US20110070970A1

US20110070970A1 - Customizable golf club head with a chamber for adjustable weight component(s)

Info

Publication number: US20110070970A1
Application number: US12/563,321
Authority: US
Inventors: Wu Wan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-09-21
Filing date: 2009-09-21
Publication date: 2011-03-24

Abstract

The present invention relates to a customizable golf club head with a chamber for adjustable weight component(s). The invention consists of a golf club head with at least one weight chamber; and at least one weight component that is capable of flexible compression whose outer dimensions are slightly greater than the inner dimensions of said weight chamber, can be compressed to embed in the club head weight chamber, and can be taken out to be changed.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a golf club head, particularly to a customizable golf club head with a chamber for adjustable weight component(s).
2. Description of the Related Art
Advanced golfers and professional golfers have a need for customizable golf clubs. However, golf club technology has not advanced much in the area of customizable golf clubs. With regard to swingweight, golfers can only rely on the traditional methods of adding or reducing the weight of the hosel or the grip in order to adjust the swingweight. The traditional methods, while achieving the adjustability of swingweight, not only stultify the original design specifications of the golf club but also, unfortunately, reduce the golf club's performance in striking the golf ball because weight distribution is incorrect.
Recent developments for adjustable weight with woods mostly involve creating a cavity in the sole of the club head, putting in some weights, and then securing a cover to the cavity with a screw. In practice, this method is inconvenient and can not be applied to irons.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the current invention is to provide a customizable golf club head with a chamber for adjustable weight component(s). Weight adjustment can be conveniently achieved without stultifying the original design specifications of the golf club and can be applied to irons, woods, and other types of club heads.
In order to achieve the objective described above, a customizable golf club head capable of adjustable weight consists of one or more chambers located in a predetermined area of the golf club head, one or more weight components capable of flexible compression compressed to embed in said chamber. The outer dimensions of said weight components are slightly greater than the inner dimensions of said chamber so as to allow said weight components to be securely embedded in said chamber due to their compressible flexibility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional exterior view of a first embodiment of the current invention.

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional exploded view of a first embodiment of the current invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a magnified view of the weight component illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is the same as FIG. 5, but shows a different embodiment of the weight component.

FIG. 7 is the same as FIG. 5, but shows another embodiment of the weight component.

FIG. 8 is a three-dimensional exploded view of a second embodiment of the current invention.

FIG. 9 is a composite view of a second embodiment of the current invention, showing two weight components embedded on either side of the chamber.

FIG. 10 is the same as FIG. 9, but shows the two weight components embedded on the left side of the chamber.

FIG. 11 is a three-dimensional exploded view of a third embodiment of the current invention.

FIG. 12 is a top view of a fourth embodiment of the current invention, showing the weight component centered in the chamber.

FIG. 13 is a top view of a fourth embodiment of the current invention, showing the weight component embedded on the right side of the chamber.

FIG. 14 is a three-dimensional exploded view of a fifth embodiment of the current invention.

