JP6791292B2 - Golf club head - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a golf club head, and more particularly to a hollow golf club head.

Hollow metal golf club heads such as drivers and fairway woods are widely used. Generally, a hollow wood type golf club head has a face portion for hitting a ball, a crown portion forming the upper surface portion of the golf club head, a sole portion forming the bottom surface portion of the golf club head, and a golf club. It has a side portion that constitutes a side portion on the toe side, back side, and heel side of the head, and a hosel portion. A shaft is inserted into this hosel portion and fixed with an adhesive or the like. Recently, many golf clubs called utility clubs are on the market, and as one kind of this utility golf club, it is similar to the above-mentioned wood type golf club head (that is, face portion, sole portion, side portion and the like. Various golf clubs having a hollow head (having a crown portion and a hosel portion) are also commercially available.

Aluminum alloys, stainless steels, and titanium alloys are used as the metals constituting the hollow golf club head, but in recent years, titanium alloys have been widely used.

As described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is known that the thickness of the central portion of the face portion is made larger than that of the peripheral portion.

Patent Document 3 describes a golf club head provided with a large number of cells on the face plate.

Patent Documents 4 and 5 describe that the stress of a golf club head is simulated and analyzed by using the finite element method.

JP-A-2002-45445 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-234 Japanese Patent Publication No. 2014-526366 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-181189 Japanese Patent No. 5909525

An object of the first invention is to provide a golf club head capable of providing a low-rigidity portion at a desired position of a face portion.

An object of the second invention is to provide a golf club head capable of having the same rigidity of the entire face portion and a constant coefficient of restitution of the entire face portion.

The golf club head of the first invention is a hollow golf club head having a face portion, a sole portion, a crown portion and a hosel portion, and the face portion includes a first rigid portion having a first rigidity, a material and a wall thickness. Is the same as the first rigid portion, but has at least two different rigidity portions from the second rigid portion, which is lower in rigidity than the first rigid portion.

In one aspect of the first invention, the face portion is stamped.

In one aspect of the first invention, the face portion is composed of one seamless member.

In one aspect of the first invention, the golf club head is made up of one seamless member.

In one aspect of the first invention, the second rigid portion has a porous shape.

In one aspect of the first invention, the second rigid portion has a hollow shape.

In one aspect of the first invention, the second rigid portion has a rigidity of 60 to 90% of that of the first rigid portion.

The golf club head of the second invention is a hollow golf club head having a face portion, a sole portion, a side portion, a crown portion and a hosel portion, and the face portion is a first thickness portion having a first thickness. , Has at least two different thickness portions from a second thickness portion having a second thickness different from the first thickness portion, and the rigidity of the first thickness portion and the second thickness portion is the same. It is characterized by being.

In one aspect of the second invention, the rigidity of the entire face portion is the same. Further, in one aspect of the second invention, the strength of the first and second thick portions is the minimum necessary.

In the present invention, the same rigidity means that they are substantially the same. Specifically, when the rigidity of one part is K ₁ and the rigidity of another part is K ₂ , the difference in rigidity (K _{1 −} K ₂ ) is the average rigidity value of both (K ₁ + K). ₂ ) If it is 10% or less of / 2, K ₁ and K ₂ are defined as the same. Regarding the thickness, if the difference (T _{1 −} T ₂ ) between the thickness T _{1 of one} part and the thickness T ₂ of another part is 10% or less of (T ₁ + T ₂ ) / 2, T ₁ And T ₂ are defined as the same.

In the golf club head of the first invention, the face portion is provided with a second rigid portion having the same material and thickness as the first rigid portion but having a lower rigidity than the first rigid portion, and thus has low rigidity. A design can be made in which the portions are arranged at desired positions.

In the golf club head of the second invention, since the first thickness portion and the second thickness portion of the face portion have the same rigidity, the entire face portion has the same rigidity and the overall coefficient of restitution is constant. be able to.

(A) is a perspective view of the golf club head according to the embodiment of the first invention, and (b) is a front view thereof. It is sectional drawing which follows the line II-II of FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the line III-III of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the face part base plate before press working. It is sectional drawing of the face part base plate before press working. It is a front view of the golf club head which concerns on embodiment of 1 invention. It is a front view of the golf club head which concerns on embodiment of 1 invention. It is a front view of the golf club head which concerns on embodiment of 2nd invention. FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX of FIG. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the golf club head which concerns on another embodiment of 1 invention.

Hereinafter, the golf club head according to the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

The golf club head 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 is a hollow driver head having a face portion 2, a sole portion 3, a side portion 4, a crown portion 5, and a hosel portion 6. The golf club head 1 is integrally made of metal. Examples of this metal include titanium, titanium alloys, aluminum alloys, stainless steel and the like, but titanium alloys are preferable. A part of the golf club head 1, for example, a sole portion or a side portion may be provided with a decorative material or a name plate made of synthetic resin, rubber, elastomer or the like.

The face portion 2 is a surface for hitting a ball. The sole portion 3 constitutes the bottom surface portion of the golf club head, and the crown portion 5 constitutes the upper surface portion of the golf club head. The side portion 4 connects the sole portion 3 and the crown portion 5, and extends from the toe side to the heel side via the back side. A shaft is fixed to the hosel portion 6.

