Golf Club Heads with Energy Storage Characteristics
Embodiments of golf club heads with energy storage characteristics are presented herein. In some embodiments, a golf club head comprises a hollow body comprising a strikeface, a heel region, a toe region opposite the heel region, a sole, a top rail and an inflection point. The inflection point provides increase bending of the strikeface thereby providing performance enhancement over clubs without an inflection point.
1 . A hollow golf club head comprising:
a strike face and a rear wall opposite the strikeface;
a sole and a top rail opposite the sole;
a plurality of ribs extending in a direction from the top rail to the sole;
wherein the strikeface, rear wall, sole, and top rail cooperate to define a closed internal volume therebetween;
wherein the rear wall comprises an upper rear wall and a lower rear wall;
wherein the upper rear wall directly abuts the top rail, and the lower rear wall directly abuts the sole; and
wherein the top rail comprises a thickness between 0.04 inch and 0.08 inch.
2 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
a lower rear wall comprises a bottom incline and a lower exterior wall;
the hollow golf club head further comprises:
a first inflection point defining a junction between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall;
a second inflection point defining a junction between the bottom incline and the lower exterior wall;
a lower angle measured from between the bottom incline and the lower exterior wall, the lower angle is less than 180 degrees; and
an inflection angle measured from the upper rear wall to the bottom incline, the inflection angle between 95 degrees and 150 degrees.
3 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
a lower rear wall comprises a bottom incline and a lower exterior wall;
the hollow golf club head further comprises:
a first inflection point defining a junction between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall; and
a second inflection point defining a junction between the bottom incline and the lower exterior wall;
the upper rear wall comprises a thickness between 0.04 inch and 0.08 inch;
the rear wall at the first inflection point comprises a thickness between 0.04 inch to 0.08 inch; and
the thickness of the rear wall at the first inflection point is less than a thickness of the bottom incline.
4 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the rear wall equals the thickness of the top rail.
5 . The hollow golf club head of claim 2 , wherein the bottom incline comprises a length measured from the first inflection point to the second inflection point, the bottom incline length between 0 inch to 0.55 inch.
6 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the upper back wall is substantially parallel to the strikeface.
7 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the hollow golf club head further comprises a first inflection point defining a junction between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall;
the upper back wall comprises a height measured from the first inflection point to an apex of the top rail, the height of the upper back wall between 0.6 inch and 1.2 inch.
8 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein:
the hollow golf club head further comprises a first inflection point defining a junction between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall;
the hollow golf club head comprises a height, measured parallel to the strikeface from the sole to the top rail; and
the upper back wall comprises a height measured from the first inflection point to an apex of the top rail, the height of the upper back wall between 40% to 75% of the height of the hollow golf club head.
9 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ribs comprises between one and eight ribs.
10 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ribs comprises at least three ribs.
11 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ribs are spaced equidistant from each other.
12 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ribs is positioned on an interior surface of the rear wall.
13 . The hollow golf club head of claim 1 , wherein the hollow golf club head further comprises a polymer material that at least partially fills the closed internal volume.
14 . The hollow golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the polymer material comprises a weight between 2 grams and 7 grams.
15 . The hollow golf club head of claim 13 , wherein the polymer material comprises a specific gravity between 0.05 and 4.00.