Golf club head

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a golf club head having a novel design for reducing the effects of sound and pivoting momentum when striking a golf ball and for delaying torque transmission.

Many golf ball head designs are already known for increasing the efficiency of energy transfer to a golf ball. There are golf clubs with a flat backside and a hollow structure at the back, and clubs with an increased impact surface. However, there is no known prior articulation design that increases the duration of direct contact between the impact surface and the golf ball during impact by delayed torque transfer, allows virtual enlargement of the impact head size with the same head weight, limits unwanted rotational effects of impact and damping the sound effect at impact.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a golf hammer head, in particular a metal hammer head design, which delivers a ball torque transmission, mitigates pivoting forces and also provides acoustic damping.

To accomplish this object, a golf club is provided having a body having a corner portion, a nose portion, an upper wall, a bottom wall defining portion, and an upwardly reclined impacting face wall having a rear cavity projecting from behind the front wall. It is an object of the invention to provide an additional inner cavity in the body just behind the front wall extending at least towards the top wall, the bottom wall, the heel and / or the nose, and an acoustic damping device, preferably a glued metal plate, in the front wall. it is arranged to dampen the sound-frequency vibrations that occur when the impact surface meets the golf ball.

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In the proposed hammerhead construction, the delay in the momentum transfer from the body to the forehead, more specifically to the impact surface and thereby to the golf ball, is ensured, inter alia, by the internal cavity at a substantially reduced wall thickness behind the forehead. The peripheral torque transmission can be limited to one of the corner portions by one or more notches substantially parallel to the impact surface over a given section.

A further advantageous effect of the inner cavity is that it allows redistribution of the body mass of the head, thus extending the rear wall portions defining the rear cavity at the same mass backwards, thereby reducing the effect of the pivoting moments on impact.

Preferably, the acoustic damping means is attached to the backside of the front wall open towards the inner cavity and the rear cavity. The outline of the acoustic damping device is within the contour of the inner cavity.

For example, the acoustic damping device consists of a thin silencer plate and an adhesive layer securing it to the front wall. The silencer plate is preferably attached to the back of the front wall. Optionally, a shallow recess is provided in the back of the front wall to receive the silencer sheet and adhesive layer. Preferably, the silencer plate has a wider central portion and narrower side wings extending toward the corner portion and the nose portion.

In a preferred embodiment of the golf club according to the invention, the inner cavity between the rear cavity and the front wall is formed such that at least the upper wall and sole, the upper wall and heel, the upper wall and self, the sole and heel, the sole and the nose or the heel and the nose extend towards.

The inner cavity is formed behind the silencer plate, preferably extending from the rear cavity towards both the upper wall and the base, the corner and the nose.

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The contour of the inner cavity is in a plane substantially parallel to the front wall.

To further increase the delay in the momentum transfer to the golf ball, at least one notch extending substantially parallel to the impact surface is formed behind the forehead in the body so that the momentum transfer is practically displaced to the corner portions of the smaller wall thickness around the inner cavity.

In order to increase the stability of the hammer head and to increase the impact accuracy, the hammer head resistance to pivoting torques is increased by having elongated upper and / or lower and / or lateral wall portions of the body extending downward from the upper wall and from the base to the rear. and expand upwards. The back extension of the body is made possible by the weight gain gained by the inner cavity without increasing the total weight.

Preferably, the inner cavity is configured such that the ratio of its depth to its rearward and backward width (ti) projecting from the posterior cavity is:

0.5 ti <Wi <1.5 ti.

Advantageously, the projecting thicknesses of the lower and upper back wall portions exceed their vertical thickness.

The depth of the inner cavity extending towards the bottom wall is preferably greater than the depth extending towards the upper wall.

The parts of the inner cavity extending towards the upper wall, sole, corner and nose are preferably delimited by a concave inner surface. The depth of the inner cavity extending towards the corner portion and the nose portion toward the top wall is gradually reduced.

