# US RE47,653 E1 · Golf club head > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US RE47,653 E1 - Document ID: USRE47653E1 - Status: Granted - Kind: E1 - Application number: 15/904,245 - Filed: 2018-02-23 - Granted: 2019-10-22 - Earliest claimed: 2009-07-29 - Assignees: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. - Applicants: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. - Inventors: Bret H. Wahl; Peter L. Larsen; Loren Stowe - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/USRE47653E1 ## CPC - A63B 53/047: {iron-type} - A63B 53/0475: {with one or more enclosed cavities} - A63B 53/08: with special arrangements for obtaining a variable impact - A63B 60/00: Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like - B23P 17/04: characterised by the nature of the material involved or the kind of product independently of its shape - A63B 60/42: Devices for measuring, verifying, correcting or customising the inherent characteristics of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like, e.g. measuring the maximum torque a batting shaft can withstand - A63B 2053/0454 - A63B 2053/0462 - A63B 2053/0491: {with added weights, e.g. changeable, replaceable} - Y10T 29/49993: Filling of opening - A63B: APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT (apparatus for passive exercising, massage A61H) - B23P: METAL-WORKING NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; COMBINED OPERATIONS; UNIVERSAL MACHINE TOOLS (arrangements for copying or controlling B23Q) - Y10T: TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION ## Abstract An iron-type golf club head is disclosed having a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a front portion, a rear portion, and a striking face. A back wall is also disclosed in the rear portion enclosing a portion of the rear portion to create an enclosed cavity. The cavity is defined by at least a rear surface of the striking face, an inner back wall surface, and the sole portion. A plug and a filler material is located within the enclosed cavity. The filler material surrounds the plug and is configured to hold the plug in place. The plug is lighter than the filler material. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A hollow iron-type golf club head comprising: a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a front portion, a rear portion, and a striking face having an unsupported face surface area within a range of between about 300 mm2 to about 4,000 mm2; a back wall in the rear portion enclosing a substantial portion of the rear portion to create a substantially enclosed cavity, the enclosed cavity being defined by at least a rear surface of the striking face, an inner back wall surface, and the sole portion,; at least one plug located within the enclosed cavity, the at least one plug being compressed between the rear surface of the striking face and the back wall in the rear portion; a filler material located within the enclosed cavity, the filler material substantially surrounding the at least one plug and being configured to hold the at least one plug in place occupying about 50% to about 99% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity, the golf club head defining an aperture into the enclosed cavity, the aperture being configured to allow the cavity to be filled with the filler material; wherein the unsupported face area includes a thickened central region; wherein the at least one plug is positioned to be in contact with at least a portion of the thickened central region; and wherein the at least one plug occupies less than 20% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 10 cc and 20 cc; wherein the striking face thickness is less than 3 mm; and wherein a coefficient of restitution of the club head is greater than about 0.8. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 1 cc and 200 cc striking face thickness is less than 2 mm. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 10 cc and 20 cc striking face thickness is between about 1.5 mm and about 2.5 mm. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the at least one plug has a volume between about 0.1 cc and about 1 cc. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the at least one plug occupies between about 1% to about 10% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the at least one plug occupies between about 0.5% to about 5% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the filler material is an expanding foam material having has a density between about 0.03 g/cc and about 0.19 g/cc. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the filler material occupies about 50% to about 99% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity weighs less than about 20% of the total club head weight. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the back wall includes at least a first aperture, the first aperture being configured to allow the at least one plug to be inserted into the first aperture and is configured to allow the at least one plug to move from a first position to a second position filler material weighs less than about 5% of the total club head weight. