Mixed material golf club head

Abstract

A hollow golf club head includes a metallic front body coupled with a composite rear body. The front body includes a strike face and a surrounding frame that extends rearward from a perimeter of the strikeface. The front body further comprises an adjustable hosel and a variable strikeface thickness. The rear body includes a crown member coupled with a sole member. The rear body further comprises a metallic weight.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A golf club head comprising:
 an adjustable hosel, wherein a hosel and a shaft sleeve can be coupled together in a plurality of configurations;   a heel and a toe opposite the heel;   a metallic front body including a strike face and a surrounding frame that extends rearward from a perimeter of the strike face;   wherein the strike face comprises a central region and a peripheral region;   wherein a thickness of the central region is greater than a thickness of the peripheral region;   a rear body coupled to the metallic front body;
 wherein the rear body and the metallic front body form a substantially hollow structure with a cavity therebetween; 
 wherein the rear body comprises a crown member; 
 the crown member being formed from a composite material; and 
   a metallic weight.   
     
     
         2 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the rear body also comprises a sole member. 
     
     
         3 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a sole member is coupled to the crown member. 
     
     
         4 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a sole member comprises:
 a structural layer formed from a molded thermoplastic material, the structural layer including a plurality of apertures extending through a thickness of the structural layer, and   a resilient layer bonded to an external surface of the structural layer such that the resilient layer extends across each of the plurality of apertures;   a metallic weight pad bonded to the structural layer, wherein the metallic weight pad comprises an aperture for the attachment of the metallic weight.   
     
     
         5 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the strike face has a centerpoint, a loft plane tangent to the centerpoint along the strike face, and a midplane extending through the centerpoint from the heel to the toe and perpendicular to the loft plane;
 a head center of gravity located at a head CG depth from the loft plane, measured in a direction perpendicular to the loft plane, and at a head CG height from the midplane, measured in a direction perpendicular to the midplane; wherein the head CG depth is greater than 1.7 inches.   
     
     
         6 . The golf club head of  claim 4 , wherein the molded thermoplastic material of a sole structural layer is a filled thermoplastic material. 
     
     
         7 . The golf club head of  claim 4 , wherein the resilient layer of the sole is formed from a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite material. 
     
     
         8 . The golf club head of  claim 4 , wherein the structural layer of the sole and the resilient layer of the sole each comprise a common thermoplastic resin component, and wherein the structural layer is directly bonded to the resilient layer without an intermediate adhesive. 
     
     
         9 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the crown member comprises a generally curvilinear shape which is concave with respect to a ground plane. 
     
     
         10 . The golf club head of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the metallic front body further includes a flange that is inwardly recessed from an external surface of the surrounding frame;   the structural layer of the sole member is adhesively bonded to the flange; and   an external surface of the sole member is flush with the external surface of the surrounding frame.   
     
     
         11 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a mass of the front body does not exceed 140 g and a total mass of the golf club head does not exceed 210 g. 
     
     
         12 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a mechanical fastener affixes the metallic weight within an aperture of a metallic weight pad;   the aperture of the metallic weight pad of a structural layer comprises threading; and   the metallic weight is devoid of threading.   
     
     
         13 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the metallic weight has a mass ranging from 5 grams to 30 grams. 
     
     
         14 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of a metallic weight pad is encapsulated within a structural layer of a sole member, to increase the strength of the bond between the metallic weight pad and the structural layer. 
     
     
         15 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the golf club head further comprises an encapsulating layer between a metallic weight pad and a structural layer of a sole member; and   the encapsulating layer is a structural tape that extends over an edge of the metallic weight pad and forms a strong adhesive bond between the metallic weight pad and the structural layer of the sole member.   
     
     
         16 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein:
 a metallic weight pad extends through an opening in a structural layer of a sole member; and   the opening is spaced apart from the metallic front body by a minimum distance of at least 25 mm.   
     
     
         17 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein an internal surface of a metallic weight pad is exposed on an interior of the golf club head. 
     
     
         18 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a metallic weight pad comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, and a steel alloy.