Golf Club Flexure for Ball Speed and Backspin Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional golf club heads face challenges in achieving a larger 'sweet zone' with uniform high initial ball speed due to variations in impact location on the club face, leading to inefficient energy transfer and reduced distance, while also requiring structural integrity to withstand repeated impacts.
Innovation Solution
The golf club head incorporates a flexure component within the aperture, which alters compliance characteristics by allowing the face to translate, rotate, and flex differently, reducing backspin and maintaining stiffness to enhance energy transfer and distance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the club face is made thinner to increase flexibility and energy transfer, then ball speed and distance are improved, but structural integrity and resistance to permanent deformation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The club head employs varying face thickness across different regions, with the center portion being thinner to maximize flexibility and energy transfer for higher ball speed, while the peripheral regions maintain greater thickness to ensure structural integrity and resistance to deformation during impact
Solution Approach 2:
The club head utilizes composite material construction, combining different materials with varying mechanical properties to achieve optimal balance between flexibility for energy transfer and strength for structural integrity, allowing thin faces to maintain both performance and durability
2Speed
If the club face is made more flexible to increase energy transfer, then ball speed is improved, but consistency of ball speed across different impact locations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the club face are designed with different flexibility characteristics, with the center zone optimized for maximum energy transfer and peripheral zones designed to provide more consistent performance on off-center hits, creating a larger effective sweet spot
Solution Approach 2:
The club face is designed with dynamic flexibility that allows it to adapt its response based on impact location and force, with variable thickness and material properties that optimize performance across the entire face area rather than at a single fixed point
3Reliability
If the club head structure is stiffened to withstand repeated impacts, then durability is improved, but energy transfer efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The club head structure employs localized stiffness variation, with stiff regions positioned to provide structural support and durability for withstanding repeated impacts, while flexible regions are strategically placed at the face to maximize energy transfer efficiency during ball contact
Solution Approach 2:
The club head is divided into functionally distinct segments with different mechanical properties - the face portion is designed for flexibility and energy transfer while the body and peripheral structures are designed for stiffness and durability, allowing each region to optimize its specific function
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 flexure component increases ball speed and distance by reducing backspin and maintaining structural integrity, creating a larger 'sweet zone' with improved energy transfer and reduced spin for off-center impacts.
Implementation Method 1
The flexure is constructed as a separate component and disposed in the aperture. The flexure comprises a flexure front wall, a flexure rear wall and a base that extends between the flexure front wall and the flexure rear wall, and the flexure defines a cavity that is opened to the interior of the golf club head
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club head including a crown, a sole, a hosel, a face and a flexure. The flexure provides compliance during an impact between the golf club head and a golf ball, and is tuned to vibrate, immediately after impact, at a predetermined frequency.