John William Bliss, 74Sun City, AZ

6604568, Aug 12, 2003

Aug 16, 2001

09/931659

John C. Bliss - Glendale AZ
Gregory C. Sayler - Marysville WA

Kartsen Manufacturing Corp. - Phoenix AZ

B22D 2700

164 761, 164 551, 164 561, 148669

The present invention comprises a method of making a golf club head by casting a molten titanium alloy and thereafter removing the alpha case that is formed on the surface of the titanium by means of a conformal milling process. The conformal milling process uniformly dissolves the alpha case without distorting the underlying metal. The reduction in wall thickness caused by the conformal milling results in a concomitant reduction in the weight of the part without any loss in the critical impact strength of the part. In fact, impact strength is increased. This weight can then be redistributed as a supplemental weight member, which can be used to lower the center of mass of the club. The weight member can further be positioned on the sole plate or club body in such a way so as to permit fine tuning of the location of the center of mass of the club, as well as shaped so as to increase the polar moment of inertia of the club head about the golf club shaft.

6695714, Feb 24, 2004

Mar 10, 2003

10/385990

John C. Bliss - Glendale AZ
David L. Petersen - Peoria AZ
Michael R. Nicolette - Cave Creek AZ

Karsten Manufacturing Corporation - Phoenix AZ

A63B 5304

473328, 473335, 473349, 473350

An iron-type golf club head includes a body having a front face arranged for impact with a golf ball, a heel end, a toe end and a beveled sole. The beveled sole has leading and trailing edges with a ridge located between them. The beveled sole includes a primary surface and a secondary surface, both of which vary in width from the heel end to the toe end. The primary surface is located between the leading edge and the ridge, and the secondary surface is located between the trailing edge and the ridge. The primary surface has a first width dimension adjacent the heel end, a second width dimension measured along a center line located substantially between the heel and toe ends, and a third width dimension adjacent the toe end. The first and third width dimensions of the primary surface are less than the second width dimension of the primary surface. The secondary surface has a first width dimension adjacent the heel end, a second width dimension measured along the center line, and a third width dimension adjacent the toe end.

6776723, Aug 17, 2004

Jun 17, 2002

10/173323

John C. Bliss - Glendale AZ
Anthony D. Serrano - Peoria AZ

Karsten Manufacturing Corporation - Phoenix AZ

A63B 5300

473291, 473314, 473345, 473349

A metal wood-type golf club includes a weight member disposed along the interior surface of the bottom wall. The weight member is sized and distributed so as to increase the moment of inertia of the golf club about a vertical axis extending through the center of gravity as well as lowering the center of gravity of the club head itself. The longitudinal position of the weight member is selected as a function of the loft angle of the club face. The weight member is moved forward for a club having a small loft angle and moved rearward for a club having a high loft angle so that the vertical gear effect about the center of gravity partially offsets the natural backspin of the club to a greater or lesser degree depending on the loft angle of the club.

7448964, Nov 11, 2008

Sep 6, 2006

11/516373

Bradley D. Schweigert - Anthem AZ, US
John C. Bliss - Glendale AZ, US

Karsten Manufacturing Corporation - Phoenix AZ

A63B 53/04

473345, 473346, 473349

A golf club head includes a hollow body having a front wall, a crown and a sole. The crown has a thickness dimension measured between its inner and outer surfaces. An outer edge of the crown extends in a generally arcuate path between heel and toe ends of the hollow body. A plurality of thin regions in the crown is arranged in a matrix pattern. The plurality of thin regions includes a first row of thin regions disposed adjacent the outer edge of the crown and a second row of thin regions disposed inwardly of the first row of thin regions. The crown thickness dimension in the plurality of thin regions is reduced when compared with the crown thickness dimension in other regions of the crown.

7686708, Mar 30, 2010

Mar 12, 2008

12/047183

Eric J. Morales - Phoenix AZ, US
John C. Bliss - Glendale AZ, US

Karsten Manufacturing Corporation - Phoenix AZ

A63B 53/04

473346, 473348

A golf club head is formed with a crown having an aperture with an arcuate rear edge and a forward edge that is substantially parallel to the striking face. The aperture is transected by an arcuate rib that extends from a region proximal the heel end of the crown to a region proximal the toe end of the crown and is concave toward the striking face. A pair of linear ribs extend radially outward from the arcuate rib to join the arcuate rib to a perimeter region of the crown. Openings formed in the aperture by the ribs are filled with an organic-composite material such as graphite epoxy.

7798203, Sep 21, 2010

Oct 6, 2008

12/245913

Bradley D. Schweigert - Phoenix AZ, US
John C. Bliss - Phoenix AZ, US

Karsten Manufacturing Corporation - Phoenix AZ

B22C 9/00
B22D 19/00

164516, 164 47

A method of casting a hollow golf club head includes casting the crown with a plurality of thin regions having a thickness of less than 0. 030 inch separated by a plurality of ribs. The ribs act as cast-in runners that enable the thin sections to be formed without voids despite the extremely thin cross-section. The crown may have an additional region of substantially uniform thickness that is substantially the same as the thickness of the ribs.

7361100, Apr 22, 2008

Dec 20, 2006

11/613854

Eric J. Morales - Phoenix AZ, US
John C. Bliss - Phoenix AZ, US

Karsten Manufacturing Corporation - Phoenix AZ

A63B 53/04

473346, 473348

A golf club head is formed with a crown having an aperture with an arcuate rear edge and a forward edge that is substantially parallel to the striking face. The aperture is transected by an arcuate rib that extends from a region proximal the heel end of the crown to a region proximal the toe end of the crown and is concave toward the striking face. A pair of linear ribs extend radially outward from the arcuate rib to join the arcuate rib to a perimeter region of the crown. Openings formed in the aperture by the ribs are filled with an organic-composite material such as graphite epoxy.

2005024, Nov 3, 2005

Apr 28, 2004

10/833392

John Bliss - Glendale AZ, US
David Petersen - Peoria AZ, US
Bradley Schweigert - Anthem AZ, US

Karsten Manufacturing Corporation - Phoenix AZ

A63B053/04

473340000

A golf club head is machined from an extruded bar having an irregular cross-section that is near-net-shape to the vertical profile of the club. To form the club head, the extruded bar is sliced into a club head blank. The blank is secured to a machining fixture and machined into the final configuration. Because the club head blanks are formed from an extrusion that is already near-net-shape to the profile of the club, less metal is removed during the machining operations, which results in faster process times, less wasted material and therefore substantial cost savings over the prior art methods of manufacturing golf club heads.