Striking plate for golf club head
A golf club head includes a body and a striking plate mounted to the body. The body includes a coupling section at a front side thereof. The striking plate includes a striking portion for striking a golf ball and a perimeter wall extending rearward along a perimeter edge of the striking portion. The perimeter wall includes an end portion for coupling with the coupling section of the body. At least one reinforcing protrusion is formed on an inner face of the perimeter wall for improving vibration resistance of the body and the striking plate.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a striking plate. In particular, the present invention relates to a striking plate for a golf club head.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,506,129 (corresponding Taiwan Utility Model Publication No. 557806) discloses a golf club head capable of enlarging a flexible area of a ball-hitting face thereof. As illustrated in
A design trend for golf club heads is to shift the center of gravity of a golf club head downward to increase the inertia moment and to increase the distance through which a ball hit by the golf club head flies. The lower the center of gravity, the closer the sweet spot of the striking plate 20 to the sole 14 of the body 10. In this case, the elastic deformability of the perimeter wall 22 of the striking plate 20 adjacent to the sole 14 is the main factor. The perimeter wall 22 has uniform elastic deformability. In other words, every portion of the perimeter wall 22 has the same elastic deformability. However, the elastic deformation provided by the sweet spot is limited on the premise that the width of the perimeter wall 22 adjacent to the sole 14 is not increased. Similar situation exists when the center of gravity of the golf club head is shifted upward.
Further, although the elastic deformability of the striking plate 20 is improved by the perimeter wall 22, stress concentration is apt to occur between the end portion 221 of the perimeter wall 22 and the coupling section 16 of the body 10. Cracking is liable to occur in the perimeter wall 22 or welding bead at the location of the stress concentration although the location of the stress concentration varies according to different types of the golf club head. As a result, the striking plate 20 might be disengaged or damaged and the life of the golf club head is shortened.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTIONAn object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head with improved vibration resistance.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head with improved elastic deformability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a golf club head comprises a body and a striking plate mounted to the body. The body comprises a coupling section at a front side thereof. The striking plate comprises a striking portion for striking a golf ball and a perimeter wall extending rearward along a perimeter edge of the striking portion. The perimeter wall comprises an end portion for coupling with the coupling section of the body. At least one reinforcing protrusion is formed on an inner face of the perimeter wall for improving vibration resistance of the body and the striking plate. Preferably, the perimeter wall has a width that varies along a perimeter length thereof.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a golf club head comprises a body and a striking plate mounted to the body. The body comprises a coupling section at a front side thereof. The striking plate comprises a striking portion for striking a golf ball and a perimeter wall extending rearward along a perimeter edge of the striking portion. The perimeter wall comprises an end portion for coupling with the coupling section of the body. The perimeter wall includes a width that varies along a perimeter length thereof for improving elastic deformability of a sweet spot of the striking portion.
Preferably, the at least one reinforcing protrusion is located corresponding to at least one stress-concentrating area on the inner face of the perimeter wall.
Preferably, the at least one reinforcing protrusion is located on the inner face of a bottom portion or a top portion of the perimeter wall and adjacent to a toe or a heel of the body. Alternatively, the at least one reinforcing protrusion is located on the inner face of a toe-side-portion of the perimeter wall.
Preferably, the width of the perimeter wall varies in a continuous or discontinuous manner.
Preferably, variation of the width of the perimeter wall is positively related to a location of the center of gravity of the golf club head and a location of a sweet spot of the striking plate.
Preferably, the width of a bottom portion of the perimeter wall is greater than that of a top portion of the perimeter wall. In an alternative example, the width of the top portion of the perimeter wall is greater than that of the bottom portion of the perimeter wall. In another alternative example, the width of a toe portion of the perimeter wall is greater than that of a heel portion of the perimeter wall. In a further alternative example, the width of the heel portion of the perimeter wall is greater than that of the toe portion of the perimeter wall.
Preferably, the front side of the body further comprises a sidewall portion substantially orthogonal to the coupling section. Preferably, the perimeter wall of the striking plate comprises a side opening adjacent to a heel of the body for coupling with the sidewall portion of the body.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of this invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Still referring to
Still referring to
The perimeter wall 22 is formed by bending a perimeter edge of the striking portion 21 rearward to form a striking plate 20 that is U-shaped in section. The perimeter wall 22 defines the elastic deforming space 23 allowing rearward deformation of the striking portion 21. The side opening 24 is located on a side of the elastic deforming space 23 adjacent to the heel 12.
