Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Club or club support
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-18
2001-05-29
Passaniti, Sebastiano (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Club or club support
C473S345000, C473S409000, C473S349000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06238300
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to golf clubs, and more particularly to techniques for making metal wood-type club heads.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Usually, metal wood number 1 drivers made of titanium and its alloys has thin (1 mm to 2 mm) top, bottom and side walls, and a relatively thick face (2.5 to 3.5 mm). This is due to weight limits of 170 grams to 210 grams, and strength factors to hold up against the forces of the golf ball impacting on the face. To form the top and bottom/side parts, usually the materials need to have less metal memory (softer and not to bounce back in the press forming process), and commercially pure titanium (CP grade) sheet is used, although titanium alloys such as Ti-6 Al/4 Va and beta alloy (T:-15-3-3-3) can be used with more costly processing. Fairway woods (Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) have a less restrictive weight limit (200 grams to 250 grams) and thicker (2 mm to 3 mm) top and bottom/side members can be used.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a wood-type golf club head is provided with a face having a double-wall construction. This provides the advantages of increased face strength as well as the capability to use two different materials for the face. The use of a double-wall construction allows two different materials for the face, allowing the golf club head to be fabricated with many different weight distributions, impact sounds, different feel and different impact energy transfer characteristics. The inside face plate can be solid, or perforated with openings, provided with center ribs, or other weight distributing and strengthening features.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the club head bottom, sides and the inner face are all fabricated as a unitary formed plate by a press forming process from a single sheet of a metal material. The inner face plate is bent to the desired loft, and the top plate, hosel pipe and outer plate are attached to the unitary structure by welding or other attachment techniques.
A further aspect is a golf wood-type club head having a lowered and forwardly positioned center of gravity. This is provided by a metal head section forming a hollow shell having a bottom portion, a side portion, a top portion and a face plate portion. The bottom portion, side portion and face plate portion have respective thicknesses which are relatively larger than a thickness of the top portion, thereby providing a club head in which its center of gravity is positioned relatively close to the bottom portion and toward the face plate portion.
A further aspect of the invention includes methods of fabricated wood-type club heads. One method includes the steps of:
providing a sheet of a metal material;
cutting from the sheet a plate member having a peripheral configuration for forming a portion of a head shell;
press forming the plate member into a first shaped plate defining a first shell portion and a face portion; and
attaching a second plate to the first shaped plate to form an assembled head shell structure.
Another method in accordance with the invention includes:
providing a sheet of a metal material, the sheet having a first thickness;
cutting from the sheet a plate member having a peripheral configuration for forming a portion of a head shell;
press forming the plate member into a shaped plate defining a bottom portion, a side portion and a face portion; and
attaching a top plate to the shaped plate, the top plate having a second thickness which is substantially less than the first thickness, wherein the club head has a low center of gravity.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4432549 (1984-02-01), Zebelean
patent: 4438931 (1984-03-01), Motomiya
patent: 4489945 (1984-12-01), Kobayashi
patent: 5028049 (1991-07-01), McKeighen
patent: 5398746 (1995-03-01), Igarashi
patent: 5405137 (1995-04-01), Vincent
patent: 5407202 (1995-04-01), Igarashi
patent: 5429357 (1995-07-01), Kobayashi
patent: 5465968 (1995-11-01), Aizawa
patent: 5743813 (1998-04-01), Chen
patent: 5766094 (1998-06-01), Mahaffey
Passaniti Sebastiano
Roberts Larry K.
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