Golf Club Head Contoured Backstop for COR Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Golf club heads typically designed to contact the ball at the center result in less energy transfer during off-center hits, limiting distance due to reduced coefficient of restitution (COR), which is further constrained by the USGA limit of 0.83.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head with a contoured backstop arranged behind the ball striking surface, allowing for increased flexibility in the central region while preventing overflexing, achieved through a varying gap size between the backstop and the ball striking surface, thereby optimizing COR across different swing speeds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the ball striking surface is made flexible to increase COR, then energy transfer is improved, but the surface may overflex and fail under high swing speeds
Solution Approach 1:
The backstop is positioned at specific locations behind the ball striking surface to provide localized support where needed. The distance between the backstop and the ball striking surface varies across different regions, creating zones of different flexibility that optimize both energy transfer and prevent overflexing under various impact conditions
Solution Approach 2:
The golf club head employs a composite structure combining a flexible ball striking surface with a rigid backstop support system. This composite design allows the face to flex for energy transfer while the backstop provides structural integrity to prevent failure under high swing speeds
2Reliability
If the ball striking surface is made rigid to prevent failure, then reliability is improved, but COR decreases reducing distance
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than making the entire ball striking surface uniformly rigid or flexible, the design creates local variations in flexibility through strategically positioned backstops. This allows different regions of the face to have optimized flexibility characteristics, maintaining overall reliability while enabling energy transfer where needed
3Use of energy by moving object
If a thin walled ball striking surface is used to increase flexibility, then COR is improved, but the surface becomes more prone to failure
Solution Approach 1:
The design combines a thin-walled flexible ball striking surface with a rigid backstop support structure. This composite construction allows the face to be thin for flexibility while the backstop provides the necessary strength and support to prevent failure under impact loads
Solution Approach 2:
The backstop design changes the structural parameters of the club head by introducing a support element at a specific distance from the ball striking surface. This parameter modification allows the thin-walled surface to achieve the required flexibility while the backstop ensures sufficient strength to prevent failure
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The contoured backstop enhances flexibility, particularly in central regions, improving COR for lower swing speeds while ensuring compliance with USGA limits for higher swing speeds, reducing the risk of material failure and maintaining performance.
Implementation Method 1
the backstop may be contoured to provide a greater distance between the ball striking surface and the backstop in a central region of the backstop and ball striking surface than in an end region of the backstop and ball striking surface. This increased distance near a central region allows for additional flexing of the ball striking surface in the central region than nearer the end regions
Data Source
AI summary
Golf club and golf club head structures include an inner wall or backstop arranged behind a ball striking surface of the golf club head and defining a gap between the inner wall and a rear surface of the ball striking surface. In some arrangements, the size of the gap may vary along a heel-to-toe length of the inner wall or backstop. For instance, the size of the gap may gradually increase from a first end of the inner wall toward a central region of the inner wall, and may gradually decrease from the central region toward a second end of the inner wall. In some examples, the inner wall or backstop may be connected to the golf club head, for instance, at a first end and/or a second end.