US20080182680A1

US20080182680A1 - Golf club with carburized tungsten face insert

Info

Publication number: US20080182680A1
Application number: US11/627,679
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard De La Cruz
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-01-26
Filing date: 2007-01-26
Publication date: 2008-07-31

Abstract

An improved golf club head design for irons is presented which provides a carburized tungsten alloy insert in the club face. The carburized tungsten alloy insert improves the club's center of gravity and center of mass characteristics and presents a harder surface to the golf ball, improving club face longevity. There are also improved rebound characteristics seen with the use of a carburized tungsten alloy club face insert.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to golf clubs with club face inserts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Golf club heads with inserts are an old field of invention, some club inventions dating to the 1880's and earlier. The recent golf club head designs using inserts in the club's striking face have attempted to accomplish two separate goals: change the location of the center of mass or center of inertia of the club head and change the rebound characteristics of the club face when the ball strikes the club.
Golf clubs were historically categorized as either woods or irons depending on the composition of the materials used to form the heads. Although the categories of woods and irons have continued, the materials have changed drastically. An active field for players have driven the technology of fabricating golf clubs heads a far way from the original designs

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention consists of a golf club of the “iron’ type, with a flat striking surface set an an angle to the hozel of the club shaft with an insert in the striking surface, or “face” of the club. This invention can be applied to irons of any type, from wedges through the long irons.
The inset is the same shape as the scored portion of the face of the club. The scoring lines, which are horizontal, will be contained entirely within the insert surface. The surface of the insert and the surface of the remaining club face will form a continuous, flat, striking surface.
The use of inserts in the striking face of the club is related to improving the longevity of the club and changing the location of the club's sweet spot. In addition, inserts can give an adjustable center of gravity and can aid in selectively weighting the perimeter of the golf club head so that the largest possible “sweet spot” can be achieved, to provide an increase in the inertial moment of the golf club head during the swing, and/or to provide a feel of a solid impact and control when the club is swung and strikes the ball and to provide the most desirable sonic characteristic when the golf club hits the ball.
This invention uses a carburized tungsten alloy metal insert to increase the longevity of the club face and add additional weight to the center of the club face. The carburized tungsten alloy is harder than the steel usually present in cast head clubs and the insert will provide improved rebound characteristics when struck by a golf ball.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the golf club head.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the club head.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view of the club head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIG. 1, the present invention is an improved golf club head design, with a golf club head 103 and one or more metallic inserts 101. Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, in the preferred embodiment, the invention has a single insert 101 in the golf club head 103, the insert 101 approximately one-half the thickness of the golf club head 103 at the thinnest portion of the golf club head 103, the insert 101 possessing a plurality of scoring lines in its upper surface 102. In the preferred embodiment, the insert 101 is made from carburized tungsten metal.
The insert 101 is placed fixedly in the insert cut-out 104, which is an insert-shaped recess in the golf club head 103. The mechanisms for securing the insert 101 in the cut-out 104 include gluing, welding, and brazing. In the preferred embodiment, the insert 101 is brazed into the cut-out 104.
The insert 101 has a plurality of scoring lines in its upper surface 102 that correspond to the grooves cut into a single-metal cast golf club head. The scoring lines are only present on the insert upper surface 102.
While the present invention has been described above and a preferred embodiment of the invention has been identified, changes and substitutions of equivalent features can be made without departing from this invention. Those skilled in the art of golf club design will recognize that many variations of this described embodiment of the invention can be resorted to without leaving the boundaries of this specification and associated claims below.

Claims

1. a golf club with a metal insert in the striking surface of the club,

the striking surface of the club possessing a recess,

the metal insert the same shape and size as the recess,

the insert placed in the recess and attached to the striking surface with an attachment method, the upper surface of the insert and the striking surface forming a smooth plane when the insert is attached,

the upper surface of the insert possessing parallel scoring lines cut into the upper surface of the insert with a scoring method.

2. The golf club of claim 1 where the metal insert is comprised of carburized tungsten.

3. The golf club of claim 1 where the attachment method is brazing.