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US 12,667,765 B2Granted
Golf club head
AssigneeTaylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
InventorsPaul M. Demkowski, Bret H. Wahl, Sean Toulon, Marni D. Ines, Robert Nunez, Bill Price, Jose Miraflor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A golf club putter head having a top portion, a sole portion, a front portion with a striking surface, a heel side portion, and a toe side portion, wherein a central portion extends rearwardly from the front portion with a toe side gap separating a portion of the central portion from the toe side portion, and a heel side gap separating a portion of the central portion from the heel side portion.
Claims30
A golf club putter head comprising:
- a top portion, a sole portion, a front portion with a striking surface, a heel side portion, and a toe side portion, wherein the heel side portion and the toe side portion extend rearwardly from the front portion and initially diverge outwardly from the front portion before converging toward one another;
- a central portion extending rearwardly from the front portion with a toe side gap separating a portion of the central portion from the toe side portion and extending through the sole portion and the top portion, and a heel side gap separating a portion of the central portion from the heel side portion and extending through the sole portion and the top portion;
- a face portion plane intersects a horizontal ground plane to define a ground center location, a ground center X-axis, and a ground center Y-axis;
- a center of gravity having a CG x-axis, a CG y-axis, and a CG z-axis;
- a heel side outboard extension extending rearwardly from the heel side portion and located behind a geometric center vertical plane containing the geometric center and is parallel to the ground center X-axis, where the heel side outboard extension receives at least a portion of a heel side weight;
- a toe side outboard extension extending rearwardly from the toe side portion and located behind the geometric center vertical plane, where the toe side outboard extension receives at least a portion of a toe side weight;
- a forward maximum external perimeter width between the opposed heel and toe side portions, measured parallel to the ground center X-axis, located at a forward maximum width location between the geometric center vertical plane and the striking surface;
- a forward minimum external perimeter width between the opposed heel and toe side portions, measured parallel to the ground center X-axis, located at a forward minimum width location closer to the striking surface than the forward maximum width location, where the forward minimum external perimeter width is less than the forward maximum external perimeter width;
- a rearward minimum external perimeter width between the opposed heel and toe side portions, measured parallel to the ground center X-axis, located at a rearward minimum width location rearward of the geometric center vertical plane, where the rearward minimum external perimeter width is less than the forward maximum external perimeter width, and the rearward minimum external perimeter width is less than the forward minimum external perimeter width;
- a rearward maximum external perimeter width between a heelwardmost point on the heel side outboard extension and a toewardmost point on the toe side outboard extension, measured parallel to the ground center X-axis, where the rearward maximum external perimeter width is greater than the rearward minimum external perimeter width;
- wherein:
- at least a portion of the heel and toe side portions are concave toward the ground center Y-axis;
- a total club head mass of 300-400 grams;
- a moment of inertia about the CG z-axis (Izz) of 4000-14000 g·cm2;
- an effective footprint defined as an area occupied by an outermost silhouette of the golf club putter head projected onto a X-Y plane;
- an actual footprint less than the effective footprint, and the actual footprint defined as the area occupied by an actual silhouette of the entire golf club putter head projected onto a X-Y plane;
- and
- a footprint ratio of 0.7-0.9, with the footprint ratio defined as the actual footprint divided by the effective footprint.
15 more elements
A golf club putter head comprising:
- a top portion, a sole portion, a front portion with a striking surface, a heel side portion, and a toe side portion, wherein the heel side portion and the toe side portion extend rearwardly from the front portion and initially diverge outwardly from the front portion before converging toward one another;
- a central portion extending rearwardly from the front portion with a toe side gap separating a portion of the central portion from the toe side portion and extending through the sole portion and the top portion, and a heel side gap separating a portion of the central portion from the heel side portion and extending through the sole portion and the top portion;
- a face portion plane intersects a horizontal ground plane to define a ground center location, a ground center X-axis, and a ground center Y-axis;
- a center of gravity having a CG x-axis, a CG y-axis, and a CG z-axis;
- a heel side outboard extension extending rearwardly from the heel side portion and located behind a geometric center vertical plane containing a geometric center of the golf club putter head, and is parallel to the ground center X-axis, and at least a portion of the heel side outboard extension extends rearward of the CG x-axis;
- a toe side outboard extension extending rearwardly from the toe side portion and located behind the geometric center vertical plane, and at least a portion of the toe side outboard extension extends rearward of the CG x-axis;
- a forward maximum external perimeter width between the opposed heel and toe side portions, measured parallel to the ground center X-axis, located at a forward maximum width location between the geometric center vertical plane and the striking surface;
- a forward minimum external perimeter width between the opposed heel and toe side portions, measured parallel to the ground center X-axis, located at a forward minimum width location at the striking surface, where the forward minimum external perimeter width is less than the forward maximum external perimeter width;
- a rearward minimum external perimeter width between the opposed heel and toe side portions, measured parallel to the ground center X-axis, located at a rearward minimum width location rearward of the geometric center vertical plane, where the rearward minimum external perimeter width is less than the forward maximum external perimeter width, and the rearward minimum external perimeter width is less than the forward minimum external perimeter width;
- a rearward maximum external perimeter width between a heelwardmost point on the heel side outboard extension and a toewardmost point on the toe side outboard extension, measured parallel to the ground center X-axis, where the rearward maximum external perimeter width is greater than the rearward minimum external perimeter width;
- wherein:
- a total club head mass of 300-400 grams;
- a moment of inertia about the CG z-axis (Izz) of 4000-14000 g·cm2;
- the heel side portion bounding the heel side gap and the central portion bounding the heel side gap are formed of steel;
- the toe side portion bounding the toe side gap and the central portion bounding the toe side gap are formed of steel;
- an effective footprint defined as an area occupied by an outermost silhouette of the golf club putter head projected onto an X-Y plane;
- an actual footprint less than the effective footprint, and the actual footprint defined as the area occupied by an actual silhouette of the entire golf club putter head projected onto a X-Y plane;
- and
- a footprint ratio of 0.7-0.9, with the footprint ratio defined as the actual footprint divided by the effective footprint.