In this embodiment, low-rigidity portions (second rigid portions) 11 to 14, 15 to 18 are provided on the toe side 2t and the heel side 2h of the face portion 2, respectively. Except for the low-rigidity portions 11 to 18, the high-rigidity portion (first rigid portion) 19 is provided.

The thickness t of the face portion 2 is the same in both the low-rigidity portions 11 to 18 and the high-rigidity portion 19. The central portion 2m of the face portion 2 also has the same thickness as the toe side 2t and the heel side 2h.

The face portion 2 is made of the same material (for example, titanium alloy) as a whole. The low-rigidity portions 11 to 18 have the same thickness as the high-rigidity portion 19, but have a smaller rigidity than the high-rigidity portion 19 due to having the vacant space portion 10. The rigidity of the low-rigidity portions 11 to 18 is preferably 60 to 90% of the rigidity of the high-rigidity portion 19, particularly 65 to 85%.

In this embodiment, the vacant space 10 has a flat disk shape. The diameter of the vacant space 10 when the face portion 2 is viewed from the front is preferably 0.5 mm or more, particularly 1 mm or more, and 10 mm or less, particularly 5 mm or less. The thickness of the vacant space 10, that is, the dimension of the face portion 2 in the thickness t direction is preferably 10% or more, particularly 20% or more, and 50% or less, particularly 30% or less of the thickness t of the face portion 2.

The low-rigidity portions 11 to 18 are formed by arranging the plurality of vacant portions 10 at intervals in the toe-heel direction. The arrangement pitch a in the toe-heel direction between the vacant portions 10 and 10 is preferably 0.5 mm or more, particularly 1 mm or more, and 30 mm or less, particularly 10 mm or less.

The low-rigidity portions 11 to 14, 15 to 18 are each provided in four rows in this embodiment, but may be three or less rows or five or more rows. When a plurality of rows of low-rigidity portions are provided, the arrangement pitch b of the low-rigidity portions in the crown-sole direction is preferably 1 mm or more, particularly 3 mm or more, and 20 mm or less, particularly 30 mm or less. A similar low-rigidity portion may be provided on the crown portion.

The length of the low-rigidity portions 11 to 18 in the toe-heel direction is preferably 3 mm or more, particularly 5 mm or more, and 30 mm or less, particularly 20 mm or less.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the vacant space 10 presses (including rolling and forging) a face plate 5P or 5P'having holes 9 or 9'of an arbitrary shape. It was formed by this. The holes 9 of the face base plate 5P have a uniform diameter, but the holes 9'of the face base plate 5P'are distributed in large and small diameters. When the face portion base plate 5P is press-processed, the vacant portion 10 has a uniform size. When the face portion base plate 5P'is pressed, the size of the vacant portion 10 has a large and small distribution. The wall thickness is reduced by press working, and the strength of the solid portion (high rigidity portion 19) is increased by work hardening. Since the thickness can be reduced by the amount of increase in strength, the weight can be reduced as a result.

In the golf club head 1 configured in this way, the face portion 2 has the same thickness as a whole, and low-rigidity portions 11 to 18 are provided on the toe side 2t and the heel side 2h of the face portion 2. Therefore, when the golf ball is hit, the toe side 2t and the heel side 2h of the face portion 2 are likely to bend. Therefore, when the golf ball is hit by the golf club head 1, the initial velocity of the golf ball is increased and the flight distance is increased.

In the above embodiment, the shape, size, and distribution of the vacant portion 10 are arbitrary by using the face portion base plates 5P, 5P'having holes 9 or 9'of a desired shape or size. It is possible to easily manufacture various golf club heads in which the flexibility of the toe side 2t and the heel side 2h of the face portion 2 is as desired.

In the above embodiment, all the low-rigidity portions 11 to 18 extend in the toe-heel direction, but may extend in another direction. An example thereof is shown in FIGS. 6 to 9.

In the golf club head 1A of FIG. 6, low-rigidity portions 21 and 22 extending in the crown-sole direction are arranged on the toe side of the face portion 2. Further, the low-rigidity portions 23 and 24 extending in the crown-sole direction are arranged on the heel side of the face portion 2. Although not shown, the extending direction of the low-rigidity portions 21 to 24 may be an oblique direction with respect to the crown-sole direction. As shown in the figure, the number of low-rigidity portions 21 to 24 is two on the toe side and two on the heel side, but it may be one or three or more. The face portion 2 has the same thickness as a whole.

The golf club head 1B of FIG. 7 is provided with concentric elliptical low-rigidity portions 25 and 26 long in the toe-heel direction. The center of each concentric ellipse is near the center (near the center) of the face portion 2 in the toe-heel direction and the face-back direction. The number of low-rigidity portions 25, 26 may be 1 or 3 or more. The face portion 2 has the same thickness as a whole.

The configurations of the golf club heads 1A and 1B other than the face portion 2 are the same as those of the golf club head 1, and the same reference numerals indicate the same portions.

