Patents by Inventor Kraig Alan Willett

Kraig Alan Willett has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20200298073
    Abstract: A golf club head includes a face; a body, the body defining an interior and an exterior; the face and the body together defining a center of gravity, the center of gravity being proximate the face; a coefficient of restitution feature defined in the body; wherein the coefficient of restitution feature defines a gap in the body. A golf club head includes a face and a golf club body; the face and the golf club body defining a center of gravity, the center of gravity defined a distance, ?z, from a ground plane as measured along a z-axis, the center of gravity defined a distance, CGy, from the center face along the y-axis.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2020
    Publication date: September 24, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Matthew Greensmith, Matthew David Johnson, Jason Andrew Mata, Kraig Alan Willett, Nathan T. Sargent
  • Publication number: 20200261774
    Abstract: Golf club heads are described having a club head portion, a shaft portion connected to the club head portion, and a grip portion connected to the shaft portion. The club head portion has a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a crown portion, a hosel portion, and a striking face. The striking face can have a center face roll contour, a toe side roll contour, a heel side roll contour, a center face bulge contour, a crown side bulge contour, and a sole side bulge contour. The toe side roll contour can be more lofted than the center face roll contour. The heel side roll contour can be less lofted than the center face roll contour. The crown side bulge contour can be more open than the center face bulge contour, and the sole side bulge contour can be more closed than the center face bulge contour.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2020
    Publication date: August 20, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Vincent Greaney, Kraig Alan Willett, Joe Hoffman, Todd P. Beach, Robert Story, Jake Feuerstein, Michelle Penney, Bradley Poston, Christopher Rollins, Joseph Yu, Bing-Ling Chao
  • Publication number: 20200254315
    Abstract: A golf club head includes a body defining an interior cavity. The body includes a sole positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown positioned at a top portion, and a skirt positioned around a periphery between the sole and crown. The body has a forward portion and a rearward portion. The club head includes a face positioned at the forward portion of the body. The face defines a striking surface having an ideal impact location at a golf club head origin. Embodiments include club heads for a fairway wood that at least one of a high moment of inertia, a low center-of-gravity, a thin crown and a high coefficient of restitution. A sleeve for easily disconnecting a shaft to the club head allows for selective adjustment of the head's loft and lie angle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 19, 2020
    Publication date: August 13, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Matthew David Johnson, Nathan T. Sargent, Kraig Alan Willett, Michelle Penney, Marc Kronenberg, Matthew Greensmith, Joseph Henry Hoffman
  • Patent number: 10737148
    Abstract: A golf club head has a high COR, is durable, and has desirable acoustic qualities. The club head includes a body portion, a striking face and a crown forming a hollow cavity of at least 150 cc in volume. The body portion defines a front opening and an upper opening, and it includes a sole and a side section that extends rearward of the front opening. The striking plate is secured to the body portion, enclosing the front opening. While partially assembled, final weighting and/or other attachment of other members to the inner surface of the club head can be preformed, as desired. The crown is secured to the body portion, enclosing the upper opening. A surface veil may also be provided about a junction of the crown and body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2020
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Drew T. DeShiell, Kraig Alan Willett, Michael Scott Burnett, Benoit Vincent, Joseph Henry Hoffman
  • Patent number: 10729951
    Abstract: A golf club head comprises a body and at least one self-extracting pressed weight assembly. The body comprises a face plate positioned at a forward portion of the golf club head, a sole positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown positioned at a top portion of the golf club head and a skirt positioned around a periphery of the golf club head between the sole and the crown. The body defines an interior cavity. The weight assembly comprises at least three components and is configured for a press fit engagement with the golf club head. The assembly has a drive portion and a threaded portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Benoit Vincent, Ian C. Wright, Kraig Alan Willett, Gery Mel Zimmerman, Joseph Henry Hoffman
