Golf club head

Abstract

A golf-club head has a shaped crown integrally including skirt and a hosel connection having a hosel attachment opening. A bottom plate is welded to the crown and allows solder leakage concentrating on the lower part of the head. A striking face is welded to the crown. A hosel is welded to the crown at the hosel connection.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method of manufacturing sports equipment, specifically a three or four piece golf club head.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

The traditional forged component structure of a golf-club head has four pieces, a crown, a hosel, a sole and a faceplate FIG. 4. The crown of the traditional four-piece crown is welded to the skirt so that leakage of solder wire is about 8-10 g, which concentrates on the upper part of the head, raising the head's center of gravity. The total solder welding weight is about 22 g which can affect the golf club head weight distribution and center of gravity. This causes loss of precision and other center of weight problems that have long been unsolved in four-piece type of golf-club head. The weight distribution of a club head is generally uniform. A popular method of correcting the center of gravity is to add inserts commonly made of heavier material to the sole and skirt of the head.

Traditionally, the sole and skirt are integrally formed from one sheet of metal as seen in FIG. 5. It preferred to have a thicker sole than the skirt. Unfortunately, the traditional method makes this difficult because the sole and skirt are formed from a uniform thickness planar metal sheet. Additionally, the hosel connection requires excessive solder accumulation causing a variety of weight distribution and tolerance problems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front exploded view of the club head.

FIG. 2 is a front assembled view of the club head.

FIG. 3 is a side section view of the club head.

FIG. 4 is a side section view of the prior art club head.

FIG. 5 is a side exploded view of the prior art club head.

FIG. 6 is a side assembled view of the prior art club head.

FIG. 7 is a side exploded view of the club head.

FIG. 8 is a side assembled view of the club head.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the crown.

FIG. 10 is a side view of the prior art crown.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

1. Relocating welding seams to the bottom, and avoiding skirt to crown welding. Lowering the sweet spot by 1-1.5 mm.

2. Making a design where welding solder does not change the center of gravity as much. Save 8 grams of welding weight and have only about 14 grams of welding concentrated in the lower sole plate.

3. Using the welding solder weight savings to lower the center of gravity by having a thicker sole plate.

4. Creating a better hosel connection by having a one-piece stretch formed hosel connection to allow tighter tolerance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

This application is a Continuation in Part of U.S. patent application Song, Ser. No. 11/031,058 SPD Club Head. A mold may use a wide variety of metal forming methods such as forging, casting, stamping, rolling, or super plastic deformation to make the parts to the golf-club head. One method in current use is discussed in Song, U.S. patent Ser. No. 10/672,463, which is incorporated herein by reference. Here a wide variety of means for forming parts can be used. Although a wide variety of means for forming parts can be used, it is preferred to make the sole from super plastic deformation technique. The super plastic deformation technique is not required for any part of the invention. Also, titanium is not required, but preferred as the best mode.

The key to this invention is the crown 110 with skirt and stretched hosel connection. A mold draws the crown FIG. 1, 110 of the golf-club head to integrally include a skirt and stretched hosel connection 117. Thus, the crown is formed from a flat sheet of metal. In certain crown shapes, the male mold member may have to be made collapsible. According to the prior art it is well known how to make a male mold member collapsible for removal from the workpiece.

As seen in the prior art, the hosel 140 and face 130 have been created as integrally formed pieces. The present invention does not require a hosel 140 and face 130 to be made of one piece of metal and thus integrally formed. The hosel 140 and face 130 can be made of two separate pieces of metal and joined together. The hosel 140 and face 130 can be joined together before or after the welding of other parts.

The hosel connection has a hosel attachment opening 115 receiving a standard cylindrical hosel 140 with precise tolerance. The crown 110 is then welded to the bottom plate 120, striking face 130 and hosel 140 to form a golf-club head. In traditional structures, the bottom is integrated with skirt and is then welded with the crown, striking face and hosel. The striking face 130 commonly has grooves 135 or other designs showing the sweet spot.

