US20070087860A1

US20070087860A1 - Club head having enhanced striking power

Info

Publication number: US20070087860A1
Application number: US11/252,769
Authority: US
Inventors: Chin-Sui Chen; Chin-I Tsai
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-10-19
Filing date: 2005-10-19
Publication date: 2007-04-19

Abstract

A club head having enhanced striking power includes a hollow chamber, a striking face on one side, and at least one hollow guiding member directing towards the backside of the striking face. The guiding member houses a balance weight which is slidable back and forth therein, and at least one buffer member on the front or rear side of the balance weight. Thereby the striking power of the club head can be enhanced, and the striking direction of the ball is steadier.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a golf club head and particularly to a club head that has a piston track to enhance the striking effect and provide a steady striking direction of the ball.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The conventional golf club has to go through calibration and adjustment before shipping from the plant. As individual-golfers have different swinging postures and strengths, to make the golf club to fit varying habit of each golfer and provide the optimal striking effect, most golfer producers have devoted a great deal of research and investment to improve the club head such as balance weight, material and the like so that it can meet different requirements of users and help the users to achieve the optimal striking effect.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional “Improved golf club head for enhancing striking power”. The club head 1 has a hollow chamber 10 and an arched guiding duct 12 corresponding to a striking face 11. The striking face 11 has a plurality of air vents III. There are a spherical conical portion 121 and a plurality of injection holes 122 at a tail end of the arched guiding duct 12. The arched guiding duct 12 has one end fastened to an inner wall of the striking face 11 and another end fastened to an inner wall of an opening 13 formed on an upper surface of the club head 1 that is to replace a ball type thrust member 14. The opening 13 is sealed through a movable lid 131 by screwing. Different sizes and weights of the ball type thrust member 14 may be replaced through the opening 13 to suit user's different needs and preferences. Hence when the user swings the club, air passes through the air vents 111 into the housing chamber 10 and enters the arched guiding duct 12 to move the ball type thrust member 14. The thrust of the gravity acceleration generated by the ball thrust member 14 generates a relative impact on the backside of the striking face 11 when the striking face 11 strikes the golf ball. Therefore, the striking force on the golf ball increases, and the striking effect is enhanced.
The aforesaid structure enhances the striking efficiency of the golf club head through a movable gravity center. However, the ball type thrust member 14 moves excessively during the club is swung, handling and control are difficult. Moreover, hitting of the ball type thrust member 14 on the backside of the striking face 11 generates a return force which strays the sweet spot. Hence although such a design can enhance the striking force, the flying direction of striking ball is difficult to control.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore the primary object of the present invention is to solve the aforesaid disadvantage by providing a golf club head that has a piston track.
The invention has the following features:
The club head according to the invention has a transverse guiding member opposing the backside of a longitudinal striking face. The guiding member houses a balance weight which is movable back and forth in a constant direction in the guiding member. There is at least one buffer member located in the moving direction on the front or rear side of the balance weight. The guiding member has an opening on a distal end to be coupled with a screw head. The duct type guiding member also houses a guiding rod to pass through a through hole formed on the balance weight. The guiding member may also be a rod, or a duct extended transversely from the backside of the striking face.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an improved conventional golf club head for enhancing the striking power.
FIG. 2A is a sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2B is a cross section taken on line 2B-2B in FIG. 2A.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of the present invention in a use condition.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a first embodiment of the present invention in another use condition.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Please refer to FIGS. 2A and 2B. The club head having enhanced striking power of the invention includes a club head 2 which has a hollow chamber 20, a striking face 21 which has a longitudinal flat surface on a front end, and at least one transverse duct type guiding member 22 extended in the housing chamber 20 towards a backside of the longitudinal striking face 21. In this embodiment, three guiding members 22 are provided. Each of the guiding members 22 has a housing space 221 to hold a balance weight 23 which is slidable back and forth in the housing space 221. Two buffer members 25 (such as springs) that are extendable axially are located on the front and rear sides of the balance weight 25 in the housing space 221. The housing space 221 has an opening on a distal end to be coupled with a screw head 24. The guiding member 22 further has a guiding rod 222 to run through a through hole 231 formed in the center of the balance weight 23 and the center of the two buffer members 25. Thereby the friction between the balance weight 23 and the inner wall of the housing space 221 of the guiding member 22 can be reduced without diminishing the sliding effect.
The weight of the balance weight 23 may vary according to different requirements of users. The buffer members 25 may also be extendable and deformable foamed plastics, or a fluid filler such as oil filled in the housing space when the opening of the guiding member 22 is sealed by the screw head 24.
Refer to FIGS. 3 and 4, when in use and the club head 2 is swung by a user, the balance weight 23 is moved rearwards due to the centrifugal force. When the club head 2 strikes a golf ball 3, the instantaneous impact between the striking face 21 and the golf ball 3 moves the balance weight 23 forwards because of the thrust of the gravity force. The gravity center of the club head 2 also moves forwards. The instantaneous moving of the gravity center of the club head 2 occurs whether the balance weight 23 hits the inner wall of the striking face 21 or not. Hence impact to the gold ball 3 is greater and the golf ball 3 can fly at a greater distance. The buffer members 25 can reduce Vibration of the balance weight 23. Namely, while the balance weight 23 thrusts forwards due to the gravity force caused by the instantaneous impact resistance between the striking face 21 and the golf ball 3, the thrust force for moving the balance weight 23 to the stop position is reduced, hence the oscillation that might otherwise occur to the club head 2 is eliminated. As a result, the striking direction of the ball is steadier. Referring to FIG. 2B, the optimum position of the balance weight 23 is on two sides or the sweet spot (central position) of the striking face 21 so that the striking face 21 can have a steadier hitting angle on the golf ball 3.
By means of the structure set forth above, the golf club 2 not only can increase the striking distance of the ball, the balance weight 23 is moved on a correct and constant track to increase the striking stability to achieve a steadier striking direction when the striking face 21 hits the golf ball 3 even if the swinging posture of the user is flawed and the club face is not correct. In addition, if the balance weight 23 is located in the center of the striking face 21, the sweet spot is larger.
Refer to FIG. 5 for a second embodiment of the invention. Under the condition of without affecting the return force of the striking face 21 and the sweet spot, the guiding member 22 may be formed by extending transversely from the rear end of the longitudinal striking face 21. Similarly, the duct type guiding member 22 has a housing space 221 to hold a balance weight 23, and buffer members 25a in the moving direction on the front and rear ends of the balance weight 23 that are movable back and forth. The juncture of the guiding member 22 and the club head 2 is fastened by a screw head 24 to confine the moving range of the balance weight 23. And different weights of the balance weight 23 can be replaced to suit different users.
Similarly, the duct type guiding member 22 can have a guiding rod 222 to run through the through hole 231 of the balance weight 23 to reduce the contact area of the balance weight 23 and increase the sliding capability.
The buffer members 25 and 25 a may be extendable and deformable foamed plastics, rubber, springs or the like. If the duct type guiding member 22 is sealed, the buffer members 25 and 25a may also be substituted by a fluid filler such as oil.
Refer to FIG. 6 for a third embodiment of the invention. It includes at least one bar type guiding member 22 transversely extended from one end opposing the longitudinal striking face 21. A balance weight 23 with a through hole 231 is run through by the guiding member 23 and slidable thereon. There are buffer members 25 in the moving direction on the front and rear ends of the balance weight 23 relative to the striking face 21 that are movable back and forth. The guiding member 22 has a detent member 220 on a distal end to prevent the balance weight 23 and the buffer members 25 from escaping. The buffer members 25 are extendable and deformable, and may be made from foamed plastics, rubber, springs or the like.

