US 5,213,328 · Granted 1993-05-25
The Reinforced Driver Head That Changed Golf Club Engineering
Imagine a golf club head that's hollow inside but super strong—reinforced with ribs and gear-tooth-shaped bumps that keep it from denting or breaking on impact. This patent describes how to build a driver that stays rigid and powerful shot after shot.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a hollow metal golf club head designed as a driver, reinforced internally by ribs that run between the striking face and top surface, plus a pattern of corrugated protrusions (shaped like gear teeth) on the top side facing backward from the striking face. What's protected here is also the sole design, which includes ridges running most of the length without touching the striking face or back side. The specific geometry and arrangement of these internal and external reinforcing features constitute the patented structure.
Why it matters
In the early 1990s, golf equipment manufacturers were racing to make club heads larger, hotter, and more forgiving without sacrificing durability. By patenting this rib-and-protrusion reinforcement system, MacGregor locked down a manufacturing method that competitors couldn't replicate without licensing. The design solved a real engineering problem: how to keep a thin-walled metal head from flexing or cracking under the extreme forces of a golf swing.
Real-world use
Every time a golfer hits a ball with a reinforced metal driver, they're benefiting from the internal rib structure that absorbs and distributes impact energy across the club head instead of letting it flex or fail.
Original USPTO abstract
There is disclosed a hollow reinforced metal golf club head in the shape of a driver. The golf club head is reinforced by at least one rib and preferably three ribs each of which extends along or between the internal surface of the striking face and the internal surface of the top side to reinforce both the striking face and the top side. In addition, the top side has a pattern of corrugated reinforcing protrusions, preferably in the shape of gear teeth, extending rearwardly from adjacent the striking face. The sole of the club head has at least one ridge, and preferably three ridges, each of which extends along more than half the length of the sole and terminates short of the striking face and short of the back side.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 5,213,328
- Filing date
- 1992-01-23
- Grant date
- 1993-05-25
- Assignee
- Macgregor Golf Company
- Inventor(s)
- LONG; D. CLAYTON, ALLEN; R. MARK
- CPC class
- A63B53/04
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