Welding the crown 110 with integral skirt to the other parts should lower the center of gravity of the head compared to the traditional component welded structure. In the present invention, the welding position FIG. 3 is lowered to the lower side of the head and the bottom with an in leakage of solder of about 3g, which concentrates on the lower part of the head. Thus, a portion of weight is shifted from the upper part of the head, where the crown and the side would otherwise have been welded as seen in FIG. 4, to the lower part of the head as seen in FIG. 3. Overall, the net effect is to lower the head's center of gravity CG by about 1-1.5 mm or more compared to that of a head made in a traditional fashion. A 1 mm CG shift should substantially affect the sweet spot.

When the crown FIG. 1, 110 and skirt are integrally formed, the arch at the hosel connection 115 and throat portion 117 of the crown is stretched and formed as an integral part of the crown 110, see also FIG. 9, 920. The hosel 140 is commonly cylindrical having a pair of terminating ends. A first end inserts into the crown on the club head and a second end attaches to the shaft. The hosel 140 is placed in the hosel receiving opening 115. The hosel member portion fitting into the club 142 is of smaller cross-section than the portion of the hosel member that does not fit into the inside of the club. The hosel is then welded to the hosel connection. After the connection welding, the shape of throat part or hosel attachment area on all heads are standardized having much smaller variances than before. The hosel rests on the hosel connection opening so that a welder can more easily position the hosel.

The top portion of the hosel is larger than the hosel opening on the crown. The top portion of the hosel allows the hosel to rest in the opening without the hosel moving into or out of the opening. The bottom cylindrical portion of the hosel designed to connect to the crown is sized to fit into the circular opening. The bottom cylindrical portion does not need to be snugly fitted, and can have some slack. The hosel attachment area can be formed as a round protrusion drawn from and protruding from the top of the crown. The round protrusion would then have a terminating circumference. The hosel attachment area should have a terminating circumference matching the circumference of the protruding ring. During assembly, the top portion of the hosel matches with the circumference of the hosel attachment area so that after welding and surface finish, the weld between the hosel attachment and hosel is a smooth transition and not noticeable. The top portion of the hosel forms the outside circumference of the hosel.

The thickness of the bottom plate 120 can be greater than that of the skirt plate thickness. The side and bottom parts of a traditional four piece head are of basically uniform thickness with a welding weight of around 22 g. But as the welding weight of the present invention is about 8-10 g lighter than usual, the thickness of the bottom can be increased for greater moment of inertia and change in center of gravity. The increase of the bottom thickness allows uniform head thickness or alternatively a thin front striking face with a thick back of the crown to shift the center of gravity or change moment of inertia.

After welding, the club head is surface finished and then can be attached to a shaft to form the golf club. The surface finish can be prepared so that the entire connection appears as a single continuous shaft protruding from the crown.

FIG. 3 shows a section view of a club head 300 that has been sawn in half after assembly. The wider outside portion of the hosel 340 matches the circumference of the shaft, and the narrower inside portion of the hosel 342 fits inside the crown. The hosel 340 is connected to the crown 310 at the hosel connection 315. A lower weld 322 attaches the bottom plate 320. On the right side 302 is depicted the other half of the club such that the two halves of the striking faces are facing each other.

FIG. 4 shows the prior art club 400 having the hosel 440 welded to the crown 410 at the welding point 415. The hosel protrudes 442 into the cavity of the club head. The bottom plate 420 is welded at a weld to the lower portion of the hosel 422 and to the crown 410.

FIG. 5 shows and exploded view of the prior art. The crown 110, the striking face 130, the sole 120, and the hosel 140 are connected to each other manually and welded along their interfaces forming a hollow golf club. As seen in FIG. 5, the placement of the various elements requires manual skill. FIG. 6 shows welding of the assembled prior art club shown in FIG. 5. The hosel is welded at hosel welding 118 which is built up and manually configured.

