JP2001000599A - Golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate production, to sufficiently maintain the strength over the entire part and to increase a carry. SOLUTION: This golf club head is constituted by fitting a face member 2 into the cavity designed to form a ball hitting surface enclosed by the respective front surfaces on the top 6 side, sole side 7, heel side and toe side of head body 1, welding the outer peripheral end surfaces, disposing a space 5 between the entire rear surface of the face member exclusive of this welding point and a face back member of the head body behind the same and forming the face back member facing this space so as to be gradually parted from the face member toward the point facing the center of the face member from the welding point of the face back member. The maximum spacing distance is specified to <=1.2 mm and the face member is formed by forging or rolling of rolled stock and is so formed that the thickness of the face member after the subtraction of the depth of the grooves of the corrugations of the face member is 0.5 to 2.5 mm. The face back member is formed of the same material as the material of the face member by casting or forging and the rear surface thereof is formed as a back face 4A.

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 in which a metal face member serving as a striking surface is fixed to a front surface of a metal head body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The prior art is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-3275.
No. 34 (conventional example 1) and JP-A-11-114105 (conventional example 2) are known. In Conventional Example 1, a face member is fixed to the front surface of a metal hollow shell,
A hollow portion inside the shell is partitioned, and a partition is provided so as to provide a space between the shell and the face member. The face member is press-fitted until it comes into contact with the step on the front surface of the shell, and is not welded. By providing this partition, the strength of the shell or the entire head is improved without increasing the thickness of the hollow shell. Further, in Conventional Example 2, a backup member is provided on the back side of the face member, and a space is provided between the backup member and the face member. A hollow portion of the hollow shell is provided on the back side of the backup member. Exists. The outer peripheral portion of the face member and the outer peripheral portion of the backup member are welded to form a face unit, and this unit is fitted and welded to an edge (step) formed at an opening of the shell.

[0003]

Along with the prior art examples 1 and 2, a partition wall and a backup member are provided immediately after the face member, but these are present inside the hollow shell, and the back surface thereof is the back face. However, there are various manufacturing problems. In Conventional Example 1, the partition is welded to the inside of the hollow shell later, or the front part of the hollow shell including the partition and the rear part after the partition are manufactured separately and welded later. . In Conventional Example 2, a face member and a backup member were welded to manufacture a face unit in advance, and this face unit had to be welded to the front surface of the hollow shell. Further, in the conventional example 1, it is impossible to integrally manufacture the entire hollow shell and the partition by casting or forging because the hollow portion exists behind the partition, and welding at a plurality of locations is inevitable. This leads to an increase in the number of manufacturing processes. Furthermore, in the conventional example 1, merely improving the strength of the shell body has not sufficiently improved the increase of the flight distance. In addition, since the face member is press-fitted and the outer peripheral edge on the back side is in contact with the stepped portion, if the impact is repeated, the vicinity of the outer peripheral end of the face member may be deformed and the face member may come off. In Conventional Example 2, the distance between the face member and the backup member is 1 to 10 mm at the center of the face member, and the face member and the backup member are formed of a lightweight metal such as titanium, a titanium alloy, or duralumin, and have a thickness of 1 mm. 0.5-2.0m
Although there is a description of m, the backup member itself does not constitute the head body. In addition, since the outer peripheral edge on the back side of the face unit is in contact with the step of the opening of the shell, sufficient bending of the backup member cannot be expected.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head which is easy to manufacture, maintains a sufficient overall strength, and increases the flight distance.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a golf club head in which a metal face member serving as a ball striking surface is fixed to a front surface of a metal head body. The face member is welded to the face member outer peripheral end face by fitting the face member into the space where the striking surface is to be formed and surrounded by the front surfaces of the side, sole, heel, and toe sides. A space is provided between the back surface and the face back member of the head body behind the face member, and the face member facing the space is gradually moved from a welding position with the face member to a position facing the center of the face member. The face member is formed by forging or rolling a rolled material while forming the face member at a maximum separation distance of 1.2 mm or less. The thickness of the face member after the corrugation groove depth of the material is reduced to 0.5 to 2.5 mm, and the face back member is formed by casting or forging with the same material as the face member, and the back surface is backed. It is a face.

