JP2003169868A - Metallic wood golf club and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enlarge the head part of a metallic wood golf club and to improve repulsive performance. <P>SOLUTION: The metallic wood golf club is provided with a head part 1 of metallic outer shell structure. The head part 1 is provided with a face-side part 2 having a face part 4 and a back-side part 3. Then, the face part 4 is made from titanium, and the periphery part 5 of the part 2 holding the face part 4 and the part 3 are made from a magnesium alloy. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a metal wood golf club and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a metal wood golf club having excellent resilience performance and a large-sized head portion, and a method for manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a head portion of a wood golf club, a metal head portion made of a metal such as stainless steel, an aluminum alloy, or a titanium alloy has been known.
In recent years, the head portion has been enlarged in order to enlarge the face portion in the head portion to enlarge the sweet area.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-254262 discloses an invention in which a magnesium alloy is used as a head material to reduce the weight of the head, thereby increasing the rigidity and the front center of gravity. By using the magnesium alloy for the head material in this way, it is possible to enlarge the head portion and enlarge the sweet area.

[0004]

However, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
In the head described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 00-254262, it is necessary to thicken the face portion, and the face portion is difficult to bend. Therefore, there is a problem that the resilience performance of the head portion is deteriorated.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to increase the size of the head portion of a metal wood golf club and to improve the resilience performance.

[0006]

In one aspect, a metal wood golf club according to the present invention includes a head portion having a metal outer shell structure. The face portion of the head portion is made of a first material, and the portion of the head portion other than the face portion is made of a second material different from the first material. The tensile strength of the first material is higher than the tensile strength of the second material, and the specific gravity of the second material is smaller than the specific gravity of the first material.

By constructing the face portion with a material having high strength as described above, the face portion can be thinned and the face portion can be easily bent at the time of hitting a ball.
Further, by forming the portion other than the face portion with a material having a low specific gravity, this portion can be enlarged, and the head portion can be enlarged.

The tensile strength of the first material is 700 MPa.
It is above 2500 MPa, and the tensile strength of the second material is above 100 MPa and below 600 MPa. The specific gravity of the first material is 2.5 or more and 9.0 or less, and the specific gravity of the second material is 1.0 or more and 3.0 or less.

The first material is composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of titanium, titanium alloys, nickel alloys, high strength stainless steels, high strength aluminum alloys and beryllium alloys or sinter-bonded gold thereof. Is made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of magnesium alloy, aluminum alloy and lithium alloy. More preferably, the first material is titanium or a titanium alloy and the second material is a magnesium alloy.

By adopting the above-mentioned materials as the first and second materials, it is possible to thin the face portion and increase the size of the head portion while facilitating the bending of the face portion when hitting a ball.

The head portion is composed of a face side part and a back side part. The face side part includes a face portion and a peripheral portion surrounding the face portion, and the face portion has a bent portion on an outer peripheral portion. The peripheral portion has a holding portion that holds the bent portion.

By sandwiching the outer peripheral portion of the face portion by the sandwiching portion in this way, the overlap margin of the face portion and the peripheral portion can be shortened, and for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the face portion can bend when hitting. It is possible to secure a long effective deflection length L of the face portion. This can also contribute to making the face portion flexible.

When the peripheral portion of the face-side part and the back-side part are made of a magnesium alloy, it is preferable that the face-side part and the back-side part be fixed to each other with an adhesive.

It is difficult to weld a magnesium material, and a polishing step is required after welding, but the magnesium polishing powder has a risk of ignition. Therefore, by fixing the face-side part and the back-side part with an adhesive, not only can the face-side part and the back-side part be easily fixed, but it is not necessary to weld magnesium material, and the head can be removed. The manufacturing process of the parts can be simplified and the safety at the time of manufacturing is improved.

In another aspect, the metal wood golf club according to the present invention includes a head portion having a metal outer shell structure,
The head part is formed by fixing the face side part and the back side part to each other, and the face side part includes a face part and a peripheral part surrounding the face part made of a material having a smaller specific gravity than the face part, The back side parts are
The face portion is made of a material having a smaller specific gravity than the face portion, and the face portion is fixed to the peripheral portion by molding the peripheral portion by casting.

