US 12,268,940 B2
Golf club head
Matthew Greensmith, Carlsbad, CA (US); Christopher Harbert, Carlsbad, CA (US); Todd Beach, San Diego, CA (US); Mark Greaney, Carlsbad, CA (US); and Matthew D. Johnson, Carlsbad, CA (US)
Assigned to TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC., Carlsbad, CA (US)
Filed by Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc, Carlsbad, CA (US)
Filed on Apr. 12, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/228,511.
Application 17/228,511 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/137,151, filed on Dec. 29, 2020.
Application 17/137,151 is a continuation in part of application No. 17/124,134, filed on Dec. 16, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0184470 A1, Jun. 16, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A63B 53/04 (2015.01)
CPC A63B 53/0437 (2020.08) [A63B 53/0412 (2020.08); A63B 53/042 (2020.08); A63B 53/0433 (2020.08)] 27 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A driver-type golf club head, comprising:
a forward portion, comprising a strike face, a strike plate that defines the strike face, and a plate opening, wherein the strike plate encloses the plate opening and is made of a non-metal material having a density between 1 g/cm3 and 2 g/cm3;
a rearward portion, opposite the forward portion;
a crown portion;
a sole portion, opposite the crown portion;
a heel portion;
a toe portion, opposite the heel portion;
a hollow interior region defined by the forward portion, the rearward portion, the crown portion, the sole portion, the heel portion, and the toe portion;
at least one of a crown opening, formed in the crown portion, or a sole opening, formed in the sole portion, each one of the crown opening and the sole opening is open to the hollow interior region; and
an insert covering each one of the at least one crown opening, to form part of the crown portion, and the sole opening, to form part of the sole portion, the insert is made of a non-metal material having a density between about 1 g/cm3 and about 2 g/cm3;
wherein:
the strike face is void of through-apertures open to the hollow interior region;
a volume of the driver-type golf club head is between 350 cm3 and 500 cm3;
the golf club head has a center-of-gravity (CG) with an x-axis coordinate, on an x-axis of a head center face origin coordinate system of the golf club head, between-7 mm and 7 mm and a y-axis coordinate, on a y-axis of the head center face origin coordinate system of the golf club head, between 25 mm and 50 mm, and a z-axis coordinate, on a z-axis of the head center face origin coordinate system of the golf club head, less than 2 mm;
the strike face of the forward portion has a central region, defined by a 40 mm by 20 mm rectangular area centered on a geometric center of the strike face and elongated in a heel-to-toe direction;
a coefficient of restitution (COR), at the geometric center of the strike face, is at least 0.8;
a summation of a moment of inertia of the golf club head about a z-axis of a head center-of-gravity coordinate system (Izz) and a moment of inertia of the golf club head about an x-axis of the head center-of-gravity coordinate system (Ixx) is between about 700 kg·mm2 and about 1,100 kg·mm2;
a characteristic time (CT) of the strike face, within the central region, is no more than 257 microseconds;
before the strike face impacts a golf ball, the CT of the strike face, at the geometric center of the strike face, has an initial CT value of at least 235 microseconds;
the driver-type golf club head is configured such that after 500 impacts of a golf ball at the geometric center of the strike face, where at each impact the golf ball has a velocity of 52 meters per second, the CT of the strike face at the geometric center of the strike face is no more than five microseconds different than the initial CT value, wherein a cover of the golf ball has a Shore D hardness between, and inclusive of, 55 and 75, and the golf ball has a compression rating of between, and inclusive of, 85 and 107;
the forward portion further comprises a plate-opening recessed ledge that defines the plate opening and the plate-opening recessed ledge extends continuously about the plate opening;
the forward portion further comprises a sidewall that is angled relative to the plate-opening recessed ledge and extends about an outermost periphery of the plate-opening recessed ledge;
the strike plate is seatably engaged with the sidewall and the plate-opening recessed ledge of the forward portion;
the strike plate is adhesively bonded to the plate-opening recessed ledge and the sidewall via an adhesive interposed between the strike plate and the plate-opening recessed ledge and between the strike plate and the sidewall; and
the adhesive is adhesively bonded to a bonding surface of the plate-opening recessed ledge;
at least an upper portion of the forward portion comprises an aluminum alloy;
at least an upper portion of the plate-opening recessed ledge comprises an aluminum alloy; and
the strike plate has an outer surface area of no more than 4,300 mm2 and no less than 3,300 mm2.