Composite Golf Club Face Layup for Impact Feel and Durability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing golf clubs do not adequately address the need for consistent performance, pleasing feel upon impact, and improved aesthetics, particularly in terms of durability and sound characteristics.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head with a face formed of a fiber composite material, comprising alternating layers of glass and carbon fibers at specific angles and resin content, which enhances structural integrity and impact performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a composite face plate with varying thickness is used, then structural integrity and durability are improved, but manufacturing complexity increases due to multiple pre-preg plies and criss-cross patterns
Solution Approach 1:
The face plate is constructed using composite materials consisting of multiple pre-preg plies arranged in a criss-cross pattern. This composite structure provides enhanced durability and structural integrity while allowing for varying thickness profiles through strategic placement of overlapping strips.
Solution Approach 2:
The face plate is divided into multiple discrete pre-preg plies that can be individually positioned and layered. This segmentation allows for precise control of thickness distribution and fiber orientation, enabling complex geometric profiles while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through modular assembly.
2Shape
If metal or polymer covers are added to define the striking surface, then aesthetic appeal is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing steps increase
Solution Approach 1:
The striking surface is formed using composite material layers (metal or polymer covers) bonded to the composite face plate. This approach integrates aesthetic requirements with structural functionality, creating a unified composite structure that reduces the need for separate aesthetic components.
3Reliability
If glass fibers are positioned closer to the golf ball contact surface, then impact performance and feel are improved, but weight distribution and balance become more difficult to control
Solution Approach 1:
Glass fibers are strategically positioned closer to the golf ball contact surface in specific regions where impact performance and feel are prioritized. This local optimization allows enhanced impact characteristics in critical areas while maintaining overall weight balance through adjusted fiber placement in other regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The face plate utilizes a composite material system with differentiated fiber placement, where glass fiber concentration varies by location. This composite approach enables localized optimization of impact properties while the overall composite structure maintains controllable weight distribution through balanced lay-up design.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2~3B
Figure 4A
AI summary
A golf club (10) configured to be positioned in a golf ball address position. The golf club (10) includes a body (20) having a heel portion (32) and a toe portion (30), and a face (22) coupled to the body (20). A composite axis (60) extends from the heel portion (32) to the toe portion (30) and is parallel to ground when the golf club (10) is positioned in the golf ball address position. The face (22) has a golf ball contact surface (44) and a rear surface (46). The face (22) is formed of a fiber composite material including at least first and second sets of ply arrangements. Each of the ply arrangements include a pair of plies (50a, 50b) with one ply (50a) having a first plurality of fibers (56) defining a first angle with respect to the composite axis (60) and the other ply (50b) having a second plurality of fibers (56) defining a second angle with respect to the composite axis (60). The pair of plies (50a, 50b) include at least one resin (54). The first and second pluralities of fibers (56) of the first set of ply arrangements are glass fibers and the first and second pluralities of fibers (56) of the second set of ply arrangements are carbon fibers. The first set of ply arrangements is positioned closer to the golf ball contact surface (44) than to the rear surface (46), and the second set of ply arrangements is positioned closer to the rear surface (46) than to the golf ball contact surface (44). The ratio of the number of ply arrangements of the first set of ply arrangements to the number of ply arrangements of the second set of ply arrangements is at least 0.25.