Golf Club Head with Reversible Weight and Polymeric Insert
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Solution Overview
Problem
Golf club heads face a challenge in optimizing for faster swing speed and greater forgiveness, as increasing perimeter weighting for high moments of inertia negatively affects club head speed and hitting distance, while minimizing mass reduces forgiveness.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head design featuring a polymeric insert and a reversible weight system that allows the center of gravity to be moved by up to 2.0 mm and 13 grams over a 30 mm distance, enabling adjustment of the weight orientation within the club head to fine-tune performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If perimeter weighting is increased to achieve high moments of inertia for 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 (upper section) and a weighted sole portion (lower section). This segmentation allows the perimeter weighting to be concentrated in the sole where it benefits forgiveness, while keeping the crown lightweight to maintain club head speed. The insert member with selective weighting creates this functional division, placing mass strategically in the sole region without adding overall club head weight.
2Speed
If mass is minimized to improve club head speed, then club head speed is improved, but forgiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The insert member provides localized weighting in specific regions of the sole (heel, toe, or center) without adding mass throughout the entire club head. This local quality approach allows forgiveness to be enhanced in critical areas through concentrated mass placement, while the overall club head mass remains minimized to preserve club head speed. The selective positioning of the insert member creates local mass concentration where it benefits performance.
3Weight of moving object
If a polymeric insert is used to reduce club head mass, then club head mass is reduced improving speed, but structural integrity may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The club head employs a composite construction combining metal (for structural integrity and perimeter weighting) with polymeric material (for weight reduction). The polymeric insert member is integrated into the metal club head body, creating a composite structure that leverages the strength of metal in load-bearing regions and the lightness of polymer in non-critical regions. This composite approach maintains structural integrity while reducing overall club head mass to improve speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club head includes a face, a crown, a sole, and defines a bore that is configured to receive and to selectively retain an elongate weight. The bore is aligned on a longitudinal axis that intersects the face. An elongate weight is insertable into the bore. The elongate weight is rotatable between a first angular position and a second angular position. The golf club head can further include a compliant stop positioned to contact a protrusion of the elongate weight, such that a torque threshold must be overcome to rotate the elongate weight.