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Golf club set

Golf club set description/claims

This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/766,824, filed on Jun. 22, 2007, now pending, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention generally relates to a set of golf clubs and, more particularly to a set of golf clubs including club heads having volumetric bias in pre-selected ranges.

The individual golf club heads in a set typically increase progressively in strike face surface area and weight as the clubs progress from the long irons to the short irons. Therefore, the club heads of the long irons have a smaller strike face surface area than the short irons and are typically more difficult for the average golfer to hit consistently well. For conventional club heads, this arises at least in part due to the smaller sweet spot of the corresponding smaller strike face.

To help the average golfer consistently hit the sweet spot of a club head, many golf clubs are available having heads with so-called cavity back designs with increased perimeter weighting. Another more recent trend has been to simply increase the overall size of the club heads, especially in the long irons. Each of these features will increase the size of the sweet spot and therefore make it more likely that a shot hit slightly off the center of gravity of the club head still makes contact with the sweet spot and flies farther and straighter as a result. One challenge the golf club designer faces is maintaining a desirable and effective overall weight of the golf club when maximizing the size of the club head. For example, if the club head of a three iron is increased in size and weight, the club may become difficult for the average golfer to properly swing.

Another problem area for the average golfer is that of excess vibration resulting from an off center impact with the golf ball. Various types of vibration dampening have been incorporated into club heads to absorb these impact vibrations. However, there is still a need for improvement in the areas of weight redistribution, vibration dampening in golf club heads, and especially improving the sound and feel upon striking the golf ball. A significant need is to provide a golf club head that is more tolerant to a golfer's inadvertent misplacement of the front hitting surface upon contact with the ball. In addition to inaccuracy of the shot, vibrations are indicative of a less than ideal transfer of energy from the club to the ball, and consequently represent inefficiency in the club head.

There remains a significant need, therefore, for a golf club head that is more accurate and more forgiving and which more efficiently dampens the transmission of shock vibrations from the golf club head to the shaft.

The invention includes a set of golf clubs having club heads having a plurality of constructions that are constructed with volumetric bias in pre-selected ranges. An advantage of constructing the club heads to have volumetric bias in pre-selected ranges is to selectively build in fade and/or draw bias into the set of golf clubs.

An embodiment of a set of golf clubs of the present embodiment includes a plurality of golf clubs with golf club heads having different constructions. A first golf club includes a first club head having a first striking face, a first construction type, a first volume and a first volumetric bias relative to a face center of the first striking face. A second golf club includes a second club head having a second striking face, a second construction type, a second volume and a second volumetric bias relative to a face center of the second striking face. A third golf club includes a third club head having a third striking face, a third construction type, a third volume and a third volumetric bias relative to a face center of the third striking face. The first volume is greater than the second volume and the first volumetric bias is less than the second volumetric bias. Additionally, a center of gravity of each club head is spaced rearward from the striking face of the club head.

In another embodiment of a set of golf clubs of the present invention, the set includes a first plurality of golf clubs including club heads having volumetric bias relative to face center between 1.25 and 1.70 and a second plurality of golf clubs including club heads having volumetric bias relative to face center between 1.95 and 2.90. The first plurality of golf clubs comprises generally hollow club heads. Additionally, a center of gravity of each club head is spaced rearward from the striking face of the club head.

In another embodiment, a golf club head of the present invention comprises a body portion that is preferably made of stainless steel and which has a cavity defined therein, wherein a first silicone having a high durometer hardness and a second silicone comprising of a lower hardness durometer substantially fills the cavity. The first silicone is disposed into the cavity as a hot molded cured silicone material having Shore A hardness of about 70 to 80, and the material is placed into the cavity so as to be contiguous against the interior surface of the body. The second silicone, having a hardness of about 40-50, is then disposed into the cavity so as to be juxtaposed against the outer boundary of the first material. A polycarbonate insert is attached to the second silicone material by means of a tongue and groove fit and glue adhesive so as to provide a zero gap appearance. By a combination of tape and glue a medallion is then affixed to the insert.

The first silicone is attached to the interior wall by an adhesive that is brushed on the surface. However, an important design concept is the omission of adhesive on the interior surface around an area where the sole and bottom face are formed. This allows the relatively hard first silicone to shrink and expand in the no-adhesive zone rather than on the exposed side where the softer second silicone is placed. This reduction of shrinkage at the outer part of the first silicone reduces the amount of “peeling,” or pulling away, between the two silicones and/or between the silicone material and the cavity walls.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification and are to be read in conjunction therewith and in which like reference numerals are used to indicate like parts in the various views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the back of a cast steel golf club head body according to the present invention; and

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