  • Publication number: 20200206590
    Abstract: A golf club head is described having a body defining an interior cavity and comprising a heel portion, a toe portion, and a sole portion positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, and a crown positioned at a top portion. The body has a forward portion and a rearward portion. A face is positioned at the forward portion of the body. The face has a center face location and includes a center face characteristic time. An off-center location on the face is located at about ?40 mm in a heel direction away from the center face location. The off-center location has an off-center characteristic time of at least 80% of the center face characteristic time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2020
    Publication date: July 2, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Nathan T. Sargent, Peter T. Larsen, Kraig Alan Willett, Bing-Ling Chao, John Francis Lorentzen
  • Publication number: 20200206584
    Abstract: An iron-type golf club head has a hosel portion, a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a topline portion, and a striking face including a center face location. A toe side topline-to-sole contour of the striking face is more lofted than a center face topline-to-sole contour of the striking face, a heel side topline-to-sole contour of the striking face is less lofted than the center face topline-to-sole contour, a topline side toe-to-heel contour of the striking face is more open than a center face toe-to-heel contour of the striking face, and a sole side toe-to-heel contour of the striking face is more closed than the center face toe-to-heel contour. The toe side topline-to-sole contour, the center face topline-to-sole contour, the heel side topline-to-sole contour, the topline side toe-to-heel contour, the center face toe-to-heel contour, and the sole side toe-to-heel contour are straight line contours.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 26, 2019
    Publication date: July 2, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Vincent Greaney, Kraig Alan Willett, Joe Hoffman, Todd P. Beach, Connor Mark Halberg, Andrew Kickertz, Joseph Yu, Bing-Ling Chao
  • Publication number: 20200206591
    Abstract: A golf club head comprises a body having a face, a crown and a sole together defining an interior cavity. The body having a channel located on the sole and extending generally from a heel end of the body to a toe end of the body. A weight member movably positioned within the channel such that a position of the weight member within the channel is able to be adjusted, thereby adjusting a location of a center of gravity of the body. Additionally, adjustment of the weight member provides a maximum x-axis adjustment range of the position of the center of gravity (Max ?CGx) that is greater than 2 mm and a maximum z-axis adjustment range of the center of gravity (Max ?CGz) that is less than 2 mm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2019
    Publication date: July 2, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Reeve Nielson, Nathan T. Sargent, Christopher John Harbert, Todd P. Beach, Brian Bazzel, Mark Vincent Greaney, Christian Reber Wester, Craig Richard Slyfield, Matthew David Johnson, Matthew Greensmith, Kraig Alan Willett
  • Patent number: 10646756
    Abstract: A golf club head includes a face; a body, the body defining an interior and an exterior; the face and the body together defining a center of gravity, the center of gravity being proximate the face; a coefficient of restitution feature defined in the body; wherein the coefficient of restitution feature defines a gap in the body. A golf club head includes a face and a golf club body; the face and the golf club body defining a center of gravity, the center of gravity defined a distance, ?z, from a ground plane as measured along a z-axis, the center of gravity defined a distance, CGy, from the center face along the y-axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Matthew Greensmith, Matthew David Johnson, Jason Andrew Mata, Kraig Alan Willett, Nathan T. Sargent
  • Publication number: 20200139209
    Abstract: Golf club heads are described herein, and in one embodiment including a body with an exterior surface defining a first body volume of at least about 400 cm3. The body has a bottom portion, a top portion, a front portion, and a back portion. A face positioned at the front portion of the body and is configured to receive an impact. A top portion silhouette profile located along a perimeter of the top portion is further described. The top portion silhouette profile defines the outer bounds of the top portion in an X-direction and Y-direction. At least one indentation can be located on the bottom portion below the crown silhouette profile. The removal of the at least one indentation from the bottom portion can create a second body volume that is at least 12 cm3 larger than the first body volume.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2019
    Publication date: May 7, 2020