As described above, the peripheral portion of the face-side part is formed by casting by using the face portion as a stuffed body, so that the face portion can be sandwiched by the peripheral portion of the face-side part due to thermal contraction of the peripheral portion after casting. it can. As a result, the face portion and the peripheral portion can be fixed to each other, and the overlap margin between the face portion and the peripheral portion can be shortened. As a result, the effective bending length of the face portion can be increased, and the face portion can be easily bent when hitting a ball. Further, the head portion can be increased in size by configuring the peripheral portion of the face-side part and the back-side part with a material having a smaller specific gravity than that of the face portion.

The method for manufacturing a metal wood golf club according to the present invention includes the following steps. The face portion of the head portion is formed by forging. The face side part is formed by performing casting with the face portion installed in the mold. The back side part is formed by casting. The head part is formed by fixing the face side part and the back side part.

By performing casting while the face portion formed by forging as described above is installed in the mold, the face portion can be sandwiched by the peripheral portion of the face side part due to thermal contraction after casting. Thereby, the face portion and the peripheral portion can be fixed to each other. Further, as described above, the effective bending length of the face portion can be increased, and the face portion can be easily bent at the time of hitting a ball.
Furthermore, by composing the peripheral portion of the face-side part and the back-side part with a material having a smaller specific gravity than that of the face portion, it is possible to increase the size of the head portion.

The face side part includes a face portion,
And a peripheral portion surrounding the face portion. The face portion is preferably made of titanium or a titanium alloy, and the peripheral portion and the back side part are preferably made of a magnesium alloy. Then, it is preferable that the peripheral portion and the face portion are fixed to each other by the heat shrinkage force of the peripheral portion after casting, and the face side part and the back side part are fixed to each other with an adhesive.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The metal wood golf club of the present invention includes a head portion having a metal outer shell structure, a shaft and a grip. The head has a configuration described later, and well-known shafts and grips are adopted.

The head portion of the present invention comprises a face side part and a back side part. The face side parts are
It is a portion located on the face portion side, and includes a face portion and a peripheral edge portion surrounding the face portion. The back part is a part located on the back part side. The head part is typically divided into two parts, a face side part and a back side part, but the head part may be divided into three or more parts.

In the present invention, the face portion and the other portion of the head portion are made of different materials. More specifically, the face part is made of a material having a relatively high tensile strength and a relatively high specific gravity, and the parts other than the face part are made of a material having a relatively low tensile strength and a relatively low specific gravity. Constitute.

By forming the face portion with a material having high strength in this manner, the face portion can be thinned and the face portion can be easily bent at the time of hitting a ball.
Further, the head portion can be increased in size by forming the portion other than the face portion with a material having a low specific gravity. Therefore, it is possible to enlarge the head portion and expand the sweet area while improving the resilience performance of the head portion.

The tensile strength of the material of the face portion (first material) is 700 MPa or more and 2500 MPa or less, and the tensile strength of the material of the portion other than the face portion (second material) is 1 MPa.
It is 00 MPa or more and 600 MPa or less. Preferably,
The tensile strength of the face material is 1000 MPa or more 25
The tensile strength of the material other than the face portion is 250 MPa or more and 600 MPa or less.

The specific gravity of the material of the face portion is 2.5 or more and 9.0 or less, and the specific gravity of the material of the portion other than the face portion is 1.0 or more and 3.0 or less. Preferably, the material of the face portion has a specific gravity of 2.5 or more and 5.0 or less, and the material of the portion other than the face portion has a specific gravity of 1.5 or more and 3.0 or less.

The material of the face portion may be at least one selected from the group consisting of titanium, titanium alloys, nickel alloys, high strength stainless steels, high strength aluminum alloys and beryllium alloys, or sinter-bonded gold thereof. The material of the portion other than the portion may be at least one material selected from the group consisting of magnesium alloy, aluminum alloy and lithium alloy. Typically, the face portion is made of titanium or a titanium alloy, and the portion other than the face portion is made of a magnesium alloy.

