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EP-4736964-A1 - CLUB HEAD HAVING BALANCED IMPACT AND SWING PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS

EP4736964A1EP 4736964 A1EP4736964 A1EP 4736964A1EP-4736964-A1

Abstract

Described herein are embodiments of golf club heads having a balance of the following parameters: a low and back club head center of gravity position, a high moment of inertia, and low aerodynamic drag. Methods of manufacturing the embodiments of golf club heads having a balance of club head center of gravity position, moment of inertia, and aerodynamic drag are also described herein.

Inventors

  • GHODS, Sina
  • STOKKE, RYAN M.

Assignees

  • Karsten Manufacturing Corporation

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20171116

Claims (20)

  1. A hollow body golf club head (100) comprising: a body (102) having a front end (108), a back end (110) opposite the front end (108), a crown (116), a sole (118) opposite the crown (116), a heel (120), a toe (122) opposite the heel, a skirt (128) adjoining the crown (116) and the sole (118), and a hosel structure (130) having a hosel axis (132) extending centrally through a bore in the hosel structure (130); a strikeface (104) positioned at the front end (108) and defining a strike face perimeter and a geometric center (140), a loft plane (1010) tangent to the geometric center (140), and a head depth plane (1040) extending through the geometric center (140) from the heel (120) to the toe (122), perpendicular to the loft plane (1010); a loft angle less than 16 degrees; a crown angle (388) less than 79 degrees, wherein the crown angle (388) is measured as the acute angle between a front plane (1020) and a crown axis (1090) that extends through the crown transition point (394) and the rear transition point (402) of the club head; and a maximum crown height (404) greater than 1.27cm (0.50 inch), wherein the maximum crown height (404) is measured as the greatest distance between the surface of the crown (116) and the crown axis (1090); a weight member (383) positioned near the sole (118) and the back end (110); a crown-to-sole moment of inertia I xx , a heel to toe moment of inertia I yy , and a combined moment of inertia measured as the sum of the crown-to-sole moment of inertia and the heel to toe moment of inertia I xx +I yy ; a head center of gravity of the club head (100) located at a head CG depth (372) from the loft plane (1010), measured in a direction perpendicular to the loft plane (1010), and at a head CG height (174) from a head depth plane (1040), measured in a direction perpendicular to the head depth plane (1040); the head CG depth is greater than 3.05cm (1.2 inches); the head CG height is less than 0.51cm (0.20 inches); and the club head experiences a drag force (F D ) less than 1.4 lbf when subjected to an air speed of 102 mph in a direction perpendicular to a plane extending through the geometric center of the strikeface (104), parallel to the hosel axis (132), and positioned at the loft angle from the loft plane (1010).
  2. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the club head (100) satisfies relation A and one or more of relations B and C: F D + 2.7 0.0005 I xx + I yy < 1 F D < 1.15 lbf I xx + I yy > 9000 g ⋅ cm 2 .
  3. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the club head (100) satisfies relation A and one or more of relations B and C: F D + 3.4 0.0005 I xx + I yy < 1 F D < 1.00 lbf I xx + I yy > 9250 g ⋅ cm 2 .
  4. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the club head (100) satisfies relation A and one or more of relations B and C: F D + 3.8 0.0005 I xx + I yy < 1 F D < 0.8 lbf I xx + I yy > 9500 g ⋅ cm 2 .
  5. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the club head (100) satisfies relations A, B and C: F D + 3.8 0.0005 I xx + I yy < 1 F D < 1.00 lbf I xx + I yy > 9500 g ⋅ cm 2 .
  6. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the club head (100) satisfies relation A and one or more of relations B and C: F D + 1.9 2.1 CG D < 1 F D < 1.15 ldf I xx + I yy > 9000 g ⋅ cm 2 ; wherein CG D is the CG depth (372).
  7. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the club head (100) satisfies relation A and one or more of relations B and C: F D + 2.3 2.1 CG D < 1 F D < 1.00 ldf I xx + I yy > 9250 g ⋅ cm 2 ; wherein CG D is the CG depth (372).
  8. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the club head (100) satisfies relation A and one or more of relations B and C: F D + 2.8 2.1 CG D < 1 F D < 0.8 lbf I xx + I yy > 9500 g ⋅ cm 2 ; wherein CG D is the CG depth (372).
  9. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the club head (100) satisfies relations A, B, and C: F D + 2.8 2.1 CG D < 1 F D < 1.00 lbf I xx + I yy > 9000 g ⋅ cm 2 ; wherein CG D is the CG depth (372).
  10. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, further comprising a head volume less than 400 cc.
  11. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, further comprising a weight structure (580) located towards the sole (118) and back end (110) of the club head (100), the weight structure (580) comprising the weight member (383); and wherein the weight structure (580) protrudes from an external contour of the sole (118).
  12. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the weight member (383) comprises a weight center (387) positioned at one or more of the following locations: (a) within 1.27cm (0.5 inch) of a perimeter of the club head (100); (b) greater than 5.89cm (2.2 inches) from the head center of gravity; or (c) greater than 10.16cm (4.0 inches) from the geometric center of the strikeface (140).
  13. The golf club head (100) of claim 12, wherein the weight member has a mass in a range of 10 to 40 grams.
  14. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, further comprising a face height bounded by the strike face perimeter, and a CG performance ratio of less than or equal to 0.56, as defined by (a) 72 mm minus the face height, divided by (b) the head CG depth.
  15. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, further comprising an optimization characteristic defined by (a) the head volume magnitude added to (b) a ratio between the head CG depth divided by an absolute value of the head CG height; and the optimization characteristic is greater than or equal to 425.
  16. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein the crown angle (388) is less than 74 degrees.
  17. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, further comprising a hosel sleeve (134) configured to be coupled to the hosel structure (130) in a plurality of configurations.
  18. The golf club head (100) of claim 17, wherein the hosel sleeve (134) comprises a mass less than 4.0 grams.
  19. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, wherein: the depth of the club head is greater than 11.4 cm (4.5 inches); the length of the club head is greater than 11.4 cm (4.5 inches); and the height of the golf club head is between 5.08 and 7.11 cm (2.0 and 2.8 inches).
  20. The golf club head (100) of claim 1, further comprising one or more thin regions (376) on the body (102) having a thickness less than 0.0508 (0.02 inch).

