EP0710493A1 - Golfschläger mit Einsatzfläche aus variabler Härte - Google Patents

Golfschläger mit Einsatzfläche aus variabler Härte Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0710493A1
EP0710493A1 EP94117373A EP94117373A EP0710493A1 EP 0710493 A1 EP0710493 A1 EP 0710493A1 EP 94117373 A EP94117373 A EP 94117373A EP 94117373 A EP94117373 A EP 94117373A EP 0710493 A1 EP0710493 A1 EP 0710493A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
clubhead
toe
heel
face insert
insert
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP94117373A
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Thomas F. Hardman
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Wilson Sporting Goods Co
Original Assignee
Wilson Sporting Goods Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Wilson Sporting Goods Co filed Critical Wilson Sporting Goods Co
Priority to EP94117373A priority Critical patent/EP0710493A1/de
Publication of EP0710493A1 publication Critical patent/EP0710493A1/de
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B53/00—Golf clubs
    • A63B53/04—Heads
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B53/00—Golf clubs
    • A63B53/04—Heads
    • A63B53/0416—Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B53/00—Golf clubs
    • A63B53/04—Heads
    • A63B53/0416—Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert
    • A63B53/042—Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert the face insert consisting of a material different from that of the head
    • A63B53/0425—Heads having an impact surface provided by a face insert the face insert consisting of a material different from that of the head the face insert comprising two or more different materials
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B53/00—Golf clubs
    • A63B53/04—Heads
    • A63B53/0458—Heads with non-uniform thickness of the impact face plate
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B53/00—Golf clubs
    • A63B53/04—Heads
    • A63B53/0458—Heads with non-uniform thickness of the impact face plate
    • A63B53/0462—Heads with non-uniform thickness of the impact face plate characterised by tapering thickness of the impact face plate
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B53/00—Golf clubs
    • A63B53/04—Heads
    • A63B53/0466—Heads wood-type
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B53/00—Golf clubs
    • A63B53/04—Heads
    • A63B53/047—Heads iron-type
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B60/00—Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a face insert for a golf clubhead, and, more particularly, to a face insert having a variable hardness.
  • wood-type clubheads fall into two general categories --wood-type clubheads and iron-type clubheads.
  • wood-type clubheads have usually been made of wood, but in recent years wood-type clubs have predominantly been made from metal.
  • wood-type clubheads include both wood and metal clubheads.
  • a golf ball generally travels straightest when it is struck by a golf clubhead when the face of the clubhead is square to the intended line of flight of the ball and the center of gravity of the clubhead is aligned with the ball.
  • the ball When the ball is struck off-center, i.e., toward the toe or the heel of the clubhead, the ball tends to travel away from the intended line of flight.
  • Face inserts have been used for many years on wooden clubheads. Face inserts are now approved for metal clubheads by the Rules of Golf of the Untied States Golf Association. However, the face inserts have generally been formed from uniform material and have not been constructed to compensate for off-center hits.
  • the invention provides a face insert for a clubhead which has a variable effective hardness from the center of the insert to the outside of the insert.
  • the "effective hardness" of the insert refers to the total hardness of the clubhead and the insert which is exerted on the golf ball rather than to the hardness of the insert material above.
  • the effective hardness of the face insert can be varied by forming the insert from rings of material of different hardness or by varying the thickness of insert material itself.
  • Face inserts for iron clubheads have a greater effective hardness at the outside of the insert than at the center of the insert to compensate for off-center hits.
  • Face inserts for wood-type clubheads have a greater effective hardness at the center of the insert than at the outside of the insert to compensate for off-center hits.
  • Fig. 1 illustrates a conventional iron clubhead 20 and a golf ball 21.
  • the clubhead includes a face 22, a toe portion 23, a heel portion 24, and a hosel 25 which is connected to a shaft (not shown).
  • the clubhead moves in the direction of the arrow A and strikes the ball with the center of gravity CG of the clubhead aligned with the ball, as illustratd by the ball 21 in solid outline, the ball will travel in the direction indicated by the arrow B.
  • the clubhead contacts the ball 21' indicated in phantom at the toe portion the ball tends to travel in the direction indicated by the arrow C.
  • the clubhead contacts the ball 21' on the heel portion, the ball tends to travel in the direction of the arrow D.
  • Fig. 2 illustrates a conventional wood-type clubhead 27 which includes a face 28, a toe portion 29, a heel portion 30, and a hosel 31.
  • the face is curved slightly to compensate for gear effect.
  • the clubhead moves in the direction E and contacts the ball 21 with the center of gravity CG aligned with the ball, the ball will travel in the direction of arrow F.
  • the ball 21 is contacted by the toe portion 29, the ball will initially start out right and, because of gear effect, will curve back toward center as indicated by the arrow G. Then the ball 21 is contacted by the heel portion, the ball will start left and curve toward center as indicated by the arrow G.
  • Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate an iron clubhead 35 which includes a face insert 36 of variable hardness.
  • the clubhead includes a metal body 37 which can be formed by conventional forging or casting techniques from conventional clubhead materials, for example low-carbon steel, stainless steel, beryllium copper alloy, etc.
