Golf Club Head Variable Face Thickness and Compression Channel
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Golf club heads face challenges in achieving improved impact properties, such as increased coefficient of restitution (COR) and energy transfer efficiency due to energy loss during ball deformation, which current designs fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a compression channel across the sole of the golf club head with a unique geometry, including a center portion and heel/toe portions, and internal ribs, which allows for flexing and reactive forces during impact, optimizing the face's thickness and structural integrity to enhance energy transfer and ball speed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the face thickness is increased to improve structural integrity, then strength is improved, but energy transfer efficiency deteriorates due to reduced face flexing
Solution Approach 1:
The face is designed with variable thickness across different regions. The center region has reduced thickness to allow greater flexing and energy transfer, while peripheral regions maintain sufficient thickness for structural integrity. This local variation in thickness optimizes both energy transfer efficiency and structural strength simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The face is designed to be dynamic rather than static, allowing controlled flexing during impact. The thinner center region enables the face to flex and rebound more effectively, converting impact energy into ball velocity while maintaining overall structural integrity through the thicker peripheral regions.
2Loss of energy
If the face thickness is decreased to improve energy transfer, then energy transfer efficiency is improved, but structural integrity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the face have different thicknesses optimized for their specific functions. The center region is thinner for maximum energy transfer, while the peripheral regions are thicker to maintain structural integrity and prevent deformation during off-center impacts.
Solution Approach 2:
The face is effectively segmented into functional zones with different thickness characteristics. The center zone prioritizes energy transfer with reduced thickness, while the peripheral zones prioritize structural support with increased thickness, allowing both requirements to be met simultaneously.
3Loss of energy
If the club head design is optimized for center hits, then energy transfer is improved, but performance on off-center hits deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The face thickness varies locally to optimize performance across different impact zones. The center region is optimized for maximum energy transfer on center hits, while the peripheral regions maintain sufficient thickness and structural support to preserve performance on off-center hits, reducing the penalty for misaligned strikes.
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
This design enhances the golf club's ability to maintain ball speed and efficiency across the face, particularly on off-center hits, by reducing energy loss through deformation and improving the overall impact response.
Implementation Method 1
the body and the face are integrally joined at a joint to form an interior cavity... a channel extending across a portion of the sole... internal and/or external ribs... allows for flexing and reactive forces during impact
Data Source
AI summary
A ball striking device, such as a golf club head, has a face with a striking surface configured for striking a ball where the face has multiple thickness regions. The face has a center region, an upper region, a lower region, a toe region, and a heel region. The upper and lower regions have a ramped thickness extending from a center region to an upper and lower edge of the face. The heel and toe regions have a constant face thickness and have a thickness less than the other regions. Additionally, the club head body has a channel extending across a portion of the sole. The channel may be recessed from adjacent surfaces of the sole and have a depth of recession from the adjacent surfaces of the sole. The channel may have a cross-sectional profile that is asymmetric with a front wall and a rear wall where the front wall is longer than the rear wall. The channel may also have a center thickness that is different than a thickness at the heel and toe sides.