 sq.mm, more preferably 50 to 200 sq.mm.
With the similar view, the width D of the elastic material measured vertically along the face plate back face 2b is set in the range of from 2 to 10 mm, preferably 2 to 5 mm.
Further, on the club face F, the distance of the sweet spot SS from the locus of the point P described along the upper edge 9t is preferably set in the range of not more than 10 mm, more preferably not more than 5 mm, and roughly, the locus extends radially from the sweet spot SS as the center.
The elastic insert 5 is usually fixed to the backside wall 9 rather than the face plate 2, while being appressed to the face plate back face 2b. An adhesive agent or the like can be employed in fixing. But in this embodiment, a mechanical engagement between the backside wall 9 and the elastic material 5 is utilized.
In the example shown in FIG. 5, as the upper part 9B is relatively thick, the front end 9t of the backside wall 9 is provided along the entire length with a narrow groove 10a, and the elastic insert 5 is provided on the backside with a rib 10b press-fitting into the narrow groove 10a. In this example, the cross sectional shape of each of the groove 10a and rib 10b is a rectangle.
In another example shown in FIG. 7, as the upper part 9B is relatively thin, a narrow groove 10a is formed on the elastic insert 5, and the front end 9t of the backside wall 9 is press fitted into the narrow groove 10a.
FIG. 6 shows a further example similar to the FIG. 3 example. In this example, in order to make the fitting of the insert 5 easier even after the face plate has been fixed to the clubhead main body, the cross sectional shapes of the groove 10a and rib 10b are rounded (arch, semicircle and the like are preferred).
It is of course possible to use an adhesive agent in the mechanical engagement part 10. It is also possible to use an adhesive agent between the back face 2b and elastic insert 5.
In the above-mentioned embodiments, the clubhead main body 3 inclusive of the backside wall 9 and backward extension 3f is an integral molding of a metal. But, the clubhead main body 3 may be made up of two or more pieces.
TABLE 1 Club Ref. 2 Ref. 1 Ex. 1 Ex. 2 Ex. 3 Ex. 4 Ex. 5 Ex. 6 Ex. 8 Ex. 9 Ex.7 Structure FIG. 13 FIG. 12 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5 FIG. 5
Face plate Ti-6AI-4V CUSTOM 465 Material 113000 198000 Young's modulus (MPa)
Head main body SUS630 Material 180000 Young's modulus (MPa)
Elastic body — — epoxy ABS NR-based BR-based elastomer thermoplastic polyether ester Material rubber rubber resin elastomer Young's modulus (MPa) — — 2410 2200 5 4 330 88
Minimum thickness (mm) — — 2 2 2 2 2 2 0.5 3 2 Natural frequency (Hz) 2060 1341 1361 1355 1341 1343 1360 1343 1420 1341 1380
11. A method of adjusting the natural frequency of a face portion of a golf club head to a natural frequency of a golf ball, said method comprising
13. A method of adjusting the natural frequency of a face portion of a golf club head to a natural frequency of a golf ball, said method comprising
6361455 March 26, 2002 Takemura
6368236 April 9, 2002 Sullivan et al.
6383644 May 7, 2002 Fuchs
6435981 August 20, 2002 Naruo et al.
20020049094 April 25, 2002 Kosmatka
2028353 October 1979 GB
2001-170222 June 2001 JP
Patent number: 6991559
Patent Publication Number: 20030228928
Assignee: SRI Sports Limited (Kobe)
Inventor: Masanori Yabu (Kobe)
Application Number: 10/455,528
Current U.S. Class: Vibratory Wave (e.g, Shock Wave, Etc.) Modifying Feature (473/332); Striking Face Insert (473/342); Hollow Body (473/345); Recess Or Cavity Behind Striking Face (473/350); Method (473/409)