Patents Examined by Alvin A. Hunter
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Patent number: 11554308Abstract: A system for and method of scoring a game of golf is provided. A stroke baseline, a points baseline, and a stroke count are utilized to calculate a hole score for each hole. The stroke baseline is typically derived from the par value for a hole, while the stroke count is typically the total strokes required to complete the hole, including any penalty strokes. Typically, the points baseline for each hole is equal to the distance, in yards, between the player's tee-up location and a target location of the hole, the target location being a location on the putting green. Each player selects a tee-up location for each hole, thereby allowing each player to influence the baseline score for each hole. A performance factor is determined for each hole based on the player's performance on that hole.Type: GrantFiled: October 22, 2020Date of Patent: January 17, 2023Assignee: PAR POINTS GOLF, LLCInventors: Brandon Ebert, Kevin Quinley, Ryan Hannebaum
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Patent number: 11547920Abstract: A training device can easily be affixed or mounted to the hitting face of a golf club. The training device may provide auditory, tactile, and directional feedback for the user during practice so that he/she may learn how to strike the ball consistently on the sweet spot. A training device may include several raised surfaces of varying shapes rising from the base surrounding an aperture centered over the sweet spot of the golf club and larger than the surface area contacted by the ball. Use of the training device may reduce the user's variance from the “sweet spot” due to a strike not only along the longitudinal axis but also along the vertical axis. The user avoids impingement with the raised surfaces of the training device by striking the ball within a pre-set tolerance as well as within the boundaries of the aperture.Type: GrantFiled: December 22, 2020Date of Patent: January 10, 2023Inventors: Ryan Chin, Kerry Chin, Devin Huang
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Patent number: 11541287Abstract: Described herein are embodiments of golf club heads having a balance of the following parameters: a low and back club head center of gravity position, a high moment of inertia, a large Ixy product of inertia, and low aerodynamic drag. Methods of manufacturing the embodiments of golf club heads having a balance of club head center of gravity position, moment of inertia, product of inertia, and aerodynamic drag are also described herein.Type: GrantFiled: April 5, 2021Date of Patent: January 3, 2023Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing CorporationInventors: Alex G. Woodward, Christopher M. Broadie, Erik M. Henrikson, Paul D. Wood
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Patent number: 11541286Abstract: Described are embodiments of golf club heads having an internal cavity and features that cause the golf club head to have an improved acoustic performance when striking a golf ball. Some embodiments include one or more weight tracks and/or weight ports formed in the sole for receiving adjustable weights. The golf club heads can include one or more internal ribs, thickened wall regions, and/or posts positioned within the cavity that increase the rigidity of the club head and improve the acoustic performance of the club head when striking a ball.Type: GrantFiled: April 16, 2021Date of Patent: January 3, 2023Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.Inventors: Jason Andrew Mata, Joe Hoffman, Brad Poston, Matthew David Johnson, Mark Vincent Greaney, Justin David Kleinert, Joseph Reeve Nielson, Christopher John Harbert, Nathan T. Sargent, Rachel Elizabeth Mullen, Christian Reber Wester
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Patent number: 11517795Abstract: A process for manufacturing a putter with a bi-material shaft is disclosed herein. The putter comprises a putter head, the bi-material shaft, a mass member and a grip. The bi-material shaft comprises a body with a tip end and a butt end. The body comprises a metal section extending from the tip end to a connection point, and a composite section extending from the butt end to the connection point. The mass member is positioned within an opening at the butt end of the shaft. Mass from the shaft is transferred to the club head and the mass member in the butt end of the shaft.Type: GrantFiled: August 20, 2021Date of Patent: December 6, 2022Assignee: Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.Inventor: Augustin W. Rollinson
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Patent number: 11511170Abstract: A golf club head includes a club body having a crown opposite a sole, a toe end opposite a heel end, a back end, and a hosel. A first magnet is coupled to the club body. A second magnet selectively engages the first magnet, such that in a first configuration the first and second magnets attract, and in a second configuration the first and second magnets do not attract, wherein the second magnet is configured to rotate relative to the first magnet between the first configuration and the second configuration.Type: GrantFiled: September 1, 2020Date of Patent: November 29, 2022Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing CorporationInventors: Erik M. Henrikson, Samuel Pendred
