Golf Club Head External Stiffening for Sound and Weight
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing golf club heads face a challenge in achieving weight adjustability without negatively affecting the sound profile upon impact with a golf ball, as internal ribs used to address sound issues often move mass away from the periphery and hide technology from the golfer.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head design featuring a channel supported by external structures such as ribs, struts, or pads that attenuate sound, with stiffening members bridging the channel to maintain weight adjustability and improve sound quality, allowing for adjustable weights while minimizing mass displacement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If internal ribs are used to stiffen the channel structure, then sound quality is improved, but mass is moved away from the periphery affecting mass properties
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by placing stiffening members externally on the club head rather than internally. This external placement allows the channel structure to maintain its thin-walled design while achieving the necessary stiffness through external reinforcement, thereby avoiding the mass redistribution problem caused by internal ribs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from two-dimensional internal rib structures to three-dimensional external stiffening members that bridge across the channel. This dimensional change allows for more efficient stiffness provision while maintaining peripheral mass distribution, as the external members can span across the channel without occupying internal volume.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If internal ribs are used to stiffen the channel structure, then sound quality is improved, but technology is hidden from the golfer's view
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by placing stiffening members externally on the club head rather than internally. This external placement makes the technology visible to the golfer while still achieving the necessary structural reinforcement, thereby eliminating the information hiding problem caused by internal ribs.
3Adaptability or versatility
If thin-walled pocket-type channel structure is used, then weight adjustability is achieved, but low frequency vibrations occur affecting sound
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces external stiffening members as intermediary elements that bridge across the thin-walled channel structure. These members act as mediators that provide the necessary stiffness to suppress low-frequency vibrations while allowing the channel to maintain its thin-walled design for weight adjustability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite structural system combining the thin-walled channel structure with external stiffening members. This composite approach allows the channel to maintain its lightweight, adjustable properties while the external members provide the necessary structural reinforcement to eliminate unwanted vibrations.
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 external support structure effectively attenuates low-frequency vibrations, enhancing sound quality and maintaining weight adjustability without the mass displacement issues of internal ribs, providing a more efficient solution for sound improvement.
Implementation Method 1
a channel supported by external structures such as ribs, struts, or pads that attenuate sound of the golf club head upon impact with a golf ball
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club head with a channel sized to receive one or more adjustable weights and an external support structure that bridges, and thereby supports, the channel without unduly interfering with weight adjustment is disclosed herein. The support structure, which includes one or more stiffening members on the exterior of the golf club head, improves the sound quality of the golf club head, and is particularly useful to attenuate the lower frequency mode shapes associated with slider channel geometry in golf club heads.