US 8,784,234 B2Granted

Golf club head with a body-conforming weight member

AssigneeSRI Sports Limited

InventorsSam G. Lacey, Dan S. Nivanh, Nathaniel J. Radcliffe, Dustin J. Brekke

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A golf club head includes a main body having a top portion, a bottom portion, a striking face, and an interior surface. A weight member is coupled to the interior surface of the main body. In an imaginary vertical plane that passes through the weight member, the interior surface of the main body comprises a first point and a second point. An imaginary line passes through the first point and the second point. A first imaginary boundary line and a second imaginary boundary line, both passing through the weight member and being perpendicular to the imaginary line, pass through the first point and the second point, respectively. Between the first point and the second point, the interior surface of the main body has an irregularity factor of at least 1.2 and the weight member comprises a distribution factor of at most 1.0 and a conformity factor of at most 0.07.

Claims29

Dependent claims

A golf club head oriented in a reference position and comprising:

a main body comprising:
a heel, a toe, a top portion, and a bottom portion;
a striking face having a face center;
a forward-most extent, and a rearward-most extent;
an interior surface, and an exterior surface;
a hosel;
a peripheral edge;
an overall club-head width measured in a heel-toe direction;
an overall club-head length measured in a forward-rearward direction;
and
a geometric center;
and
a discrete weight member coupled to the interior surface of the main body, the weight member comprising a density of at least about 3 g/cm3, a projection area, in a top plan view, of at least about 2 cm2, a first surface that is proximate the interior surface of the main body, and a second surface that is distal the interior surface of the main body, a majority of the mass of the weight member located in a three-dimensional space, bounded, in a top plan view, between the peripheral edge and an imaginary inner boundary inwardly offset from the peripheral edge by a distance of 0.3 times the overall club head length,
wherein, in an imaginary vertical plane that passes through the weight member:
the interior surface of the main body comprises a first point and a second point;
an imaginary line passes through the first point and the second point;
a first imaginary boundary line perpendicular to the imaginary line and passing through the first point passes through the weight member;
a second imaginary boundary line perpendicular to the imaginary line and passing through the second point passes through the weight member;
between the first point and the second point, the interior surface of the main body comprises an irregularity factor of at least 1.2;
and
between the first point and the second point, the weight member comprises a distribution factor of at most 1.0 and a conformity factor of at most 0.07.

18 more elements

A golf club head oriented in a reference position and comprising:

a main body comprising:
a heel, a toe, a top portion, and a bottom portion;
a striking face having a face center;
a forward-most extent, and a rearward-most extent;
an interior surface, and an exterior surface;
a peripheral edge;
a hosel;
an overall club-head length measured in a forward-rearward direction;
and
an overall club-head width measured in a heel-toe direction;
and
a discrete weight member coupled to the interior surface of the main body, the weight member having a density of at least about 3 g/cm3, a projection area, in a top plan view, of at least about 2 cm2, a first surface proximate the interior surface of the main body, and a second surface distal the interior surface of the main body, a majority of the mass of the weight member located in a three-dimensional space, bounded, in a top plan view, between the peripheral edge and an imaginary inner boundary inwardly offset from the peripheral edge by a distance of 0.3 times the overall club head length,
wherein, in an imaginary vertical plane that passes through the weight member:
the interior surface of the main body comprises a first point and a second point;
an imaginary line passes through the first point and the second point;
a first imaginary boundary line perpendicular to the imaginary line and passing through the first point passes through the weight member;
a second imaginary boundary line perpendicular to the imaginary line and passing through the second point passes through the weight member;
between the first point and the second point, the weight member comprises a distribution factor of at most 1.0;
between the first point and the second point, the second surface of the weight member comprises a second-surface irregularity factor of at least 1.20;
between the first point and the second point, the interior surface of the main body comprises an interior-surface irregularity factor of at least 1.20;
and
an intercomponent ratio of the second-surface irregularity factor to the interior-surface irregularity factor is between 0.70 and 1.3.

19 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/178,261Filed 7 Jul 2011 · us provisional application
Priority: 27 Jul 2010
Published: US 2012/0028733 A12 Feb 2012
Granted: 22 Jul 2014
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

A63B 53/0466
Heads: wood-type
A63B 53/04
Golf clubs: heads
A63B 60/02
Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like: ballast means for adjusting the centre of mass
A63B 53/0408
Heads: characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness

Family

Application61/368,017Us provisional application · filed 27 Jul 2010
US 2012/0028733 A1Pre-grant publication · published 2 Feb 2012
US 8,784,234 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

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