JP2000042148A - Head for golf club and manufacture thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply increase inertia moment and enlarge a sweet spot, and secure a good feeling of hitting by applying plating of nickel anchor formed by nickel watt bath to the surface of a titanium metal head and then applying plating of nickel in layers. SOLUTION: In the case of providing a plating layer 3 on the whole surface of an outer surface including a face 2 of a hollow metal wood head 1 formed of a titanium alloy, a nickel plating layer 4 excellent in adhesion and joining performance to titanium which is a counter part or an object is applied as the plating layer 3. In the case of plating a titanium material, when no anchor plating is not applied to the bed, a plating film which stands for a shock in hitting the ball can not be obtained, but when stress in electrodeposits is high, deformation of the plating layer is caused to be short of strong adhesion. Accordingly, it is necessary to select anchor plating solution haing the lowest stress in electrodeposits, and after nickel wat bath or the like is applied as a suitable plating bath, nickel plating is applied.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a golf club head.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to recover a missed shot during golf play and to improve the flight distance of a ball, an increase in the moment of inertia of a head and an enlargement of a sweet spot have been actively performed in recent years. Among them, particularly with regard to metal wood drivers, lighter and stronger metal materials are required, and at present, titanium alloy drivers are becoming mainstream.

The head made of titanium alloy has a specific gravity about 40% smaller than the head made of stainless steel 630 in the early stage of metal and has a large mechanical strength. Therefore, the head is enlarged, that is, the moment of inertia is increased and the sweet spot is enlarged. It is the best material for planning.

However, in order to increase the size of the head, it is necessary to design the head to be thinner.
There is one aspect in which the manufacturing technique of the head is more advanced and the shot feeling at the time of golf play is easily impaired.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, the present invention can increase the moment of inertia, enlarge the sweet spot, and the like without unnecessarily improving the manufacturing technique of the head. It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf club head in which the shot feeling at the time is not impaired.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a golf club head according to the present invention is characterized in that a plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head, and a material of the metal head is provided on a surface of the metal head. It is characterized by providing a plating layer made of a material having a higher specific gravity. Titanium, aluminum or stainless steel is suitable as the material of the metal head, and chromium, nickel or copper is suitable as the plating material.
Chromium, nickel, copper and the like also include these alloys, respectively. Further, the plating layer may have a multilayer structure of two or more layers. In the case of a two-layer structure, particularly, nickel has excellent adhesion or bonding property to a counterpart material and chromium has a large specific gravity and hardness. And a combination of chromium.

In view of the above, a golf club head according to claim 1 of the present invention has
A plating layer is provided.

A golf club head according to a second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that a plating layer made of a material having a higher specific gravity than the material of the metal head is provided on the surface of the metal head.

The golf club head according to claim 3 of the present invention is provided with a plating layer on a surface of a metal head.
The metal head is made of a titanium-based, aluminum-based or stainless-based material, and the plating layer is made of a chromium-based material.
It is characterized by being made of a nickel-based or copper-based material.

[0010] In the golf club head according to the present invention, a plating layer is provided on the surface of the metal head.
The plating layer has a multilayer structure.

[0011] In the golf club head according to the present invention, a plating layer is provided on a surface of the metal head.
The plating layer has a two-layer structure composed of nickel and chromium.

Further, in the golf club head according to the present invention, a plating layer is provided on the surface of the metal head.
The metal head is made of a titanium-based material, and the plating layer has a multilayer structure including an inner nickel layer, an outer nickel layer and a chromium layer.

[0013] In a golf club head according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head.
The metal head is made of a titanium-based material, and the plating layer has a multilayer structure including a nickel layer, a copper layer, and a chromium layer.

Further, in the golf club head according to the present invention, a plating layer is provided on the surface of the metal head.
The metal head is made of a soft iron material, and the plating layer has a multilayer structure including a copper layer, a nickel layer and a chromium layer.

