Golf Club Damper Segmentation for Sound and COR Trade-off
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cavity-back golf club heads face challenges in maintaining performance characteristics such as coefficient of restitution (COR) and characteristic time (CT) due to the presence of stiff badges or dampers, which also affect the feel and sound of the club at impact.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head design featuring a damper that spans the striking face from heel-to-toe with cutouts and relief portions, reducing the surface area contacting the rear surface to minimize performance impact while improving sound and feel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If stiff badges or dampers are placed in the cavity to improve sound and vibration damping, then the sound and feel of the club at impact is improved, but the coefficient of restitution (COR) and characteristic time (CT) are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The damper is divided into multiple sections with varying degrees of stiffness along its length. The first section (near the face) has lower stiffness to minimize impact on COR and CT, while the second section (toward the rear) has higher stiffness for effective vibration damping. This segmentation allows different portions of the damper to serve different functions, resolving the contradiction between maintaining performance and damping vibrations.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the damper are assigned different local properties (stiffness values). The region closer to the striking face uses a softer material or structure, while regions farther away use stiffer materials. This local differentiation enables the damper to be compliant where needed for performance while being rigid where needed for damping, thus resolving the contradiction.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If stiff dampers are placed in the cavity to improve vibration damping, then the feel of the club is improved, but the weight of the golf club head increases
Solution Approach 1:
The damper's stiffness parameter is varied along its length rather than being uniformly stiff. By using a gradient of stiffness values (softer near the face, stiffer toward the rear), the design achieves effective vibration damping with less overall material, thereby reducing the weight increase compared to a uniformly stiff damper design.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If stiff inserts are placed in the cavity to improve sound damping, then the sound quality is improved, but the height of the center of gravity (CG) of the club face increases
Solution Approach 1:
The damper is segmented with the softer first section positioned closer to the club face and the stiffer second section positioned toward the rear. This strategic placement of softer material near the face helps maintain a lower center of gravity compared to using uniformly stiff inserts, while still achieving effective sound damping through the stiffer rear section.
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 design maintains face flexibility, preserving COR and CT while enhancing the sound and feel of the club at impact, with minimal reduction in performance.
Implementation Method 1
A damper is positioned within the cavity and extends from the heel portion to the toe portion. A front surface of the damper includes one or more relief portions, and the front surface of the damper contacts a rear surface of the face portion between the one or more relief portions.
Data Source
AI summary
A shim or badge is affixed to a golf cub body to produce a cap-back iron, giving the appearance of a hollow-body iron. In this way, the golf club can be manufactured with the performance benefits of a game improvement iron, while providing the appearance of a blade, player's iron, and/or a hollow-body iron. For example, by using a lightweight and rigid shim or badge to close a cavity opening and extend into the toe portion in the golf club body, the golf club head can provide increased stiffness in the topline, while lowering CG. Various shim or badge arrangements and materials can be used, and a filler material and/or damper can be included within the cavity to improve sound and feel, while minimizing loss in COR.