Golf Club Head Composite Face for Directional Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wood-type golf club heads face challenges in achieving improved directional stability without compromising the flight distance of the golf ball, as increasing the moment of inertia to reduce side spin often results in heavier club heads that hinder swing speed and stability.
Innovation Solution
A hollow wood-type golf club head with a face portion made of a metallic material having a specific gravity of 4.30 to 4.60 and a thickness of 1.5 to 4.0 mm, featuring a convexly curved fitting face with a large radius of curvature and a multi-radius face design, which optimizes the X/Y ratio of the center of gravity depth to moment of inertia, thereby reducing side spin and enhancing directional stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the moment of inertia is increased to suppress gear effect and stabilize flight direction, then directional stability is improved, but the club head becomes heavier which lowers swing speed and head speed
Solution Approach 1:
The club head combines titanium alloy (specific gravity 4.30 to 4.60) for the face portion with a resin material having a specific gravity of 0.80 to 1.80 for the crown and sole portions. This composite construction allows the face portion to provide high moment of inertia for directional stability while the lighter resin portions reduce overall weight to maintain swing speed
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the club head are made from materials with different specific gravities tailored to their functional requirements: the face portion uses high specific gravity titanium alloy for moment of inertia, while the crown and sole portions use lower specific gravity resin materials to reduce weight, creating local optimization of material properties
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the depth of the center of gravity is decreased to suppress gear effect, then side spin amount is reduced, but the moment of inertia decreases which worsens directional stability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the ratio relationship between the depth of the center of gravity and the moment of inertia rather than maximizing either parameter independently. By controlling their ratio, the design achieves suppression of gear effect while maintaining sufficient moment of inertia for directional stability
Solution Approach 2:
The strategic placement of high specific gravity titanium alloy in the face portion allows the center of gravity to be positioned optimally for suppressing gear effect while the distributed mass from the composite construction maintains high moment of inertia
3Stability of the object's composition
If the head volume is increased to improve moment of inertia, then directional stability is enhanced, but the face portion thickness must be increased which deteriorates repellency and reduces flight distance
Solution Approach 1:
The hollow construction with resin filling in the crown and sole portions allows increased head volume for higher moment of inertia without requiring proportional increases in face portion thickness, thereby maintaining repellency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent distributes mass in three-dimensional space through the hollow construction and strategic material placement, achieving high moment of inertia through spatial distribution rather than through increased face thickness
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 solution effectively stabilizes the flight direction performance by suppressing side spin and maintaining a high moment of inertia, allowing for a larger head volume while preventing deterioration of the face portion's repellency, thus improving the club's overall performance.
Implementation Method 1
a gear effect produced by off-center hit that a golf ball has hit a club head outside a sweet spot of the club head, for example, near the toe or heel of the club head, is suppressed by increasing the moment of inertia, whereby the side spin amount of the struck golf ball is decreased
Implementation Method 2
a side spin which causes the ball to rotate in the counterclockwise direction which is opposite to the rotation of the club head 'a' (so-called hook spin) is imparted to the ball 'b' by a frictional force between the ball and the face
Data Source
AI summary
A hollow wood-type golf club head 1 having a volume of 420 to 500 cm3 and comprising face portion 3, wherein the face portion 3 comprises a metallic material having a specific gravity of 4.30 to 4.60 and has a thickness of 1.5 to 4.0 mm, and in the standard state of head 1, the X/Y ratio is 0.0070 or less in which X is the depth (mm) of the club head's center of gravity which is a horizontal length between the center of gravity and a sweet spot on face 2 in the front-rear direction of head 1, and Y is the moment of inertia (g·cm2) of head 1 about the vertical axis passing through the center of gravity, and the intersection line of the face 2 with a horizontal plane including the sweet spot is convex toward the front of head 1 and has a radius of curvature of 330.2 to 457.2 mm.