GB2599265A

GB2599265A - Multi-material iron golf club head

Info

Publication number: GB2599265A
Application number: GB2117118.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: T Clarke Jacob; S Bacon Cory; Wu Dave; R Jertson Martin; D Milleman Travis; M Stokke Ryan; C Spackman Clayson
Original assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corp
Current assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corp
Priority date: 2019-06-05
Filing date: 2020-06-05
Publication date: 2022-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 2040-06-05
Also published as: GB2618925A; GB2618925B; JP7547388B2; GB202312053D0; GB202311821D0; GB2618027A; GB2618027B; WO2020247875A1; JP2022534785A; GB2599265B; KR20220017465A; EP3980142A1; GB202117118D0; EP3980142A4

Abstract

Described herein is a tour iron having a golf club head with a faceplate, a body, and an insert. A sole, top rail, rear, and the faceplate enclose a cavity within the body. The cavity can house the insert. The insert can comprise a low-density material, allowing weight to be concentrated around the peripheral edge of the golf club head. The rear of the golf club head has an inflection seam running from the heel to the toe. The golf club head has an upper portion, above the inflection seam and a lower portion below the inflection seam. The lower portion can have a depth greater that the upper portion depth. The striking surface can be formed by the low-density insert. The golf club head has a comparatively high moment of inertia and a low center of gravity. Other embodiments and methods are described herein.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising: a body and an insert; the body comprising an upper portion, a lower portion, a sole, a rear, a toe region, a heel region, and a top rail; wherein: the sole rests on a ground plane; a loft plane is tangential to the faceplate and intersects the ground plane; the rear comprises an inflection seam; the upper portion is bounded by the top rail and the inflection seam; the lower portion is bounded by the inflection seam and the sole; the sole, the rear, and the top rail of the body enclose a cavity; the body defines a front opening that connects to the cavity; the insert harbors within the cavity and the front opening; the insert form at least a portion of a striking surface; the body comprises a first material of a first density; the insert comprises a second material of a second density; and the second density is less than the first density.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein: the insert comprises an insert upper portion configured to be received into the upper portion of the body; the insert comprises an insert lower portion configured to be received into the lower portion of the body; and both the insert upper portion and the insert lower portion form at least a portion of the strikeface.

3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the first density of the first material is between 7.70 and 8.10 g/ cc.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the second material comprises a polymeric resin and a reinforcing fiber.

5. The golf club head of claim 4, wherein the second material is selected from the group consisting of: a glass-filled elastomer, a stainless steel-filled elastomer, a tungsten-filled elastomer, a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), a Kevlar® (aramid) fiber-reinforced polymer, and a carbon-fiber reinforced polymer.

6. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the second density of the second material is between 0.8 g/cc and 1.4 g/cc.

7. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein: the body further comprises an opening wall in the rear that defines a rear opening; the rear opening is opposite the front opening and is located within the upper portion of the body; and the insert further harbors within the rear opening.

8. The golf club head of claim 7, wherein a mass of the upper portion of the body is between 1 gram and 70 grams less than the mass of a golf club head lacking a rear opening and an insert with a density less than a body.

9. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the body further comprises one or more securing features, disposed inside the cavity and extending from one or more of the rear, the sole, the toe region, and the heel region.

10. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein at least one of the securing features extends from the rear to the sole within the cavity.

11. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein: at least one of the securing features comprises a first end and a second end; and both the first end and the second end are attached to the sole within the cavity.

12. The golf club head of claim 9, wherein at least one of the securing features forms a through- hole that is filled by the insert; the insert being geometrically locked to the at least one securing feature.

13. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein: the body further comprises an undercut in the top rail; the undercut forms part of the cavity; and the insert fills the undercut, causing the insert to mechanically lock into the cavity.

14. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein: the body further comprises an undercut in the sole; the undercut forms part of the cavity; and the insert fills the undercut, causing the insert to mechanically lock into the cavity.

15. The golf club head of claim 1, further comprising: an x-axis, extending in a heel-to-toe direction, parallel to the striking surface, and coincident with a center of gravity of the club head; a y-axis, orthogonal to the ground plane and coincident with the center of gravity; wherein: a moment of inertia, Ixx, measured about the x-axis ranges between 78 gram square inches and 120 gram square inches; and a moment of inertia, Iyy, measured about the y-axis ranges between 310 gram square inches and 466 gram square inches.

16. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the first material comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: a steel-based material, a titanium-based material, an aluminum alloy, and a titanium alloy.

17. The golf club head of claim 1, further comprising: a total mass; a toe weight; wherein: the body further comprises: a toe cavity; the toe cavity receives the toe weight; and the toe weight comprises a mass between 5% and 45% of the total mass of the club head.

18. The golf club head of claim 1, further comprising: a center of gravity; and a lead edge axis, parallel to the ground plane, extending in a heel-to-toe direction, and coincident the loft plane; a lead edge plane, parallel to the ground plane and coincident with the lead edge axis; a y-axis, orthogonal to the ground plane, and coincident with the center of gravity; and wherein the center of gravity of the golf club head is located between 0.380 inch and 0.670 inch above the lead edge plane.

19. The golf club head of claim 1, further comprising: a heel and a toe; a centerplane running vertically through a centerpoint of the faceplate; a cylindrical hosel integral to the body; a hosel reference plane, parallel to a front edge of the cylindrical hosel, when viewed from a toe side view; a hosel axis, defined as the central axis of the cylindrical hosel; a lead edge axis, parallel to the ground plane, extending in a heel-to-toe direction, and coincident with the loft plane; a hosel-X distance, measured from the intersection of the lead edge axis with the centerplane to the intersection of the lead edge axis with the hosel axis, when viewed from a front view, wherein the hosel-X distance is less than 1.5 inches; and an offset distance, measured as the minimum distance between the lead edge axis and the hosel reference plane; wherein the offset distance between 0.05 inch and 0.27 inch.

20. The golf club head of claim 1, further comprising: a heel and a toe; and a blade length, measured in a heel-to-toe direction from an edge of the striking surface in the heel to an outermost point on the toe; wherein the blade length is less than 2.8 inches.