Golf Club Head Face Structure for Longer Center-Impact Shots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Golf club heads designed for professional and advanced golfers who consistently hit the ball at an ideal impact position lack technology to further enhance flight distance.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head with a cavity, featuring a face portion that includes a central part with constant thickness and a transitional part surrounding it, where the thickness increases towards the crown, sole, toe, and heel, with the maximum thickness in the transitional part being greater than the central part, to enhance deformation and increase flight distance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the face portion thickness is increased throughout to improve forgiveness on miss shots, then the flight distance of balls hit at ideal impact position improves, but the overall weight of the club head increases and forgiveness on miss shots is not optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The face portion is designed with non-uniform thickness distribution, where the central part has a first thickness and the peripheral part has a second thickness that is greater than the first thickness. This local differentiation allows the central impact area to maintain optimal deformation characteristics for distance while the thicker peripheral areas provide forgiveness on miss shots without requiring the entire face to be thick.
2Reliability
If the face portion thickness is uniformly increased to enhance forgiveness on miss shots, then durability improves, but the flight distance of balls hit at ideal impact position cannot be further increased
Solution Approach 1:
The face portion implements localized thickness optimization where the peripheral part has greater thickness than the central part. This configuration provides enhanced forgiveness and durability at the edges where mis-hit balls typically contact, while the central part maintains optimal thinness for maximum deformation and energy transfer to balls struck at the ideal impact position.
Solution Approach 2:
The face portion is segmented into distinct regions (central part and peripheral part) with different thickness characteristics. This segmentation allows each region to be optimized for its specific function: the central part for distance on ideal shots and the peripheral part for forgiveness on miss shots, resolving the contradiction between these two performance requirements.
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 configuration improves the flight distance of the ball when hit at an ideal impact position by increasing the initial velocity through localized deformation of the central part.
Implementation Method 1
increasing the initial velocity through localized deformation of the central part
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club head with a cavity therein comprises a face portion having a club face for striking a ball, a crown portion, a sole portion, a toe and a heel. The club face comprises a central part including a face center, and a transitional part outside the central part. The central part has a constant thickness and a surface area of not less than 100 sq.mm. The transitional part annularly surrounds the central part. The thickness of the transitional part increases from the central part toward the crown portion, sole portion, toe and heel. The maximum thickness of the transitional part is larger than the thickness of the central part.