  • the body includes a toe portion 38, a heel portion 39, a sole 40, a top edge 41, a hosel 42, a back 43, and a front surface or face 44 which surrounds the insert 36.
  • the insert 36 is secured within a recess 46 in the body having a bottom wall 47.
  • the periphery of the insert 36 is generally elliptical, and the insert is formed from a generally elliptical center portion 48 and a plurality of generally elliptical rings 49, 50, and 51.
  • the center 48 and each of the rings 49-51 are formed from material having a different hardness.
  • the material of the center 48 has the lowest hardness
  • the material of the first ring 49 has the next lowest hardness
  • so on to the outer ring 51 can have a Shore A hardness of 40
  • the outer ring 51 can have a Shore A hardness of 80
  • the intermediate rings can have intermediate hardnesses.
  • the center 48 and the rings 49-51 can be formed from any suitable insert material for example, Cycolac plastic, Surlyn, Epoxy composite, etc.
  • the hardness of the insert will generally be considerably less than the hardness of the metal clubhead material.
  • the relatively hard material of the outer portion of the face insert compared to the softer material toward the center of the face insert will cause the ball to be projected toward the intended line of flight, i.e., the arrow B in Fig. 1.
  • the ball is projected toward the flight path of a center hit.
  • the elliptical face insert 36 illustrated in Fig. 3 has its major axis generally aligned with the ground plane, i.e., a plane which is tangent to the point of contact between the sole 40 and the ground when the clubhead is soled on the ground at the proper lie angle.
  • the minor axis of the ellipse then extends vertically.
  • the minor axis of the elliptical insert can extend at an angle from the vertical, for example, at an angle approaching the lie angle of the hosel or from about 35° to about 55° from the vertical.
  • Fig. 5 illustrates a clubhead 54 with a face insert 55.
  • the face insert 55 is similar to the face insert 36 except that the insert 55 is circular.
  • the insert 55 includes a circular center 56 and first and second circular rings 57 and 58 which are made from materials of varying hardness, for example, 40 Shore A for the center 56 to 80 shore A for the outer ring 58.
  • Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate a clubhead 60 with a generally trapezoidally shaped face insert 61.
  • the insert includes generally parallel toe and heel edges 62 and 63 and top and bottom edges 64 and 65.
  • the back surface 66 of the insert is generally conical-concave so that the central portion 67 of the insert is thinner than the edge portions of the insert.
  • the bottom wall 68 of the recess in the clubhead is a complementary conical-convex shape and abuts the concave surface of the insert.
  • the thinner central portion 67 which is backed by the metal wall of the clubhead has a lower effective hardness than the thicker edge portions of the insert.
  • Effective hardness means the hardness which is "felt" by the golf ball when the ball is struck by the combined insert and clubhead body.
  • the effective hardness of the central portion 67 is 40 Shore A
  • the effective hardness of the edge portions of the insert is 65 Shore A
  • the effective hardness of the intermediate portions of the insert vary between 40 and 65, for example, 50 in the area designated by the reference numeral 69.
  • Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate still another embodiment of an iron clubhead 71 with a face insert 72.
  • the face insert comprises a plurality of strips 73 of varying hardness, the strips being arranged generally perpendicualrly to the sole of the clubhead.
  • the center strip 74 has the lowest hardness, and the hardness of the strips increases toward the toe strip 75 and heel strip 76.
  • Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate a wood-type clubhead 78 with an elliptical face insert 79.
  • the face insert 79 is similar to the elliptical face insert 36 illustrated in Fig. 3 and includes a central portion 80 and a plurality of elliptical rings 81, 82, 83, and 84.
  • the insert for the wood clubhead is hardest at the center and softest at the outside.
  • the hardness of the center portion 80 is 80 Shore A
  • the hardness of the outer ring 84 is 40 Shore A
  • the hardness of the rings 81, 82, and 83 are between 80 and 40, for example, 70, 60, and 50, respectively.
  • the wood clubhead 79 includes a body 85, which can be either wood or metal, and the body includes a face 86, a sole 87, a top wall 88, and a side wall 89.
  • the insert 79 is positioned in a recess 90 in the face of the club, the recess having a side wall 91 and a bottom wall 92.
  • the face of the wood clubhead 78 which is formed by the face 86 of body and the insert 79 may be provided with bulge and roll curvatures. However, because the variable hardness face insert tends to correct for off-center hits, the bulge and roll curvatures may be reduced or eliminated.
  • Figs. 13 and 14 illustrate a wood-type clubhead 93 with a circular face insert 94.
  • the face insert has a circular central portion 95 and circular rings 96, 97, and 98.
  • the hardness of the central portion 95 may be 80 Shore A
  • the hardness of the outer ring 98 may be 40 Shore A
  • the hardness of the inner rings 96 and 97 may have intermediate hardness.
  • Figs. 15 and 16 illustrate a wood-type clubhead 100 with a face insert 101.
  • the insert has toe and heel edges 102 and 103, top and bottom edges 104 and 105, and a generally conical-convex back surface 106.
  • the clubhead has a recess 107 with a complementary shaped conical-concave bottom wall 108.
  • the central portion 109 of the insert is thicker than the edge portions, and the central portion has a greater effective hardness than the edge portions. In the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 15 and 16, the effective hardness at the central portion is 65 Shore A, the effective hardness at the edge portion is 40 Shore A, and the effective hardness at an intermediate point 110 is 50 Shore A.
  • Figs. 17 and 18 illustrate another embodiment of a face insert 112 for a clubhead 113.
  • the insert comprises a plurality of vertical strips 114 of varying hardness.
  • the center strip 115 has the highest hardness, and the end strips 116 and 117 have the lower hardness.

