Golf Club Heads with Energy Storage Characteristics

Abstract

Embodiments of golf club heads with energy storage characteristics are presented herein. In some embodiments, a golf club head comprises a hollow body comprising a strikeface, a heel region, a toe region opposite the heel region, a sole, a top rail and an inflection point. The inflection point provides increase bending of the strikeface thereby providing performance enhancement over clubs without an inflection point.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A hollow golf club head comprising:
 a strike face and a rear wall opposite the strikeface;   a sole and a top rail opposite the sole;   a plurality of ribs extending in a direction from the top rail to the sole;   wherein the strikeface, rear wall, sole, and top rail cooperate to define a closed internal volume therebetween;   wherein the rear wall comprises an upper rear wall and a lower rear wall;   wherein the upper rear wall directly abuts the top rail, and the lower rear wall directly abuts the sole; and   wherein the top rail comprises a thickness between 0.04 inch and 0.08 inch.   
     
     
         2 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a lower rear wall comprises a bottom incline and a lower exterior wall;   the hollow golf club head further comprises:
 a first inflection point defining a junction between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall; 
 a second inflection point defining a junction between the bottom incline and the lower exterior wall; 
 a lower angle measured from between the bottom incline and the lower exterior wall, the lower angle is less than 180 degrees; and 
 an inflection angle measured from the upper rear wall to the bottom incline, the inflection angle between 95 degrees and 150 degrees. 
   
     
     
         3 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a lower rear wall comprises a bottom incline and a lower exterior wall;   the hollow golf club head further comprises:
 a first inflection point defining a junction between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall; and 
 a second inflection point defining a junction between the bottom incline and the lower exterior wall; 
   the upper rear wall comprises a thickness between 0.04 inch and 0.08 inch;   the rear wall at the first inflection point comprises a thickness between 0.04 inch to 0.08 inch; and   the thickness of the rear wall at the first inflection point is less than a thickness of the bottom incline.   
     
     
         4 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the rear wall equals the thickness of the top rail. 
     
     
         5 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein the bottom incline comprises a length measured from the first inflection point to the second inflection point, the bottom incline length between 0 inch to 0.55 inch. 
     
     
         6 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the upper back wall is substantially parallel to the strikeface. 
     
     
         7 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the hollow golf club head further comprises a first inflection point defining a junction between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall;   the upper back wall comprises a height measured from the first inflection point to an apex of the top rail, the height of the upper back wall between 0.6 inch and 1.2 inch.   
     
     
         8 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the hollow golf club head further comprises a first inflection point defining a junction between the upper rear wall and the lower rear wall;   the hollow golf club head comprises a height, measured parallel to the strikeface from the sole to the top rail; and   the upper back wall comprises a height measured from the first inflection point to an apex of the top rail, the height of the upper back wall between 40% to 75% of the height of the hollow golf club head.   
     
     
         9 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ribs comprises between one and eight ribs. 
     
     
         10 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ribs comprises at least three ribs. 
     
     
         11 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ribs are spaced equidistant from each other. 
     
     
         12 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ribs is positioned on an interior surface of the rear wall. 
     
     
         13 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the hollow golf club head further comprises a polymer material that at least partially fills the closed internal volume. 
     
     
         14 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 13 , wherein the polymer material comprises a weight between 2 grams and 7 grams. 
     
     
         15 . The hollow golf club head of  claim 13 , wherein the polymer material comprises a specific gravity between 0.05 and 4.00.