IP Library › Granted Patent US 8,616,996
Granted Patent B2
US 8,616,996 · App. 13/568,721 · Granted Dec 31, 2013

Golf club with adjustable hosel angle

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,616,996
App. No.
13/568,721
Filed
Aug 7, 2012
Granted
Dec 31, 2013
Kind
B2
Art Unit
3711
USPC
473/309
Abstract

A golf club head with an adjustable hosel that sits within a cavity loaded with filler material. The cavity may generally extend from crown to sole or, in the alternative, extend only a partial amount of the distance from the crown to the sole.

Claims (30)

1. A golf club head comprising:

a body comprising a face, a sole, a toe, a heel, a cavity, and a hosel, wherein the cavity comprises an outer shell having a top portion and a bottom portion, wherein the bottom portion comprises a downwardly concave profile,

wherein a filler material is disposed within the outer shell, and wherein the filler material is malleable above a predetermined temperature.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined temperature is about 120° F.

3. The golf club head of claim 2 , wherein the predetermined temperature is about 130° F.

4. The golf club head of claim 3 , wherein the predetermined temperature is about 140° F. or higher.

5. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the golf club head has a face angle that is adjustable by about 10° or less from a square alignment when the filler material exceeds the predetermined temperature.

6. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the golf club head has a lie angle that is adjustable by about 20° in either direction when the filler material exceeds the predetermined temperature.

7. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the golf club head has a lie angle that is adjustable between about 40° and about 60° when the filler material exceeds the predetermined temperature.

8. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the golf club head has a loft angle that is adjustable by about 5° or less from the preset loft angle when the filler material exceeds the predetermined temperature.

9. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the golf club head has a loft angle that is adjustable between about 0.5° and about 5° from a preset loft angle when the filler material exceeds the predetermined temperature.

10. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the filler material comprises a thermoplastic material.

11. A golf club head comprising:

a body comprising a face, a sole, a toe, a heel, a crown, a cavity, and a hosel, wherein the cavity comprises an outer shell and filler material disposed therein, wherein the outer shell comprises a top portion and a bottom portion, wherein the bottom portion comprises a downwardly concave profile, wherein the filler material is viscous above a predetermined temperature, and wherein the hosel comprises a plurality of indentations that are able to be filled with the filler material,

wherein the hosel is disposed within the filler material, and wherein the hosel is adjustable when the filler material exceeds the predetermined temperature.

12. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the filler material comprises a thermoplastic material.

13. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the predetermined temperature is about 120° F.

14. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the face angle, lie angle, and loft angle are adjustable when the filler material exceeds a predetermined temperature.

15. The golf club head of claim 14 , wherein the face angle is adjustable by about 10° or less from a square alignment, the lie angle is adjustable by about 20° in either direction, and the loft angle is adjustable by about 5° or less from the preset loft angle.

16. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the filler material comprises polyurethane.

17. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the filler material comprises polyurea.

18. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the golf club head has a face angle that is adjustable by about 10° or less from a square alignment.

19. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the golf club head has a lie angle that is adjustable by about 20° in either direction.

20. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the golf club head has a loft angle that is adjustable by about 5° or less from the preset loft angle.

21. A golf club head comprising:

a body comprising a face, a sole, a toe, a heel, a cavity, and a hosel, wherein the cavity comprises an outer shell having a top portion and a bottom portion, wherein the bottom portion comprises a downwardly concave profile,

wherein a thermoplastic material is disposed within the outer shell, and wherein the thermoplastic material is malleable above about 120° F.

22. The golf club head of claim 21 , wherein the thermoplastic material comprises polyurethane, polyurea, epoxy, elastomer, polyethylene, polyamide, ionomer, polyesters, polypropylene, or combinations thereof.

23. The golf club head of claim 21 , wherein at least one of the face angle, lie angle, and loft angle are adjustable above about 120° F.

24. The golf club head of claim 23 , wherein at least one of the face angle, lie angle, and loft angle are adjustable above about 130° F.