A new year, a new batch of patent filings: It’s time to take a look at what the major OEMs are working on.

Last time, we saw TaylorMade experimenting with multi-layer driver face, Callaway toying with some very interesting adjustable irons, and Ping working on highly adjustable irons.

In this edition, we’ll take a look at some of the avenues TaylorMade, Titleist, Nike, Cobra, and Ping are exploring.

TaylorMade: Pursuing aerodynamic heads

In a filing for a patent “high volume aerodynamic golf club head” TaylorMade’s designers seem to be turning their eyes toward (you guessed it) aerodynamics in driver head design.

As the filing states:

“In the past the aerodynamics of golf club heads were studied and it was found that the aerodynamics of the club head had only minimal impact on the performance of the golf club.

Golf club designers pay little attention to the aerodynamics of these large golf clubs; often instead focusing solely on increasing the club head’s resistance to twisting during off-center shots.”

See the full filing here.

TaylorMade also filed a patent for the design below.

The company lays out the thinking behind the triangular design in an interesting couple of paragraphs:

“Often, golf club manufacturers are faced with the choice of increasing one performance characteristic at the expense of another. For example, the shape and size of some conventional golf club heads approach the maximum envelope dimensions in an attempt to increase the moments of inertia of the heads. Such designs, however, most likely require a decrease in the face size, or ball striking surface area, in order to comply with the USGA regulations. As another example, some conventional golf club heads have an increased face size in an attempt to optimize the ball striking surface of the golf club head. Such golf club head designs, however, typically have decreased moments of inertia.

Golf club designers and manufacturers have struggled to design golf club heads having increased moments of inertia while maintaining other desirable golf club head characteristics and abiding by the USGA regulations.”

See the full filing here.

Titleist: A progressive CG iron set

Fairhaven, Mass.-based Titleist is working on a set of progressive irons, per a recent filing. The irons feature “a progressive center of gravity allocation” in order improve launch angles.

See the full filing here.

Nike: A new golf ball

Nike is working on some new pellets. It’s always difficult to determine exactly what a company is shooting for in a golf ball patent filing, because of, well, language like this:

“A thermoplastic multi-layer golf ball has a core center having a diameter from about 21 mm to about 29 mm and including a first thermoplastic material having a first flexural modulus of less than about 15,000 psi, a core layer disposed radially outward from the core center with a thickness of at least about 4 mm and a second thermoplastic material having a second flexural modulus of up to about 15,000 psi that is greater than the first flexural modulus, and a cover disposed radially outward from the core layer. The cover comprises a third thermoplastic material having a third flexural modulus. The first thermoplastic material and the second thermoplastic material each includes an ionomer resin, and these ionomer resins may be the same as or different from each other.”

Anyway, here’s the ball:

See the full filing here.

Cobra: Channeled woods

In a filing that includes actual photos, Cobra is putting forth woods with a recessed channel.

However, as Cobra points out, there is a potential problem with “channeled” clubs. The company lays out the perceived problem and their solution in the section clipped below.

“During a high speed drive, the ramped portion of the sole may distribute and neutralize torsional stresses, dampening unwanted and unpredictable twisting that can be introduced or amplified by prior art channel structures.

“One insight of the invention is that adding an elastically deformable channel to a driver head can destabilize the structure, allowing the club head to twist, shear, or compress non-uniformly and transfer momentum non-uniformly to the strike face during the down stroke of a high-speed drive or at impact.

“Thus a club head that includes a channel area with a groove that is buttressed by a shallow ramp will resist non-uniform deformation and non-uniform momentum transfer to the face with the result that shots will fly straight, and the club head will provide the full and intended benefit of a channel in the sole—a high coefficient of restitution and a large sweet spot in a club head that hits true. The channel area or groove preferably runs in a heel-to-toe direction substantially parallel to the face and close (e.g., within a few centimeters) to the face.”

See the full filing here.

Ping: Slitted (or slotted) woods

Ping looks to be getting into the slot/channel game with the design pictured below. And as the filing says “slit” or “slot” about 300 times, the technology seems to be the core of the next generation of the Phoenix-based manufacturers designs.

See the full filing here.