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US-20260124506-A1 - IRON GOLF CLUB HEAD

US20260124506A1US 20260124506 A1US20260124506 A1US 20260124506A1US-20260124506-A1

Abstract

An iron golf club head includes a face portion having a striking face, a sole portion forming a bottom surface of the head, and a top located opposite the sole portion. The sole portion extends rearward from the face portion and includes a toe side slit and a heel side slit extending from a sole rear edge toward the striking face. The slits define a sole center portion, a sole toe portion, and a sole heel portion. The sole portion includes a first portion located rearward of the face and a second portion located behind the first portion, the second portion rising upward from the bottom surface. The toe side slit has a greater length in a top-bottom direction than the heel side slit, and both slits extend through the second portion. The first portion has a smaller thickness in the top-bottom direction than the second portion.

Inventors

  • Kiyofumi Matsunaga

Assignees

  • SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20260102
Priority Date
20220901

Claims (19)

  1. 1 . An iron golf club head comprising: when the head is in a reference state, a face portion having a striking face; a face center on the striking face; a virtual vertical plane passing through the face center and perpendicular to the striking face; a toe; a heel located opposite the toe; a sole portion extending from the face portion to a rear of the head to form a bottom surface of the head; and a top located opposite the sole portion with the face portion therebetween, wherein the sole portion includes: a toe side slit extending from a sole rear edge toward a front of the head on the toe side of the virtual vertical plane; a heel side slit extending from the sole rear edge toward the front of the head on the heel side of the virtual vertical plane; a sole center portion demarcated between the toe side slit and the heel side slit; a sole toe portion detached from the sole center portion on the toe side by the toe side slit; and a sole heel portion detached from the sole center portion on the heel side by the heel side slit, the front of the head is the striking face, the top is positioned on an upper side and the sole portion is located on a lower side, and the toe side slit and the heel side slit each extend an entire length in a top-bottom direction of the sole portion, the toe side slit has a length in the top-bottom direction larger than a length of the heel side slit in the top-bottom direction, the sole portion includes a first portion located rearward of the face in a front-back direction of the head, and a second portion located behind the first portion in the front-back direction, the first portion and the second portion include a bottom surface of the sole portion, the second portion rises upward from the bottom surface of the sole portion toward the top of the head, the first portion has a thickness in the top-bottom direction smaller than a thickness of the second portion in the top-bottom direction, and the toe side slit and the heel side slit extend through the second portion.
  2. 2 . The head according to claim 1 , wherein the toe side slit and the heel side slit extend over an entire length of the second portion in the front-back direction.
  3. 3 . The head according to claim 1 , wherein the toe side slit and the heel side slit extend to the first portion.
  4. 4 . The head according to claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the first portion is from 1.0 to 3.0 mm.
  5. 5 . The head according to claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the second portion is 3.0 mm or more and 20 mm or less.
  6. 6 . The head according to claim 1 , wherein the face portion has a back face opposite to the striking face, the second portion has a front surface spaced apart from the back face, and a cavity is formed between the front surface and the back face, and a length of the cavity orthogonal to the striking face increases upward in the top-bottom direction.
  7. 7 . The head according to claim 1 , wherein the sole center portion includes a main body having a first specific gravity and a weight member having a second specific gravity larger than the first specific gravity.
  8. 8 . The head according to claim 1 , wherein the toe side slit and the heel side slit are each arranged on a respective side of and spaced apart from the virtual vertical plane by a distance of 15 mm or more and 35 mm or less in a toe-heel direction.
  9. 9 . The head according to claim 1 , wherein each of the toe side slit and the heel side slit has a width of 2 mm or more and 5 mm or less.
  10. 10 . An iron golf club head comprising: when the head is in a reference state, a face portion having a striking face and a back face opposite to the striking face; a face center on the striking face; a virtual vertical plane passing through the face center and perpendicular to the striking face; a toe; a heel located opposite the toe; a sole portion extending from the face portion to a rear of the head to form a bottom surface of the head; and a top located opposite the sole portion with the face portion therebetween, wherein, the sole portion includes: a toe side slit extending from a sole rear edge toward a front of the head on the toe side of the virtual vertical plane; a heel side slit extending from the sole rear edge toward the front of the head on the heel side of the virtual vertical plane; a sole center portion demarcated between the toe side slit and the heel side slit; a sole toe portion detached from the sole center portion on the toe side by the toe side slit; and a sole heel portion detached from the sole center portion on the heel side by the heel side slit, wherein, the sole portion consists of a first portion and a second portion, the first portion is located on a rear surface of the face portion side, the second portion is located behind the first portion and rises upward in a top-bottom direction more than the first portion to form a first cavity between a front surface of the second portion and the back face, the first portion connects a lower end portion of the face portion and a lower end portion of the second portion, the second portion has a front wall portion facing the back face with the first cavity therebetween and a second cavity recessed backward from the front wall portion at least in the sole center portion, the second cavity is arranged at a lower part of the second portion and communicates with a lower end of the first cavity, the front of the head is the striking face, the top is positioned on an upper side and the sole portion is located on a lower side, the toe side slit and the heel side slit each extend an entire vertical length of the sole portion, and the toe side slit has a length in the top-bottom direction larger than a length of the heel side slit in the top-bottom direction.