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Nathan T. Sargent, Kraig Alan Willett
  • Patent number: 10632350
    Abstract: A golf club head is described having a body defining an interior cavity and comprising a heel portion, a toe portion, and a sole portion positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, and a crown positioned at a top portion. The body has a forward portion and a rearward portion. A face is positioned at the forward portion of the body. The face has a center face location and includes a center face characteristic time. An off-center location on the face is located at about ?40 mm in a heel direction away from the center face location. The off-center location has an off-center characteristic time of at least 80% of the center face characteristic time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Nathan T. Sargent, Peter T. Larsen, Kraig Alan Willett, Bing-Ling Chao, John Francis Lorentzen
  • Publication number: 20200121994
    Abstract: A golf club head includes a body defining an interior cavity. The body includes a sole positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown positioned at a top portion, and a skirt positioned around a periphery between the sole and crown. The body has a forward portion and a rearward portion. The club head includes a face positioned at the forward portion of the body. In some embodiments, the crown includes a lattice-like structure having thin regions surrounded by a web of relatively thicker regions. In some embodiments, the club head includes one or more stiffening tubes attached between the sole and the crown to improve the acoustic performance of the golf club head.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Publication date: April 23, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Greensmith, Todd P. Beach, Nathan T. Sargent, Kraig Alan Willett, Joshua J. Dipert
  • Publication number: 20200121995
    Abstract: A golf club includes a golf club head having a body defining an interior cavity. The body includes a sole, a crown and a skirt positioned around a periphery between the sole and crown. A face defines a forward portion of the club head and includes a striking surface width and a hosel defining a hosel bore. A channel and a recessed port are positioned in the sole. The channel extends substantially in a heel-to-toe direction. A sleeve is mounted on a tip end of the golf club shaft and is adapted to be inserted into the hosel bore. A fastener has a shaft portion extending through a passage and a head portion located in the recessed port. Selectively attaching the sleeve adjusts at least one of a loft angle and a lie angle of the club head.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2019
    Publication date: April 23, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher John Harbert, Todd P. Beach, Matthew David Johnson, Nathan T. Sargent, Kraig Alan Willett, Michelle Penney, Marc Kronenberg, Matthew Greensmith, Joseph Henry Hoffman
  • Patent number: 10603555
    Abstract: A golf club head includes a body defining an interior cavity. The body includes a sole positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown positioned at a top portion, and a skirt positioned around a periphery between the sole and crown. The body has a forward portion and a rearward portion. The club head includes a face positioned at the forward portion of the body. The face defines a striking surface having an ideal impact location at a golf club head origin. Embodiments include club heads for a fairway wood that at least one of a high moment of inertia, a low center-of-gravity, a thin crown and a high coefficient of restitution. A sleeve for easily disconnecting a shaft to the club head allows for selective adjustment of the head's loft and lie angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Matthew David Johnson, Nathan T. Sargent, Kraig Alan Willett, Michelle Penney, Marc Kronenberg, Matthew Greensmith, Joseph Henry Hoffman
  • Publication number: 20200078646
    Abstract: A golf club head comprises a body and at least one self-extracting pressed weight assembly. The body comprises a face plate positioned at a forward portion of the golf club head, a sole positioned at a bottom portion of the golf club head, a crown positioned at a top portion of the golf club head and a skirt positioned around a periphery of the golf club head between the sole and the crown. The body defines an interior cavity. The weight assembly comprises at least three components and is configured for a press fit engagement with the golf club head. The assembly has a drive portion and a threaded portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2019
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Benoit Vincent, Ian C. Wright, Kraig Alan Willett, Gery Mel Zimmerman, Joseph Henry Hoffman
  • Publication number: 20200070016