[0006]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a substantially vertical longitudinal section of the face surface is shown, and a metal face member 2 serving as a hitting surface is fixed to the front surface of the head body 1. In this embodiment, a hosel 3 is formed integrally with the head body 1. Further, a face back member 4 located behind the face member 2 is formed on the head main body 1, and is gradually separated from the face member 2 from a place where the face member 2 is fixed to a place facing the center of the face member 2. A space 5 having a maximum separation distance L of 1.2 mm or less is provided between the face member 2. The face member 2 is formed with a corrugation 2A. Reference numerals 6 and 7 indicate a top and a sole of the head body 1.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the head body 1 before the face member 2 is fixed. The front face 6A on the top 6 side, the front face 7A on the sole 7 side, the front face 8A on the heel 8 side, the toe The face member 2 is fitted into a cavity 10 to be formed with a striking surface surrounded by the front surface 9A on the 9 side, and the outer peripheral end surface of the face member 2 is welded to the end surface of each of the front surfaces 6A to 9A facing the cavity 10. It has become. The welding of the face member 2 to the head body 1 is preferably performed by arc welding.

The head body 1 and the face member 2 are both made of metal, and the face member 2 is formed by forging or rolling a rolled material. The face back member 4 is formed by forging or casting, and the back surface is a back face 4A. In this embodiment, the cavity 11 is formed on the back surface 4A of the face back member 4. This cavity 11
In the figure, the meat on the back surface of the face back member 4 is scraped off leaving the peripheral edge of the back face 4A. As the face member 2, a titanium alloy such as β titanium alloy or SP700 alloy is used, and as the head body 1, a cast titanium alloy such as Ti-6Al-4V can be used. When a β titanium alloy which is a forged titanium alloy is used as the face member 2, the tensile strength of the β titanium alloy is 1000 Mp.
a. Alternatively, when the rolled titanium alloy SP700 (trade name) is used as the face member 2, the tensile strength is 1023 Mpa. Ti, a cast titanium alloy
-6Al-4V has a low tensile strength of 896 Mpa. Further, in the case of casting, a cavity may be formed during casting, or foreign matter may be mixed in, and the strength may be reduced. Since the face member 2 is more easily deflected than usual at the time of hitting a golf ball, it is strong in terms of strength and has defects. It is preferable to select a material that does not easily occur. When the face member 2 is fixed to the head main body 1 by welding, it is preferable that both materials are the same.

When the face member 2 is made of a material different from that of the head main body 1 and the face member 2 is mechanically fixed to the head main body 1 by fitting or caulking, the golf club takes advantage of the deflection of the face member 2. When trying to fly the ball, the face member 2 having a reduced thickness is greatly deformed, so that the fitting portion and the caulked portion are deformed, and the face member 2 may come off. Therefore, the face member 2
And the head body 1 is one means of making the material hard to wear or deform by a method of equalizing the hardness of the material, but using the same material as described above, that is, selecting a forged titanium alloy and a cast titanium alloy, Adhesion by arc welding such as TIG welding or MIG welding is most preferable.

The thickness of the face member after the depth of the groove of the corrugation 2A of the face member 2 is subtracted (excluding) is set to 0.5 to 2.5 mm, particularly preferably 0.8 to 2.0 mm. The thickness of the face member 2 is preferably 1 mm or less for a general iron club head, and 1.2 mm or less for a so-called utility club head. Similarly, the thickness of the thinnest portion of the face back member 4 is also 1.0.
~ 3.0 mm is preferred. The depth of the groove of the corrugation 2A is about 0.2 to 0.5, and the shape of the groove is preferably not a V-shape but a U-shape having a rounded groove bottom. This is because stress concentrates on the bottom of the V-shaped groove and the face member 2 is easily damaged, and the thickness of the V-shaped groove must be increased accordingly. At least, the thickness of the face member after subtracting the depth of the groove of the corrugation 2A from the overall thickness of the face member 2 is preferably smaller than the thickness of the thinnest portion of the face back member 4. If the thickness of the face member 2 is too small, the face member 2 is easily damaged or deformed. Conversely, if the thickness is too large, the weight becomes heavy and the entire head cannot be enlarged.

The maximum separation distance L is 1.2 mm or less, but is preferably 0.5 to 1.2 mm, and this distance L can be changed according to the material and thickness used for the face member 2. . In the case of a head called an iron head or a utility club, the striking surface of the face member 2 is a flat plate, but the surface of the face back member 4 is formed in a dish-like shape, and the shape in which the center portion is most depressed is formed. preferable. Since the face member 2 bends in a bow shape when hit with a ball, no step is formed between the end of the face member 2 and the face back member 4. For example, the face back member 4 is not provided with a stepped portion such that the rear side outer peripheral edge of the face member 2 wrapping around from the outer peripheral end face (weld portion) comes into contact with the face back member 4.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which a plurality of holes 12 which do not penetrate from the back face 4A of the face back member 4 toward the space 5 are formed. A small hole may be formed in the hole 12 to penetrate the space 5.

