JPS646846Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a face insert for a golf club. More specifically, the present invention relates to a face insert made of reinforced fiber material, which is usually called a wood and is attached to the ball hitting surface of a golf club head.

In the past, persimmon (persimmon wood) was often used as the material for wood clubs, but recently metal, fiber reinforced resin (FRP), and other materials have come into use. However, regardless of the material used, such wood clubs usually have a face insert attached to the ball hitting surface.

In the past, ivory was thought to be the most suitable material for this face insert, but due to the shortage of raw materials, other face insert materials such as ABS resin, etc.
Resin plates reinforced with various organic or inorganic fibers have been proposed. Among these, carbon fiber reinforced resin (CFRP) is said to extend the flight distance of balls due to carbon fiber's high elastic modulus.

Until now, such CFRP face inserts have been published in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 49-88634 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 50-113558.
No. 50-113559, etc. have been proposed.

However, the vibration damping of this CFRP face insert was fast, and especially when hitting the recently introduced two-piece ball, there was no aftertaste in the sound of the ball, and it did not give the player a sufficient sense of satisfaction.

As a result of intensive study on this problem, the inventors of the present invention have found a face insert that can satisfy the demands of players by using carbon fiber whose fiber surface is coated with nickel or its alloy as a reinforcing material. It came to this. That is, the present invention is a face insert for a golf club made of a composite material containing carbon fiber coated with nickel or its alloy as a reinforcing material. Such a face insert has appropriate vibration damping characteristics, and a wood club equipped with this face insert can produce a lingering hitting sound and provide a player with a sufficiently satisfying hitting feeling.

In the present invention, carbon fiber refers to ordinary carbon fiber for FRP, which also includes graphite fiber.

Carbon fibers are coated with nickel or an alloy thereof, and nickel alloys include, for example, alloys of nickel with iron, chromium, molybdenum, and the like. In order to coat carbon fiber with nickel or its alloy, for example, electroplating method, chemical plating method,
A method such as a vacuum evaporation method or a thermal spraying method can be used.

The thickness of the coating metal on the fiber surface is usually about 0.01
~2.0 microns, preferably 0.05-1.0 microns. If the thickness of nickel or its alloy is less than 0.01 micron, good vibration damping properties cannot be obtained;
If it exceeds microns, the vibration damping properties will deteriorate, and in either case, it will not be possible to provide the player with a satisfying feel at impact.

In the present invention, carbon fibers coated with nickel or its alloys are used in fabrics, unidirectional arrays (UD),
Used in the form of chopped strands, random webs, etc. In particular, a woven fabric or a random web is preferable from the viewpoint of protecting the face when hitting a ball. As the matrix resin, thermosetting resins such as epoxy resins, phenolic resins, and unsaturated polyester resins, and thermoplastic resins such as ABS resins, polyamide resins, polycarbonate resins, and polysulfone resins are used. The content of the matrix resin is preferably 30 to 80% by volume.

The thickness of the face insert of this invention is usually 5~
It is 15mm. The structure may include, for example, a glass fiber reinforced resin composite layer in addition to the carbon fiber reinforced resin composite layer coated with nickel or its alloy. The other layers should preferably be less than half the thickness of the entire face insert.

The present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf club head called a wood, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a face insert. In the figure, 1 indicates the club head body, and 2 indicates the face insert. In FIG. 2, a indicates a carbon fiber reinforced composite material layer whose fiber surface is coated with nickel or its alloy, and b indicates a groove on the face surface.

Example 100 parts by weight of Epicoat 828 (manufactured by Ciel Kagaku Co., Ltd.) as a matrix resin was added to a plain woven fabric of acrylic carbon fiber (carbon fiber basis weight 200 g/m ² ) whose fiber surface was coated with 0.2 micron thick nickel as a reinforcing material. On the other hand, a resin composition made by mixing 8 parts by weight of dicyandiamide was impregnated, and 45 sheets of this were laminated.
The matrix resin was cured by applying pressure and heat treatment at 180° C. for 1 hour, and a flat plate for a face insert was formed. This flat plate had a thickness of 9 mm and a resin content of 50% by volume.

This flat plate was machined to produce a face insert. When we conducted a ball batting test with this face insert attached to the main body of a wood club head, the sound of the ball had a lingering sound, the ball felt very good at impact, and the flight distance was increased.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf club head, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the face insert of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A golf club face insert made of a composite material containing carbon fiber coated with nickel or its alloy as a reinforcing material.