Metal wood club with improved hitting face Number:7,520,819 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent A hitting face of a golf club head having improved flexural stiffness properties. In one embodiment, the hitting face is made from multiple materials. The main portion of the hitting face is a plate-like face made from a first material having a first density. A dense insert made from a second material having a second density that is greater than the first density is attached directly or indirectly to the plate-like face at or near the geometric center thereof. The dense insert increases the flexural stiffness of in a central zone of the hitting face so that a golf club head that has a larger zone of substantially uniform high initial ball speed. In another embodiment, the hitting face includes an insert that includes main plate and at least one wing extending therefrom. The insert is welded to the golf club head so that the main plate does not deflect separately from the remainder of the hitting face. The geometry of the insert controls the stiffness in the axial directions.<H improved, hitting, Metal, wood, club, 7520819.html, Patent, pto, 7520819

Title: Metal wood club with improved hitting face

Abstract: A hitting face of a golf club head having improved flexural stiffness properties. In one embodiment, the hitting face is made from multiple materials. The main portion of the hitting face is a plate-like face made from a first material having a first density. A dense insert made from a second material having a second density that is greater than the first density is attached directly or indirectly to the plate-like face at or near the geometric center thereof. The dense insert increases the flexural stiffness of in a central zone of the hitting face so that a golf club head that has a larger zone of substantially uniform high initial ball speed. In another embodiment, the hitting face includes an insert that includes main plate and at least one wing extending therefrom. The insert is welded to the golf club head so that the main plate does not deflect separately from the remainder of the hitting face. The geometry of the insert controls the stiffness in the axial directions.

Patent Number: 7,520,819 Issued on 04/21/2009 to Rice, et al.

Inventors: Rice; Scott A. (San Diego, CA), Nardacci; Nicholas M. (Bristol, RI)
Assignee: Acushnet Company (Fairhaven, MA)

Appl. No.: 12/059,137

Filed: March 31, 2008

Related U.S. Patent Documents


Application Number	Filing Date	Patent Number	Issue Date
11687137	Mar., 2007	7361099
10911341	Aug., 2004	7207898
10428061	May., 2003	7029403
09551771	Apr., 2000	6605007

Current U.S. Class: 473/329 ; 473/345; 473/346; 473/349

Current International Class: A63B 53/04 (20060101)

Field of Search: 473/324-350,287-292

References Cited [Referenced By]