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Patent number: 11511169Abstract: Examples of golf clubs and methods to manufacture golf clubs are generally described herein. In one example, a golf club may include a golf club head, a hosel portion, and a shaft. The hosel portion may be positioned rearward of a center of gravity of the body portion. The shaft portion may be coupled to the hosel portion and may have a first shaft portion and a second shaft portion. The first shaft portion may extend from the hosel portion and tilt toward the face portion with no lateral tilt toward a toe portion or a heel portion of the body portion. The second shaft portion may extend from the first shaft portion toward the heel portion and toward a face portion of the body portion. Other examples of golf club heads and methods to manufacture the same may be described and claimed.Type: GrantFiled: June 10, 2021Date of Patent: November 29, 2022Assignee: PARSONS XTREME GOLF, LLCInventors: Bradley D. Schweigert, Michael R. Nicolette, Caleb S. Kroloff
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Patent number: 11504586Abstract: A golf club head with a channel sized to receive one or more adjustable weights and an external support structure that bridges, and thereby supports, the channel without unduly interfering with weight adjustment is disclosed herein. The support structure, which includes one or more stiffening members on the exterior of the golf club head, improves the sound quality of the golf club head, and is particularly useful to attenuate the lower frequency mode shapes associated with slider channel geometry in golf club heads.Type: GrantFiled: July 30, 2021Date of Patent: November 22, 2022Assignee: Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.Inventors: Dominic LeBlanc, Christopher A. G. Nunez, Brandon D. DeMille
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Patent number: 11504587Abstract: A golf club head has a hollow therein and comprises a face portion, a crown portion and a sole portion. The face portion comprises a central zone including a face center, and a peripheral zone surrounding the central zone. Each of the central zone and the peripheral zone has a flexural stiffness defined by E×t3/12, wherein E is the Young's modulus (GPa) and t is the thickness (mm) of the zone concerned. The ratio sc/sp of the flexural stiffness Sc of the central zone to the flexural stiffness sp of the peripheral zone is 5.0 to 55.0.Type: GrantFiled: November 24, 2020Date of Patent: November 22, 2022Assignee: Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.Inventors: Hiromasa Tsunashima, Masahide Onuki
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Patent number: 11497970Abstract: A golf club head that is capable improving on the inertia properties of a golf club head all while also improving the Center of Gravity (CG) location is disclosed herein. More specifically, the golf club head in accordance with the present invention achieves a relative low Moment of Inertia (MOI) about the Z-axis (MOI-Z) as well as a relatively low MOI about the Shaft-axis (MOI-SA), all combined with a high MOI about the X and Y-axis (MOI-X and MOI-Y) and maintaining a consistently and relatively low CG location measured along a direction tangent to the hosel axis along the X-Y plane (CG-B). The golf club head includes a frontal portion and a rear portion, each including one or more cantilevered extensions and one or more elongate protrusions that collectively constitute a snap fit mechanism adapted to removably couple the frontal portion to the rear portion.Type: GrantFiled: March 12, 2021Date of Patent: November 15, 2022Assignee: Acushnet CompanyInventors: Sang Yi, Peter Larsen, Stephen S. Murphy, Scott A. Knutson, Charles E. Golden, Joey Ashcroft, Richard L. Cleghorn, Gregory D. Johnson, Gentry Ferguson, Peter L. Soracco, Noah de la Cruz, Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Ryuichi Sugimae
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Patent number: 11497972Abstract: Disclosed herein is an iron-type golf club head. The iron-type golf club head comprises a body, having a density of less than 8 grams-per-cubic-centimeter (g/cc). The body comprises a heel portion, a toe portion, a sole portion, a top portion, and a front portion. The body also comprises a rear portion, comprising an insert shelf, adjacent the sole portion and extending from the toe portion to the heel portion, and a retention bar, integrally formed with a portion of the insert shelf and circumferentially closing the portion of the insert shelf to define a first insert channel. The iron-type golf club head also comprises a high-density insert, having a density of greater than 7.5 g/cc, supported by the insert shelf, and retained within the first insert channel by the retention bar.Type: GrantFiled: December 2, 2020Date of Patent: November 15, 2022Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC.Inventors: Brian Hill, Bret H. Wahl, Scott Taylor
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Patent number: 11497974Abstract: A golf club head includes a body, a recessed channel, and a weight assembly. The weight assembly has a weight, a cover, and a fastener coupling the cover to the body. The cover includes a first end, a second end, and a rabbet extending at least partially between the first end and the second end. The rabbet formed by at least two walls and sized and shaped to at least partially receive the weight and allow the weight to slide therein. One or more of the at least two walls have a retention rib extending therefrom. The retention rib is elongated in a direction between the first end and the second end and discontinuous in the elongated direction. The fastener is configured to move the cover between at least two positions, a first position whereby the weight is selectively slidable and a second position whereby the weight is secured.Type: GrantFiled: June 29, 2021Date of Patent: November 15, 2022Assignee: Acushnet CompanyInventors: Tyrone Northcutt, Takeshi Casey Funaki, Thomas Orrin Bennett
