Golf Club Head with Polymeric Weight Insert
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Solution Overview
Problem
Golf club heads face a challenge in optimizing for faster swing speeds and greater forgiveness, as increasing perimeter weighting for higher moments of inertia negatively affects club head speed and hitting distance, while minimizing mass reduces forgiveness and trajectory control.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head design featuring a metallic body with a polymeric insert that reduces structural weight, allowing for adjustable discretionary weight distribution through a bore that can receive and retain elongate weights, enabling customization of performance and forgiveness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If perimeter weighting is increased to achieve higher moments of inertia for greater forgiveness, then forgiveness is improved, but club head speed and hitting distance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The club head is divided into distinct functional zones: a lightweight crown portion (reducing overall mass), a weighted toe portion (providing perimeter weighting for forgiveness), and a hosel portion for structural connection. This segmentation allows the toe weight to provide forgiveness without requiring comprehensive perimeter weighting that would increase overall mass and reduce club head speed.
Solution Approach 2:
Weight is concentrated specifically in the toe portion rather than distributed around the entire perimeter. This local weighting provides the necessary moment of inertia for forgiveness in the critical toe area while minimizing the total mass added, thereby preserving club head speed and hitting distance.
2Speed
If mass is minimized to achieve faster club head speeds, then club head speed is improved, but forgiveness and trajectory control deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly distributing mass, the invention places weight locally in the toe portion. This provides the necessary forgiveness and trajectory control in the critical area where off-center hits occur most frequently, while keeping the overall mass low to maintain fast club head speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The club head combines different materials with contrasting density characteristics: a lightweight crown material (such as titanium or carbon composite) and a dense weight material (such as tungsten or lead) in the toe portion. This composite approach allows minimal total mass while providing concentrated weight where needed for forgiveness.
3Reliability
If discretionary weight is added to achieve greater forgiveness, then moments of inertia are improved, but overall weight increases affecting club head speed
Solution Approach 1:
Weight is concentrated specifically in the toe portion rather than distributed throughout the club head. This provides the necessary moment of inertia for forgiveness with minimal total weight addition, as the weight is placed only where it provides the greatest rotational benefit.
Solution Approach 2:
The hosel portion is designed to be substantially coincident with the shaft axis, creating an optimized weight distribution pattern that maximizes moments of inertia per unit mass. This geometric optimization allows achieving desired forgiveness with less total weight.
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club head includes a first portion that is rigidly adhered to a second portion to at least partially define an interior club head volume. The first portion is formed from a metallic material and includes a face, and the second portion is formed from a polymeric material and defines a bore that is configured to receive and to selectively retain an elongate weight.