U.S. Patent Documents


1318325	October 1919	Klin
1319233	October 1919	Mattern
1437463	December 1922	Boye
1467435	September 1923	Kinnear
1525352	February 1925	Aitken
1543691	June 1925	Beat
1582836	April 1926	Link
1589363	June 1926	Butchart
1595589	August 1926	Tyler
1605551	November 1926	Mattern
1699874	January 1929	Buhrke
1704119	March 1929	Buhrke
1704165	March 1929	Buhrke
1720867	July 1929	Webster et al.
2034936	March 1936	Barnhart
2087685	July 1937	Hackney
3567228	March 1971	Lynn
3571900	March 1971	Hardesty
3625518	December 1971	Solheim
3659855	May 1972	Hardesty
3863932	February 1975	Lezatte
3985363	October 1976	Jepson et al.
4021047	May 1977	Mader
4023802	May 1977	Jepson et al.
4193601	March 1980	Reid, Jr. et al.
4213613	July 1980	Nygren
4214754	July 1980	Zebelean
D267965	February 1983	Kobayashi
4429879	February 1984	Schmidt
4449707	May 1984	Hayashi et al.
4451041	May 1984	Hayashi et al.
4451042	May 1984	Hayashi et al.
4465221	August 1984	Schmidt
4471961	September 1984	Masghati et al.
4489945	December 1984	Kobayashi
4511145	April 1985	Schmidt
4762324	August 1988	Anderson
4792140	December 1988	Yamaguchi et al.
4826172	May 1989	Antonious
4842243	June 1989	Butler
4913438	April 1990	Anderson
4915385	April 1990	Anderson
4915386	April 1990	Antonious
4919430	April 1990	Antonious
4919431	April 1990	Antonious
4921252	May 1990	Antonious
4928965	May 1990	Yamaguchi et al.
4930781	June 1990	Allen
4932658	June 1990	Antonious
4955610	September 1990	Creighton et al.
D312858	December 1990	Anderson et al.
5000454	March 1991	Soda
5024437	June 1991	Anderson
5028049	July 1991	McKeighen
5046733	September 1991	Antonious
5056705	October 1991	Wakita et al.
5060951	October 1991	Allen
5067715	November 1991	Schmidt et al.
5090702	February 1992	Viste
5094383	March 1992	Anderson et al.
5106094	April 1992	Desbiolles et al.
5141230	August 1992	Antonious
5163682	November 1992	Schmidt et al.
5180166	January 1993	Schmidt et al.
5183255	February 1993	Antonious
5213328	May 1993	Long et al.
5221087	June 1993	Fenton et al.
5240252	August 1993	Schmidt et al.
5242167	September 1993	Antonious
5255918	October 1993	Anderson et al.
5261663	November 1993	Anderson
5261664	November 1993	Anderson
5271621	December 1993	Lo
5292129	March 1994	Long et al.
5295689	March 1994	Lundberg
5301945	April 1994	Schmidt et al.
5303922	April 1994	Lo
5318300	June 1994	Schmidt et al.
5328184	July 1994	Antonious
5344140	September 1994	Anderson
5346218	September 1994	Wyte
5351958	October 1994	Helmstetter
5358249	October 1994	Mendralla
5362047	November 1994	Shaw et al.
5362055	November 1994	Rennie
5366223	November 1994	Werner et al.
5380010	January 1995	Werner et al.
5390924	February 1995	Antonious
5395113	March 1995	Antonious
5397126	March 1995	Allen
5401021	March 1995	Allen
5405136	April 1995	Hardman
5405137	April 1995	Vincent et al.
5407202	April 1995	Igarashi
RE34925	May 1995	McKeighen
5417419	May 1995	Anderson et al.
5417559	May 1995	Schmidt
5423535	June 1995	Shaw et al.
5429357	July 1995	Kobayashi
5431396	July 1995	Shieh
5433440	July 1995	Lin
5447307	September 1995	Antonious
5447309	September 1995	Vincent
5451056	September 1995	Manning
5460376	October 1995	Schmidt et al.
5467983	November 1995	Chen
5470069	November 1995	Schmidt et al.
5474296	December 1995	Schmidt et al.
5482279	January 1996	Antonious
5497993	March 1996	Shan
5505453	April 1996	Mack
5509660	April 1996	Elmer
5522593	June 1996	Kobayashi et al.
5524331	June 1996	Pond
5533729	July 1996	Leu
5536006	July 1996	Shieh
5547630	August 1996	Schmidt
5549297	August 1996	Mahaffey
5564994	October 1996	Chang
5584770	December 1996	Jensen
5595552	January 1997	Wright et al.
5611741	March 1997	Schmidt et al.
5611742	March 1997	Kobayashi
D379393	May 1997	Kubica et al.
5626530	May 1997	Schmidt et al.
5643104	July 1997	Antonious
5643108	July 1997	Cheng
5643110	July 1997	Igarashi
5649872	July 1997	Antonious
5651409	July 1997	Sheehan
5655976	August 1997	Rife
5669827	September 1997	Nagamoto
5669829	September 1997	Lin
5674132	October 1997	Fisher
D387113	December 1997	Burrows
5695411	December 1997	Wright et al.
5709614	January 1998	Horiba
5709615	January 1998	Liang
5711722	January 1998	Miyajima et al.
5716292	February 1998	Huang
5718641	February 1998	Lin
5720673	February 1998	Anderson
5743813	April 1998	Chen et al.
5753170	May 1998	Muang
5755624	May 1998	Helmstetter
5762567	June 1998	Antonious
5766092	June 1998	Mimeur et al.
5766094	June 1998	Mahaffey et al.
5766095	June 1998	Antonious
5776011	July 1998	Su et al.
5807190	September 1998	Krumme et al.
5827132	October 1998	Bamber
RE35955	November 1998	Lu
D401652	November 1998	Burrows
5830084	November 1998	Kosmatka
5839975	November 1998	Lundberg
5842934	December 1998	Ezaki et al.
5851159	December 1998	Burrows
5863261	January 1999	Eggiman
5873791	February 1999	Allen
5873795	February 1999	Wozny et al.
D406294	March 1999	Burrows
5888148	March 1999	Allen
5890973	April 1999	Gamble
D411272	June 1999	Burrows
5908357	June 1999	Hsieh
5921872	July 1999	Kobayashi
5931746	August 1999	Soong
5935019	August 1999	Yamamoto
5938541	August 1999	Allen et al.
5941782	August 1999	Cook
5944619	August 1999	Cameron
5954596	September 1999	Noble et al.
D415807	October 1999	Werner et al.
5961394	October 1999	Minabe
5967905	October 1999	Nakahara et al.
5971868	October 1999	Kosmatka
5993329	November 1999	Shich
6007432	December 1999	Kosmatka
6027416	February 2000	Schmidt et al.
6139445	October 2000	Werner et al.
6152833	November 2000	Werner et al.
6248025	June 2001	Murphy
6319150	November 2001	Werner et al.
6338683	January 2002	Kosmatka
6368234	April 2002	Galloway
6381828	May 2002	Boyce
6390933	May 2002	Galloway
6398666	June 2002	Evans et al.
6435982	August 2002	Galloway et al.
6506129	January 2003	Chen
6605007	August 2003	Bissonnette et al.
6626769	September 2003	Chen
6648774	November 2003	Lee
6663501	December 2003	Chen
6669576	December 2003	Rice
6994636	February 2006	Hocknell et al.
7029403	April 2006	Rice et al.
7207898	April 2007	Rice et al.
7361099	April 2008	Rice et al.
2004/0266548	December 2004	Cheng et al.