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Patent number: 11497973Abstract: Methods of creating golf products with complex structures that would be difficult, impossible, or cost prohibitive to produce, such as lattice structures, beam structures, and complex surface-based structures, and golf products that are created using those methods, are described herein. The structures described herein may be made from metal, non-metal materials, or combinations thereof, and may have one or more portions that are made from transparent or translucent materials.Type: GrantFiled: June 29, 2021Date of Patent: November 15, 2022Assignee: Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp.Inventors: Brandon D. DeMille, Eric Stubben, David R. Handy, Irina Ivanova, Patrick Dawson
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Patent number: 11497971Abstract: A golf club head with a crown comprising an inner crown portion and an outer crown portion. The inner crown portion may be made of a low density or low elastic modulus material. The outer portion of the crown defines an opening to the cavity, a riser extending into the cavity, and a ledge extending from the edge of the riser. The ledge may define a first channel and a second channel that extend around the ledge. The first channel is filled with adhesive to secure the inner portion of the crown to the ledge. The inner portion of the crown is attached to the ledge such that the opening is covered by the inner portion of the crown. The golf club head may also have a sole comprising an inner sole portion and an outer sole portion.Type: GrantFiled: June 30, 2021Date of Patent: November 15, 2022Assignee: Acushnet CompanyInventors: Grant M. Martens, Uday V. Deshmukh, Nick Frame, Richard L. Cleghorn, Takeshi Casey Funaki, Doug M. Takehara
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Patent number: 11491376Abstract: A golf club having unique mass properties and all the benefits afforded therefrom.Type: GrantFiled: March 29, 2021Date of Patent: November 8, 2022Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF COMPANY, INC.Inventors: Justin Honea, Tim Reed, John Kendall
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Patent number: 11478684Abstract: The present invention is direct to a set of golf clubs comprising long irons, mid-irons and short irons. The invention contemplates the use of titanium or steel for the main body portion and a tungsten weight member coupled to the toe and a tungsten heel weight member coupled in a hosel cavity.Type: GrantFiled: December 10, 2020Date of Patent: October 25, 2022Assignee: Acushnet CompanyInventors: Jason A. Mata, Marni D. Ines, Jonathan Hebreo, Joshua G. Breier, Michael E. Franz, Joshua C. Stokes, Grant M. Martens
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Patent number: 11478682Abstract: Embodiments of a golf club head with a textured strikeface and methods to form said club head through laser shock treatment are generally described herein. The golf club head can comprise a body and a strikeface. The strikeface has a textured front surface, with an array of indentions. Each indention can have a footprint area of between 0.01 ?m2 (1×10?8 mm2) to 250,000 ?m2 (0.25 mm2). The textured front surface can affect the spin imparted to a golf ball upon impact. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.Type: GrantFiled: December 14, 2020Date of Patent: October 25, 2022Assignee: Karsten Manufacturing CorporationInventor: Clayson C. Spackman
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Patent number: 11478685Abstract: An iron-type golf club incorporating an aperture extending through the shell on the sole. The location and size of the aperture selectively increase deflection of the face.Type: GrantFiled: June 23, 2021Date of Patent: October 25, 2022Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.Inventors: Michael Scott Burnett, Bryan Seon, Jeffrey T. Halstead, Justin Girard
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Patent number: 11471734Abstract: A golf club head comprises a body, a track formed in or attached to the body and having a length and a weight and weight retainer. The weight is continuously repositionable such that it can be positioned at any selected point along the track between its ends. The weight has a major dimension, and the weight retainer comprises a fastening member having a diameter not greater than about one half of the major dimension of the weight.Type: GrantFiled: December 30, 2020Date of Patent: October 18, 2022Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Joseph Henry Hoffman
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Patent number: 11458374Abstract: A shim or badge is affixed to a golf cub body to produce a cap-back iron, giving the appearance of a hollow-body iron. In this way, the golf club can be manufactured with the performance benefits of a game improvement iron, while providing the appearance of a blade, player's iron, and/or a hollow-body iron. For example, by using a lightweight and rigid shim or badge to close a cavity opening and extend into the toe portion in the golf club body, the golf club head can provide increased stiffness in the topline, while lowering CG. Various shim or badge arrangements and materials can be used, and a filler material and/or damper can be included within the cavity to improve sound and feel, while minimizing loss in COR.Type: GrantFiled: July 6, 2021Date of Patent: October 4, 2022Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.Inventors: Connor Mark Halberg, Adam Robert Warren, John Bernard Krzywiec, Scott Taylor, Bret H. Wahl, Mattieu Bovee
