Golf club head or other ball striking device having face insert material
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsAndrew G.V. Oldknow, Adam D. Liber, Robert Boyd
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ball striking device, such as a golf club, includes a head with a face having a ball striking surface configured for striking a ball, a body connected to the face, and a filling material, which may be in the form of an insert, connected to a rear surface of the face. The filling material may fill in a thinned portion of the face, which may form a recess on the rear surface of the face that receives the filling material. The filling material has a density that is lower than the density of the face material. Depending on the size, shape, and location of the filling material, the weight distribution, the moment of inertia, and/or the center of gravity of the face may change.
Claims44
A wood-type golf club head comprising:
- a face having a ball striking surface configured for striking a ball and a rear surface opposite the ball striking surface, with a thickness defined between the rear surface and the ball striking surface, the face having a thinned portion where the thickness is smaller than the thickness of surrounding areas of the face, the thinned portion forming a recess on the rear surface of the face that is recessed relative to the surrounding areas of the face;
- a body connected to the face and extending rearward from the face to define a cavity bounded by the face and the body;
- and
- an insert connected to the rear surface of the face, the insert being received within the recess and filling at least a portion of the recess,
- wherein the insert is comprised of a first material and the face is comprised of a second material, and wherein a density of the first material is lower than a density of the second material.
An iron-type golf club head comprising:
- an iron-type golf club body comprising a sole and a face extending upward from the sole, the face having a ball striking surface configured for striking a ball and a rear surface opposite the ball striking surface, with a thickness defined between the rear surface and the ball striking surface, the face further having a thinned portion where the thickness is smaller than the thickness of surrounding areas of the face, the thinned portion forming a recess on the rear surface of the face that is recessed relative to the surrounding areas of the face;
- and
- an insert connected to the rear surface of the face, the insert being received within the recess and filling at least a portion of the recess,
- wherein the insert is comprised of a first material and the face is comprised of a second material, and wherein a density of the first material is lower than a density of the second material.
A golf club head comprising:
- a face having a ball striking surface configured for striking a ball and a rear surface opposite the ball striking surface, the rear surface having a recess;
- a body connected to the face;
- and
- an insert connected to the face, the insert being received within the recess, wherein the insert has a density that is lower than a density of a material of the face.
A face member for use in a ball striking device, comprising:
- a face having a ball striking surface configured for striking a ball and a rear surface located rearward and opposite of the ball striking surface, the rear surface having a recess;
- a wall extending rearward from an outer periphery of the face;
- and
- an insert connected to the face, the insert being received within the recess, wherein the insert has a density that is lower than a density of a material of the face.
A golf club head comprising:
- a face having a ball striking surface configured for striking a ball and a rear surface opposite the ball striking surface;
- a body connected to the face;
- and
- an insert connected to the rear surface of the face, wherein the insert has a density that is lower than a density of a material of the face, and wherein the insert has a thickness and a width that are tapered such that the thickness of the insert increases toward an outer edge of the face and the width of the insert increases toward the outer edge of the face.
A method of manufacturing a golf club head comprising:
- providing a face having a ball striking surface configured for striking a ball and a rear surface opposite the ball striking surface, the rear surface having a recess;
- and
- filling the recess with an insert material, wherein the insert material has a density that is lower than a density of a material of the face.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.