The face portion has a bent portion on the outer peripheral portion (peripheral portion). The bent portion is formed by bending the outer peripheral portion of the face portion toward the back surface of the face and is preferably provided along the entire circumference of the face portion, but may be provided in a part thereof. The length of the bent portion in the direction toward the back surface of the face (L1 in FIG. 3) is about 3 mm or more and 10 mm or less, and the angle formed between the inner peripheral surface of the bent portion and the back surface of the face portion (θ in FIG. 3) is 90 degrees. However, it is preferable that the angle is greater than 90 degrees and 120 degrees or less.

The bent portion is clamped and fixed by the peripheral portion of the face side part. At this time, by setting the length and the angle of the bent portion as described above, the face portion can be firmly fixed to the peripheral edge portion of the face side part. On the other hand, the peripheral portion of the face-side part has a holding portion that holds the bent portion.

The sandwiching portion typically has a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional structure, and has a set of convex portions sandwiching the above-mentioned bent portion, and a concave portion for receiving the bent portion between the convex portions. By sandwiching and fixing the outer peripheral portion of the face portion with such a sandwiching portion, the overlapping margin between the face portion and the peripheral portion of the face-side part can be shortened. For example, as shown in FIG. The effective bending length L of the face portion, which is the length to be obtained, can be secured long.

It is preferable that the peripheral portion of the face-side part is formed by casting the face portion as a cast body. Thereby, the face part can be held by the sandwiching part by the heat shrinkage force of the peripheral part after casting, and the face part can be fixed to the peripheral part of the face side part.

When the peripheral portion of the face-side part and the back-side part are made of a magnesium alloy, it is preferable that the face-side part and the back-side part are fixed to each other with an adhesive.

Welding of magnesium material is difficult, and a polishing process is required after welding. Polishing powder is generated in the polishing process, but magnesium polishing powder may be ignited, which is dangerous.

Therefore, by fixing the face side part and the back side part with an adhesive as described above, not only the face side part and the back side part can be easily fixed, but also the welding of the magnesium material. You don't have to. Therefore, the manufacturing process of the head portion can be facilitated and the safety during manufacturing is improved.

Next, a method for manufacturing the metal wood golf club according to the present invention will be described. First, the face portion of the head portion is formed by forging. Specifically, for example, a titanium round bar is forged to form a flat face portion. At this time, a bent portion that bends toward the back surface of the face is formed in the peripheral portion of the face portion.

Die casting (casting) is carried out with the face portion set in the mold. That is, insert molding is performed by using the face portion as a cast body. At this time, during casting, the face material is held by the core so that the face material does not move in the mold cavity, and molten magnesium alloy is poured into both the front surface side and the back surface side of the outer periphery of the face portion. This makes it possible to form the peripheral portion of the face-side part having the sandwiching portion that sandwiches the outer peripheral portion of the face portion. Although the peripheral portion is cooled, the outer peripheral portion of the face portion can be sandwiched by the peripheral portion of the face-side part by the heat shrinkage force at this time.

On the other hand, the back side parts are formed by die casting. A fitting portion that fits with the face-side part is provided at the face-side end (opening end) of the back-side part. For example, a step is provided at the open end of the back side part. At the rear end (opening end) of the face-side part, a step portion that meshes with the step portion of the back-side part at the time of die casting is also provided.

Then, an adhesive is applied to at least one of the stepped portions of the face side part and the back side part, and the face side part and the back side part are combined so that the stepped portions mesh with each other. Thereby, the face-side part and the back-side part can be fixed to each other with the adhesive, and the head part can be manufactured. After the head portion is manufactured in this manner, the shaft and the grip are joined to the head portion by a known method. Thereby, the golf club of the present invention is manufactured.

[0038]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a head portion 1 of a metal wood golf club according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the head unit 1 shown in FIG.
Since well-known shafts and grips can be adopted, illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the head portion 1 has a face side part 2 including a face portion and a back side part 3. The face side part 2 is, as shown in FIG.
It includes a face portion 4 and a peripheral portion 5. The face portion 4 is
It is made of titanium, and the peripheral portion 5 is a magnesium alloy (A
Z91, AM60, AS42, AE42 and the like suitable for die casting). On the other hand, the back side part 3 is also made of the same magnesium alloy as the peripheral portion 5.

