# US 10,245,484 B2 · Iron type golf club head > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,245,484 B2 - Document ID: US10245484B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/956,412 - Filed: 2018-04-18 - Published: 2018-10-18 - Granted: 2019-04-02 - Earliest claimed: 2011-12-23 - Assignees: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. - Applicants: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. - Inventors: Joshua J. Dipert; Scott Taylor; Yong Ling - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10245484B2 ## CPC - A63B 53/0475: {with one or more enclosed cavities} - A63B 53/047: {iron-type} - A63B 60/00: Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like - A63B 53/0408: {characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness} - A63B 53/042: {the face insert consisting of a material different from that of the head} - A63B 53/0454: {Strengthening ribs on the rear surface of the impact face plate} - A63B 53/0462: {characterised by tapering thickness of the impact face plate} - A63B 60/54: with means for damping vibrations - A63B 2209/00: Characteristics of used materials - A63B 2209/02: with reinforcing fibres, e.g. carbon, polyamide fibres - A63B: APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT (apparatus for passive exercising, massage A61H) ## Abstract Iron-type golf club heads are disclosed having a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a front portion, a rear portion, and a striking face. The iron-type golf club heads include a localized stiffened region that is located on the striking face of the club head such that the localized stiffened region alters the launch conditions of golf balls struck by the club head in a way that wholly or partially compensates for, overcomes, or prevents the occurrence of a rightward deviation. In particular, the localized stiffened region is located on the striking face such that a golf ball struck under typical conditions will not impart a right-tending sidespin to the golf ball. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An iron-type golf club head comprising: a heel, a toe, a sole, a top-line of the iron-type club head, a striking face having a forward-facing ball-striking surface, a rearward-facing surface, and an ideal striking location; and a perimeter weight surrounding the striking face; wherein the striking face has a supported region supported by the perimeter weight and an unsupported region, with the ideal striking location lying within the unsupported region, the unsupported region having a thickness that varies in a heel-toe direction; wherein a heel portion of the unsupported region of the striking face is located on a heel side of an imaginary vertical plane that extends perpendicularly to the ground plane and that contains an imaginary line that extends in a direction normal to the striking face at the ideal striking location when the clubhead is in the normal address position, and wherein a toe portion of the unsupported region of the face is located on a toe side of the imaginary plane; wherein the clubhead has a relative coefficient of restitution of at least −0.030; and wherein the following two inequalities are satisfied: SATOE>SAHEEL, (1) and [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.20; (2); wherein: SATOE is defined as the surface area of the toe portion of the unsupported region, SAHEEL is defined as the surface area of the heel portion of the unsupported region, En and tn are the effective Young's Modulus value and the thickness, respectively, for the nth cross-section of the toe portion of the unsupported region of the striking face, Em and tm are the effective Young's Modulus value and the thickness, respectively, for the mth cross-section of the heel portion of the unsupported region of the striking face, and N and M have values determined by discretizing SATOE and SAHEEL, respectively, into 1 mm×1 mm sections; wherein a hitting region of the unsupported region of the striking face lies within an imaginary circle drawn on the ball-striking surface, with the imaginary circle having a radius of 20 mm and having a center located at the ideal striking location. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The club head of claim 1 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.4. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The club head of claim 1 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.6. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The club head of claim 1 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.80. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The club head of claim 1 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>2.2. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The club head of claim 1 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>3.0. ### Claim 7 A clubhead for an iron-type golf club comprising: a heel, a toe, a sole, a top-line of the iron-type golf club clubhead, a striking face having a forward-facing ball-striking surface, a rearward-facing surface, and an ideal striking location; and a perimeter weight surrounding the striking face; wherein the striking face has a supported region supported by the perimeter weight and an unsupported region, with the ideal striking location lying within the unsupported region, the unsupported region having a thickness that varies in a heel-toe direction; wherein a heel portion of the unsupported region of the striking face is located on a heel side of an imaginary center vertical plane that extends perpendicularly to the ground plane and that contains an imaginary line that extends in a direction normal to the striking face at the ideal striking location when the clubhead is in the normal address position, and wherein a toe portion of the unsupported region of the face is located on a toe side of the imaginary plane; wherein a hitting region of the unsupported region of the striking face lies between an imaginary heel side vertical plane and an imaginary toe side vertical plane, where the heel side vertical plane is spaced 20 mm to the heel side and is parallel to the center vertical plane, and the toe side vertical plane is spaced 20 mm to the toe side and is parallel to the center vertical plane; wherein the clubhead has a relative coefficient of restitution of at least −0.030; and wherein the following two inequalities are satisfied: SATOE HR>SAHEEL HR, (1) and [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.4; (2) wherein: SATOE HR is defined as the surface area of the toe portion of the hitting region, SAHEEL HR is defined as the surface area of the heel portion of the hitting region, En and tn are the effective Young's Modulus value and the thickness, respectively, for the nth cross-section of the toe portion of the hitting region of the striking face, Em and tm are the effective Young's Modulus value and the thickness, respectively, for the mth cross-section of the heel portion of the hitting region of the striking face, and N and M have values determined by discretizing SATOE HR and SAHEEL HR, respectively, into 1 mm×1 mm sections. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The club head of claim 7 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.80. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The club head of claim 7 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.80. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The club head of claim 7 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>2.5. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The club head of claim 7 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>3.0. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The club head of claim 7 wherein a hitting region of the unsupported region of the striking face lies within an imaginary circle drawn on the ball-striking surface, with the imaginary circle having a radius of 20 mm and having a center located at the ideal striking location. ### Claim 13 A golf club head comprising: a heel, a toe, a sole, a top-line, a striking face having a forward-facing ball-striking surface, a rearward-facing surface, and an ideal striking location; and a perimeter weight surrounding the striking face; wherein the striking face has a supported region supported by the perimeter weight and an unsupported region, with the ideal striking location lying within the unsupported region, the unsupported region having a thickness that varies in a heel-toe direction; wherein a heel portion of the unsupported region of the striking face is located on a heel side of an imaginary vertical plane that extends perpendicularly to the ground plane and that contains an imaginary line that extends in a direction normal to the striking face at the ideal striking location when the clubhead is in the normal address position, and wherein a toe portion of the unsupported region of the face is located on a toe side of the imaginary plane; wherein the striking face has a donut shaped area of increased thickness located within the unsupported region, a center of the donut shaped area being located toeward of the ideal striking location; and wherein the following two inequalities are satisfied: SATOE>SAHEEL, (1) and [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.15; (2) wherein: SATOE is defined as the surface area of the toe portion of the unsupported region, SAHEEL is defined as the surface area of the heel portion of the unsupported region, En and tn are the effective Young's Modulus value and the thickness, respectively, for the nth cross-section of the toe portion of the unsupported region of the striking face, Em and tm are the effective Young's Modulus value and the thickness, respectively, for the mth cross-section of the heel portion of the unsupported region of the striking face, and N and M have values determined by discretizing SATOE and SAHEEL, respectively, into 1 mm×1 mm sections; wherein a hitting region of the unsupported region of the striking face lies within an imaginary circle drawn on the ball-striking surface, with the imaginary circle having a radius of 20 mm and having a center located at the ideal striking location. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The club head of claim 13 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.4. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The club head of claim 13 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.6. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The club head of claim 13 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>1.80. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The club head of claim 13 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>2.2. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The club head of claim 13 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>2.5. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The club head of claim 13 wherein: [(Σn=1NEntn3)÷N]÷[(Σm=1MEmtm3)÷M]>3.0.