JP2000033133A - Golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain a high function such as further thinning the face part, increasing the moment of inertia or expanding a sweet area by using amorphous metal formed of a nickel-titanium alloy as a material for constituting at least the face part. SOLUTION: In an iron club head, a hosel 1 is continuously connected to the lower end part of a shaft 10, the lower end part has the face part 2, a recess 3 formed on the reverse side, a heel 4, a toe 5 and a sole 6, and a rib 7 is formed around the recess 3. The whole head is manufactured by using amorphous metal (Ni-Ti). At this time, a thickness of the face part 2 is set to, for example, 2.5 mm. When the depth of the recess 3 deepens, weight of the extent can be distributed to the rib 7, and the whole head can also be enlarged. The amorphous metal has a maximum characteristic that a structure is amorphous, and tensile strength is about three times as compared with a titanium alloy gradually constituting the present mainstream.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a wood club,
The present invention relates to a golf club head including an iron club and a putter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional golf club, for example, a traditional head shape of an iron club, a scotch type,
Conventional types were known, and forged soft iron and cast stainless steel were common. The thickness of these face portions was relatively thick, the position of the center of gravity was relatively high, and the sweet area was narrow, so that they were intended for professional and advanced users. If the center of gravity of the head is placed below the center of gravity of the ball, the launch angle of the ball will increase and the hit will be assured. Have been attempted. In such a golf club head,
When the impact point on the face, the center of gravity of the head and the center of gravity of the golf ball are aligned, and the plane of the intended flight line and the face are orthogonal, the energy transfer at impact can be maximized. Other impacts (this is referred to as off-center impact), such as when the face portion is impacted near the toe or heel, the energy transfer is reduced, the flight distance is reduced, and the head passes through the center of gravity and is parallel to the golf club shaft Try to rotate around. In order to minimize such inconvenience at the time of off-center impact, a golf club head of a type in which the mass is concentrated not only on the sole of the head but also on the toe and the heel has been developed. As a golf club having such a development intention, a golf club having a so-called cavity back type head in which a hollow (cavity) is provided at the center of the back surface of the head and a rib surrounding the hollow is formed. . The deeper the cavity is, the more the weight of the cavity can be distributed to the sole, the toe and the heel, so that a lower center of gravity and a larger moment of inertia can be obtained. Therefore, the thickness of the face portion is generally thinned to the point of strength. Recently, a number of so-called composite club heads have been developed in which the material constituting the face portion and the material constituting the other head components are formed from different materials, and titanium and its alloys, soft iron, Stainless steel, copper alloy, aluminum alloy,
Various plastics, such as CFRP, have been used.

[0003]

However, the resilience of a conventional metal has reached its limit.

Accordingly, the present invention further enhances the function of the head by using a nickel-titanium-based amorphous alloy having a characteristic in which energy loss due to elastic deformation in the elastic region is smaller than that of a conventional metal (crystal). It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf club head capable of performing the above.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention uses an amorphous metal made of a nickel-titanium alloy as at least a material constituting a face portion.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a head of an iron club is shown, and a hosel 1 is connected to a lower end of a shaft 10, and a lower end of the hosel 1 is a face 2, and a back side of the face 2. It has a recess 3, a heel 4, a toe 5, and a sole 6 formed, and a rib 7 is formed around the recess 3. In such a so-called cavity-back type iron club head, the center of gravity can be reduced by increasing the weight of the ribs 7 at the sole portion 6, and the moment of inertia can be increased by increasing the weights of the ribs 7 on the toe 5 and the heel 4 side. Become. In this example, the entire head was cast using amorphous metal (Ni-Ti). At this time, the thickness t (see FIG. 2) of the face portion 2 is 2.5 mm. As the depth of the recess 3 increases, the weight can be distributed to the rib 7 or the entire head can be enlarged. When the face portion 2 is cast by a lost wax method using 17-4PH stainless steel, the thickness t must be 3 mm or more. If the thickness t of the face portion 2 can be reduced by 1 mm or more without changing the weight of the entire head, the size of the face portion 2 can be increased, and as the face portion 2 becomes larger, the sweet area becomes wider.