FIG. 15 is a three-dimensional exploded view of a sixth embodiment of the current invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Below are six illustrated exemplary embodiments of the current invention.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, an iron is used to demonstrate the first embodiment of the current invention, but the current invention can be applied to irons, woods, putters, wedges, and club heads of all types, sizes, and shapes. As seen in the illustrations, the current invention includes:
A golf club head (10), the sole (11) of the club head which extends toward back (12) of the club head to form a protrusion (13), a cavity (14) between said protrusion (13) and said back (12) which form a so-called undercut club head, and a rectangular chamber (15) located on the surface of said protrusion (13).
A weight component (20) with compressible flexibility whose width (W) is greater than chamber width (V) of said chamber (15). Said weight component (20) can be compressed to embed in said chamber (15). Said weight component (20) is made by mixing metallic dust (21) that is heavier than the material which makes up the club head together with rubber, synthetic rubber, compressibly flexible plastic, rubber compounds, plastic compounds, or any other flexible material to form one solitary, compressibly flexible object (22). For example, club head (10) could be made of stainless steel, soft iron, titanium alloy, or some other metal. Weight component (20), as shown in FIG. 5, could be made by evenly mixing tungsten, lead, or some other heavy metallic dust (21) within silicon rubber (22) and then letting the mixture solidify. Because silicon rubber possesses a high compressible flexibility property, width (W) of weight component (20) can be blatantly greater than chamber width (V) of chamber (15), but weight component (20) can still be easily compressed by hand to securely embed in chamber (15) by virtue of its flexibility. Even the impact of striking a golf ball with great force would not knock the weight component loose. When the need arises to remove weight component (20), a pointy object such as the golf tee can be used to easily and effortlessly dig weight component (20) out of chamber (15) to be replaced.
FIG. 6 shows the cutaway view of another embodiment of the weight component of the current invention. Weight component (20′) is made by embedding metallic pellets (21′) that are heavier than the material which makes up the club head in rubber, synthetic rubber, or any other compressibly flexible plastic or rubber/plastic compound (22′) to form one solitary object. One example would be to use silicon rubber (22′) to envelop tungsten, lead or other heavy metal pellets (21′). Said pellets can also be evenly distributed in the silicon rubber, similar to the method shown in FIG. 5.
As shown in FIG. 7, weight component (20″) can be made into a metallic weight component (21″) in the shape of a rectangular solid made of a metal like tungsten or lead that is heavier than the material which makes up the club head. Said component can then be enveloped by rubber, synthetic rubber or any other compressibly flexible plastic, rubber, or plastic compound to form a flexible outer layer (22″). Said flexible outer layer can first be wrapped around said metallic weight component and then be solidified into one solitary object. Or said flexible outer layer can first be made, and the metallic weight component can be inserted into said flexible outer layer afterwards.
Weight components (20), (20′), and (20″) can be precisely made into several varying loads such as 2 g, 2.5 g, 3.0 g, 3.5 g, 4.0 g, 4.5 g, 5 g, 8 g, 10 g, 20 g, etc. For ease of use, each weight component can be clearly marked to show its load, can be color coded, or can be marked and color coded.
As illustrated in FIGS. 8 through 10, an iron club head (30) is used to demonstrate a second embodiment of the current invention. Sole (31) of the club head extends toward back (32) of the club head to form a protrusion (33). There is a cavity (34) between said protrusion (33) and said back (32). Protrusion (33) is not as bulky as in the first embodiment of the current invention, thereby creating a larger cavity (34). A chamber (35) is framed the inner wall of protrusion (33) and cavity (34). Two weight components (40), each of whose length is approximately one-third to one-half the length of chamber (35), have a combined length that is shorter than the length of chamber (35). As shown in FIG. 9, the weight components are embedded on either side of chamber (35) for equal weight distribution. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10, the two weight components can be embedded next to each other on the heel end of the club head, moving the center of gravity toward the heel. By the same logic, the two weight components can be embedded next to each other on the toe end of the club head, moving the center of gravity toward the toe. (This last option is not shown in the illustrations.)
A third embodiment of the current invention, as shown in FIG. 11, fills chamber (35) of club head (30) with one weight component (50).
A fourth embodiment of the current invention, as illustrated in FIG. 12, shows a weight component (50′) that is shorter than chamber (35). Said weight component can be centered in chamber (35), leaving spaces (35′) on both sides. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 13, weight component (50′) can be embedded toward the toe end of the club head, leaving space (35′) on the heel end of the club head, thereby moving the center of gravity toward the toe. By the same logic, weight component (50′) can be embedded toward the heel end of the club head, thereby moving the center of gravity toward the heel. (This last option is not shown in the illustrations.)
In a fifth embodiment of the current invention, as illustrated in FIG. 14, chamber (35) of club head (30) can be made deeper, and weight component (50″) can be made thinner so that chamber (35) can accommodate two weight components (50″) at the same time.
As illustrated in FIG. 15, a wood (60) is used to demonstrate the sixth embodiment of the current invention. A chamber (65) is located on back (61) and can accommodate one weight component (70).
The current invention presents several advantages: It can be applied to all different types of club heads, and weight components can be conveniently adjusted. After a golf club is fully assembled, the current invention is applied to accurately meet the customized weight requirements of each user. The traditional methods of adding weight to the hosel or the grip are limited by space, and adding too much weight affects the performance and playability of the golf club because the center of gravity is incorrectly shifted. The current invention achieves weight adjustment by being applied directly to the back of the club head near the sole, moving the center of gravity backwards or downwards, thereby increasing the performance and playability of the golf club. Also, the weight components of the current invention are made with heavy metals, which means weight components of up to 20 g can be added, increasing the scope of weight adjustment. The current invention can easily adjust weight and the center of gravity of the club head, thereby meeting the requirements of users needing customization.

Claims

1. A customizable golf club head with a chamber for adjustable weight component(s), comprising:

a golf club head with at least one weight chamber;

at least one weight component that is capable of flexible compression whose outer dimensions are slightly greater than the inner dimensions of said weight chamber and which can be compressed to embed in the club head weight chamber.

2. The customizable golf club head of claim 1, wherein said weight component is made by mixing metallic dust that is heavier than the material which makes up said club head together with rubber, synthetic rubber, compressibly flexible plastic, rubber compounds, or plastic compounds to form one solitary object.

3. The customizable golf club head of claim 1, wherein said weight component is made by embedding metallic pellets that are heavier than the material which makes up said club head in rubber, synthetic rubber, or any other compressibly flexible plastic or rubber/plastic compound to form one solitary object.

4. The customizable golf club head of claim 1, wherein said weight component comprises:

metallic weight component made of a metal that is heavier than the material which makes up said club head;

a flexible outer layer enveloping said metallic weight component to form one solitary, compressibly flexible object.

5. The customizable golf club head of claim 1, wherein there is a chamber located on the back of said club head.

6. The customizable golf club head of claim 5, wherein a weight component can be embedded in said chamber whose length is longer than said weight component.

7. The customizable golf club head of claim 1, wherein the sole of said club head extends toward the back of said club head and ends in at least one chamber that extends down from the top of the extension.

8. The customizable golf club head of claim 1, wherein the sole of said club head extends toward the back of said club head to form a protrusion, and the chamber is located in the cavity that is formed between said protrusion and said back of the club head.

9. The customizable golf club head of claim 5, wherein the chamber of said club head can accommodate two or more weight components.