Further, in the golf club head according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, a plating layer is provided on the surface of the metal head, the plating layer includes an anchor plating bath, and the anchor plating bath is a nickel watt bath, a sulfamine bath. It is characterized by comprising a nickel acid bath, a nickel sulfamate high concentration bath, a copper pyrophosphate bath, a copper sulfate bath or a gold strike bath.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the golf club head according to the present invention having the above-described structure, a plating layer is provided on the surface of the metal head. For example, when a material having a higher specific gravity than the material of the head is plated on the surface of the metal head, the moment of inertia can be efficiently increased and the sweet spot can be enlarged. Further, when the surface hardness of the head is hardened by the plating material, it becomes easy to obtain the optimum spin amount necessary for improving the flight distance of the ball, and it is also possible to improve the shot feeling.

As the material of the metal head, a titanium-based, aluminum-based or stainless-steel-based material is used. As described above, the titanium-based material is currently becoming mainstream. Since the titanium-based material and the aluminum-based material have relatively small specific gravities, there is an advantage that the difference in specific gravity from the plating material can be set large. The specific gravity of titanium material is about 4.5, and the specific gravity of aluminum material is about 2.
7. The specific gravity of chromium is about 7.2, and the specific gravity of nickel is about 8.
8

(1) Using a titanium material as a material, a metal wood head having a volume of 240 cc is manufactured according to a conventional method.
A double-layered plating layer having a thickness of 10 μm for the inner layer of nickel and a thickness of 5 μm for the outer layer of chromium was applied to the metal head. Similarly, a metal wood head having a volume of 240 cc was manufactured using a titanium material as a material according to a conventional method, and a double-layered plating layer having a thickness of 20 μm for the inner layer nickel and a thickness of 5 μm for the outer layer was applied to the head. . Similarly, a metal wood head having a volume of 240 cc was manufactured using a titanium material according to a conventional method, and a nickel plating layer having an inner layer of 40 μm and an outer layer of chromium having a thickness of 5 μm was coated on the head. did. Further, as a comparative example, a metal wood head having a volume of 240 cc without a plating layer and manufactured using a titanium material as a material according to a conventional method was prepared.

When the estimated head volumes of the four metal heads were measured, the results shown in Table 1 below were obtained.

[0020]

[Table 1]

As can be seen from these results, all heads having a plating layer on the surface have an increased head volume estimated value, that is, an increased moment of inertia. This effect is particularly remarkable in a region where the thickness of the plating layer exceeds 20 μm (plating weight: 7 to 10 g).

(2) If the hardness of the head surface is increased (hardened), a slip effect is generated and unnecessary rotation is not given to the ball, so that the ball does not blow up and a trajectory with a run can be obtained. Generally, there is a method of hardening the surface by shot peening the head surface or performing ion plating treatment by CVD / PVD, but this method is a surface modification at the surface layer portion of 0.1 to 1 μm. Therefore, the persistence of the effect remains questionable. On the other hand, plating has an advantage that the effect of plating can be ensured for a long period of time because the head surface can be processed to an arbitrary thickness.

Regarding the surface hardness, as shown in Table 2 below, since chromium plating is much harder than nickel plating, it is desirable to process this chromium plating on the outermost surface.

[0024]

[Table 2]

Table 3 below shows the amount of ball spin when the hardness of the head surface is modified.

[0026]

[Table 3]

As can be seen from the results, according to the head provided with the plating layer, it is possible to reduce the ball spin amount by about 10% when the weather is fine, as compared with a general painted head product. Or you can get a hit ball. Also, in rainy weather, it is possible to obtain an optimal ball rotation by the water repellent action of the plating, and it is possible to prevent a ball drop phenomenon that frequently occurs on a rainy day.

(3) In general, the hitting sound is one of the major factors of the hitting feeling (feeling). In particular, most amateurs consider a wood club having a strong metallic tone to be a nice shot sound and prefer it. There is a tendency. Among the metal heads, those made of titanium alloy in particular have a better hitting sound than those made of aluminum or stainless steel,
It has been empirically known that, when the thickness of the head is reduced in order to increase the size of the head, the hitting sound becomes worse.

According to the frequency analysis of the hitting sound, a strong sound of a metal tone preferred by general amateurs has a large peak around 6000 Hz. In this case, it was found that the outermost outer periphery processed with high-hardness plating such as chromium can significantly improve the hitting sound in the range around 6000 Hz.