The reinforcing protrusions 25 are integrally formed on or assembled to an inner perimeter face of the perimeter wall 22. The reinforcing protrusions 25 have a thickness substantially greater than that of the remaining portion of the perimeter wall 22. Preferably, the reinforcing protrusions 25 are located on at least one stress-concentrating area of the perimeter wall 22. The stress-concentrating areas of the perimeter wall 22 vary according to different types of the golf club heads. For example, the stress-concentrating areas may be on the inner perimeter face of the perimeter wall 22 and adjacent to the toe 11 or the heel 12.
Still referring to
Referring to
After assembly, the striking plate 20 and the body 10 together form a golf club head. The perimeter wall 22 of the striking plate 20 improves the elastic deformability of the striking portion 21, which is advantageous when hitting a golf ball with the golf club head. In particular, in a case that the center of gravity of the overall golf club head is too low such that the sweet spot of the striking portion 21 is too close to the sole 14, the width L2 of a bottom portion of the perimeter wall 22 is selected to be greater than the width L1 of a top portion of the perimeter wall 22. Thus, the bottom portion of the perimeter wall 22 improves the elastic deformability of the sweet spot of the striking portion 21. The overall striking effect of the golf club head is thus improved.
Referring to
While the principles of this invention have been disclosed in connection with specific embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that these descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and that any modification and variation without departing the spirit of the invention is intended to be covered by the scope of this invention defined only by the appended claims.
Claims
1. A golf club head comprising:
- a body comprising a coupling section at a front side thereof;
- a striking plate mounted to the body, the striking plate comprising a striking portion for striking a golf ball and a perimeter wall extending rearward along a perimeter edge of the striking portion, the perimeter wall comprising an end portion for coupling with the coupling section of the body; and
- at least one reinforcing protrusion formed on an inner face of the perimeter wall for improving vibration resistance of the body and the striking plate.
2. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one reinforcing protrusion is located corresponding to at least one stress-concentrating area on the inner face of the perimeter wall.
3. The golf club head as claimed in claim 2, wherein said at least one reinforcing protrusion is located on the inner face of a bottom portion of the perimeter wall and adjacent to a toe of the body.
4. The golf club head as claimed in claim 2, wherein said at least one reinforcing protrusion is located on the inner face of a bottom portion of the perimeter wall and adjacent to a heel of the body.
5. The golf club head as claimed in claim 2, wherein said at least one reinforcing protrusion is located on the inner face of a top portion of the perimeter wall and adjacent to a toe of the body.
6. The golf club head as claimed in claim 2, wherein said at least one reinforcing protrusion is located on the inner face of a top portion of the perimeter wall and adjacent to a heel of the body.
7. The golf club head as claimed in claim 2, wherein said at least one reinforcing protrusion is located on the inner face of a toe-side-portion of the perimeter wall.
8. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the perimeter wall has a width that varies along a perimeter length thereof.
9. The golf club head as claimed in claim 8, wherein the width of the perimeter wall varies in one of continuous and discontinuous manner.
10. The golf club head as clamed in claim 8, wherein variation of the width of the perimeter wall is positively related to a location of the center of gravity of the golf club head and a location of a sweet spot of the striking plate.
11. The golf club head as claimed in claim 8, wherein the width of a bottom portion of the perimeter wall is greater than that of a top portion of the perimeter wall.
12. The golf club head as claimed in claim 8, wherein the width of a top portion of the perimeter wall is greater than that of a bottom portion of the perimeter wall.
13. The golf club head as claimed in claim 8, wherein the width of a toe portion of the perimeter wall is greater than that of a heel portion of the perimeter wall.
14. The golf club head as claimed in claim 8, wherein the width of a heel portion of the perimeter wall is greater than that of a toe portion of the perimeter wall.
15. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front side of the body further comprises a sidewall portion substantially orthogonal to the coupling section.
16. The golf club head as claimed in claim 15, wherein the perimeter wall of the striking plate comprises a side opening adjacent to a heel of the body for coupling with the sidewall portion of the body.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 22, 2005
Publication Date: Dec 28, 2006
Applicant:
Inventor: Wen-Ching Hou (Kaohsiung)
Application Number: 11/158,051
International Classification: A63B 53/00 (20060101);