The adhesive layer of the acoustic damping device consists of a carrier tape and adhesive surfaces on both sides thereof, which are glued to the silencer plate on the one hand and to the back of the front wall on the other.

Preferably, a recess is formed in the backside of the front wall with a contour coinciding with the circumference of the silencer plate and the adhesive layer. The recess receiving the silencer sheet and adhesive layer is preferably surrounded by a protruding edge.

The silencer plate is preferably a metal plate having a central portion and narrower side wings toward the corner portion and the nose portion.

On the rear surface of the silencer plate facing the rear cavity, the type of impact, manufacturer, etc., may be desired. an indication may be placed.

The body of the ball head according to the invention is generally a metal body, preferably a one-piece metal casting.

A complete set of punches can also be realized by the inventive hammer design, wherein each of the two to nine metal punches and the wedge type punches differ in their angle of inclination and optionally in other proportions.

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing. In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of an exemplary six (# 6) metal mallet according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the ball head of Figure 1 in section 2-2;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of an exemplary golf club in section 3-3;

Figure 4 shows a perspective top view of an exemplary ball head; Figure 5 is an enlarged detail of an exemplary ball head in sectional view of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail of a golf club according to the invention, with an exemplary version of an acoustic damping device attached to the back of the front wall.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 4, the golf head 10 of the present invention has a body 11, generally a metal body, having a corner portion 12, a nose portion 13, an upper wall 14, a base portion 15 including a bottom wall 115 and a front wall 17 defining an inclined impact surface 16. At the corner portion 12 of the all body, a neck portion 18 is provided for receiving a ratchet handle 19 and has a hole 18b therein. The neck portion 18 engages with the rest of the body 11 by a transition portion 18a.

The sole 15 has a concave outer surface portion 15c 'at the back, as shown in FIG. The inclination angle of the impact surface 16 is illustrated in Figures 2 and 4; the inclination may, of course, vary depending on the type of impact.

The ratchet handle 19 engages the bore 18b of the neck portion 18 and is preferably secured, for example, by gluing. Incidentally, the racket handle connection is known per se, for example, by reference to U.S. Patent No. 5,042,806.

Preferably, the body 11 of the golf head 10, together with the neck portion 18, may preferably be a single casting, such as a steel casting or other alloy known in the art.

The body 11 has a rear cavity 21 and an inner cavity 22. As shown in FIGS. 4a, the rear cavity 21 is machined from the rear towards the front wall 17, and the inner cavity 22 is located between the rear cavity 21 and the front wall 17, substantially parallel to the impact surface 16. The inner cavity 22 extends from the rear cavity 21 through the recesses 14a, 15a, 12a and 13a in the example to both the upper wall 14, the base portion 15, the corner portion 12 and the nose portion 15. The recesses 12a, 13a, 14a and 15a preferably end in rounded surfaces, as indicated by the concave inner surfaces 14c and 15c in FIG.

The all body extends behind the inner cavity 22 in the projecting wall portions 24, 25, 26 and 27 which surround the posterior cavity 21 and form an extended rear portion of the golf head 10, which contributes to delaying energy transfer to the ball through the impact surface. means more weight distribution resulting in a more secure impact head, provided that this all-body design provides a degree of stability to the impact torques that occur during impact.

The torque transmission delay can be increased and the torque transmission limited to certain peripheral portions, such as the corner portions, by incisions parallel to the impact surface 16, which can be inserted behind the front wall 17, such as the upper wall 14 and / or the base portion 15a. . Such parallel incisions are not shown in the drawing.

The torque transfer from the whole body is effected through the reduced wall thickness region surrounding the inner cavity 22, such as the reduced wall thickness sections 14b and 15b shown in Figure 2, optionally through portions 54, 55, 56 and 57 thereof.

As shown in Figure 2, the depth ti of the inner cavity 22 is reciprocated with the depth wi of the recess 14a extending into the upper wall 14, preferably of the order 0.5 ti <Wi <1.5 ti.