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Appl. No. 62/469,911, filed on March 10, 2017, U.S. Provisional Patent Appl. No. 62/449,403, filed on January 23, 2017, and U.S. Provisional Patent Appl. No. 62/423,878, filed on November 18, 2016, this also claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 15/680,404, filed on August 18, 2017, the contents of all of which are incorporated fully herein by reference. FIELD OF INVENTION The present disclosure relates to golf club heads. In particular, the present disclosure is related to golf club heads having balanced impact and swing performance characteristics. BACKGROUND Various golf club head design parameters, such as volume, center of gravity position and moment of inertia, affect impact performance characteristics (e.g. spin, launch angle, speed, forgiveness) and swing performance characteristics (e.g. aerodynamic drag, ability to square the club head at impact). Often, club head designs that improve impact performance characteristics can adversely affect swing performance characteristics (e.g. aerodynamic drag), or club head designs that improve swing performance characteristics can adversely affect impact performance characteristics. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a club head having enhanced impact performance characteristics balanced with enhanced swing characteristics. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view of a golf club head according to one embodiment.FIG. 2 is a side cross sectional view along line II-II of the golf club head in FIG. 1.FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the golf club head in FIG. 1.FIG. 4 is a side cross sectional view of the golf club head in FIG. 1.FIG. 5 is an enlarged side cross sectional view of the golf club head in FIG. 1.FIG. 6 is an enlarged side cross sectional view of the golf club head in FIG. 1.FIG. 7 is a top view of the golf club head in FIG. 1.FIG. 8 is a rear view of the golf club head in FIG. 1.FIG. 9 is a side cross sectional view of the golf club head in FIG. 1.FIG. 10 A illustrates a relationship between drag force and moment of inertia about the x-axis for various known golf club heads.FIG. 10 B illustrates a relationship between drag force and moment of inertia about the y-axis for various known golf club heads.FIG. 10 C illustrates a relationship between drag force and combined moment of inertia for various known golf club heads.FIG. 11A illustrates a relationship between drag force and combined moment of inertia of golf club heads described herein compared to known golf club heads.FIG. 11B illustrates a relationship between drag force and combined moment of inertia of golf club heads described herein compared to known golf club heads.FIG. 11C illustrates a relationship between drag force and combined moment of inertia of golf club heads described herein compared to known golf club heads.FIG. 12 illustrates a relationship between drag force and club head center of gravity depth for various known golf club heads.FIG. 13A illustrates a relationship between drag force and club head center of gravity depth of golf club heads described herein compared to known golf club heads.FIG. 13B illustrates a relationship between drag force and club head center of gravity depth of golf club heads described herein compared to known golf club heads.FIG. 13C illustrates a relationship between drag force and club head center of gravity depth of golf club heads described herein compared to known golf club heads.FIG. 14 illustrates a relationship between combined moment of inertia and club head center of gravity depth of golf club heads described herein compared to known golf club heads.FIG. 15 is a front view of a golf club head according to another embodiment.FIG. 16 is a side cross sectional view along line II-II of the golf club head in FIG. 15.FIG. 17 is a bottom view of the golf club head in FIG. 15.FIG. 18 is a side cross sectional view of the golf club head in FIG. 15.FIG. 19 is an enlarged side cross sectional view of the golf club head in FIG. 15.FIG. 20 is an enlarged side cross sectional view of the golf club head in FIG. 15.FIG. 21 is a top view of the golf club head in FIG. 15.FIG. 22 is a rear view of the golf club head in FIG. 15.FIG. 23A illustrates a relationship between drag force and moment of inertia about the x-axis for various known golf club heads.FIG. 23B illustrates a relationship between drag force and moment of inertia about the y-axis for various known golf club heads.FIG. 23C illustrates a relationship between drag force and combined moment of inertia for various known golf club heads.FIG. 24A illustrates a relationship between drag force and combined moment of inertia of golf club heads described herein compared to known golf club heads.FIG. 24B illustrates a relationship between drag force and combined moment of inertia of golf club heads described herein compared to known golf club heads.FIG. 25 illustrates a relationship between