Claims

1. A club head having enhanced striking power, comprising a club head which has a hollow chamber, a striking face on a front end, and a guiding member on a rear side opposing a backside of the striking face, the guiding member having a duct type housing space to hold a balance weight which is slidable back and forth and at least one buffer member located on a front side or rear side of the balance weight.

2. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 1, wherein the guiding member is a duct extended transversely from the backside of the striking face and has an opening on a distal end coupled with a screw head.

3. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 2, wherein the buffer member is an extendable and deformable elastic element and selected from the group consisting of springs, rubber and foamed plastics.

4. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 2, wherein the duct guiding member houses a guiding rod which runs through a through hole formed in the center of the balance weight and the buffer member.

5. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 2, wherein the buffer member is fluid.

6. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 1, wherein the guiding member is a duct extended from the club head towards the backside of the striking face and has an opening on a distal end coupled with a screw head.

7. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 6, wherein the buffer member is an extendable and deformable elastic element and selected from the group consisting of springs, rubber and foamed plastics.

8. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 6, wherein the housing space of the guiding member houses a guiding rod, the balance weight having a through hole in the center running through by the guiding rod.

9. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 6, wherein the buffer member is fluid.

10. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 1, wherein the guiding member is a rod extended transversely from the backside of the striking face, the balance weight and the buffer member having respectively a through hole in the center to be run through by the guiding rod, the guiding member having a distal end coupled with a detent member.

11. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 10, wherein the buffer member is an extendable and deformable elastic element and selected from the group consisting of springs, rubber and foamed plastics.

12. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 1, wherein the guiding member is a rod extended from the club head towards the backside of the striking face, the balance weight and the buffer member having respectively a through hole in the center to be run through by the guiding rod, the guiding member having a distal end coupled with a detent member.

13. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 12, wherein the buffer member is an extendable and deformable elastic element and selected from the group consisting of springs, rubber and foamed plastics.

14. The club head having enhanced striking power of claim 1, wherein the buffer member is an extendable and deformable elastic element and selected from the group consisting of springs, rubber and foamed plastics.