8 to 10 show a golf club head 1C provided with a face portion 2 having a first thickness portion and a second thickness portion according to an embodiment of the second invention.

The golf club head 1C also has a face portion 2, a sole portion 3, a side portion 4, a crown portion 5, and a hosel portion 6, and is integrally formed of metal as a whole.

The face portion 2 has a first thickness portion 31 having a large thickness t ₁ and a second thickness portion 32 having a thickness t ₂ smaller than that. In this embodiment, the first thickness portion 31 occupies the center portion 2 m of the face portion 2. The second thick portion 32 surrounds the first thick portion 31 and extends over the toe side 2t, the crown side 2c, the heel side 2h, and the sole side 2s.

The vacant space 10 is provided in the first thickness portion 31 so as to be substantially uniformly distributed, whereby the rigidity of the first thickness portion 31 and the second thickness portion 32 is substantially equal. It has become. The thickness t ₂ of the second thick portion 32 is preferably about 50 to 80% of the thickness t ₁ of the first thick portion 31.

The golf club head 1C can be designed so that the strength of the face portion 2 is minimized. The minimum required strength of the golf club head 1C, particularly the face portion 2, can be obtained by the finite element method (FEM) analysis described in Patent Documents 4, 5 and the like. That is, the minimum necessary rigidity can be realized by designing the portion where the stress is small to have low rigidity by FEM analysis.

For example, for a model of a golf club head 1C having no vacant space, the thickness and the rigidity difference between the first thickness portion and the second thickness portion due to the shape (curvature) of the face portion are obtained by FEM analysis, and this rigidity difference is obtained. A design is performed in which the vacant space 10 is arranged in the first thick portion 31 having a large thickness so as to be eliminated.

Since the entire face portion 2 has the same rigidity, the coefficient of restitution of the entire face portion 2 can be made constant. Further, the stress at the time of striking is simulated, and the vacant space portion 10 is arranged so as to be the face portion 2 having the minimum necessary rigidity capable of withstanding this stress.

At least the face portion 2 of the golf club heads 1 to 1C can be obtained by pressing the face portion base plates 5P and 5P', but the press working may be omitted.

The face portion base plates 5P and 5P'(or the face portion 2 in the case of no press working) can be manufactured as one seamless member, preferably by a metal powder manufacturing method. According to this metal powder molding method, a desired three-dimensional shape can be produced by irradiating a metal powder with a high-energy beam such as an electron beam or a laser beam and sintering the metal powder.

In the above description, the vacant space 10 has a flat disk shape, but the present invention is not limited to this. According to the metal powder manufacturing method, a face portion base plate or a face portion having an arbitrary shape, size, and number of vacant portions can be easily formed. Other than the face portion, it may be molded by a metal powder molding method. When the press working is not performed, the entire golf club head can be integrally molded by the metal powder molding method. In this case, the molded golf club head is composed of one seamless member as a whole.

A molded product formed by a molding process including a metal powder molding method is then subjected to heat treatment, surface grinding / polishing, and finishing treatments such as painting and plating to obtain a golf club head product.

The above description represents an example of the present invention, and the present invention may have a configuration other than the above.

In the present invention, instead of partially reducing the rigidity of the face portion by providing a large number of minute vacant portions 10 to make the face portion porous as in the golf club heads 1 to 1C, a single or a small number of large vacant portions 10 are provided. The rigidity of the face portion may be partially reduced by providing a vacant chamber portion to make it hollow. FIG. 11 shows a golf club head 1D according to an example thereof, and shows a cross section of the same portion as that of FIG. In this golf club head 1D, one low-rigidity portion 11 is configured by providing one elongated vacancy 10'in the toe-heel direction. Although not shown, the other low-rigidity portions 12 to 18 are configured in the same manner.

The present invention is also applicable to fairway woods and utility club heads other than drivers.

1,1A ~ 1D Golf club head 2 Face part 3 Sole part 4 Side part 5 Crown part 5P, 5P'Face part base plate 6 Hosel part 9,9' Hole 10,10' Vacancy part 11-18, 21-26 Low rigidity part (second rigidity part)
19 High-rigidity part (first rigid part)
31 1st thickness part 32 2nd thickness part

Claims (5)

In a hollow golf club head having a face portion, a sole portion, a side portion, a crown portion and a hosel portion,
The face portion includes a first thickness portion having a first thickness and a first thickness portion.
It has at least two different thicknesses from a second thickness portion that has a second thickness that is different from the first.
The rigidity of the first thickness part and the second thickness part are the same,
First thickness portion have a vacant chamber of the flat disc-shaped,
The rigidity of the entire face portion is the same,
Vacancy portions are provided in the first thickness portion so as to be distributed substantially uniformly.
A golf club head characterized in that the thickness of the second thick portion is 50 to 80% of the thickness of the first thick portion . Oite to claim 1, wherein the first thickness portion occupies center portion of the face portion, the second thickness portion golf club head, characterized by surrounding the first thickness portion. The golf club head according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first thickness portion is a hollow shape having a single vacant portion. The golf club head according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the face portion is composed of one seamless member. The golf club head according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the golf club head is composed of one seamless member as a whole.

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