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The iron-type golf club head of claim 9, wherein the back wall includes at least one slot, the at least one slot being connected to the first aperture and is configured to secure the at least one plug. ### Claim 11 A hollow iron-type golf club head comprising: a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a front portion, a rear portion, and a striking face having an unsupported face area of between about 300 mm2 to about 4,000 mm2; a back wall in the rear portion enclosing a substantial portion of the rear portion to create a substantially enclosed cavity, the enclosed cavity being defined by at least a rear surface of the striking face, an inner back wall surface, and the sole portion; at least one plug located within the enclosed cavity, the at least one plug being compressed between the rear surface of the striking face and the back wall in the rear portion; wherein the at least one plug occupies less than 20% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity, and wherein the back wall includes at least a first aperture, the first aperture being configured to allow the at least one plug to be inserted into the first aperture and being configured to allow the at least one plug to move from a first position to a second position. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The iron-type golf club head of claim 11, wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 1 cc and 200 cc. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The iron-type golf club head of claim 11, wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 10 cc and 20 cc. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The iron-type golf club head of claim 11, wherein the at least one plug has a volume between about 0.1 cc and about 1 cc. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The iron-type golf club head of claim 11, wherein the at least one plug occupies between about 1% to about 10% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The iron-type golf club head of claim 11, wherein the at least one plug occupies between about 0.5% to about 5% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The iron-type golf club head of claim 11, further comprising a filler material located within the enclosed cavity, the filler material substantially surrounding the at least one plug and being configured to hold the at least one plug in place. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The iron-type golf club head of claim 17, wherein the filler material is an expanding foam material having a density between about 0.03 g/cc and about 0.19 g/cc. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The iron-type golf club head of claim 17, wherein the filler material occupies about 50% to about 99% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity. ### Claim 20 (depends on 17) The iron-type golf club head of claim 17, wherein the filler material completely fills a remaining cavity volume around the at least one plug. ### Claim 21 (depends on 11) The iron-type golf club head of claim 11, wherein the coefficient of restitution of the club head is greater than about 0.8. ### Claim 22 (depends on 11) The iron-type golf club head of claim 11, wherein the back wall includes at least one slot, the at least one slot being connected to the first aperture and is configured to secure the at least one plug. ### Claim 23 A hollow iron-type golf club head comprising: a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a front portion, a rear portion, and a striking face having an unsupported surface area within a range of about 300 mm2 to about 4,000 mm2; a back wall in the rear portion enclosing a substantial portion of the rear portion to create a substantially enclosed cavity, the enclosed cavity being defined by at least a rear surface of the striking face, an inner back wall surface, and the sole portion; two or more apertures located in the back wall of the rear portion and extending through the back wall of the rear portion and into the enclosed cavity, wherein at least one of the two or more apertures is configured to allow the enclosed cavity to be filled with a filler material; wherein the enclosed cavity houses a filler material, and the filler material occupies about 50% to about 99% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity; wherein the filler material weighs less than about 20% of the total club head weight; wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 10 cc and 20 cc; wherein the striking face thickness is less than 3 mm; wherein the striking face includes a welded striking plate; and wherein the welded striking plate is a forged steel. ### Claim 24 (depends on 23) The iron-type golf club head of claim 23, wherein the coefficient of restitution of the club is greater than about 0.8. ### Claim 25 (depends on 11) The iron-type golf club head of claim 11, wherein the filler material weighs less than about 5% of the total club head weight. ### Claim 26 (depends on 1) The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the top-line portion has a total topline thickness of about 9 mm or less. