Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Club or club support
Reexamination Certificate
1998-08-06
2001-11-20
Passaniti, Sebastiano (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Club or club support
C473S345000, C473S349000, C473S409000, C228S125000, C228S162000, C029S527400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06319149
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to golf club heads. More specifically, the invention is an improved golf club head constructed of various metals which minimize structural problems directly related to the club head performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various golf club heads have been devised for improving the performance of different styles of golf club heads via distinct structural designs. The present invention relates closely to the construction of golf club metalwood heads at least. A metalwood head is usually a hollow spherical shape comprising a hitting face, a crown, and a sole plate. The typical metalwood is formed through a lost wax casting process where the crown and face are combine in a single entity. A sole plate cast separately is then welded to the shell so formed.
Metalwood heads can also be formed through a forging process where the individual components of the golf head are formed separately and then welded to form a single entity. Whether cast or forged, metalwood heads are usually made of a single base metal or metal alloy such as stainless steel, titanium or aluminum.
Advances made in metallurgy have allowed golf club head manufactures to combine two or more metals in the construction of both metalwoods and iron heads. It is quite common nowadays to come across metalwood heads that are made of a stainless steel shell (i.e crown and sole) and a titanium hitting face and or metalwoods that are made of an aluminum and a titanium hitting face. The advantages of combining different metals and metal alloys in the construction of both metalwood heads and irons is that designers are given the freedom to use the physical and chemical properties of the metals in the construction to improve weight distribution, increase the moment of inertia, and improve structural strength of the golf club head at least. These and other improvements in the construction of the golf club heads through the use of two or more different metals will usually result in more forgiving golf clubs that are both accurate and longer off the tee. The conventional method by which one or metals are used to construct golf club heads are known. However, a golf club head which is weighted for balance and has a hitting face made of a combination of soft and hard metals which significantly reduces vibration throughout the club upon impact with a golf ball is lacking.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,396 issued to Shieh discloses a golf club head assembly which includes a hollow shell having a loop-like shock absorbing member, a second loop-like structure for blocking the passage through a front opening of the hollow shell, and a striking plate fitted into a front recess via mechanical screws in combination with adhesives. Mechanical screws have a tendancy to retract or fail over time from cyclical impact. In addition, more than two ring-like structures add to the over all weight of the club. This increase in weight on the front face of the club is known to contribute to unwanted rotations of the club head at the point of impact with a golf ball which produces undesirable golf ball trajectories off the tee.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,453 issued to Mack discloses a tunable golf club head configured in a similar fashion to that Shieh, except that the striking plate is adjustable or tunable via a plurality of tension springs or belleville washers. This style of club head is primarily a training club.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,994 issued to Chang discloses a golf club head having a single titanium face plate welded to die sections located within the shell of the club head. This is a conventional club head without the benefits of vibration dampening and perimeter weighting as herein described by the instant invention. U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,8130 issued to Chen et al. teach a similar club head construction, but the construction has some vibration damping features.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,825 issued to Shira discloses a method of making golf club heads which comprises forming one or more components of the golf club head from sintered metal powders and then joining the components via welding, brazing, or diffusion or adhesive bonding. The golf club heads taught by Shira are produced without regard for vibration effects and perimeter weighting for metalwoods in particular. U.S. Design Pat. No. 369,392 issued to Adams et al. diagrammatically illustrates a metalwood type golf club without any apparent disclosure of the unique features as taught herein by the instant invention.
Other documents such as Foreign Patents by McCabe (EP 0577056), Yamashita (JP 6261960) and Tsuchiya (JP 6261961) are of general relevance to the instant invention. The patent by Yamashita, in particular, discloses methods of deep cold processing and aging hardness at various temperatures for shaping club heads.
The golf club head of the instant invention is different from the related art, in that it provides a club head which attenuates vibrations and reduces rotations upon impact with a golf ball via the unique cushioned face and perimeter weighting technique respectively. Thus, none of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a golf club head solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The golf club head according to the invention relates to the construction of an improved golf club head metalwood having a hitting face or cushioned insert, crown and a sole. An interlocking bridge is formed between the crown and hitting face to reduce vibrations upon impact with a golf ball. Various metals are used in the construction and are joined together at the sole for perimeter weighting or balancing of the golf club head.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a golf club head which attenuates mechanical vibrations upon impact with a golf ball.
It is another object of the invention to provide a golf club head which reduces rotations upon impact with a golf ball.
It is a further object of the invention to a golf club head which is weighted to the comfort of a particular user.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a golf club head with reduced weight requirements.
Further still, another object of the invention is to provide a golf club head with improved durability under cyclical impact.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: D. 369392 (1996-04-01), Adams et al.
patent: 3975023 (1976-08-01), Inamori
patent: 4465221 (1984-08-01), Schmidt
patent: 5056705 (1991-10-01), Wakita
patent: 5219408 (1993-06-01), Sun
patent: 5398929 (1995-03-01), Kitaichi
patent: 5403007 (1995-04-01), Chen
patent: 5431396 (1995-07-01), Shieh
patent: 5447311 (1995-09-01), Viollaz
patent: 5501459 (1996-03-01), Endo
patent: 5505453 (1996-04-01), Mack
patent: 5536006 (1996-07-01), Shieh
patent: 5540436 (1996-07-01), Boone
patent: 5564994 (1996-10-01), Chang
patent: 5584770 (1996-12-01), Jensen
patent: 5669825 (1997-09-01), Shira
patent: 5743813 (1998-04-01), Chen et al.
patent: 5993329 (1999-11-01), Shieh
patent: 0577056 (1994-01-01), None
patent: 6261961 (1994-09-01), None
patent: 6261960 (1994-09-01), None
Litman Richard C.
Passaniti Sebastiano
LandOfFree
Golf club head does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Golf club head, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Golf club head will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2600331