By forming the face portion 4 from titanium, the face portion 4 can be thinned to about 2.0 mm to 3.0 mm, and the coefficient of restitution of the face portion 4 can be increased to 0.8 or more. . Further, the peripheral portion 5 and the back-side part 3 are made of a magnesium alloy having a low specific gravity, whereby the volume of the head portion 1 can be increased. For example, the volume of the head portion 1 is set to 400 cm ³ or more and 600 cm ³ or less. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to increase the size of the head unit 1 while maintaining high resilience performance of the head unit 1.

The coefficient of restitution is calculated as follows. First, targeting the sweet spot of the stationary head unit 1 from the direction perpendicular to the plane with an air gun, 48.8 m / s
The ball fired at is collided and the reflection speed of the ball is measured. Here, the sweet spot is an intersection of a straight line extending straight from the center of gravity of the head portion 1 to the face and the face. Then, the coefficient of restitution e is calculated by the following mathematical expression (1).

E = ((reflection speed / incident speed) × (MH +
MB) + MB) / MH (1) In the above formula (1), MH is the mass of the head portion 1 and MB is the mass of the ball.

Next, the sectional structure of the head portion 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. Figure 3 is the face side part 2
FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the head portion 1 showing a joint portion between the face-side part 2 and the back-side part 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the face portion 4 has a bent portion 4a at the peripheral edge. The protruding length L1 of the bent portion 4a toward the back portion side is 4 mm, and the angle θ formed between the inner surface of the bent portion 4a and the back surface of the face portion 4 is 110 degrees.

The above-mentioned bent portion 4a is connected to the face side part 2
The face portion 4 and the peripheral edge portion 5 are fixed by being sandwiched by the sandwiching portion 6 of the peripheral edge portion 5. The holding portion 6 has a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional shape, and receives the bent portion 4a in the central concave portion and holds the bent portion 4a.

By sandwiching the bent portion 4a on the outer periphery of the face portion 4 by the sandwiching portion 6 of the peripheral edge portion 5 in this manner, the overlapping portion of the peripheral edge portion 5 and the face portion 4 can be reduced, and the face portion 4 can be effectively used. The bending length L can be increased to about 45 mm.

As shown in FIG. 4, the face side part 2
Has a stepped portion 8 at the open end which is the rear (back portion side) end. The length L2 of the step portion 8 is 2 mm to 1
It is about 0 mm.

The back side part 3 also has a step portion 7 at the open end which is the end portion on the front side (face side). The length L3 of the step portion 7 is the same as the length L2. By combining and adhering the stepped portion 7 and the stepped portion 8, the face side part 2 and the back side part 3 are fixed.

Next, a method of manufacturing the head portion 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, first, the face portion 4 made of titanium is manufactured by forging. At this time, the above-described bent portion 4a is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the face portion 4. The face portion 4 is polished to form score lines on the face surface.

Next, the face portion 4 is set in the mold. Then, the face portion 4 is fixed in the mold using the core. In this state, molten magnesium alloy is poured into the mold to perform die casting. That is, the face portion 4
The face portion 4 and the peripheral edge portion 5 are integrally formed as a cast body.

At this time, by pouring magnesium alloy water on the front and back surfaces of the bent portion 4a of the face portion 4,
As shown in FIG. 3, the outer peripheral portion of the face portion 4 can be sandwiched by the peripheral edge portion 5 by the heat shrinkage force when the peripheral edge portion 5 is cooled. Further, the mold shape is adjusted to form the stepped portion 8 shown in FIG. 4 at the opening end of the face-side part 2.

On the other hand, the back side part 3 is formed by die casting.
To form. Similarly, the stepped portion 7 shown in FIG. 4 is formed at the opening end of the back side part 3. An adhesive is applied to at least one of the step portion 7 and the step portion 8 of the face-side part 2 to combine them. Thereby, the face side part 2 and the back side part 3 are integrated.