16 more elements
A golf club putter head, comprising:
- a golf club putter head geometric center;
- a top portion;
- a sole portion;
- a face portion having a striking surface with a geometric center, wherein the face portion has a face portion heel side and a face portion toe side, and the face portion heel side and the face portion toe side flare outwardly from the striking surface;
- a back portion;
- a toe side portion and a heel side portion extend rearwardly from the face portion;
- an aluminum alloy central portion extending rearwardly from the face portion to the back portion with a toe side gap separating a portion of the aluminum alloy central portion from the toe side portion, and a heel side gap separating a portion of the aluminum alloy central portion from the heel side portion, with the aluminum alloy central portion having a sole opening closed by a sole plate;
- wherein:
- a face portion plane intersects a horizontal ground plane to define a ground center location, a ground center X-axis, and a ground center Y-axis;
- the golf club putter head has:
- a center of gravity having a CG x-axis, a CG z-axis, and a CG y-axis;
- the center of gravity having a CGx location between about-5.0 mm and about 5.0 mm, as measured from a ground center location;
- a total club head mass of 300-400 grams;
- a moment of inertia about the CG z-axis (Izz) of 4000-14000 g·cm2;
- a portion of the toe side portion and the heel side portion diverging from the ground center Y-axis, and a portion of the toe side portion and the heel side portion converging toward the ground center Y-axis;
- the heel side portion bounding the heel side gap and the aluminum alloy central portion bounding the heel side gap are formed of aluminum;
- the toe side portion bounding the toe side gap and the aluminum alloy central portion bounding the toe side gap are formed of aluminum;
- an effective footprint defined as an area occupied by an outermost silhouette of the golf club putter head projected onto an X-Y plane;
- an actual footprint less than the effective footprint, and the actual footprint defined as the area occupied by an actual silhouette of the entire golf club putter head projected onto a X-Y plane;
- and
- a footprint ratio of 0.7-0.9, with the footprint ratio defined as the actual footprint divided by the effective footprint.
18 more elements
A golf club putter head, comprising:
- a top portion;
- a sole portion;
- a face portion having a striking surface with a geometric center and a striking surface width, wherein the face portion comprises an aluminum alloy face portion material and has a face portion heel side and a face portion toe side;
- a back portion;
- a toe side portion and a heel side portion extend rearwardly from the face portion;
- an aluminum alloy central portion extending rearwardly from the face portion to the back portion with a toe side gap separating a portion of the aluminum alloy central portion from the toe side portion, and a heel side gap separating a portion of the aluminum alloy central portion from the heel side portion;
- a heel side flange portion extending rearward and heel-ward from the heel side portion;
- a toe side flange portion extending rearward and toe-ward from the toe side portion;
- a center of gravity having a CG x-axis, a CG y-axis, and a CG z-axis;
- a first weight attached to the golf club putter head rearward of the center of gravity;
- a second weight attached to the golf club putter head and located rearward of the center of gravity;
- wherein:
- the heel side flange portion and the toe side flange portion define at least a portion of an outer periphery of the golf club putter head, wherein a maximum outer periphery width between the heel side flange portion and the toe side flange portion is greater than the striking surface width;
- the heel side flange portion comprises the first weight;
- the toe side flange portion comprises the second weight;
- the first weight and the second weight are formed of a weight material that is different than the aluminum alloy face portion material;
- and
- the golf club putter head has:
- the center of gravity having a CGx location between about-5.0 mm and about 5.0 mm, as measured from a ground center location;
- a total club head mass of 300-400 grams;
- a moment of inertia about the CG z-axis (Izz) of 4000-14000 g·cm2;
- a portion of the toe side portion and the heel side portion diverging from the ground center Y-axis, and a portion of the toe side portion and the heel side portion converging toward the ground center Y-axis;
- the aluminum alloy central portion bounding a portion of the heel side gap and a portion of the toe side gap is formed of aluminum;
- an effective footprint defined as an area occupied by an outermost silhouette of the golf club putter head projected onto an X-Y plane;
- an actual footprint less than the effective footprint, and the actual footprint defined as the area occupied by an actual silhouette of the entire golf club putter head projected onto the X-Y plane;
- and
- a footprint ratio of 0.7-0.9, with the footprint ratio defined as the actual footprint divided by the effective footprint.
24 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.