Patents Examined by Sebastiano Passaniti
  • Patent number: 11975247
    Abstract: A golf club head and golf club having large head dimensions, and large face characteristics, as well as unique mass property attributes driven by relationships not often considered in conventional club head design, to achieve a resistance to squaring the club head during a golf swing that is comfortable to the novice golfer, while increasing stability during off-center impacts and obtaining preferred launch characteristics. This is achieved in part via establishing a club head configuration and associated weight distribution to yield a center of gravity location that results in a preferred magnitude of Delta1 and Delta2 values, CG angle, moments of inertia, and associated ratios, relationships, and club head mass property characteristics influenced by these variables to achieve improved performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Mark Vincent Greaney, John Francis Lorentzen, Matthew Greensmith, Craig Richard Slyfield
  • Patent number: 11975249
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is an iron-type golf club head comprising a body comprising a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, and a topline portion. The topline portion has a mass per unit length of between 0.09 g/mm and 0.40 g/mm. The golf club head also comprises a strike plate coupled to the body at a front portion of the golf club head and a cavity defined between the topline portion, the sole portion, and the strike plate. The golf club head further comprises a bridge bar at a rear portion of the golf club head. The bridge bar spans the cavity, is spaced apart from the strike plate, and is rigidly fixed to and extends uprightly between the sole portion and the topline portion. The bridge bar has a mass per unit length of between 0.09 g/mm and 0.40 g/mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Scott Taylor, Adam Warren, Jason Issertell
  • Patent number: 11969632
    Abstract: Described herein is a golf club head comprising a sheet composite midbody, a filled thermoplastic composite weight seating portion, and a removable weight. The weight seating portion can comprise a weight channel within which the weight can be repositioned to alter the fade or draw bias of the club head. The golf club head can further comprise a front body with a perimeter surrounding frame. The midbody can be connected to the front body. The weight seating portion can be co-molded to the midbody.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Travis D. Milleman, Eric J. Morales, Clayson C. Spackman
  • Patent number: 11969633
    Abstract: A putter-type golf club head has a top portion, a bottom portion, a heel portion, a toe portion, and a striking face having a variably textured region. The variably textured region includes a central portion and an outer portion laterally spaced from the central portion towards one of the heel portion and the toe portion. The central portion has a material ratio of less than 20% at a cutoff height of 0.1 mm and the outer portion has a material ratio greater than that of the central portion at the cutoff height of 0.1 mm. Variation of the textured region provides consistent ball speed upon impact at different lateral positions of the striking face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2024
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Jacob Lambeth, Mika Becktor
  • Patent number: 11964191
    Abstract: A golf club head is provided with an electronic display that is visible to a user of the golf club head when the golf club head is in the address position, such as for displaying one or more images to the user. The electronic display may include a memory, a microprocessor, and a battery, and may be configured to communicate with a user operable electronic device via a wired or a wireless communication protocol. For example, the electronic display may be configured to receive one or more images from the user operable electronic device, to store the one or more images in the memory, and to display the one or more images to the user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Vincent Greaney, Andrew Kickertz, Todd P. Beach, Craig Richard Slyfield
  • Patent number: 11964192
    Abstract: Described herein is a golf club head that includes a body with a sole portion, a crown portion, a skirt portion, a forward region, and a rearward region. The golf club head also includes a face portion including a striking face with a maximum height from the ground plane of at least about 50 mm. A volume of the golf club head is at least about 370 cm3. The golf club head has a total club head mass between 190 grams and 210 grams, and the mass of the club head located above half of the peak crown height is less than or equal to 77 grams, and the percentage of the mass above half of the peak crown height is less than or equal to 39% of the total mass of the golf club head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Joseph Henry Hoffman, Joseph R. Nielson, Nathan T. Sargent, Christopher J. Harbert, Christian R. Wester
  • Patent number: 11951364