Foreign Patent Documents


1114911	Jan., 1996	CN
2331938	Jun., 1999	GB
59207169	Nov., 1984	JP
61033682	Feb., 1986	JP
61162967	Jul., 1986	JP
61181477	Aug., 1986	JP
61185281	Aug., 1986	JP
61240977	Oct., 1986	JP
1244770	Sep., 1989	JP
02130519	May., 1990	JP
4020357	Jan., 1992	JP
4327864	Nov., 1992	JP
5212526	Aug., 1993	JP
05237207	Sep., 1993	JP
2268693	Jan., 1994	JP
6007487	Jan., 1994	JP
06031016	Feb., 1994	JP
6114126	Apr., 1994	JP
6126002	May., 1994	JP
6154367	Jun., 1994	JP
6182005	Jul., 1994	JP
6269518	Sep., 1994	JP
8168541	Jul., 1996	JP
8243194	Sep., 1996	JP
8280853	Oct., 1996	JP
8280854	Oct., 1996	JP
8294550	Nov., 1996	JP
9028842	Feb., 1997	JP
9047531	Feb., 1997	JP
9154985	Jun., 1997	JP
9168613	Jun., 1997	JP
9192270	Jul., 1997	JP
9192273	Jul., 1997	JP
9239074	Sep., 1997	JP
9239075	Sep., 1997	JP
9248353	Sep., 1997	JP
9294833	Nov., 1997	JP
9299519	Nov., 1997	JP
10024126	Jan., 1998	JP
10024128	Jan., 1998	JP
10085369	Apr., 1998	JP
10118227	May., 1998	JP
10137372	May., 1998	JP
10155943	Jun., 1998	JP
10258142	Sep., 1998	JP
10263121	Oct., 1998	JP
10323410	Dec., 1998	JP
10337347	Dec., 1998	JP

Other References

Golf Digest, Sep. 1982, p. 25. cited by other .
Golf Digest, Dec. 1981, p. 58-59. cited by other .
"Variable Face Thickness Technology," Calloway Golf advertisement, undated. cited by other.

Primary Examiner: Passaniti; Sebastiano
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Wheeler; Kristin D.

Parent Case Text

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/687,137, filed Mar. 16, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,361,099 which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/911,341 filed on Aug. 4, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,207,898, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/428,061, filed on May 1, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,029,403, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/551,771, file Apr. 18, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,605,007, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Claims

We claim:

1. A golf club head comprising: a crown forming the upper surface of the golf club head; a sole forming the lower surface of the golf club head; and a hitting face disposed between the crown and the sole, wherein the hitting face further comprises a face insert welded around a perimeter thereof to the golf club head, wherein the face insert further comprises, a central zone formed in part of a first material, wherein the first material has a first density; and an intermediate zone concentric with the central zone, wherein the intermediate zone is formed from a second material that is different from the first material, wherein the second material has a second density, wherein the first density is greater than the second density.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the central zone has a first flexural stiffness and the intermediate zone has a second flexural stiffness, and wherein the first flexural stiffness is higher than the second flexural stiffness.

3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the central zone of the face insert further comprises a dense insert.

4. The golf club head of claim 3, wherein the dense insert is a circular disk.

5. The golf club head of claim 3, wherein the dense insert is an elliptical disk.

6. The golf club head of claim 3, wherein the dense insert is a quadrilateral disk.

7. The golf club head of claim 3, wherein the dense insert is adhered directly to an inner surface of the face insert.

8. The golf club head of claim 7, wherein the dense insert is welded to the inner surface of the face insert.

9. The golf club head of claim 7, wherein the dense insert is adhered to the inner surface of the face insert with an adhesive.

10. The golf club head of claim 3, wherein the dense insert is approximately 10 mm in diameter at its widest point.

11. The golf club head of claim 3, wherein the face insert comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of titanium, titanium alloy, carbon steel, stainless steel and beryllium copper.

12. The golf club head of claim 3, wherein the dense insert of the central zone is made of a material of greater density than the second material of the intermediate zone of the face insert.

13. The golf club head of claim 12, wherein the dense insert comprises a material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, stainless steel, copper, nickel and bronze.

14. The golf club head of claim 3, wherein the dense insert is contained substantially within a cap.

15. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the cap is comprised of substantially the same material as the second material and the cap is welded to the face insert.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved golf club head. More particularly, the present invention relates to a golf club head with an improved striking face having a relatively large zone of high initial