Golf club head

Abstract

A golf club head that is capable of improving the center of gravity (CG) location while maintaining traditional external dimensions of the golf club head is disclosed herein. Additionally, the golf club head with improved CG location may also have an improved striking face design that shifts the placement of the thickened central portion away from the center of the face.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A golf club head comprising:
 a striking face, a crown, a sole opposite said crown, a heel, a toe opposite said heel, and a hosel adjacent said heel configured to join said golf club head to a shaft,   wherein said striking face further comprises;
 a face center,
 a variable face thickness profile having a substantially planar front surface and a non-planar rear surface, 
 
   wherein an X-axis is defined as a horizontal axis tangent to said face center of said striking face with a positive direction towards said heel of said golf club head, a Y-axis is a vertical axis orthogonal to said X-axis with a positive direction towards said crown of said golf club head, and a Z-axis being orthogonal to both said X-axis and said Y-axis with a positive direction towards a front of said golf club head, wherein an origin of said X-axis, said Y-axis, and said Z-axis is centered at a center of gravity (CG) of said golf club head, and   wherein said variable face thickness profile of said striking face further comprises;
 a sole biased thickened central portion, 
 an upper transition portion having an upper transition slope, and 
 a lower transition portion having a lower transition slope, 
 wherein said upper transition slope is smaller than said lower transition slope. 
   
     
     
         2 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a ratio of said upper transition slope over said lower transition slope is less than about 0.50. 
     
     
         3 . The golf club head of  claim 2 , wherein said ratio of said upper transition slope over said lower transition slope is less than about 0.40. 
     
     
         4 . The golf club head of  claim 3 , wherein said ratio of said upper transition slope over said lower transition slope is less than about 0.30. 
     
     
         5 . The golf club head of  claim 1  wherein said sole biased thickened central portion is elliptical in shape,
 wherein said elliptical shape has an aspect ratio of greater than about 3. 
 
     
     
         6 . The golf club head of  claim 5 , wherein said aspect ratio is greater than about 4. 
     
     
         7 . The golf club head of  claim 6 , wherein said aspect ratio is greater than about 4.5. 
     
     
         8 . The golf club head of  claim 5 , wherein said sole biased thickened central portion has a width of greater than about 48 mm. 
     
     
         9 . The golf club head of  claim 8 , wherein said width of said sole biased thickened central portion is greater than about 49 mm. 
     
     
         10 . The golf club head of  claim 9 , wherein said width of said sole biased thickened central portion is greater than about 50 mm. 
     
     
         11 . The golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein said upper transition slope is less than about 0.05. 
     
     
         12 . The golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein said upper transition slope is less than about 0.04. 
     
     
         13 . The golf club head of  claim 12 , wherein said upper transition slope is less than about 0.035. 
     
     
         14 . The golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein said lower transition slope is greater than about 0.10. 
     
     
         15 . The golf club head of  claim 14 , wherein said lower transition slope is greater than about 0.11. 
     
     
         16 . The golf club head of  claim 15 , wherein said lower transition slope is greater than about 0.12. 
     
     
         17 . A golf club head comprising:
 a striking face, a crown, a sole opposite said crown, a heel, a toe opposite said heel, and a hosel adjacent said heel configured to join said golf club head to a shaft,   wherein said striking face further comprises;
 a face center,
 a variable face thickness profile having a substantially planar front surface and a non-planar rear surface, 
 
   wherein an X-axis is defined as a horizontal axis tangent to said face center of said striking face with a positive direction towards said heel of said golf club head, a Y-axis is a vertical axis orthogonal to said X-axis with a positive direction towards said crown of said golf club head, and a Z-axis being orthogonal to both said X-axis and said Y-axis with a positive direction towards a front of said golf club head, wherein an origin of said X-axis, said Y-axis, and said Z-axis is centered at a center of gravity (CG) of said golf club head, and   wherein said variable face thickness profile of said striking face further comprises;
 a sole biased thickened central portion, 
 an upper transition portion having an upper transition slope, and 
 a lower transition portion having a lower transition slope, 
   wherein said sole biased thickened central portion has a width of greater than about 48 mm.   
     
     
         18 . The golf club head of  claim 17 , wherein said width of said sole biased thickened central portion is greater than about 49 mm. 
     
     
         19 . The golf club head of  claim 18 , wherein said width of said sole biased thickened central portion is greater than about 50 mm. 
     
     
         20 . The golf club head of  claim 17 , wherein said upper transition slope is less than about 0.05, and
 wherein said lower transition slope is greater than about 0.10.