Golf club head

Abstract

An oversize golf club driver head has the maximum legal face dimensions, a loft of at least 17 degrees and a ratio of club depth to face depth that is less than 1.5. This unconventional combination of driver parameters is designed to make it easier for beginning golfers and less skilled golfers to reliably hit a golf ball from a golf tee and thereby give such golfers more confidence in their ability to hit a golf driver. Nevertheless, it results in a golf club driver head configuration which complies with USGA rules and is not peculiar in appearance.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates generally to golf club heads and more specifically to a golf club driver head which is designed for use by less skilled golfers.

[0003] 2. Background Art

[0004] Most manufacturers offer a big titanium driver. However, most want to abide by the rules set by USGA regarding the size limit of a driver. The volume limit for drivers is currently 460 cc. Therefore, there is a limitation as to how big the driver can be. The biggest club head on the market to date is a 650 cc driver, but it does not conform to USGA rules. There is also a limitation as to how deep the driver can be, which is 2.8 inches from the top of crown to the sole. This makes the maximum clubface depth about 2.6 (65 mm) inches taking the curve of the crown plate into consideration. The width is also limited to 5 inches from heel to toe.

[0005] No manufacturer has been able to achieve this maximum face size without exceeding the 460 cc volume limit. Their design intentions are that the driver has to have a deep C.G. (center of gravity) so that it will give the ball more moment of inertia to drive the golf ball a greater distance.

[0006] Golf club manufacturers are preoccupied with offering a driver that gives a golfer the most "potential distance". Therefore, they put depth of center of gravity as a priority in the design of a driver club head. From a marketing stand-point it is unimaginable for a manufacturer not to put "more distance" as a priority of features to make the driver more attractive: As a result, driver manufacturers design drivers that have deep centers of gravity, which means the distance from the front of the crown to the back of the head is as long as possible. A deeper C.G. allows manufacturers to achieve "high launch, low spin" on the ball and achieves more distance.

[0007] However, what if one looks at driver design from a totally different standpoint? While golf club companies want to sell drivers based on distance first and forgiveness second, we want to be totally different and provide a driver configuration based on forgiveness (easy-to-hit) first and distance second.

[0008] Most of the major golf equipment companies tend to cater mostly to established golfers. By that, we mean golfers who already know how to play the game and are considered intermediate to advanced golfers. Very rarely do they design clubs especially for beginning golfers and unskillful golfers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The driver of the present invention is designed specifically with beginning golfers and unskillful golfers in mind. This group of golfers lacks the skill and the speed to hit a conventional driver well. For them, distance is not really an issue. Their main concern is whether they can hit the ball at all. Therefore, when designing a driver for this group of golfers, the size of the clubface is the principal concern. A bigger clubface means more opportunity to hit the ball on the clubface. To achieve this, the present invention provides a driver that has a club face size that fully realizes the USGA limit on dimensions, which is 2.8 inches deep and 5 inches from heel to toe.

[0010] The problem with making a driver with that big a face is the volume. For a conventional shape driver to have a face the maximum USGA permitted size, it would have to be at least 600 cc in volume. Although it would then look like a conventional shape driver just proportionally bigger, it would look very clumsy when the club length is not proportionally longer.

[0011] With the USGA ruling on size limitation and the intentions of most manufacturers to move the CG back, no manufacturer has designed a driver in the shape of the driver of the present invention.

[0012] The preferred embodiment hereof offers the high handicap golfer or less skillful golfer a driver with a clubface that is as big as allowable by USGA rules.

[0013] The invention also addresses the desire for the driver to have a normal appearance. The invention achieves both criteria by reducing the distance from front to back as compared to the conventional design, which has a head depth to face depth ratio of about 1.8 to 2.

[0014] It is believed that no manufacturer has offered a driver that has a head depth to face depth ratio less than 1.5 for drivers over 350 cc.

[0015] Although the CG is not as far back from the clubface because of its narrower depth design, the advantage of a much bigger clubface and high loft gives the less skillful golfer the highest probability of hitting the golf ball well.

