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US 10,500,451 B2Granted
Aerodynamic golf club head
AssigneeTaylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
InventorsMichael Scott Burnett, Jeffrey J. Albertsen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aerodynamic golf club head having a crown section that imparts beneficial aerodynamic properties due in part to the location of a crown apex and the curvature of the crown section.
Claims20
A high volume aerodynamic golf club head (100) comprising:
- A) a hollow body (110) having a club head volume of at least 400 cc, a face (200), a sole section (300), a crown section (400), a front (112), a back (114), a heel (116), a toe (118), and a center of gravity (CG), wherein the hollow body (110) has a front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.4 inches;
- B) the face (200) having a top edge (210) and a lower edge (220), wherein a top edge height (TEH) is the elevation of the top edge (210) above the ground plane (GP), and a lower edge height (LEH) is the elevation of the lower edge (220) above the ground plane (GP), wherein a maximum top edge height (TEH) is at least 2 inches;
- C) the crown section (400) having a crown apex (410) located an apex height (AH) above a ground plane (GP), wherein:
- (i) within a front-to-back vertical section through the crown apex (410) and perpendicular to a vertical plane created by a shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section (400) between the crown apex (410) and the face (200) has an apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f);
- (ii) within a heel-to-toe vertical section through the crown apex (410) and parallel to the vertical plane created by the shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section (400), above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH), has a heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) that is less than 4 inches at the crown apex (410);
- and
- (iii) within the front-to-back vertical section a portion of the crown section (400), above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH), between the crown apex (410) and the back (114) has an apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) that is less than the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) at the crown apex (410);
- (iv) a portion of the crown section (400) has a density less than a portion of the sole section (300);
- (v) the crown apex (410) is behind the forwardmost point on the face (200) a distance that is a crown apex setback dimension (412), and the crown apex setback dimension (412) is less than a distance that is parallel to the crown apex setback dimension (412) and is measured from a vertical projection of the center of gravity (CG) on the ground plane (GP) to a vertical projection of the forwardmost point on the face (200) on the ground plane (GP);
- and
- D) the high volume aerodynamic golf club head (100) has a moment of inertia (MOIx) about a horizontal axis through the center of gravity (CG) that is at least 2000 g*cm2.
8 more elements
A high volume aerodynamic golf club head (100) comprising:
- A) a hollow body (110) having a club head volume of at least 400 cc, a face (200), a sole section (300), a crown section (400), a front (112), a back (114), a heel (116), and a toe (118), wherein the hollow body (110) has a front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.4 inches;
- B) the face (200) having a top edge (210) and a lower edge (220), wherein a top edge height (TEH) is the elevation of the top edge (210) above the ground plane (GP), and a lower edge height (LEH) is the elevation of the lower edge (220) above the ground plane (GP), wherein a maximum top edge height (TEH) is at least 2 inches;
- and
- C) the crown section (400) having a crown apex (410) located an apex height (AH) above a ground plane (GP), wherein:
- (i) within a front-to-back vertical section through the crown apex (410) and perpendicular to a vertical plane created by a shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section (400) between the crown apex (410) and the face (200) has an apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f);
- (ii) within a heel-to-toe vertical section through the crown apex (410) and parallel to the vertical plane created by the shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section (400), above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH), has a heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t), wherein the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) is less than 4 inches on a portion of the crown section (400) located above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH);
- (iii) within the front-to-back vertical section a portion of the crown section (400), above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH), between the crown apex (410) and the back (114) has an apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) that is less than the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) at the crown apex (410);
- and
- (iv) wherein the apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f) at the crown apex (410) is less than 3 inches and at least 25% less than the greatest apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) located above the top edge height (TEH).
6 more elements
A high volume aerodynamic golf club head (100) comprising:
- A) a hollow body (110) having a club head volume of at least 400 cc, a face (200), a sole section (300), a crown section (400), a front (112), a back (114), a heel (116), a toe (118), and a center of gravity (CG), wherein the hollow body (110) has a front-to-back dimension (FB) of at least 4.4 inches;
- B) the face (200) having a top edge (210) and a lower edge (220), wherein a top edge height (TEH) is the elevation of the top edge (210) above the ground plane (GP), and a lower edge height (LEH) is the elevation of the lower edge (220) above the ground plane (GP), wherein a maximum top edge height (TEH) is at least 2 inches, and less than 10% of the club head volume is above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH);
- and
- C) the crown section (400) having a crown apex (410) located an apex height (AH) above a ground plane (GP), and the crown apex (410) is behind the forwardmost point on the face (200) a distance that is a crown apex setback dimension (412), and the crown apex setback dimension (412) is less than 1.75 inches, wherein:
- (i) within a front-to-back vertical section through the crown apex (410) and perpendicular to a vertical plane created by a shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section (400) between the crown apex (410) and the face (200) has an apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f);
- (ii) within a heel-to-toe vertical section through the crown apex (410) and parallel to the vertical plane created by the shaft axis (SA), a portion of the crown section (400), above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH), has a heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t), wherein the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) is less than 4 inches on a portion of the crown section (400) located above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH);
- and
- (iii) within the front-to-back vertical section a portion of the crown section (400), above the elevation of the maximum top edge height (TEH), between the crown apex (410) and the back (114) has an apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) that is less than the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) at the crown apex (410);
- (iv) wherein the apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f) at the crown apex (410) is less than the greatest apex-to-rear radius of curvature (Ra-r) located above the top edge height (TEH), and the apex-to-front radius of curvature (Ra-f) at the crown apex (410) is less than the heel-to-toe radius of curvature (Rh-t) at the crown apex (410);
- (v) the crown apex (410) is behind the forwardmost point on the face (200) a distance that is a crown apex setback dimension (412), and the crown apex setback dimension (412) is less than a distance that is parallel to the crown apex setback dimension (412) and is measured from a vertical projection of the center of gravity (CG) on the ground plane (GP) to a vertical projection of the forwardmost point on the face (200) on the ground plane (GP);
- and
- (vi) a portion of the crown section (400) is formed of nonmetallic material, and the nonmetallic portion of the crown section (400) includes the crown apex (410).
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.