Granted Patent B2

US 9,265,995 · App. 14/465,587 · Granted Feb 23, 2016

Abstract

Claims (34)

1. A hollow iron-type golf club head comprising:

a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a front portion, a rear portion, and a striking face having an unsupported face area of between about 300 mm 2 to about 4,000 mm 2 ;

a back wall in the rear portion enclosing a substantial portion of the rear portion to create a substantially enclosed cavity, the enclosed cavity being defined by at least a rear surface of the striking face, an inner back wall surface, and the sole portion,

at least one plug located within the enclosed cavity, the at least one plug being compressed between the rear surface of the striking face and the back wall in the rear portion;

a filler material located within the enclosed cavity, the filler material substantially surrounding the at least one plug and being configured to hold the at least one plug in place, the golf club head defining an aperture into the enclosed cavity, the aperture being configured to allow the cavity to be filled with the filler material;

wherein the unsupported face area includes a thickened central region;

wherein the at least one plug is positioned to be in contact with at least a portion of the thickened central region; and

wherein the at least one plug occupies less than 20% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity.

2. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 1 cc and 200 cc.

3. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 10 cc and 20 cc.

4. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the at least one plug has a volume between about 0.1 cc and about 1 cc.

5. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the at least one plug occupies between about 1% to about 10% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity.

6. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the at least one plug occupies between about 0.5% to about 5% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity.

7. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the filler material is an expanding foam material having a density between about 0.03 g/cc and about 0.19 g/cc.

8. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the filler material occupies about 50% to about 99% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity.

9. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the back wall includes at least a first aperture, the first aperture being configured to allow the at least one plug to be inserted into the first aperture and is configured to allow the at least one plug to move from a first position to a second position.

10. The iron-type golf club head of claim 9 , wherein the back wall includes at least one slot, the at least one slot being connected to the first aperture and is configured to secure the at least one plug.

11. A hollow iron-type golf club head comprising:

a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a top-line portion, a front portion, a rear portion, and a striking face having an unsupported face area of between about 300 mm 2 to about 4,000 mm 2 ;

a back wall in the rear portion enclosing a substantial portion of the rear portion to create a substantially enclosed cavity, the enclosed cavity being defined by at least a rear surface of the striking face, an inner back wall surface, and the sole portion;

at least one plug located within the enclosed cavity, the at least one plug being compressed between the rear surface of the striking face and the back wall in the rear portion;

wherein the at least one plug occupies less than 20% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity, and

wherein the back wall includes at least a first aperture, the first aperture being configured to allow the at least one plug to be inserted into the first aperture and being configured to allow the at least one plug to move from a first position to a second position.

12. The iron-type golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 1 cc and 200 cc.

13. The iron-type golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the enclosed cavity has a volume between about 10 cc and 20 cc.

14. The iron-type golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the at least one plug has a volume between about 0.1 cc and about 1 cc.

15. The iron-type golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the at least one plug occupies between about 1% to about 10% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity.

16. The iron-type golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the at least one plug occupies between about 0.5% to about 5% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity.

17. The iron-type golf club head of claim 11 , further comprising a filler material located within the enclosed cavity, the filler material substantially surrounding the at least one plug and being configured to hold the at least one plug in place.

18. The iron-type golf club head of claim 17 , wherein the filler material is an expanding foam material having a density between about 0.03 g/cc and about 0.19 g/cc.

19. The iron-type golf club head of claim 17 , wherein the filler material occupies about 50% to about 99% of the total club head cavity volume in the enclosed cavity.

20. The iron-type golf club head of claim 17 , wherein the filler material completely fills a remaining cavity volume around the at least one plug.

21. The iron-type golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the coefficient of restitution of the club is greater than about 0.8.

22. The iron-type golf club head of claim 11 , wherein the back wall includes at least one slot, the at least one slot being connected to the first aperture and is configured to secure the at least one plug.

Assignments (13)