That is, a metal wood head having a volume of 240 cc is manufactured by a conventional method using a titanium material as a material, and nickel of an inner layer having a thickness of 20 μm is formed on the metal head.
m, the outer layer of chromium having a thickness of 5 μm was coated with a plating layer having a double structure. In the same manner, a metal wood head having a volume of 300 cc was manufactured using a titanium material according to a conventional method, and a nickel plating layer having an inner layer thickness of 20 μm and an outer layer chromium thickness of 5 μm was coated on the head. did. As a comparative example, a metal wood head having a volume of 240 cc was manufactured using a titanium material as a material according to a conventional method, and a urethane coating was applied to the head to prepare a comparative example. Similarly, a metal wood head with a volume of 300 cc is manufactured using a titanium material as a material according to a conventional method.
A comparative example in which urethane coating was applied to this head was prepared.

When the frequency analysis of the hitting sounds of these four types of heads was performed, the results shown in Table 4 below were obtained.

[0032]

[Table 4]

As can be seen from the results, according to the head provided with the plating layer on the surface, it is possible to maintain a frequency of about 6000 Hz even if the volume is large, and to provide the player with a generally preferred shot feeling. Can be given to.

[0034]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a golf club head according to this embodiment. This golf club head is a hollow metal head (metal wood head) 1 formed of a titanium alloy. Head 1
A plating layer 3 as shown in FIG. 2 is provided on the entire outer surface including the face 2 of this embodiment, and this plating layer 3 is formed of nickel plating having excellent adhesion or bonding to a counterpart or target titanium of plating. It is constituted by a layer 4.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the plating layer 3 is composed of an inner nickel plating layer 4 having excellent adhesion or bonding to titanium or an outer layer of chromium, and a specific gravity and hardness. Are both formed in a two-layer (double) structure with a large outer chromium plating layer 5.

The surface of the metal head 1 is appropriately roughened so as to further enhance the adhesion or bonding with the nickel plating layer 4. The surface of the nickel plating layer 4 in FIG. 2 or the chromium plating layer in FIG. The surface of each of No. 5 is satin-finished or sandblasted as a surface finish.

As described above, the present invention has many advantages. However, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the metal head 1 made of a titanium alloy and having the outermost surface subjected to chrome plating is arranged. Then, it becomes as follows.

The surface of the chromium-plated head 1 has a Vickers hardness of 800 to 1000, which is about three times as large as the unplated head surface or the painted head surface. Hardness. Therefore, based on this difference in surface hardness, an unprecedented flight of the ball is brought about, increasing the initial velocity of the hit ball,
The amount of spin of the ball can be reduced. In addition, since a good hitting sound is emitted, a good hit feeling can be provided to the player.

The water repellent effect of the chromium plating improves the drainage of the surface of the face 2 and suppresses the decrease in the spin amount, so that it is possible to suppress the generation of a drop ball that is likely to occur during rainfall.

By applying chromium plating having a large specific gravity to the outermost surface of the head 1 made of a titanium alloy, the moment of inertia can be increased. Therefore, the sweet area can be enlarged, and the missed shot can be covered in a considerable range.

Further, for the same reason, the surface is not damaged, stained, or peeled off as in the case of a painted product.

The laminated structure of the plating layers may be three or more layers. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, nickel 6, copper 7, nickel 8 and chromium 9 may be plated in four layers. Nickel 6, 8, copper 7 and chromium 9 each include these alloys.

As shown in FIG. 5, an inner nickel layer 10, an outer nickel layer 11, and a chromium layer 12 may be provided from the inner side of the titanium-based metal head 1; A nickel layer, a copper layer, and a chromium layer may be provided from the inner layer side of the head. When the metal head is made of a soft iron-based material, a copper layer, a nickel layer, and a chromium layer may be provided from the inner layer side. Nickel, chromium and copper each include these alloys.

As described above, when the inner nickel layer 10, the outer nickel layer 11, and the chromium layer 12 are provided from the inner layer side with respect to the titanium-based metal head 1, the metal head 1 is plated by the following procedure. Will be applied.

