US 11,951,363 B2
Golf club head
Todd P. Beach, Encinitas, CA (US); Nathan T. Sargent, Oceanside, CA (US); Peter T. Larsen, San Marcos, CA (US); Kraig Alan Willett, Fallbrook, CA (US); Bing-Ling Chao, San Diego, CA (US); and John Francis Lorentzen, El Cajon, CA (US)
Assigned to Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc., Carlsbad, CA (US)
Filed by Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc., Carlsbad, CA (US)
Filed on Aug. 9, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/232,078.
Application 18/232,078 is a continuation of application No. 18/103,363, filed on Jan. 30, 2023.
Application 18/103,363 is a continuation of application No. 16/817,311, filed on Mar. 12, 2020, granted, now 11,596,841, issued on Mar. 7, 2023.
Application 16/817,311 is a continuation of application No. 16/057,406, filed on Aug. 7, 2018, granted, now 10,632,350, issued on Apr. 28, 2020.
Application 16/057,406 is a continuation of application No. 14/862,438, filed on Sep. 23, 2015, granted, now 10,065,083, issued on Sep. 4, 2018.
Application 14/862,438 is a continuation of application No. 12/589,804, filed on Oct. 27, 2009, granted, now 9,162,115, issued on Oct. 20, 2015.
Prior Publication US 2023/0381603 A1, Nov. 30, 2023
Int. Cl. A63B 53/04 (2015.01); A63B 53/08 (2015.01); A63B 60/00 (2015.01)
CPC A63B 53/0466 (2013.01) [A63B 53/04 (2013.01); A63B 53/08 (2013.01); A63B 53/0408 (2020.08); A63B 53/0412 (2020.08); A63B 53/0416 (2020.08); A63B 53/045 (2020.08); A63B 53/0454 (2020.08); A63B 53/0458 (2020.08); A63B 53/0462 (2020.08); A63B 2053/0491 (2013.01); A63B 60/002 (2020.08); A63B 2209/00 (2013.01); A63B 2209/02 (2013.01)] 36 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A golf club head having a more consistent trajectory and distance on impact comprising:
a heel portion;
a toe portion;
a crown;
a hosel defining a hosel axis;
a sole;
a face having a striking surface for striking a golf ball,
the face having an ideal impact location at a center of the striking surface defining the origin of a coordinate system including a horizontal axis that extends substantially parallel to the face and generally parallel to the ground when the head is in an address position, with the negative direction of the horizontal axis pointing toward the heel portion and the positive direction of the horizontal axis pointing toward the toe portion,
the face further having a first off-center location on the face located in a toe direction away from the center of the striking surface at 40 mm along the horizontal axis and a second off-center location on the face located in a heel direction away from the center of the striking surface at −40 mm along the horizontal axis,
wherein a characteristic time at 10 mm increment locations on the face along the horizontal axis between the center of the striking surface and the second off-center location deviates from the characteristic time at the center of the striking surface by no more than 20%,
wherein the face has a face size of about 4,000 mm2 to about 7,000 mm2, wherein face size is measured by:
(i) determining an extended front wall surface using an average bulge radius of the striking surface and an average roll radius of the striking surface,
(ii) offsetting the extended front wall surface by 0.5 mm toward a center of the club head along an axis that is parallel to a face surface normal vector at the center of the striking surface, wherein the offset extended front wall surface has a boundary defined by a curved line Sf at an intersection between the offset extended front wall surface and a surrounding portion of the club head external surface and a straight line that intersects Sf a first location Pa and at a second location Pb, wherein Pa is the intersection of Sf with a 30-mm diameter cylindrical surface that is co-axial with the hosel and the straight line is normal to the hosel axis,
(iii) projecting the offset extended front wall surface onto a plane that is tangent to the center of the striking surface; and
a non-metal face plate that contacts the ball at impact, wherein the face plate defines the striking surface and comprises a peripheral edge surrounding the striking surface, wherein the face plate comprises a lay-up of multiple, composite prepreg plies, wherein at least a portion of the plies comprises a plurality of elongated prepreg strips that are narrower than the width of the lay-up and extend continuously across the striking surface, the elongated strips being arranged within the lay-up so as to define a cross-sectional profile having a varying thickness.