Treatment for the hitting surface of a golf club and a method for applying the same

Abstract

A treatment that can be applied to the face of a golf club head complies with USGA regulations but imparts certain advantageous characteristics. The treatment can comprise a certain pattern and can be imparted to the club head via laser etching, diamond cutting, chemical etching or any other process that will achieve the desired result. In accordance with USGA rules, the treatment must cover the intended area of impact on the golf club face.

1 . A golf club head comprising:
 a club face, the club face including:
 a hitting surface having a sweet spot; 
 a treatment applied to the entire sweetspot of the hitting surface, the treatment comprising:
 a pattern that reduces slippage of a golf ball on the hitting surface when the golf ball is struck using the golf club, wherein the pattern is a groove pattern, 
 a roughness created by the treatment, and 
 the groove pattern has a peak depth below the hitting surface. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the treatment is a etching. 
     
     
         3 . The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein the etching is a laser etching. 
     
     
         4 . The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein the etching is a diamond cut etching. 
     
     
         5 . The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein the etching is a chemical etching. 
     
     
         6 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the groove pattern is a diamond pattern 
     
     
         7 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the groove pattern is a cross pattern. 
     
     
         8 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the groove pattern is a swirl pattern. 
     
     
         9 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the groove pattern is a circle pattern. 
     
     
         10 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the groove pattern is a box pattern. 
     
     
         11 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the groove pattern is a rectangular pattern. 
     
     
         12 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the roughness is less than approximately 180 microns. 
     
     
         13 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the peak depth is approximately 0.020 inches. 
     
     
         14 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the peak depth is between approximately 0.010 and 0.080 inches. 
     
     
         15 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the pattern diffuses light incident on the hitting surface. 
     
     
         16 . A golf club head comprising a club face, the club face including:
 a hitting surface;   a first set of grooves extending over a first area of the club face;   a treatment applied to a second area of the hitting surface in addition to the grooves, the second area including the sweet spot of the hitting surface and being within and less than the first area of the hitting surface, the treatment being applied to the entire second area of the hitting surface and not extending beyond the second area, the treatment comprising:
 a groove pattern that reduces slippage of a golf ball on the hitting surface when the golf ball is struck using the golf club, 
 a surface roughness created by the treatment, and 
 the groove pattern and first set of grooves intersecting one another across the entire second area. 
   
     
     
         17 . The golf club head of  claim 16 , wherein the groove pattern is one of: a diamond pattern, a swirl pattern or a circle pattern. 
     
     
         18 . The golf club head of  claim 16 , wherein the surface roughness is less than approximately 180 micro-inches, and wherein the set of grooves have a peak depth below the hitting surface, wherein the peak depth of the set of grooves is approximately 0.020 inches. 
     
     
         19 . The golf club head of  claim 16 , wherein the treatment is an etching. 
     
     
         20 . The golf club head of  claim 19 , wherein the etching is one of the following: a laser etching, a diamond cut etching, a chemical etching.