  11. 11 . The head according to claim 10 , wherein the first portion has a thickness in the top-bottom direction smaller than a thickness of the second portion in the top-bottom direction, and the toe side slit and the heel side slit extend through the second portion.
  12. 12 . The head according to claim 11 , wherein the toe side slit and the heel side slit extend over an entire length of the second portion in a front-back direction.
  13. 13 . The head according to claim 11 , wherein the toe side slit and the heel side slit extend to the first portion.
  14. 14 . The head according to claim 11 , wherein the thickness of the first portion is from 1.0 to 3.0 mm.
  15. 15 . The head according to claim 11 wherein the thickness of the second portion is 3.0 mm or more and 20 mm or less.
  16. 16 . The head according to claim 11 , wherein a length of the cavity orthogonal to the striking face increases upward in the top-bottom direction.
  17. 17 . The head according to claim 10 , wherein the second cavity is provided over an entire width of the sole center portion in a toe-heel direction.
  18. 18 . The head according to claim 10 , wherein the toe side slit and the heel side slit are each arranged on a respective side of and spaced apart from the virtual vertical plane by a distance of 15 mm or more and 35 mm or less in a toe-heel direction.
  19. 19 . The head according to claim 10 , wherein each of the toe side slit and the heel side slit has a width of 2 mm or more and 5 mm or less.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/456,196, filed on Aug. 25, 2023, which claims the benefit of foreign priority to Japanese Patent Applications No. JP 2022-139424, filed Sep. 1, 2022, which are incorporated by reference in its entirety. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure relates to an iron golf club head. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There is a demand for an iron golf club head capable of increasing a carry (flight distance) of a hit ball. In general, when the ball is hit at a sweet spot on a face portion, a large carry can be obtained. It should be noted that the sweet spot is a point at which a normal drawn from a center of gravity of the head down to a striking face of the face portion intersects the striking surface. See Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-221181, for example. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By the way, the iron golf club head is often used to hit a golf ball placed directly on the lawn, and therefore frequently hits the ball at a position about 15 mm above the lowest end of the striking face. However, it is difficult for an iron golf club heads to have the sweet spot at such a low position as described above due to their structure. The present disclosure was made in view of the above, and a primary object thereof is to provide an iron golf club head capable of increasing the carry of hit balls due to a novel structure thereof. The present disclosure is an iron golf club head including: when the head is in a reference state,a face portion having a striking face;a face center on the striking face;a virtual vertical plane passing through the face center and perpendicular to the striking face;a toe;a heel located opposite the toe; anda sole portion extending from the face portion to a rear of the head to form a bottom surface of the head, whereinthe sole portion includes: a toe side slit extending from a sole rear edge toward a front of the head on the toe side of the virtual vertical plane;a heel side slit extending from the sole rear edge toward the front of the head on the heel side of the virtual vertical plane;a sole center portion demarcated between the toe side slit and the heel side slit;a sole toe portion detached from the sole center portion on the toe side by the toe side slit; anda sole heel portion detached from the sole center portion on the heel side by the heel side slit, and the front is the striking face side. The iron golf club head of the present disclosure can increase the carry of a hit ball due to its novel structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view of the iron golf club head of Embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a rear view of the iron golf club head of Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the iron golf club head of Embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along IV-IV line of FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along V-V line of FIG. 2. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along VI-VI line of FIG. 2. FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the reference state of the iron golf club head. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the iron golf club head of Embodiment 1 as seen from the upper rear. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the iron golf club head of Embodiment 1 as seen from the lower rear. FIG. 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the iron golf club head of Embodiment 1. FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an iron golf club head of Embodiment 2. FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the iron golf club head of Embodiment 2 as seen from the upper rear. FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the iron golf club head of Embodiment 2 as seen from the lower rear. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described below in conjunction with accompanying drawings. The embodiments herein are not intended to limit the present disclosure in any way. Further, various examples described in the embodiments may be implemented with one of other examples alone or with two or more of other examples in combination. Embodiment 1 FIGS. 1 to 3 are a front view, a rear view, and a bottom view, respectively, of an iron golf club head (hereinafter may sometimes simply be referred to as “head”) 1 of the present embodiment. Further, FIGS. 4 to 6 are cross-sectional views taken along lines IV-IV, V-V, and VI-VI in FIG. 2, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, the head 1 includes a face portion 2, a top 3, a sole portion 4, a toe 5, a heel 6, and a hosel 7, for example. The head 1 of the present embodiment is entirely made of a metal material, for example. The head 1 may be partially made of non-metallic material such as fiber-reinforced plastic, for example. The face portion 2 includes a striking face 21, which is the surface for striking the ball. The striking face 21 is the intended primary striking area for the head 1. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of face lines 8 are formed on the striking face