The most distinctive feature of amorphous metals is that their structure is non-crystalline, unlike conventional metals. Thereby, it has a unique property not found in conventional metals. The tensile strength of the amorphous metal is about three times as large as that of a titanium alloy, which is becoming a mainstream material for forming a golf club head at present. Amorphous metal has characteristics such as a low coefficient of friction, a high elasticity, and a small shrinkage during casting (0.25%, about 2% for stainless steel). In the following examples, an amorphous alloy having a composition of 55.5% by weight of Ni and 44.5% by weight of Ti was used.

The second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is a so-called composite club head, in which only the face portion 2 is made of amorphous metal and the other parts constituting the head are made of ordinary stainless steel, soft iron or copper alloy. Is what is done. The thickness of the face portion 2 is preferably about 1.0 to 3.5 mm, more preferably 1.5 to 2.9 mm.

[0010] As an iron club head, there is an iron club head having a hollow structure in which portions other than the sole portion 6 and the face portion 2 are formed of CFRP. Amorphous metal can also be used for the face portion 2 in such a head.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 shows a wood club head having a face portion 2, a sole portion 6, and a crown portion 8, and the inside is filled with a hollow or lightweight foam material. This head was entirely formed of amorphous metal, and the thickness of the face portion 2 was 2 mm. By making the face portion 2 thinner, the peripheral weight can be distributed without increasing the weight of the entire head, or the head volume can be made larger. In experiments conducted by the present inventors, it has been found that even in the head of a wood club, even if the thickness of at least a part of the face portion 2 is reduced to 1.5 mm, the strength is sufficient.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a putter. The face portion 2 is formed of an amorphous metal, the toe 5 and the heel 4 are made heavier, and the directional deviation at the time of off-center hit is eliminated. It is preferable to use a copper alloy having a high specific gravity, such as beryllium copper, as a material constituting the portions other than the face portion 2.

In the putter, the face portion of a so-called mallet type shape may be formed only of an amorphous metal, or the whole may be formed of an amorphous metal. In the head of a wood club composite club, the face 2
Only an amorphous metal can be formed.

As described above, the present invention can be applied to any wood type, iron type or putter head. Further, in this case, the head can be integrally manufactured only with the amorphous metal, or at least only the face portion can be manufactured with the amorphous metal.

In the iron club shown in FIG. 3, the face portion 2 is formed of an amorphous metal and the other portions are formed of stainless steel as an embodiment of the present invention, and the face portion 2 is formed of a titanium alloy. I tried as an example. In the embodiment, the thickness of the face portion 2 is 2.8.
mm was prepared. The results are as shown in the table below.

[0016]

[Table 1]

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, at least the face portion is made of an amorphous metal made of a nickel-titanium alloy as a material constituting the face portion, so that the face portion is made thinner than before. The weight of this thinner can be distributed to the periphery, or the face can be enlarged, the overall volume can be increased, the moment of inertia can be increased, or the sweet area can be expanded. For example, high functionality can be achieved. By setting the thickness of the face portion to 1.0 to 3.5 mm, the thickness of the face portion can be made smaller than that of the conventional face portion, and the tensile strength is stronger than that of the conventional titanium alloy or maraging steel.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an iron club according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the back side of a head.

FIG. 2 is an end view of a longitudinal section passing through the center of a face portion.

FIG. 3 is a partially broken perspective view showing an example applied to a composite club head.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example applied to a wood club.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example applied to a putter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Face part t Face part thickness

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A golf club head comprising at least a face portion made of an amorphous metal made of a nickel-titanium alloy. 2. The nickel-titanium alloy contains 40 to 70% by weight of nickel, more preferably 50 to 60% by weight.
2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the golf club head contains 60 to 30% by weight, more preferably 50 to 40% by weight of titanium. 3. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the face portion using an amorphous metal is 1.0 to 3.5 mm.