Golf Club Head Elastomer Damping for Ball Speed Uniformity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional golf club heads with thin faces suffer from non-uniform ball speed across the striking face, leading to inconsistent golf ball flight distances and velocities, especially when struck off-center, and often compromise on either distance or sound quality.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an elastomer element between the striking face and the back portion of the golf club head, which can be adjusted for compression, to distribute impact forces more uniformly and reduce deflection, thereby enhancing ball speed consistency and sound quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a thin striking face is used to reduce weight and increase ball speed, then ball speed is improved, but ball speed uniformity across the striking face deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The striking face is designed with non-uniform thickness distribution, being thickest at the center and thinner toward the edges. This local variation in thickness compensates for the flexibility issues of thin faces, maintaining ball speed uniformity across different impact locations while still allowing the face to be relatively thin for weight reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The golf club head employs a composite construction combining a thin striking face with a damping element (such as a rubber or polymer material) positioned behind the face. This composite structure allows the face to be thin for weight reduction while the damping material provides structural support and uniformity, resolving the contradiction between thinness and consistency.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the striking face thickness is increased to improve ball speed uniformity, then ball speed uniformity is improved, but ball speed deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly increasing the entire striking face thickness, the design applies localized thickness variation with the thickest material at the center (where impacts occur most frequently) and thinner material toward the edges. This selective thickening improves ball speed uniformity while minimizing the overall weight increase and preserving ball speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The club head uses a composite structure where a thin striking face is combined with a damping element or reinforcement structure behind it. This allows the face to maintain thinness for high ball speed while the supporting structure provides the necessary stiffness and uniformity without adding significant weight.
3Weight of moving object
If a thin striking face is used, then weight is reduced, but sound quality deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The club head employs a composite construction combining a thin striking face with a damping element (such as rubber, polymer, or elastomer material) positioned behind the face. The thin face reduces weight while the damping material absorbs unwanted vibrations and generates a pleasant sound upon impact, simultaneously addressing both weight reduction and sound quality improvement.
Solution Approach 2:
A damping element is introduced as an intermediary component between the thin striking face and the club head body. This intermediary layer serves dual functions: it maintains the weight advantages of a thin face while providing the mass and vibration-damping properties necessary for producing desirable sound quality during ball impact.
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 elastomer element technology promotes more uniform ball speeds across the striking face, reduces the loss of distance from off-center hits, and provides a pleasant sound when striking the ball, improving overall golfing performance and user experience.
Implementation Method 1
Incorporating an elastomer element between the striking face and the back portion of the golf club head, which can be adjusted for compression, to distribute impact forces more uniformly and reduce deflection
Implementation Method 2
Incorporating an elastomer element between the striking face and the back portion of the golf club head, which can be adjusted for compression, to distribute impact forces more uniformly
Implementation Method 3
provides a pleasant sound when striking the ball
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club head including a striking face, a back portion, and a back cover attached to the back portion, wherein the golf club head includes damping structures and materials to achieve desired acoustic characteristics.