Co-molded golf club head

Abstract

A golf club head comprising a face plate, a body, bonding material, and at least one retainer. wherein the bonding material and at least one retainer are the sole medium coupling the face plate and body.

1 . An iron-type golf club head defining an internal club head volume, the iron-type golf club head comprising:
 a body comprising a sole, a top rail, and body opening, the body having a body density;   a face plate comprising:
 a strike face disposed within the body opening and sized to form a gap between the strike face and the body opening; and 
 at least one retainer disposed in the internal club head volume; 
 wherein the face plate having a face plate density; and 
   a bonding material disposed between the face plate and the body, wherein the bonding material includes:
 at least one lobe that mechanically engages with the at least one retainer to couple the face plate to the body; and 
 a forward lip occupying the gap; 
   wherein a club head density ratio of the body density to the face plate density is greater than  1 .   
     
     
         2 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the bonding material is externally visible. 
     
     
         3 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one retainer forms a groove. 
     
     
         4 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 3 , wherein the groove comprises a plurality of circular cutouts. 
     
     
         5 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein a gap thickness, measured between the strike face and the body opening, is between 0.001 inch and 0.125 inch. 
     
     
         6 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the club head density ratio is greater than 3. 
     
     
         7 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the club head density ratio is greater than 4. 
     
     
         8 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the face plate comprises a hardness that is greater than 35 HRC. 
     
     
         9 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the face plate comprises a hardness that is greater than 50 HRC. 
     
     
         10 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 1 , wherein the bonding material comprises a resin selected from a group consisting of Thermoplastic composite (TPC), and Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). 
     
     
         11 . An iron-type golf club head defining an internal club head volume, the iron-type golf club head comprising:
 a body comprising a sole, a top rail, and body opening, the body having a body density and body hardness;   a face plate comprising:
 a strike face disposed within the body opening and sized to form a gap between the strike face and the body opening; and 
 at least one retainer disposed in the internal club head volume; 
 wherein the face plate comprises a face plate density and a face plate hardness; and 
   a bonding material disposed between the face plate and the body, wherein the bonding material includes:
 at least one lobe that mechanically engages with the at least one retainer to couple the face plate to the body; and 
 a forward lip occupying the gap; 
   wherein a club head density ratio of the body density to the face plate density is greater than 1; and   a club head hardness ratio of the face plate hardness to the body hardness is greater than 1.   
     
     
         12 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein the club head comprises a loft that is at least 47 degrees. 
     
     
         13 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein the face plate hardness is at least 45 HRC. 
     
     
         14 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein the face plate hardness is at least 50 HRC. 
     
     
         15 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein the face plate hardness is at least 55 HRC. 
     
     
         16 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein the face plate hardness is at least 60 HRC. 
     
     
         17 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein the bonding material has a compressive strength of at least 80 Ksi. 
     
     
         18 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 11 , wherein the bonding material comprising a resin and fibers;
 wherein the resin comprises a material selected from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and thermoplastic composite (TPC).   
     
     
         19 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 18 , wherein the fibers have a length between 0.01 mm and 12 mm. 
     
     
         20 . The iron-type golf club head of  claim 18 , wherein the bonding material comprises both continuous and discontinuous fibers.