    Abstract: A golf club head comprises a sole, a recessed sole port in the sole; and a rotatably adjustable sole piece adapted to be at least partially received within the sole port and comprising a central body having a plurality of contact surfaces adapted to contact the sole port and being offset from each other along a central axis extending through the central body of the sole piece. The sole piece can be positioned at least partially within the sole port at five or more rotational and axial positions with respect to the central axis, wherein at each rotational position, at least one of said contact surfaces of the central body contacts the sole port to set the axial position of the sole piece. The sole port and/or the sole piece can be generally pentagonal in shape.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 16, 2019
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Applicant: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Todd P. Beach, Kraig Alan Willett, Nathan T. Sargent, Michael Franz
  • Patent number: 10556157
    Abstract: A golf club head is described having a club head portion, a shaft portion connected to the club head portion, and a grip portion connected to the shaft portion. The club head portion has a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a crown portion, a hosel portion, and a striking face. The striking face has a center face roll contour, a toe side roll contour, a heel side roll contour, a center face bulge contour, a crown side bulge contour, and a sole side bulge contour. The toe side roll contour is more lofted than the center face roll contour. The heel side roll contour is less lofted than the center face roll contour. The crown side bulge contour is more open than the center face bulge contour, and the sole side bulge contour is more closed than the center face bulge contour.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Vincent Greaney, Kraig Alan Willett, Joe Hoffman, Todd P. Beach
  • Patent number: 10543405
    Abstract: Golf club heads are described having a club head portion, a shaft portion connected to the club head portion, and a grip portion connected to the shaft portion. The club head portion has a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a crown portion, a hosel portion, and a striking face. The striking face can have a center face roll contour, a toe side roll contour, a heel side roll contour, a center face bulge contour, a crown side bulge contour, and a sole side bulge contour. The toe side roll contour can be more lofted than the center face roll contour. The heel side roll contour can be less lofted than the center face roll contour. The crown side bulge contour can be more open than the center face bulge contour, and the sole side bulge contour can be more closed than the center face bulge contour.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Vincent Greaney, Kraig Alan Willett, Joe Hoffman, Todd P. Beach, Robert Story, Jake Feuerstein, Michelle Penney, Bradley Poston, Christopher Rollins, Joseph Yu, Bing-Ling Chao
  • Patent number: 10537773
    Abstract: A golf club head comprises a body having a face, a crown and a sole together defining an interior cavity. The body having a channel located on the sole and extending generally from a heel end of the body to a toe end of the body. A weight member movably positioned within the channel such that a position of the weight member within the channel is able to be adjusted, thereby adjusting a location of a center of gravity of the body. Additionally, adjustment of the weight member provides a maximum x-axis adjustment range of the position of the center of gravity (Max ?CGx) that is greater than 2 mm and a maximum z-axis adjustment range of the center of gravity (Max ?CGz) that is less than 2 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Joseph Reeve Nielson, Nathan T. Sargent, Christopher John Harbert, Todd P. Beach, Brian Bazzel, Mark Vincent Greaney, Christian Reber Wester, Craig Richard Slyfield, Matthew David Johnson, Matthew Greensmith, Kraig Alan Willett
  • Patent number: 10518143
    Abstract: An iron-type golf club head has a hosel portion, a heel portion, a sole portion, a toe portion, a topline portion, and a striking face including a center face location. A toe side topline-to-sole contour of the striking face is more lofted than a center face topline-to-sole contour of the striking face, a heel side topline-to-sole contour of the striking face is less lofted than the center face topline-to-sole contour, a topline side toe-to-heel contour of the striking face is more open than a center face toe-to-heel contour of the striking face, and a sole side toe-to-heel contour of the striking face is more closed than the center face toe-to-heel contour. The toe side topline-to-sole contour, the center face topline-to-sole contour, the heel side topline-to-sole contour, the topline side toe-to-heel contour, the center face toe-to-heel contour, and the sole side toe-to-heel contour are straight line contours.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark Vincent Greaney, Kraig Alan Willett, Joe Hoffman, Todd P. Beach, Connor Mark Halberg, Andrew Kickertz, Joseph Yu, Bing-Ling Chao