That is, first, the surface of the metal head is blasted, and then the surface is subjected to alkali degreasing. The blast treatment is for roughening the surface of the head to increase the adhesion of the plating layer, and the alkali degreasing treatment is for removing dirt and the like adhering to the head surface. Next, nickel sulfamate is plated on the surface of the head as a base plating. This stabilizes the plating layer by plating low-stress nickel sulfamate. Next, after performing alkali degreasing again, bright nickel is plated as an intermediate layer. This is because plating of bright nickel as an intermediate layer enhances the uniform electrodeposition of the next chromium plating. Next, the outermost layer of chromium is plated.

When a nickel layer, a copper layer, and a chromium layer are provided from the inner layer side of the titanium-based metal head, copper is plated instead of the bright nickel in the above-described procedure. When plating copper, there is an advantage that the adhesion of the plating layer is further improved. The reason why the adhesion of the plating layer is further improved in this way is that copper plating has excellent impact resistance and thus has an effect of preventing peeling, which is high flexibility of copper plating, and This is due to the fact that copper plating has the property of having less stress than nickel plating. In addition, when copper is plated, there is an advantage that the moment of inertia of the head is increased due to the difference in specific gravity (copper specific gravity: 8.93, nickel specific gravity 8.85) as compared with the case of plating nickel. There is also an advantage that the shot feeling is softened by the flexibility of copper.

When a copper layer, a nickel layer, and a chromium layer are provided from the inner layer side of a soft iron-based metal head, the surface of the metal head is subjected to alkali degreasing treatment, and then copper strike plating, copper plating, and luster. Nickel plating and chrome plating are applied.

When a titanium-based material, which is generally recognized as a difficult-to-plate material, is plated, an anchor plating is not applied to the base material to obtain a plating film that can withstand impact when hitting a ball or the like. Therefore, it is effective to apply anchor plating, but it is important to consider the electrodeposition stress when selecting the type of anchor plating.

That is, when the electrodeposition stress is high, the plating layer is deformed, and the strong adhesion is lacking. The electrodeposition stress includes a tensile stress and a compressive stress. The tensile stress tends to cause peeling or cracking of the electrodeposited layer around or at the edge of the material, and the compressive stress tends to cause swelling or wrinkling. Therefore, it is necessary to select an anchor plating solution having the lowest electrodeposition stress, and suitable plating baths include a nickel watt bath, a nickel sulfamate bath and a nickel sulfamate high concentration bath.

FIG. 6 shows the range of the electrodeposition stress of the films obtained from the various nickel plating baths. As shown in FIG. 6, the electrodeposition stress is set to the lowest value in the nickel sulfamate high concentration bath by the current density. It is easy to adjust and can be said to be a plating bath most suitable for a titanium-based material which is a difficult-to-plate material. In addition, copper pyrophosphate baths, copper sulfate baths, gold strike baths, and the like can also be used as anchor plating of titanium-based materials.

In order to confirm the anchor effect, a comparative experiment was conducted on a titanium-based wood head using a nickel sulfamate high concentration bath and a bright nickel plating which is a normal plating, and the results shown in Table 5 below were obtained.

[0053]

[Table 5]

As can be seen from the results in Table 5, when the titanium-based wood head is subjected to anchor plating in a high concentration bath of sulfamic acid, the adhesion of the plating on the face surface in contact with the ball is extremely high, and the anchor effect is extremely large. Things.

Further, when a hitting experiment was conducted by changing the combination of the plating layers, as shown in Table 6 below, a slight crack was observed inside the face groove when the number of hits was 8,000 to 10,000. It is presumed that the cause was that cracks occurred because the bright nickel plating of the intermediate layer could not follow the deflection of the face surface. In this experiment, when the titanium-based wood head was coated with a flexible copper plating capable of withstanding the expansion and contraction of the bending, the durability was greatly improved, and no crack was observed up to 12,000 hits.

[0056]

[Table 6]

[0057]

The present invention has the following effects.

That is, when the plating layer is provided on the surface of the metal head as in the golf club head according to the present invention having the above-described structure, the characteristics according to the characteristics of the plating material constituting the plating layer. Can be provided on the surface of the head. For example, by providing a plating layer made of a material having a higher hardness than the material of the head on the surface of the head, the hardness of the head surface can be increased.
Therefore, an unprecedented flight of the ball is brought about, the initial velocity of the hit ball is increased, and the spin rate of the ball can be reduced. In addition, since a good hitting sound is emitted, a good hit feeling can be provided to the player.

