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US RE50,275 E1Granted
Golf club head
AssigneeTaylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
InventorsBret H. Wahl, Peter L. Larsen, Loren Stowe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims91
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;
- 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, 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.
5 more elements
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.
2 more elements
An iron-type golf club head comprising:
- a body portion having a heel portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a sole portion, and a rear portion;
- a striking face having an ideal striking point positioned at an origin of the striking face, a striking face thickness of less than about 3 mm, an unsupported face surface area within a range of between about 450 mm2 to about 3500 mm2, and comprising a striking plate welded to a portion of the body portion;
- wherein the rear portion and the striking plate extend upward from the sole portion toward the top-line portion and create an enclosed cavity bounded by a back wall of the rear portion, at least a portion of the sole portion, at least a portion of the striking plate, and at least a portion of the top-line portion;
- and
- a filler material located within the enclosed cavity and occupying no less than 50% of the enclosed cavity, wherein the filler material is in contact with the striking plate and the back wall, the enclosed cavity has a volume of 20 cc or less, and the filler material is a cure-in-place elastomeric material;
- wherein:
- (a) the striking face has a center point, (b) an upper portion of the enclosed cavity is located at an elevation above the center point and contains filler material, (c) a lower portion of the enclosed cavity is located at an elevation below the center point and contains filler material, and (d) the filler material has a filler material 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, and the filler material thickness varies;
- wherein the filler material in the upper portion has an upper portion filler material 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, the filler material in the lower portion has a lower portion filler material 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, wherein the upper portion filler material thickness is different at two elevations above a ground plane, and the lower portion filler material thickness is different at two elevations above the ground plane;
- wherein the club head has a center of gravity located at an elevation between 12 mm and 25 mm above the ground plane;
- wherein the top-line portion has a total top line thickness of no greater than about 9 mm;
- wherein a first portion of the sole portion, located closer to the striking face than the rear portion and bounding the enclosed cavity, has a first portion sole thickness of no more than about 3 mm;
- wherein a majority of the back wall at an elevation above the ideal striking point has a back wall thickness of less than about 3 mm;
- and
- wherein the filler material has a density of greater than 0.03 g/cc.
11 more elements
An iron-type golf club head comprising:
- a body portion having a heel portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a sole portion, and a rear portion, with the body portion formed of a body portion material, and the top-line portion having a total top line thickness of no greater than about 9 mm;
- a striking face having an ideal striking point positioned at an origin of the striking face, a striking face thickness of less than about 3 mm, an unsupported face surface area within a range of between about 450 mm2 to about 3500 mm2, and comprising a striking plate welded to a portion of the body portion, with the striking plate formed of a striking plate material different than the body portion material;
- wherein the rear portion and the striking plate extend upward from the sole portion toward the top-line portion and create an enclosed cavity bounded by a back wall of the rear portion, at least a portion of the sole portion, at least a portion of the striking plate, and at least a portion of the top-line portion;
- and
- a filler material located within the enclosed cavity and occupying no less than 50% of the enclosed cavity, wherein the filler material has a density of greater than 0.03 g/cc and is in contact with the striking plate and the back wall, and the enclosed cavity has a volume of 10-20 cc;
- wherein:
- (a) the striking face has a center point, (b) an upper portion of the enclosed cavity is located at an elevation above the center point and contains filler material, (c) a lower portion of the enclosed cavity is located at an elevation below the center point and contains filler material, and (d) the filler material has a filler material 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;
- wherein the club head has a center of gravity located at an elevation between 12 mm and 25 mm above a ground plane;
- wherein a first portion of the sole portion, located closer to the striking face than the rear portion and bounding the enclosed cavity, has a first portion sole thickness of no more than about 3 mm;
- and
- wherein a majority of the back wall at an elevation above the ideal striking point has a back wall thickness of less than about 3 mm.
8 more elements
An iron-type golf club head comprising:
- a body portion having a heel portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a sole portion, and a rear portion, with the body portion formed of a body portion material, and the top-line portion having a total top line thickness of no greater than about 9 mm;
- a striking face having an ideal striking point positioned at an origin of the striking face, a striking face thickness of less than about 3 mm, an unsupported face surface area within a range of between about 450 mm2 to about 3500 mm2, and comprising a striking plate welded to a portion of the body portion, with the striking plate formed of a striking plate material different than the body portion material;
- at least one weighting element attached to the body portion;
- wherein the rear portion and the striking plate extend upward from the sole portion toward the top-line portion and creates an enclosed cavity bounded by a back wall of the rear portion, at least a portion of the sole portion, at least a portion of the striking plate, and at least a portion of the top-line portion;
- and
- an elastomeric dampening material having a density of 0.95 g/cc to 1.75 g/cc, and located within the enclosed cavity and in contact with the striking plate and the back wall;
- wherein (a) the striking face has a center point, (b) an upper portion of the enclosed cavity is located at an elevation above the center point and contains dampening material, and (c) a lower portion of the enclosed cavity is located at an elevation below the center point and contains dampening material;
- wherein the club head has a center of gravity located at an elevation between 12 mm and 25 mm above a ground plane;
- wherein a first portion of the sole portion, located closer to the striking face than the rear portion and bounding the enclosed cavity, has a first portion sole thickness of no more than about 3 mm;
- and
- wherein a majority of the back wall at an elevation above the ideal striking point has a back wall thickness of less than about 3 mm.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.