Co-forged golf club head and method of manufacture

Abstract

A co-forged iron type golf club is disclosed. More specifically, the present invention discloses a co-forged iron type golf club with the body portion made out of a first material and at least one weight adjustment portion monolithically encased within the body portion of the co-forged iron type golf club head without the need for secondary attachment or machining operations. The present invention creates of an iron type golf club head from a pre-form billet that already contains two or more materials before the actual forging process resulting in a multi-material golf club head that doesn't require any post manufacturing operations such as machining, welding, swaging, gluing, and the like.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A forged golf club head comprising:
 a body portion made out of a first material having at least one cavity;   at least one weight adjustment portion made out of a second material encased within said body portion; and   a cap made out of said first material, at least partially enclosing said cavity;   wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is encased monolithically within said body portion; and   wherein an outer surface area of said at least one weight adjustment portion equals an inner surface area of said at least one cavity.   
     
     
         2 . The forged golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said second material has a higher density than said first material. 
     
     
         3 . The forged golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a sole of said golf club head. 
     
     
         4 . The forged golf club head of  claim 3 , wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a heel portion of said sole of said golf club head. 
     
     
         5 . The forged golf club head of  claim 3 , wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a toe portion of said sole of said golf club head. 
     
     
         6 . The forged golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said first material has a first thermal expansion coefficient, and the second material has a second thermal expansion coefficient;
 wherein said first thermal expansion coefficient is greater than or equal to said second thermal expansion coefficient.   
     
     
         7 . A method of forging a golf club head comprising:
 forging a cylindrical billet to create a body portion of said golf club head, wherein said body portion of said golf club head comprises one or more cavities;   at least partially filling said one or more cavities with a second material to create a weight adjustment portion;   providing a cap to at least partially encase said weight adjustment portion within said one or more cavities;   forging said body portion of said club head containing said weight adjustment portion to create said golf club head.   
     
     
         8 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 7 , wherein said weight adjustment portion is encased monolithically within said body portion. 
     
     
         9 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 8 , wherein an outer surface area of said at least one weight adjustment portion equals an inner surface area of said at least one cavity. 
     
     
         10 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 8 , wherein said first material has a first thermal expansion coefficient and said second material has a second thermal expansion coefficient;
 wherein said first thermal expansion coefficient is greater than or equal to said second thermal expansion coefficient.   
     
     
         11 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 8 , wherein said second material has a higher density than said first material. 
     
     
         12 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a sole of said golf club head. 
     
     
         13 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a heel portion of said sole of said golf club head. 
     
     
         14 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a toe portion of said sole of said golf club head. 
     
     
         15 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 8 , wherein said second material has a lower density than said first material. 
     
     
         16 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 15 , wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located behind a striking face of said golf club head. 
     
     
         17 . The method of forging a golf club head of  claim 8 , wherein said first material has a first thermal expansion coefficient and said second material has a second thermal expansion coefficient;
 wherein said first thermal expansion coefficient is greater than or equal to said second thermal expansion coefficient.   
     
     
         18 . A forged golf club head comprising:
 a body portion made out of a first material;   at least one weight adjustment portion made out of a second material encased within said body portion; and   a cap made out of said first material enclosing said cavity;   wherein said second material has a higher density than said first material,   wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is located near a sole of said golf club head, and   wherein said at least one weight adjustment portion is encased monolithically within said body portion.   
     
     
         19 . The forged golf club head of  claim 18 , wherein said first material has a first thermal expansion coefficient and said second material has a second thermal expansion coefficient;
 wherein said first thermal expansion coefficient is greater than or equal to said second thermal expansion coefficient.   
     
     
         20 . The forged golf club head of  claim 19 , wherein an outer surface area of said at least one weight adjustment portion equals an inner surface area of said at least one cavity.