Granted Patent B2

US 9,028,341 · App. 13/793,988 · Granted May 12, 2015

Abstract

Claims (122)

1. A golf club head comprising:

a club head body having an external surface with a heel portion, a toe portion, a crown portion, a sole portion, and a front opening;

a face insert support structure located at the front opening, the support structure including a rear support member, the rear support member having a support portion interior surface contour defining an apex point and an undercut distance in an undercut region within at least one major or minor plane;

a face insert attached at the front opening and closing the front opening of the body; and

at least one non-undercut region located in at least one major or minor plane intersecting a crown to face transition region; and

wherein four major planes intersect at a geometric center point of the face creating eight pie shaped major regions, the non-undercut region being located within two to seven of the eight pie shaped major regions.

2. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the non-undercut region is located within four to seven of the eight pie shaped major regions.

3. The golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the golf club head has a coefficient of restitution of at least 0.79 and a characteristic time of less than at least 257 μs.

4. A golf club head comprising:

a club head body having an external surface with a heel portion, a toe portion, a crown portion, a sole portion, and a front opening;

a face insert support structure located at the front opening, the support structure including a rear support member, the rear support member having a support portion interior surface contour defining an apex point and an undercut distance in an undercut region within at least one major or minor plane;

a face insert attached at the front opening and closing the front opening of the body; and

at least one non-undercut region located in at least one major or minor plane intersecting a crown to face transition region; and

wherein the non-undercut region includes a first non-undercut region and a second non-undercut region that are separated by at least one undercut region.

5. The golf club head of claim 4 , wherein the first non-undercut region is located substantially in a crown region and creates a non-undercut zone having a zone angle that is between 5° and 175°.

6. The golf club head of claim 5 , wherein the second non-undercut region is located substantially in a sole region and creates a non-undercut zone having a zone angle that is between 5° and 175°, and an adjustable loft, lie, or face angle system that is capable of adjusting the loft, lie, or face angle that is proximate the second non-undercut region that is located substantially in the sole region.

7. The golf club head of claim 5 , wherein the golf club head has a weight of between 185 g and 215 g, and the non-undercut zone is centered about a major vertical plane.

8. The golf club head of claim 7 , wherein the volume of the golf club head is between 400 cc and 475 cc.

9. The golf club head of claim 8 , wherein a CG x-axis coordinate is between −5 mm and 10 mm, a CG y-axis coordinate is between 20 mm and 50 mm, and a CG z-axis coordinate is between −10 mm and 5 mm, and the rear support member includes a heel-side rear support member that is integral with an internal hosel tube structure.

10. The golf club head of claim 9 , wherein a moment of inertia about the golf club head CG z-axis is between 370 kg·mm 2 and 430 kg·mm 2 , a moment of inertia about the golf club head CG x-axis is between 160 kg·mm 2 and 320 kg·mm 2 , and a moment of inertia about the golf club head CG y-axis is between 270 kg·mm 2 and 350 kg·mm 2 .

11. A golf club head comprising:

a club head body having an external surface with a heel portion, a toe portion, a crown portion, a sole portion, and a front opening;

a face insert support structure located at the front opening, the support structure including a rear support member, the rear support member having a support portion interior surface contour defining an apex point and an undercut distance in an undercut region within at least one major or minor plane;

a face insert attached at the front opening and closing the front opening of the body; and

at least one non-undercut region located in at least one major or minor plane intersecting a crown to face transition region;

wherein the undercut distance is between 0 mm and 20 mm.

12. The golf club head of claim 11 , wherein an undercut height is between 1 mm and 20 mm.

13. A golf club head comprising:

a club head body having an external surface with a heel portion, a toe portion, a crown portion, a sole portion, and a front opening;

a face insert support structure located at the front opening, the support structure including a rear support member, the rear support member having a support portion interior surface contour defining a non-undercut region, the non-undercut region being one of a plurality of non-undercut regions within a plurality of major or minor planes;

a face insert attached at the front opening and closing the front opening of the body;

at least one crown-side non-undercut zone being defined by the plurality of non-undercut regions in the crown portion and at least one sole-side non-undercut zone being defined by the plurality of non-undercut regions in the sole portion;

at least one crown-side non-undercut zone angle being associated with the at least one crown-side non-undercut zone;

at least one sole-side non-undercut zone angle being associated with the at least one sole-side non-undercut zone;

a summation of the at least one crown-side non-undercut zone angle; and

a summation of the at least one sole-side non-undercut zone angle defining a crown-to-sole non-undercut ratio, wherein the summation of the at least one crown-side non-undercut zone angle divided by the summation of the at least one sole-side non-undercut zone angle satisfies the following equation:

∑

Crown

⁢

-

⁢

Side

⁢

⁢

Non

⁢

-

⁢

Undercut

⁢

⁢

Zone

⁢

⁢

Angle

∑

Sole

⁢

-

⁢

Side

⁢

⁢

Non

⁢

-

⁢

Undercut

⁢

⁢

Zone

⁢

⁢

Angle

≤

1.

14. The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the at least one crown-side non-undercut zone is spaced apart from the at least one sole-side non-undercut zone angle by at least one undercut zone.

15. The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the crown-to-sole non-undercut ratio is between 0.05 and 0.95.

16. The golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the crown-to-sole non-undercut ratio is between 0.40 and 0.60.

17. A golf club head comprising:

a club head body having an external surface with a heel portion, a toe portion, a crown portion, a sole portion, and a front opening;

a face insert support structure located at the front opening, the support structure including a rear support member, the rear support member having a support portion interior surface contour defining an undercut region, the undercut region being one of a plurality of undercut regions within a plurality of major or minor planes;

a face insert attached at the front opening and closing the front opening of the body;

at least one heel-side undercut zone being defined by the plurality of undercut regions in the heel portion and at least one toe-side undercut zone being defined by the plurality of undercut regions in the toe portion;

at least one heel-side undercut zone angle being associated with the at least one heel-side undercut zone;

at least one toe-side non-undercut zone angle being associated with the at least one toe-side undercut zone;

a summation of the at least one heel-side undercut zone angle; and

a summation of the at least one toe-side undercut zone angle defining a heel-to-toe undercut ratio, wherein the summation of the at least one heel-side undercut zone angle divided by the summation of the at least one toe-side undercut zone angle satisfies the following equation:

∑

heel

⁢

-

⁢

side

⁢

⁢

undercut

⁢

⁢

zone

⁢

⁢

angle

∑

toe

⁢

-

⁢

side

⁢

⁢

undercut

⁢

⁢

zone

⁢

⁢

angle

≤

1.

18. The golf club head of claim 17 , wherein the heel-to-toe undercut ratio is between 0.05 and 0.95.

19. The golf club head of claim 17 , wherein the heel-to-toe undercut ratio is between 0.30 and 0.70.

Assignments (12)