Next, an example of manufacturing a cavity back type 4 iron head having a loft angle of 24 ° will be described. Cast stainless steel (SUS63) as the head body 1
0), a maraging stainless steel was used as the face member 2, and the face member 2 was fixed to the head body 1 by welding. The thickness of the face member 2 is 1.5 m
m, the groove depth of the corrugation 2A was 0.3 mm (U-shaped groove), and the thinnest portion of the face back member 4 was 1.0 mm. The surface of the face back member 4 was formed in a dish shape, and the maximum separation distance L between the face member 2 and the face back member 4 was 1.0 mm.

Evaluation of actual hitting between a head having a 4-iron as described above and a shaft made of carbon fiber reinforced resin to make the club length 38 inches, and a general 4-iron having a cavity back type. Was done. Table 1 shows the results.

[0016]

[Table 1]

As shown in Table 1, the golf club head of the present invention obtained a test result that the golf club head flies better than a commercially available golf club head. Since the head of the present invention is suitable for a club in which the flight distance is emphasized, it is preferable to use the head for a club having a loft angle of 25 ° or less. For example, it can be suitably used for a utility club having a hollow portion using a long iron, a titanium alloy, or the like.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, in a golf club head in which a metal face member serving as a hitting surface is fixed to the front surface of a metal head body.
The face member is fitted into the space where the striking surface is to be formed surrounded by the front sides of the top side, sole side, heel side, and toe side of the head body, and the outer peripheral end face of the face member is welded. A space is provided between the entire back surface of the face member and the face back member of the head main body behind the face member, and the face back member facing this space is directed from a welding position with the face member to a position facing the center of the face member. Formed so as to be gradually separated from the face member, the maximum separation distance is set to 1.2 mm or less, the face member is formed by forging or rolling a rolled material, and the depth of the corrugation groove of the face member is reduced. The thickness of the face member after the formation is 0.5 to 2.5 mm, and the face back member is formed by casting or forging with the same material as the face member. As the back face, only the head body and the face member need to be welded together, manufacturing is easy, and the face member can be made thin enough to bend sufficiently. Since the face member is fixed to the head body at the outer peripheral end face, before the face member bends in an arc shape and plastically deforms when hitting the ball, it hits the face back portion and the face member returns to give the ball a maximum flight distance. Can be. At this time, the face back portion supports the deformation of the face back member. Also, by welding the outer peripheral end face of the face member,
In addition to providing sufficient bending, the same material is welded to each other, so that the bonding strength is high, and the risk of the face member coming off the head body is eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a central longitudinal sectional view showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the head main body before the face member is fixed.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the head main body.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head main body 2 Face member 4 Face back member 4A Back face 5 Space 6 Top 7 Sole 8 Heel 9 Toe 6A-9A Front surface 10 Void L Maximum separation distance

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A golf club head having a metal face member serving as a striking surface fixed to a front surface of a metal head body, wherein the head body has a front surface on a top side, a sole side, a heel side, and a toe side. The face member is fitted into the enclosed space where the ball striking surface is to be formed, and the outer peripheral end face of the face member is welded. A space is formed between the entire back surface of the face member except for this welded portion and the face back member of the head body behind the face member. The face back member facing this space is formed so as to be gradually separated from the face member from a welding portion with the face member toward a portion facing the center of the face member, and the maximum separation distance is 1.2 mm. The face member is formed by forging or rolling a rolled material, and the face after corrugation groove depth of the face member is subtracted. The thickness of the wood to form a 0.5 to 2.5 mm, the face back member is formed by casting or forging in a face member of the same material golf club head characterized in that the the back and back face. 2. The face back member according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the thinnest portion of the face back member is greater than the thickness of the face member obtained by subtracting the depth of the corrugation groove cut on the surface of the face member. Golf club head. 3. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the maximum separation distance between the face member and the face back member is 0.5 to 1.2 mm. 4. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein a hole which does not penetrate from the back face toward the space is formed in the face back member. 5. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein a cavity is formed on the back face of the face back portion while leaving a peripheral edge.