    Abstract: An iron-type golf club head comprises a face having a striking surface, a back surface, and a face thickness defined therebetween. The back surface is provided with a cavity cavity-forming portion dented toward the striking surface. The cavity cavity-forming portion is provided with a protuberance in which the face thickness is partially increased, and which extends in the top-bottom direction of the head. In the cross section of the face perpendicular to the striking surface and parallel to the toe-heel direction, the protuberance has: a ridge at which the face thickness is largest in the protuberance; and a pair of inclined surfaces extending from the ridge toward a toe side and heel side of the cavity cavity-forming portion while decreasing the face thickness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Yuki Shimahara
  • Patent number: 11938382
    Abstract: A method of making a golf club head includes the steps of providing a face of a club head, the face having a ball striking surface and a perimeter defining a border of the ball striking surface, providing a golf club head body that includes a crown, a sole, a toe, and a heel, attaching the face to a front portion of the club head body, and milling the ball striking surface and an edge portion of the face to cut a machined surface into the ball striking surface and the edge portion. The milled surface includes a plurality of first grooves located along the ball striking surface and defining a first depth, and a plurality of second grooves located adjacent the perimeter along the edge portion and defining a second depth. The first depth is different than the second depth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: COBRA GOLF INCORPORATED
    Inventors: D. Clayton Evans, Cameron J. Day, Michael T. McDonnell, Ryan L. Roach, Douglas E. Roberts, Bryce Hobbs, Yi-Ching Liao
  • Patent number: 11931631
    Abstract: A golf club head includes a metal frame having a sole opening, a composite laminate crown joined to the frame, a composite laminate sole insert joined to the frame and overlying the sole opening, and a thermoplastic composite component overmolded on the sole insert. The composite component may include a weight track, ribs, supports or other features. A method of making the golf club includes the steps of forming a frame having a sole opening, forming a composite laminate sole insert, forming a composite laminate crown insert, injection molding a thermoplastic composite head component over the sole insert to create a sole insert unit, and joining the sole insert unit and crown insert to the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher John Harbert, Joseph Reeve Nielson, Nathan T. Sargent, Christian Reber Wester
  • Patent number: 11918879
    Abstract: There are numerous tools a golfer can buy that will increase or decrease the weight or moment of inertia of a club to increase swing speed, but none of these tools accurately represent the center of mass of a standard golf club. The differences in the center of the mass between the standard club and the trainer club can create problems with the swing including improper alignment of the club face through contact and improper swing path. A swing trainer that increases or decreases the moment of inertia of the trainer by 10-12% while still maintaining the same center of mass as a standard club can solve this issue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Inventor: Michael Duffey
  • Patent number: 11911671
    Abstract: A ball striking device has a head that includes a metal face configured for striking a ball, a rearwardly extending metal band, a top piece, and a bottom piece. The metal band has a first end extending from one side of the face, a second end extending from the opposite side of the face, and a rear portion extending between the first and second ends and defining at least a portion of the rear periphery of the head. The top piece and the bottom piece are non-metallic or substantially non-metallic. The top piece is connected to the top side of the metal band and forms at least a portion of a top side of the head, and the bottom piece is connected to the bottom side of the metal band and forms at least a portion of a bottom side of the head. The top piece and the bottom piece are separated by the metal band.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventor: David S. Lee
  • Patent number: 11911670
    Abstract: A compact putter-type club head comprising a compact body profile and a small strike surface area is described herein. The compact putter head achieves distinct alignment and delivery advantages under a variety of putting conditions and is uniquely suited to produce accurate putting from the rough or fringe. The small body dimensions, including the strike face, force the player to focus on making a center strike, while also providing minimal resistance when travelling through tall grass. Certain features and characteristics of the compact putter head are specifically tailored to produce one of these benefits, while certain other features or characteristics provide benefits across multiple areas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Anthony D. Serrano, Tony P. Finau, John A. Solheim
  • Patent number: 11907923
    Abstract: An iron-type golf club having selectively machined portions and attributes, including a machined sole portion and/or a machined leading edge portion. The machined portion(s) include continuous machining scallop lines having a scallop height and a step-over distance. The scallop height is 10-75% of a finished leading edge radius at a vertical midpoint demarcation plane, and the step-over distance is less than 150% of the finished leading edge radius at the vertical midpoint demarcation plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: D. Clayton Long, Peter Barker
  • Patent number: 11904216
