Golf club head with sole plate-keel attachment

Claim 1

In combination with a golf club head comprising a nonmetallic body having a heel portion, a toe portion, a ball striking forward face and a substantially flat underside containing a recess sunk upwardly therein to extend laterally forwardly and intersect said forward face, said face being longitudinally elongated between the heel and toe portions of the club, the improvement comprising a. a metallic insert received and fitted in the recess in interlocking relation with the body, b. the insert also having a ball striking forward face which extends in co-planar relation with the body forward face to define therewith a combination forward face which is upwardly and rearwardly inclined, the insert increasing in longitudinal width dimension toward forward wingtip portions of the insert closest the toe and heel portions of the head, the insert front face having a lower apex portion which is downwardly convexly rounded, said combination forward face having lower edges which extend upwardly and longitudinally oppositely in generally diverging relation from said lower apex portion and respectively toward the toe and heel portions of the head, c. the insert having a downwardly facing keel extending from said apex portion as a laterally rearwardly elongated extension thereof whereby the keel is also downwardly convexly rounded along its length, and d. the insert having underside faces at longitudinally opposite sides of the keel, each said underside face having downward concavity which remains substantially the same throughout the lateral length of said underside face and longitudinally blends with said substantially flat underside of said body at said toe and heel portions , said underside faces also extending forwardly toward the insert front face and presenting forwardly rounding edge portions merging with the upwardly diverging lower edges of the insert front face.