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Physical Education & Sports Medicine (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Golf Clubs (AREA)
EP94117373A 1994-11-03 1994-11-03 Golfschläger mit Einsatzfläche aus variabler Härte Withdrawn EP0710493A1 (de)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP94117373A EP0710493A1 (de) 1994-11-03 1994-11-03 Golfschläger mit Einsatzfläche aus variabler Härte

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP94117373A EP0710493A1 (de) 1994-11-03 1994-11-03 Golfschläger mit Einsatzfläche aus variabler Härte

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0710493A1 true EP0710493A1 (de) 1996-05-08

Family

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EP94117373A Withdrawn EP0710493A1 (de) 1994-11-03 1994-11-03 Golfschläger mit Einsatzfläche aus variabler Härte

Country Status (1)

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EP (1) EP0710493A1 (de)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0963221A1 (de) * 1996-05-08 1999-12-15 The Beta Group Inc. Golfschlägerkopf oder schlagfläche
US6277033B1 (en) 1996-12-05 2001-08-21 Pixl Golf Technologies, Inc. Golf club head or face
US20070226979A1 (en) * 2003-08-13 2007-10-04 Neil Paton High Durability Structures of Amorphous Alloy and a Method of Forming

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4471961A (en) * 1982-09-15 1984-09-18 Pepsico, Inc. Golf club with bulge radius and increased moment of inertia about an inclined axis
EP0285844A2 (de) * 1987-03-12 1988-10-12 Anthony J. Antonious Am Perimeter gewichteter Eisen-Golfschlägerkopf mit zusätzlichem intermediärem Gewichtungssystem
WO1993006895A1 (en) * 1991-09-28 1993-04-15 Dunlop Limited Golf club heads

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4471961A (en) * 1982-09-15 1984-09-18 Pepsico, Inc. Golf club with bulge radius and increased moment of inertia about an inclined axis
EP0285844A2 (de) * 1987-03-12 1988-10-12 Anthony J. Antonious Am Perimeter gewichteter Eisen-Golfschlägerkopf mit zusätzlichem intermediärem Gewichtungssystem
WO1993006895A1 (en) * 1991-09-28 1993-04-15 Dunlop Limited Golf club heads

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
EP0963221A1 (de) * 1996-05-08 1999-12-15 The Beta Group Inc. Golfschlägerkopf oder schlagfläche
EP0963221A4 (de) * 1996-05-08 2000-02-02 Beta Group Golfschlägerkopf oder schlagfläche
US6277033B1 (en) 1996-12-05 2001-08-21 Pixl Golf Technologies, Inc. Golf club head or face
US20070226979A1 (en) * 2003-08-13 2007-10-04 Neil Paton High Durability Structures of Amorphous Alloy and a Method of Forming
US10214800B2 (en) * 2003-08-13 2019-02-26 Crucible Intellectual Property, Llc High durability structures of amorphous alloy and a method of forming

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