Multi-material golf club head

Abstract

A multi-material golf club head having an improved performance is disclosed. More specifically, the present invention relates to a multi-material golf club head having a metallic frontal portion and a lightweight aft portion with an addition of an internal ribbon support member. The present invention may also further be comprised of a weighting mechanism that is accessible via an opening in the lightweight after portion but connects directly to the metallic frontal portion to mitigate any of the structural integrity issues associated with installing weights in a lightweight portion of a golf club head.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A golf club head comprising:
 a frontal striking face portion located at a frontal portion of said golf club head; and   an aft body portion, attached to the rear of said striking face portion;   wherein said aft body portion further comprises;
 a lightweight shell; and 
 an internal ribbon support member, attaching to an internal surface of said lightweight shell around a skirt of said lightweight shell; 
 wherein said internal ribbon support member further comprises a plurality of cutouts, and 
 wherein said internal ribbon support member has a mass of less than about 7.0 grams. 
   
     
     
         2 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said internal ribbon support member has a mass of less than about 6.0 grams. 
     
     
         3 . The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein said internal ribbon support member has a mass of less than about 5.0 grams. 
     
     
         4 . The golf club head of  claim 3 , wherein said internal ribbon support member further comprises of an internal component and an external component, and wherein said plurality of cutouts is placed exclusively on said external component. 
     
     
         5 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said internal ribbon support member further comprises of an internal component and an external component, and wherein said plurality of cutouts is placed on both said internal component and said external component. 
     
     
         6 . The golf club head of  claim 5 , wherein said internal ribbon support member has a mass of less than about 4.0 grams. 
     
     
         7 . The golf club head of  claim 6 , wherein said internal ribbon support member has a mass of less than about 3.9 grams. 
     
     
         8 . The golf club head of  claim 7 , wherein said internal ribbon support member has a mass of less than about 3.8 grams. 
     
     
         9 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said internal ribbon support member further comprises of an external component, and wherein said plurality of cutouts is placed on said external component. 
     
     
         10 . The golf club head of  claim 9 , wherein said internal ribbon support member has a mass of less than about 2.8 grams. 
     
     
         11 . The golf club head of  claim 10 , wherein said internal ribbon support member has a mass of less than about 2.7 grams. 
     
     
         12 . The golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein said internal ribbon support member has a mass of less than about 2.6 grams. 
     
     
         13 . A golf club head comprising:
 a frontal striking face portion having one or more threaded receptacles; and   an aft body portion, attached to the rear of said frontal striking face portion;   wherein said aft body portion further comprises;
 a lightweight shell having one or more weight openings; 
 an internal ribbon support member, attaching to an internal surface of said lightweight shell around a skirt of said lightweight shell; and 
 one or more screw weights inserted through said one or more weight openings to engage said one or more threaded receptacles, 
   wherein said lightweight shell and said internal ribbon support member are both made from a fiber reinforced polymer.   
     
     
         14 . The golf club head of  claim 13 , wherein said frontal striking face portion is made out of a titanium material. 
     
     
         15 . The golf club head of  claim 14 , wherein said internal ribbon support member further comprises one or more recess to engage said one or more weight openings to allow said one or more screw weights to engage said one or more threaded receptacles. 
     
     
         16 . The golf club head of  claim 13 , wherein said golf club head produces a sound that has a Critical Time T critical  of greater than about 0.01 seconds and less than about 0.02 seconds; said Critical Time T critical  is defined as the amount of time it take said sound to oscillate from a peak amplitude A max  to a point of 10% of said peak amplitude A max . 
     
     
         17 . The golf club head of  claim 16 , wherein said Critical Time T critical  is greater than about 0.015 seconds and less than about 0.02 seconds. 
     
     
         18 . The golf club head of  claim 17 , wherein said Critical Time T critical  is greater than about 0.0175 seconds and less than about 0.02 seconds. 
     
     
         19 . The golf club head of  claim 13 , further comprising a weighting member located at an internal rear skirt portion of said aft body portion. 
     
     
         20 . The golf club head of  claim 19 , wherein said weighting member is attached to an internal surface of said internal ribbon support member of said aft body portion,
 wherein said internal ribbon support member separates said weighting member from said lightweight shell.   
     
     
         21 . The golf club head of  claim 20 , wherein said golf club head further comprises an internal weight cover, engaging both an internal surface of said weight member and an internal surface of said internal ribbon support member. 
     
     
         22 . The golf club head of  claim 13 , wherein said aft body portion is mechanically secured to said frontal striking face portion via said one or more screw weight. 
     
     
         23 . The golf club head of  claim 22 , wherein a terminal end of said weight opening engages a head of said screw weight to mechanically secure said aft body portion to said to said frontal striking face portion. 
     
     
         24 . The golf club head of  claim 13 , wherein said aft body portion is non-mechanically secured to said frontal striking face portion by said one or more screw weight. 
     
     
         25 . The golf club head of  claim 24 , wherein a terminal end of said weight opening has an opening has a diameter greater than a head diameter of said screw weight.