Golf Club Head Wrap-Around Composite Molding for Complex Geometries
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for manufacturing golf club heads with composite materials struggle to create intricate geometries, particularly in forming unique shapes like hosel geometries or parts that wrap over the skirt, limiting the production of lightweight and high-strength components.
Innovation Solution
The use of an injection molded wrap-around component made from a polymeric composite material that forms the majority of the crown and sole, with thickened regions acting as flow leaders to distribute molten material evenly during molding, allowing for the creation of a lightweight and high-strength golf club head with a metallic front component and a composite rear wrap-around component.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If fiber-impregnated sheets are used to form composite components, then the components can be formed into simple shapes such as crown insert or sole insert, but the sheets cannot easily be formed into unique shapes such as hosel geometries or parts that wrap over the skirt of the club head
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the physical state of the composite material from pre-impregnated sheets to injection-moldable thermoplastic composite material. This parameter change enables the material to flow into complex geometries during injection molding, then solidify into the final shape, allowing formation of intricate geometries like hosel geometries and wrap-around components that were impossible with sheet forming methods
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical sheet forming process with injection molding technology. Instead of physically forming sheets into shapes through mechanical means, the molten composite material is injected into a mold cavity that defines the final geometry, enabling complex shapes to be formed directly during the molding process rather than through subsequent forming operations
2Productivity
If a composite wrap-around component is injection molded, then complex geometries can be formed and production time reduced, but the material must be distributed evenly throughout the mold during injection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces flow leaders as intermediary structures within the mold design. These flow leaders are channels or pathways that guide the molten composite material from the gate to various regions of the mold cavity, ensuring uniform material distribution and preventing defects such as short shots or uneven wall thickness that would compromise manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the wrap-around component with three-dimensional thickness variations, including thickened flow leader regions that provide material distribution pathways. By incorporating vertical dimension changes in the component design, the patent creates internal channels that facilitate even material flow throughout the complex geometry during injection molding
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
This approach results in a golf club head with improved acoustic response, reduced weight, and enhanced durability, while also simplifying the production process by enabling the formation of complex geometries and reducing production time.
Implementation Method 1
The wrap-around component is injection molded from a gate at a rear peripheral edge of the crown
Data Source
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AI summary
A multi-component golf club head and a method to said club head are generally described herein. The method of manufacturing the golf club head can comprise providing a main component, providing a mold, injection molding a wrap-around component, plasma treating the wrap-around component, joining the wrap-around component onto the main component to form a golf club head, and finishing the golf club head. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.