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The iron-type golf club head of claim 26, wherein (a) the striking face has an ideal striking point that defines an origin of a coordinate system in which a CG x-axis is tangential to the striking face at the ideal striking point and is parallel to a ground plane when the club head is in a normal address position, a CG y-axis extends perpendicular to the x-axis and also parallel to the ground plane, and a CG z-axis extends perpendicular to the ground plane, (b) a positive CG x-axis extends toward the heel portion from the origin, a positive CG y-axis extends rearwardly from the origin, and a positive CG z-axis extends upwardly from the ground plane, (c) majority of the back wall has a back wall thickness of about 1 mm to about 3 mm at an elevation above the ideal striking point, and (d) the club head has a center of gravity located between about −5 mm and about 5 mm along the CG x-axis, less than about 20 mm along the CG y-axis, and less than about 25 mm along the CG z-axis. ### Claim 28 (depends on 27) The iron-type golf club head of claim 27, wherein an upper portion of the enclosed cavity is located at an elevation above the ideal striking point and contains filler material, and the filler material in the upper portion has an upper portion filler thickness measured perpendicular to an exterior surface of the striking face from an interior surface of the striking face to an interior surface of the enclosed cavity in the direction of the CG y-axis. ### Claim 29 (depends on 28) The iron-type golf club head of claim 28, wherein the upper portion is completely filled with the filler material. ### Claim 30 (depends on 28) The iron-type golf club head of claim 28, wherein a lower portion of the enclosed cavity is located at an elevation below the ideal striking point and contains filler material, and the filler material in the lower portion has a lower portion filler thickness measured perpendicular to the exterior surface of the striking face from the interior surface of the striking face to the interior surface of the enclosed cavity in the direction of the CG y-axis. ### Claim 31 (depends on 30) The iron-type golf club head of claim 30, wherein the lower portion filler thickness is different at two elevations along the CG z-axis. ### Claim 32 (depends on 31) The iron-type golf club head of claim 31, wherein the upper portion filler thickness is different at two elevations along the CG z-axis. ### Claim 33 (depends on 32) The iron-type golf club head of claim 32, wherein at the ideal striking point the filler material has a striking point filler thickness measured perpendicular to the exterior surface of the striking face from the interior surface of the striking face to the interior surface of the enclosed cavity in the direction of the CG y-axis, and the striking point filler thickness is greater than at least one upper portion filler thickness. ### Claim 34 (depends on 30) The iron-type golf club head of claim 30, wherein the filler material has a density of between about 0.03 g/cc and about 0.20 g/cc. ### Claim 35 (depends on 30) The iron-type golf club head of claim 30, wherein the fill material includes a polymer. ### Claim 36 (depends on 35) The iron-type golf club head of claim 35, wherein the polymer is elastic. ### Claim 37 (depends on 36) The iron-type golf club head of claim 36, wherein the polymer is an elastomer. ### Claim 38 (depends on 37) The iron-type golf club head of claim 37, wherein the elastomer is a thermoplastic. ### Claim 39 (depends on 35) The iron-type golf club head of claim 35, wherein the filler material has a modulus of elasticity of less than about 25 GPa. ### Claim 40 (depends on 39) The iron-type golf club head of claim 39, wherein the filler material has a durometer of about 5 to about 95 on a Shore D scale. ### Claim 41 (depends on 35) The iron-type golf club head of claim 35, wherein the striking face thickness is less than about 2 mm. ### Claim 42 (depends on 30) The iron-type golf club head of claim 30, wherein at least a portion of the heel portion and the toe portion are formed of carbon steel alloy, and at least a portion of the striking face is formed of maraging steel alloy. ### Claim 43 (depends on 42) The iron-type golf club head of claim 42, wherein at least a portion of the carbon steel alloy is plasma welded to at least a portion of the maraging steel alloy. ### Claim 44 (depends on 42) The iron-type golf club head of claim 42, wherein the carbon steel alloy is 8620 carbon steel alloy. ### Claim 45 (depends on 30) The iron-type golf club head of claim 30, wherein the coefficient of restitution of the club head is at least 0.8. ### Claim 46 (depends on 30) The iron-type golf club head of claim 30, wherein the rear portion has a recess configured to receive an insert. ### Claim 47 (depends on 46) The iron-type golf club head of claim 46, wherein the insert is mechanically attached to the recess. ### Claim 48 (depends on 47) The iron-type golf club head of claim 47, wherein the insert is a weight. ### Claim 49 (depends on 30) The iron-type golf club head of claim 30, wherein the filler material weighs less than about 5% of the total club head weight. ### Claim 50 (depends on 30) The iron-type golf club head of claim 30, wherein the center of gravity is located at least about 12 mm along the CG z-axis.