A Post About Fluid-Filled Bladders

February 2, 2008July 9, 2018 admin 838 Views

If I searched patents for the term “fluid-filled bladder”… the last thing I would expect to find would be a patent application for golf irons! But that is exactly what I stumbled across recently. More specifically, it was a published patent application directed to a Nike Slingshot design containing a fluid-filled bladder. The application published as US Pub. No. 20080015050 with the title “Golf Clubs and Golf Club Heads Having Fluid-Filled Bladders and/or Interior Chambers.” The application describes the invention as:

Golf club heads include: (a) a club head body having a ball striking face and defining a rear cavity; (b) a fluid-filled bladder in the cavity; and (c) a retaining member holding the fluid-filled bladder in the cavity. Other club heads include: (a) a club head body having a ball striking face and defining a rear cavity; and (b) an insert member in the rear cavity, wherein the insert member interior includes one or more chambers facing the rear surface of the ball striking face. The chamber(s) may cover at least 30% of a total surface area of the interior surface of the insert member and/or at least 30% of a total interior major surface area of the rear cavity. Golf clubs including these club heads and methods of making such golf clubs and golf club heads also are described.

So what fills the fluid-filled chamber? The application states that it could be filled with air, inert gases, or liquids. Check out these figures from the application.

It will be interesting to see if a patent issues from this application, and whether such a product ever makes it to market. Interesting stuff.

David Dawsey – The Golf Attorney