Golf Club Head Flexure for COR and Sweet Zone
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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, and they struggle to maximize the coefficient of restitution (COR) while maintaining structural integrity against repeated impacts.
Innovation Solution
The golf club head design incorporates a flexure component that alters compliance characteristics, featuring a forward flange, front wall, and rear wall, which is coupled to the sole and extends into a cavity, allowing for flexible deformation during impact and reducing viscoelastic relaxation, thereby enhancing energy transfer to the ball.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the club face is made thinner to maximize coefficient of restitution (COR), then energy transfer to the ball is improved, but structural integrity against repeated impacts deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies this principle by incorporating a flexure component that allows the club face to flex during impact. The flexure includes a first portion coupled to the face and a second portion coupled to the body, enabling controlled deformation that maximizes energy transfer while preventing permanent damage. This flexible mechanism allows the face to behave like a thin film for energy efficiency while maintaining structural integrity through the supporting flexure structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies this principle by making the club face structure dynamic rather than static. The flexure allows the face to change its stiffness characteristics during impact - being more compliant during the collision to maximize COR, and returning to a stiffer state afterward to resist repeated impacts. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between needing thin/flexible faces for energy transfer and strong faces for durability.
2Speed
If the club face is made thinner to increase ball speed, then coefficient of restitution (COR) is maximized, but the 'sweet zone' size deteriorates due to variations in impact location
Solution Approach 1:
The flexure component provides dynamic compliance that adapts to different impact locations on the face. Whether the ball strikes the center or edges of the face, the flexure allows appropriate deformation to maintain high ball speeds. This dynamic flexibility effectively enlarges the sweet zone by making the face more forgiving to off-center impacts while still maximizing COR when struck properly.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the face structure by introducing the flexure component with specific geometric parameters (first portion and second portion with different stiffness characteristics). This parameter change allows the face to exhibit different compliance levels depending on the impact location and force, thereby expanding the effective sweet zone while maintaining high ball speeds across various impact points.
3Strength
If conventional club heads are designed with thick faces for structural integrity, then resistance to permanent deformation is improved, but energy transfer efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the club face structure into distinct components: the face itself, the flexure with its first and second portions, and the body. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function - the face for energy transfer, the flexure for compliant connection, and the body for structural support. The flexible first portion of the flexure acts as an intermediate element that enables thin face design for energy efficiency while the second portion provides structural reinforcement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies composite construction by combining the face material with the flexure component, which may have different material properties. This composite structure allows the face to be made of material optimized for energy transfer (potentially thinner and more compliant) while the flexure and body provide structural integrity. The combination of different materials and structures resolves the contradiction between thin faces for energy efficiency and thick faces for strength.
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 design increases the coefficient of restitution (COR) and reduces backspin, resulting in a larger 'sweet zone' with improved ball speed and distance, while maintaining structural integrity by allowing flexible deformation and energy transfer across the face.
Implementation Method 1
the flexure is constructed as a separate component from the sole and is coupled to the sole in the aperture
Implementation Method 2
kinetic energy is transferred from the club and stored as elastic strain energy in the club head
Implementation Method 3
reducing viscoelastic relaxation, thereby enhancing energy transfer to the ball
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 to improve the performance of the golf club head. More specifically, the present invention decouples the flexure from the remainder of the golf club head.