In a preferred embodiment of the All Body, the concave inner surfaces 14c and 15c of the recesses 14a and 15a for metal impact heads # 1 to # 7 are 3.8 to 4.1 mm (0.15 to 0.16 inch), # 8 and # 9 they have a radius of curvature of 5.3 to 5.9 mm (0.21 to 0.23 inch), while pitching wedge impact heads have a radius of curvature of 7.6 to 8.2 mm (0.30 to 0.32 inch). These are, of course, only recommended values ​​which can be deviated from the curved profile design of the boundary surfaces of the recesses 12a, 13a, 14a and 15a.

As shown in Figure 2, the height of the posterior cavity 21, i.e., in this example, the distance between the inner peripheral edges 29 and 30,

<img file="HUT70387A_D0001.tif" />

at least three times the depth of the recesses 14a and 15a. It is also clearly seen in Figure 2 that the depth of the recess 15a is far greater than the depth W1 of the recess 14a in our example.

Figures 2 and 3 show that the inner surfaces 32, 33, 34 and 35 of the projecting wall portions 24, 25, 26 and 27 facing the rear cavity 21 are surfaces defined in the forward direction.

1-3. Figures 6 to 9 clearly illustrate that the outline of the recesses 12a, 13a, 14a and 15a formed by the rear cavity 22 surrounds the impact surface 16, including the sweet spot region, which represents the optimum impact range. The recesses 12a, 13a, 14a and 15a are contiguously loop-shaped.

The construction of the heads # 1-5 and # 7-9 of the set of punches according to the invention is preferably the same as the exemplary golf hammer type # 6, except that there is a significant difference only in the inclination of the lower impact surfaces.

As shown in Figures 2, 3 and 5, a backside 17a 'is formed on the backside 17a of the front wall 17 for receiving an acoustic damping device according to the invention. The insertion 17a 'in this example is substantially delimited by a protruding edge 454 following the contour of the impact surface 16, which protrudes from the back side 17a of the front wall 17.

In this example, the acoustic damping device is implemented by a damping plate 450 disposed on the backside 17a, and more precisely on the rearward facing surface of the machining 17a '. The silencer plate 450 may be secured to the working surface 17a 'by means of an adhesive layer 451 (Fig. 5). As shown in Figure 6. As illustrated in FIG. 4B, the adhesive layer 451 is preferably formed by a carrier tape 451a and adhesive surfaces 451b and 451c on both sides thereof, which adhere to the working surface 17a 'and the forward facing surface of the silencer plate 450, respectively.

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As shown in Figure 1, the outline 17a 'of the projection, optionally 454, does not follow the contour of the underside of the impact surface, but has a specific shape according to the contour of the silencer plate 450, having a wider middle portion 450d and narrower flanks 450e and 450f. they extend towards the corner portion 12 and the nose portion 13 respectively. Like the silencer plate 450, of course, the adhesive layer 451 has corresponding portions, i.e., a wider central portion 45d and numerical portions.

The silencer plate 450 fixed by the adhesive layer 451 provides an acoustic damping device for the golf course head 10 of the present invention, which dampens the acoustic vibrations of the front wall 17 as a result of impact. In our experience, it is preferred that the surface of the silencer plate 450 is substantially smaller than the cross-section of the rear cavity 21, preferably about 25-75%, or about 20-65% of the surface 17a of the backside 17a.

Preferably, the silencer plate 450 is a metal plate, such as aluminum or other relatively light alloy, having a thickness of 0.02 to 0.05 inches and a surface of 225 to 283 mm.² (0.35-0.75 inch²). The adhesive layer 451a of the adhesive layer 451 is preferably paper, and the adhesive surfaces 451b and 451c are preferably epoxy resin.

As shown in Figure 6, a sticker 470a may be affixed to the back cavity 21 of the muffler plate 450, such as an adhesive, which may optionally include golf club head information, branding, type designation, and the like. It contains.