# US 11,305,164 B2 · Club head having balanced impact and swing performance characteristics

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- Number: US 11,305,164 B2
- Document ID: US11305164B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 17/094,682
- Filed: 2020-11-10
- Published: 2021-02-25
- Granted: 2022-04-19
- Earliest claimed: 2013-03-14
- Assignees: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
- Applicants: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
- Inventors: Ryan M. Stokke; Sina Ghods
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11305164B2

## CPC

- A63B 53/0466: {wood-type}
- A63B 53/04: Heads
- A63B 60/02: Ballast means for adjusting the centre of mass (A63B60/24, A63B60/54 take precedence)
- A63B 53/0408: {characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness}
- A63B 53/0412: {Volume}
- A63B 53/0416: {Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert}
- A63B 53/0433: {with special sole configurations}
- A63B 53/0437: {with special crown configurations}
- A63B 53/0462: {characterised by tapering thickness of the impact face plate}
- A63B 2053/0491: {with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable}
- A63B 2225/01: Special aerodynamic features, e.g. airfoil shapes, wings or air passages
- Y10T 29/49826: Assembling or joining
- A63B: APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT (apparatus for passive exercising, massage A61H)
- Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION

## Abstract

Described herein are embodiments of golf club heads having a balance of the following parameters: a low and back club head center of gravity position, a high moment of inertia, and low aerodynamic drag. Methods of manufacturing the embodiments of golf club heads having a balance of club head center of gravity position, moment of inertia, and aerodynamic drag are also described herein.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A hollow body golf club head comprising:
a body having a front end, a back end opposite the front end, a crown, a sole
opposite the crown, a heel, a toe opposite the heel, a skirt adjoining the crown and the sole, and a hosel structure having a hosel axis extending centrally through a bore in the hosel structure;
a strikeface positioned at the front end and defining a geometric center, a loft
plane tangent to the geometric center, and a head depth plane extending through the geometric center from the heel to the toe, perpendicular to the loft plane;
wherein:
a loft angle of the club head is less than 16 degrees;
a head center of gravity of the club head is located at a head CG depth
from the loft plane, measured in a direction perpendicular to the loft plane, and at a head CG height from a head depth plane, measured in a direction perpendicular to the head depth plane;
the head CG depth is greater than 1.9 inches; and
the head CG height is less than 0.10 inches;
the club head experiences a drag force (FD) less than 1.4 lbf when subjected to an air speed of 102 mph in a direction perpendicular to a plane extending through the geometric center of the strikeface, parallel to the hosel axis, and positioned at the loft angle from the loft plane;
the club head has a crown-to-sole moment of inertia Ixx, a heel to toe
moment of inertia Iyy, and a combined moment of inertia measured as a sum of the crown-to-sole moment of inertia and the heel to toe moment of inertia Ixx+Iyy;
wherein the club head further satisfies relation A:
A
.
⁢
F
D
+
3.4
0
.
0
⁢
0
⁢
05
⁢
(
I
x
⁢
⁢
x
+
I
y
⁢
y
)
<
1
the club head further comprising an embedded weight comprising a weight center positioned at one or more of the following locations:
(a) within 0.4 inch of a perimeter of the club head;
(b) greater than 2.3 inches from the head center of gravity; or
(c) greater than 4.1 inches from the geometric center of the strikeface.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the club head experiences a drag force less than 1.1 lbf when subjected to an air speed of 102 mph in a direction perpendicular to a plane extending through the geometric center of the strikeface, parallel to the hosel axis, and positioned at the loft angle from the loft plane.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The golf club head of claim 1, further comprising one or more thin regions on the body having a thickness less than 0.02 inch.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The golf club head of claim 3 wherein the one or more thin regions are positioned on the strikeface.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The golf club head of claim 3 wherein the one or more thin regions are positioned on the crown.

### Claim 6 (depends on 3)

The golf club head of claim 3 wherein the one or more thin regions are positioned on the sole.

### Claim 7 (depends on 3)

The golf club head of claim 3 wherein the one or more thin regions are positioned on the crown and on the sole.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the heel-to-toe moment of inertia is greater than 5550 g·cm2.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a specific gravity of the embedded weight ranges between 10.0-22.0.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The golf club head of claim 1, wherein a mass of the embedded weight ranges between 3.0-50 grams.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The golf club head of claim 1 further comprising a front radius of curvature between 0.18 to 0.30 inch, wherein the front radius of curvature extends from a top edge of the strikeface to a crown transition point, the crown transition point indicating a change in curvature from the front radius of curvature to a different curvature of the crown.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The golf club head of claim 11 further comprising a rear radius of curvature that extends between the crown and the skirt of the club head along a rear transition boundary from a first rear transition point located at a junction between the crown and the rear transition boundary and a second rear transition point located at a junction between the rear transition boundary and the skirt of the club head.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The golf club head of claim 12 further comprising a crown angle less than 78 degrees, wherein the crown angle is measured as an acute angle between a front plane and a crown axis that extends through the crown transition point and the rear transition point of the club head; and
a maximum crown height greater than 0.60 inch, wherein the maximum crown height is measured as the greatest distance between a surface of the crown and the crown axis.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The golf club head of claim 1 further comprising a sole radius of curvature comprising a single radius of curvature extending from a bottom end of a strikeface perimeter near the sole where a contour departs from a roll radius and/or a bulge radius of the strikeface to a sole transition point indicting a change in curvature from the sole radius of curvature to a curvature of the sole.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The golf club head of claim 14 wherein the sole radius of curvature can range from approximately 0.25 inches to 0.50 inches.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The golf club head of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of turbulators adjacent to a crown transition point;
the crown transition point indicating a change in curvature from a front radius of curvature to a different curvature of the crown.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The golf club head of claim 16 wherein the plurality of turbulators project from an out surface of the crown;
wherein each of the plurality of turbulators comprise:
a turbulator length extending between the front end and the back end of the golf club head,
a turbulator width extending from the heel to the toe of the golf club head; and
a turbulator height.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The golf club head of claim 17 wherein the turbulator length is greater than the turbulator width.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The golf club head of claim 17 wherein the turbulator height is greater toward an apex of the crown than in comparison toward the front of the crown.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The golf club head of claim 17 wherein the turbulator height is lesser toward an apex of the crown than in comparison toward the front of the crown.