Metal wood club with improved hitting face

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a golf club head comprising a forged face cup, which comprises a hitting face and at least one sidewall, a cast member, and a stamped member, wherein the face cup, the cast member and the stamped member are welded together to form the golf club head. The hitting face and the at least one sidewall form a face cup. The hitting face may have a thickened central portion and a relatively thinner intermediate region. The hitting face defines a rectangular area of about 0.5 inch by 1.0 inch, and wherein initial ball speeds generated by the golf club head impacting golf balls are within 2% of a peak initial ball speed within the rectangle.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A golf club head comprising: 
 a forged face cup, which comprises a hitting face and at least one sidewall,    a cast member, and    a stamped member, wherein the face cup, the cast member and the stamped member are welded together to form the golf club head.    
     
     
         2 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sidewall is a partial sole portion.  
     
     
         3 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sidewall is a partial crown portion.  
     
     
         4 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one sidewall has a thickness of about 1.0 mm to about 2.0 mm.  
     
     
         5 . The golf club head of  claim 4 , wherein the at least one sidewall has a thickness of about 1.5 mm.  
     
     
         6 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the cast member comprises a pocket adapted to receive a predetermined weight.  
     
     
         7 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the stamped member is a crown plate having a thickness between about 0.5 mm and about 5.0 mm.  
     
     
         8 . The golf club head of  claim 7 , wherein the thickness of the crown plate is between about 0.7 mm and about 1.5 mm.  
     
     
         9 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the stamped member is a sole plate having a thickness between about 0.5 mm and about 5.0 mm.  
     
     
         10 . The golf club head of  claim 9 , wherein the thickness of the sole plate is between about 0.7 mm and about 1.5 mm.  
     
     
         11 . The golf club head of  claim 9 , wherein a pocket is welded to the sole plate and wherein the pocket is adapted to receive a predetermined weight.  
     
     
         12 . The golf club head of  claim 9 , wherein the sole plate has a predetermined weight to add weight to the club head.  
     
     
         13 . The golf club head of  claim 1  further comprises a hosel integrally formed with the cast member.  
     
     
         14 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the hitting face comprises a central region and an intermediate region surrounding the central region, and wherein the central region is thicker than the intermediate region.  
     
     
         15 . The golf club head of  claim 14 , wherein the central region is at least two times thicker than the intermediate region.  
     
     
         16 . The golf club head of  claim 16 , wherein the central region is at least three times thicker than the intermediate region.  
     
     
         17 . The golf club head of  claim 14 , wherein the central region has a thickness in the range of about 2 mm to about 5 mm.  
     
     
         18 . The golf club head of  claim 17 , wherein the thickness of the central region is in the range of about 3 mm to about 4 mm.  
     
     
         19 . The golf club head of  claim 14 , wherein the intermediate region has a thickness from about 1.0 mm to about 2.5 mm.  
     
     
         20 . The golf club head of  claim 19 , wherein the thickness of the intermediate region is about 1.5 mm.  
     
     
         21 . The golf club head of  claim 14 , wherein the flexural stiffness of the central region is at least three times the flexural stiffness of the intermediate region.  
     
     
         22 . The golf club head of  claim 21 , wherein the flexural stiffness of the central region is at least six times the flexural stiffness of the intermediate region.  
     
     
         23 . The golf club head of  claim 22 , wherein the flexural stiffness of the central region is at least twelve times the flexural stiffness of the intermediate region.  
     
     
         24 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the weld line connecting the forged face cup to the cast member and to the stamped member is located at least about 12 mm behind the perimeter of the hitting face.  
     
     
         25 . The golf club head of  claim 24 , wherein the weld line is located at least about 25 mm behind the perimeter of the hitting face.  
     
     
         26 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the grain structure of the stamped member is oriented in a direction substantially perpendicular to the hitting face.  
     
     
         27 . A golf club head comprising: 
 a forged hitting face, which comprises a central region and an intermediate region surrounding central region, and wherein the central region is thicker than the intermediate region,    a cast member, and    a stamped member.    
     
     
         28 . The golf club head  claim 27 , wherein the hitting face is integrally forged with at least one sidewall.  
     
     
         29 . The golf club head of  claim 28 , wherein the sidewall is a partial crown portion.  
     
     
         30 . The golf club head of  claim 28 , wherein the sidewall is a partial sole portion.  
     
     
         31 . The golf club head of  claim 28 , wherein the sidewall is a partial toe portion.  
     
     
         32 . The golf club head of  claim 28 , wherein the hitting face and the at least one sidewall form a face cup.  
     
     
         33 . The golf club head of  claim 27 , wherein the stamped member is a crown plate.  
     
     
         34 . The golf club head of  claim 27 , wherein the stamped member is a sole plate.  
     
     
         35 . The golf club head of  claim 27 , wherein the central region is at least twice as thick as the intermediate region.  
     
     
         36 . The golf club head of  claim 35 , wherein the central region is at least three times as thick as the intermediate region.  
     
     
         37 . The golf club head of  claim 27 , wherein the flexural stiffness of the central region is at least three times the flexural stiffness of the intermediate region.  
     
     
         38 . The golf club head of  claim 37 , wherein the flexural stiffness of the central region is at least six times the flexural stiffness of the intermediate region.  
     
     
         39 . The golf club head of  claim 38 , wherein the flexural stiffness of the central region is at least twelve times the flexural stiffness of the intermediate region.  
     
     
         40 . The golf club head of  claim 27 , wherein the grain structure of the stamped member is oriented in a direction substantially perpendicular to the hitting face.