Thereafter, the head portion 1 is subjected to polishing treatment or the like to finish it, and the head portion 1 is manufactured. Then, the golf club of the present invention can be manufactured by fixing the shaft and the grip to the head portion 1 by a known method.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments and examples disclosed this time are to be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown by the claims, and includes meanings equivalent to the claims and all modifications within the scope.

[0056]

According to the present invention, since the face portion can be easily bent at the time of hitting a ball, the repulsive characteristic of the face portion can be improved. Further, the head portion can be increased in size by forming the portion other than the face portion with a material having a low specific gravity. Therefore, it is possible to enlarge the head portion and expand the sweet area while improving the resilience performance of the head portion of the metal wood golf club.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view of a head portion of a golf club according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from a crown portion side.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the head unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a face-side part in the head unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the head portion showing a joint portion between the face side part and the back side part in the head portion shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of the head portion of the golf club of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 head part, 2 face side parts, 3 back side parts, 4 face parts, 4a bent parts, 5 peripheral parts, 6
Clamping part, 7 and 8 steps.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A metal wood golf club provided with a head portion (1) having a metal outer shell structure, wherein a face portion (4) of the head portion (1) is made of a first material, and In the head part (1), a part other than the face part (4) is made of a second material different from the first material
A metal wood, wherein the first material has a tensile strength higher than that of the second material, and the second material has a specific gravity lower than that of the first material. Golf club. 2. The tensile strength of the first material is 700MP
a or more and 2500 MPa or less, the tensile strength of the second material is 100 MPa or more and 600 MPa or less, and the specific gravity of the first material is 2.5 or more and 9.0 or less,
The specific gravity of the second material is 1.0 or more and 3.0 or less,
The metal wood golf club according to claim 1. 3. The first material is composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of titanium, titanium alloys, nickel alloys, high strength stainless steels, high strength aluminum alloys and beryllium alloys, or a sinter-bonded metal thereof. The metal wood golf club according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second material is composed of at least one material selected from the group consisting of a magnesium alloy, an aluminum alloy, and a lithium alloy. 4. The metal wood golf club according to claim 1, wherein the first material is titanium or a titanium alloy, and the second material is a magnesium alloy. 5. The head part (1) is composed of a face side part (2) and a back side part (3), and the face side part (2) is the face part (4).
And a peripheral portion (5) surrounding the face portion (4), the face portion (4) has a bent portion (4a) on an outer peripheral portion, and the peripheral portion (5) includes the bent portion (4a). ) The metal wood golf club according to claim 4, further comprising a holding portion (6) for holding and fixing the metal wood golf club. 6. The face-side part (2) and the back-side part (3) are fixed to each other with an adhesive.
A metal wood golf club according to. 7. A metal wood golf club provided with a head portion (1) having a metal outer shell structure, wherein the head portion (1) comprises a face side part (2) and a back side part (3). The face-side part (2) is formed by fixing the
The back side part (3) has a specific gravity smaller than that of the face portion (4), and includes a peripheral edge portion (5) surrounding the face portion (4). A metal wood golf club made of a small material, wherein the face portion and the peripheral edge portion (5) are fixed to each other by molding the peripheral edge portion (5) by casting the face portion (4) as a casting. 8. A method for manufacturing a metal wood golf club having a head portion (1) having a metal outer shell structure, the method comprising forming a face portion (4) in the head portion (1) by forging. A step of forming a face side part (2) by casting with the face part (4) installed in a mold; a step of forming a back side part (3) by casting; And a step of forming the head portion (1) by fixing the part (2) and the back side part (3) to each other. 9. The face-side part (2) includes the face portion (4) and a peripheral edge portion (5) surrounding the face portion (4), and the face portion (4) is titanium or a titanium alloy. The peripheral part (5) and the back side part (3) are composed of a magnesium alloy, and the peripheral part (5) and the face part (5) are formed by thermal contraction of the peripheral part (5) after the casting. The method for manufacturing a metal wood golf club according to claim 8, wherein the face side part (2) and the back side part (3) are fixed to each other with an adhesive.