Multi-Material Golf Club Head With Ribbon Support and Weighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing golf club heads with lightweight composite materials face challenges in achieving structural rigidity, sound quality, and weight distribution without adding undesirable weight, particularly when incorporating high-density weighting elements.
Innovation Solution
A golf club head design featuring a metallic frontal portion, a lightweight aft portion with an internal ribbon support member, and weight openings, which includes a secondary wall separating the internal volume into frontal and rear chambers, allowing for improved structural rigidity, sound quality, and efficient weight attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If lightweight composite material is used to form the aft body portion, then the overall weight of the golf club head is reduced, but the structural rigidity becomes insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes a hybrid construction combining lightweight composite material (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) for the aft body portion with a metallic frontal portion. This composite approach allows the club head to achieve both weight reduction and structural rigidity by strategically placing materials with different properties in different regions of the club head.
Solution Approach 2:
The golf club head is divided into distinct segments: a metallic frontal portion and a lightweight composite aft body portion. This segmentation allows each portion to be optimized independently - the metallic portion provides structural rigidity and impact resistance, while the composite portion reduces overall weight.
2Productivity
If weighting elements are added to improve performance, then the weight distribution and moment of inertia are improved, but the structural integrity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a support member as an intermediary element between the weighting elements and the lightweight composite aft body portion. This support member reinforces the composite material at the specific location where weights are installed, distributing the stress and preventing structural failure while allowing the weights to improve performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The support member is strategically placed only at the location where weighting elements are installed, providing localized reinforcement exactly where needed. This local quality approach strengthens the structure at critical points without adding unnecessary weight or complexity throughout the entire aft body portion.
3Strength
If support members are added to strengthen the lightweight composite material, then the structural rigidity is improved, but the weight is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The support member is designed as a thin, strategically placed reinforcement element rather than a bulky structural component. This allows the support member to provide necessary structural rigidity while minimizing the additional weight added to the already lightweight composite aft body portion.
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-material golf club head having an improved performance is disclosed. More specifically, the present invention relates to a multi-material golf club head having a metallic frontal portion and a lightweight aft portion with an addition of an internal ribbon support member. The lightweight aft portion could be formed of a multi-layered sandwich material with at least one layer having low damping properties. The present invention may also further be comprised of a weighting mechanism that is accessible via an opening in the lightweight after portion but connects directly to the metallic frontal portion to mitigate any of the structural integrity issues associated with installing weights in a lightweight portion of a golf club head.