    Abstract: Embodiments of golf club heads and methods to manufacture golf club heads are generally described herein. In one example, a golf club head may include a body portion having a bottom portion, a toe portion, a heel portion, a front portion, a rear portion, an interior region, and a crown portion. The crown portion may have a first opening and a second opening. The crown portion may have a reinforcement portion extending between and separating the first opening and the second opening. The golf club head may include a cover portion attached to the crown portion. The cover portion may cover the first opening, the second opening, and the reinforcement portion. Other examples and embodiments may be described and claimed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: PARSONS XTREME GOLF, LLC
    Inventors: Robert R. Parsons, Bradley D. Schweigert, Michael R. Nicolette
  • Patent number: 11904217
    Abstract: A golf club head includes a crown surface having an apex at a highest point and extending between the face, the rear, the heel and the toe of the golf club head. The golf club head also includes a plurality of crown turbulators projecting from the surface of the crown and located between the face and the apex, wherein each adjacent pair of crown turbulators is separate and spaced apart to define a space between the adjacent pair of crown turbulators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Erik M. Henrikson, Paul D. Wood, John Hart, Marty R. Jertson, Ryan M. Stokke, Xiaojian Chen, Matthew W. Simone, Yujen Huang
  • Patent number: 11896879
    Abstract: A golf club head includes a front body and a rear body coupled to the front body to define a hollow cavity therebetween. The front body includes a strike face that defines a ball striking surface, a hosel, and a frame that at least partially surrounds the strikeface and extends rearward from a perimeter of the strikeface away from the ball striking surface. The strike face and frame are formed from a thermoplastic composite comprising a thermoplastic polymer having a plurality of discontinuous fibers embedded therein. Each of the plurality of discontinuous fibers have a length between about 0.01 mm and 3 mm. In some embodiments, the thermoplastic composite is 30% to 70% fibers by volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventors: Clayson C. Spackman, Jeremy S. Pope, Tyler A. Shaw, Eric J. Morales, Atiqah Shahrin
  • Patent number: 11890514
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for playing golf on a hard surface comprises a replaceable striking pad attached to a conventional golf club head by means of at least one attachment means, a spiked ball, a portable ball trap to trap the spiked ball and an optional remotely controlled vehicle to position the portable ball trap. The replaceable striking pad includes a small lip at a bottom end on a front face and a holding ledge having substantially curved edges extending away from the bottom end of the front face. The holding ledge is adaptable to wrap around a bottom sole of the golf club head. The portable ball trap includes a thin flat platform with tapered edges, a central threaded pole positioned on the thin flat platform and a circular frame having a plurality of hinged tabs threaded to the central threaded pole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: BZAM LLC
    Inventor: Robert A. Beggs
  • Patent number: 11890512
    Abstract: Embodiments of a golf club head comprising a body having a body material density, a strike face having a strike face material density, and a coating comprising a coating material having a coating material density greater than the body material density or the strike face material density are described herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: KARSTEN MANUFACTURING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Matthew W. Simone, Ryan M. Stokke
  • Patent number: 11883721
    Abstract: A golf club head includes: a sole; a crown; a toe; a heel opposite the toe; a strike face generally bounded by a face perimeter edge, the strike face comprising a geometric center; a rear portion; and a substantially enclosed interior cavity at least partially delimited by the sole, the crown, the strike face, and the rear portion. The golf club head also includes at least one rib having a first portion secured to the strike face, having a second portion secured to the crown, and being positioned such that a location on the strike face laterally spaced toe-ward from the geometric center by no less than 0.4 in is associated with a COR value no less than 0.825.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Robert J. Horacek, Nathaniel J. Radcliffe, John J. Rae, Michael J. Wallans, Sam G. Lacey
  • Patent number: 11857850
    Abstract: Embodiments of golf clubs with grooves and methods of manufacture thereof are described herein. In one embodiment of a golf club described herein, the golf club has a head with a body. The body has a strike face with channels and at least one insert located within at least one of the channels. At least one of the channels comprises a single groove, and the insert forms at least a portion of the single groove. At least one of the channels comprises an opening on the strike face that is narrower than a bottom of the at least one of the channels. Other embodiments and related methods are also disclosed herein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing Corporation
    Inventor: John A Solheim