Further, by providing a plating layer having a water-repellent action on the surface of the metal head, the drainage of the drop ball which is liable to occur at the time of rainfall can be prevented since the drainage of the face surface is improved and the decrease in the spin amount is suppressed. Can be suppressed.

By providing a plating layer made of a material having a higher specific gravity than the material of the head on the surface of the metal head, it is possible to increase the moment of inertia.
Therefore, the sweet area can be enlarged, and the missed shot can be covered in a considerable range.

Further, for the same reason, the surface is not damaged, stained, or peeled off as in the case of a painted product.

When the plating layer has a multi-layer structure, characteristics corresponding to the characteristics of the plating material of each layer can be provided on the surface of the head, and the nickel-based or copper-based plating layer has no adhesive property. There is a feature that the bonding property is good, and the chromium-based plating layer has a feature that its specific gravity and hardness are large.
Also, a water repellent effect can be expected.

Further, when an anchor plating bath such as a nickel watt bath, a nickel sulfamate bath, a nickel sulfamate high concentration bath, a copper pyrophosphate bath, a copper sulfate bath or a gold strike bath is provided, an anchoring action by these baths is performed. It is possible to form a strong plating film that can withstand the impact at the time of hitting the ball.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a golf club head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a main part showing a plating structure of the head.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part showing a plating structure of a head for a golf club according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a main part showing a plating structure of a head for a golf club according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a plating structure of a head for a golf club according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a range of electrodeposition stress.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Metal head 2 Face 3 Plating layer 4,6,8,10,11 Nickel plating layer 5,9,12 Chrome plating layer 7 Copper plating layer

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] October 27, 1999 (1999.10.
27)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Name of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Patent application title: HEAD FOR GOLF CLUB AND MANUFACTURING THE SAME
Method

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[Correction target item name] Claims

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[Claims]

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[0001]

The present invention relates to a golf club head and a method of manufacturing the same.

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[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a golf club head according to the present invention is characterized in that a plating layer is provided on the surface of a metal head .
Nickel watt bath on the surface of titanium metal head,
Nickel sulfamate bath or nickel sulfamate
Nickel-based anchor plating consisting of
And then nickel plated.
And the golf club head of the present invention.
Manufacturing method is blasting on the surface of titanium-based metal head
Treatment and alkaline degreasing treatment, then nickel
Bath, nickel sulfamate bath or sulfamine
Nickel anchor consisting of nickel phosphate high concentration bath
Blasting and alkali removal again.
It is characterized by applying nickel plating after applying grease treatment
Is what you do.

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Furthermore, a nickel watt bath, a nickel sulfamate bath or a nickel sulfamate high concentration bath
These have an anchor plating bath consisting of
By the anchoring action of the anchor plating bath, it is possible to form a strong plating film that can withstand the impact at the time of hitting the ball.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A golf club head, wherein a plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head. 2. A golf club head, wherein a plating layer made of a material having a higher specific gravity than the material of the metal head is provided on a surface of the metal head. 3. A plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head,
The metal head is made of a titanium-based, aluminum-based or stainless-based material, and the plating layer is made of a chromium-based material.
A golf club head comprising a nickel-based or copper-based material. 4. A plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head,
A golf club head, wherein the plating layer has a multilayer structure. 5. A plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head,
2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the plating layer has a two-layer structure composed of nickel and chromium. 6. A plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head,
A head for a golf club, wherein the metal head is made of a titanium-based material, and the plating layer has a multilayer structure including an inner nickel layer, an outer nickel layer, and a chromium layer. 7. A plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head,
A golf club head, wherein the metal head is made of a titanium-based material, and the plating layer has a multilayer structure including a nickel layer, a copper layer, and a chromium layer. 8. A plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head,
A golf club head, wherein the metal head is made of a soft iron-based material, and the plating layer has a multilayer structure including a copper layer, a nickel layer and a chromium layer. 9. A plating layer is provided on a surface of a metal head,
An anchor plating bath is included in the plating layer, and the anchor plating bath comprises a nickel watt bath, a nickel sulfamate bath, a nickel sulfamate high concentration bath, a copper pyrophosphate bath, a copper sulfate bath or a gold strike bath. Golf club head.