FIG. 7 shows the side exploded view of the present invention. The hosel 140 rests in a pre-configured position in the crown 110. The faceplate 130 and sole 120 are connected. The sole welding to the integral crown skirt 110 is toward the bottom of the club, lowering the center of gravity after welding as opposed to raising center of gravity common in the prior art.

FIG. 8 shows the assembled present invention having the micro weld 118 that is a much smaller weld required. With a smaller weld the tolerance is tighter and the center of gravity change is smaller.

FIG. 9 is a drawing of the close up of the hosel connection formed on the present invention crown 110. The connection is stretched and has a hosel aperture 920, 115 allowing a hosel to fit into the crown. FIG. 10 shows the crown of the prior art having no opening to secure the hosel 940 prior to and during welding. The crown 110 of the prior art has a connection 940 that does not allow tight tolerance.

CALL OUT LIST OF ELEMENTS

110 Crown

115 Hosel Mount Aperture

117 Hosel Mount And Arch

118 Hosel Welding

120 Bottom Plate

130 Striking Face

135 Grooves On Face Plate

140 Hosel

142 Hosel Member Portion Fitting Into Club

300 Club Head

302 Right Side

310 Crown

320 Bottom Plate

322 Lower Weld

340 Outside Portion Of The Hosel

342 Narrower Inside Portion Of The Hosel

400 Prior Art Club

410 Crown

420 Bottom Plate

422 Lower Portion Of The Hosel

440 Hosel

920 Hosel Aperture

Claims

1. A golf-club head comprising:

a. a crown integrally including skirt and a hosel connection having a hosel attachment opening;

b. a bottom sole welded to the crown, wherein solder leakage concentrates on the lower part of the head;

c. a striking face welded to the crown; and

d. a hosel welded to the crown at the hosel connection.

2. The golf-club head of claim 1 wherein the hosel attachment opening is round and receives a standard cylindrical hosel.

3. The golf-club head of claim 1 wherein the crown and skirt are integrally formed to include an arch at the hosel connection.

4. The golf-club head of claim 1 wherein the thickness of the bottom sole is greater than the skirt plate thickness.

5. The golf-club head of claim 1 wherein the hosel attachment area of the crown terminates in a circumference matching the outside circumference of the protruding ring.

6. A golf-club head comprising:

a. a crown formed from a single sheet of metal to integrally include a skirt and an stretched hosel connection having a hosel attachment opening;

b. a bottom sole welded to the crown, wherein solder leakage concentrates on the lower part of the head; and

c. a hosel and striking face formed from a single piece of metal and welded to the crown at the hosel connection and along an interface formed between the striking face and crown.

7. The golf-club head of claim 6 wherein the hosel attachment opening is round and receives a standard cylindrical hosel.

8. The golf-club head of claim 6 wherein the crown and skirt are integrally formed to include an arch at the hosel connection.

9. The golf-club head of claim 6 wherein the thickness of the bottom sole is greater than the skirt plate thickness.

10. The golf-club head of claim 6 wherein the hosel attachment area of the crown terminates in a circumference matching the outside circumference of the protruding ring.

11. A golf-club head comprising:

a. a crown formed from a flat sheet of metal so that it integrally includes a skirt and a hosel connection;

b. a bottom sole welded to the crown, wherein solder leakage concentrates on the lower part of the head;

c. a striking face welded to the crown; and

d. a hosel welded to the crown at the hosel connection.

12. The golf-club head of claim 11 wherein the hosel attachment opening is round and receives a standard cylindrical hosel.

13. The golf-club head of claim 11 wherein the crown and skirt are integrally formed to include an arch at the hosel connection.

14. The golf-club head of claim 11 wherein the thickness of the bottom sole is greater than the skirt plate thickness.

15. The golf-club head of claim 11 wherein the hosel attachment area of the crown terminates in a circumference matching the outside circumference of the protruding ring.