[0016] The driver of the present invention is believed to be the first oversize titanium driver over 400 cc to have at least 17 degrees of loft. Compared to other drivers that typically have 8 to 12 degrees of loft, 17 degrees of loft is equivalent to the loft of a 4 wood, which makes it very easy for the unskillful golfer to launch the ball higher. The ball may not travel far as compared to a shot hit by an intermediate to advanced golfer, but it becomes airborne and travels a reasonable distance to give the unskillful golfer confidence in his or her ability to hit the golf ball with some regularity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The aforementioned objects and advantages of the present invention, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will be more fully understood herein after as a result of a detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the following drawings in which:

[0018] FIG. 1 is a face-end view of a golf club driver having a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] FIG. 2 is a face-end view of the driver head of the driver of FIG.1;

[0020] FIG. 3 is rear view of the head of FIG. 2;

[0021] FIG. 4 is a top view of the head of FIG. 2;

[0022] FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the head of FIG. 2;

[0023] FIG. 6 is a toe-side view of the head of FIG. 2;

[0024] FIG. 7 is a heel-side view of the head of FIG. 2; and

[0025] FIG. 8 is a face-end view illustrating comparable face configurations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0026] Referring to the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that a golf club driver 10 comprises a driver head 12 having hosel 14 and being affixed to a shaft 16 terminating in a grip end 18. Head 12 has a very large face or hitting surface 20, a crown 22, a toe 24, a heel 26, a sole 28 and a rear surface 30. Face 20 preferably has a pattern of score lines 25 as is well known in the art of golf clubs. The preferred head shape may be readily discerned from FIGS. 2-7 which show head 12 from all six standard directions including face-end view (FIG. 2), rear-end view (FIG. 3), crown view (FIG. 4), sole view (FIG. 5), toe view (FIG. 6) and heel view (FIG. 7).

[0027] In the preferred embodiment shown herein, the face is about 25/8 inches deep ("X" in FIG. 6) and about 3% inches wide at the sweet spot. The total volume of the head 12 is over 400 cc. The club head depth is about 31/8 inches ("Y" in FIG. 5). The ratio of club head depth "Y" to club face depth "X" is about 1.2. As described above, it is a characteristic of the present invention that the ratio of y/x be less than 1.5, despite having a head volume exceeding 350 cc. It is preferable that the ratio of y/x be no greater than about 1.2.

[0028] It is also desirable to provide a high loft driver to make it easier for the less skillful golfer to hit the ball into the air. The preferred embodiment has a loft of at least 170. The material is preferably titanium alloy to make the head light in weight despite its large volume. However, it will be understood that the invention hereof may be made of any conventional golf club head material.

[0029] FIG. 8 illustrates the hitting surface of the preferred embodiment hereof as compared to other well-known manufacturer's drivers. "A" represents the club face of the preferred embodiment. "B" is a face representation of a King Cobra.RTM. model 440 SZ driver. "C" is a face representation of a Taylor Made.RTM. model R580XD driver and "D" is a face representation of a Callaway.RTM. model ERC Fusion.TM. driver. The relative hitting areas based upon "A"=100% is B=87%, C=79% and D=60%.

[0030] Having thus disclosed a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it will be apparent that many variations may be made to the golf club head hereof without departing from the scope of protection herein. Accordingly, the invention should be accorded its full range of interpretation based solely on the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A golf club driver head for improving the probability of golf ball impact with the hitting surface thereof while complying with rules regarding maximum head dimensions and volume; the head comprising: a hitting surface defined by a crown, a sole, a toe and a heel, the hitting surface residing in opposition to a rear end and enclosing a substantially hollow interior having a volume; said volume being in the range of 350 cc. to 460 cc; said head having an overall depth defined by the distance between said hitting surface and said rear end and having a face depth defined by the distance between said crown and said sole along said hitting surface about halfway between said toe and said heel; the ratio of said overall depth to said face depth being no greater than 1.5.

2. The golf club driver head recited in claim 1 wherein said ratio is about 1.2.

3. The golf club driver recited in claim 1 wherein said overall depth is less than 3.5 inches and said face depth is greater than 2.5 inches.

4. The golf club driver recited in claim 1 wherein said face depth is about 2.6 inches.

5. The golf club driver recited in claim 1 wherein said hitting surface is further characterized by a width defined as the distance along said hitting surface between said toe and said heel about half way between said crown and said sole, and wherein said width is greater than 3.5 inches.

6. The golf club driver recited in claim 5 wherein said width is about 3.75 inches.

7. The golf club head driver recited in claim 1 wherein said head has a loft angle of at least 17 degrees.