JP2001224717A - Head for golf putter, its manufacture, and golf putter using the head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf putter which has a large moment of inertia of the head itself, a degree of freedom on design, and good feeling of ball fitting. SOLUTION: The ball hitting face part of this golf putter is constituted of a particle reinforcing type composite material of beryllium and an aluminum alloy containing at least one selected from the group consisting of magnesium, silicon, nickel, copper, zinc manganese, chromium, iron titanium, and zirconium, and the body part at least one selected from the group consisting of a titanium alloy, soft iron, an iron alloy, a nickel alloy, and a copper alloy.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a golf putter / club head having at least a striking surface portion, a body portion and a shaft fitting portion and formed in the shape of a putter / club head, a method of manufacturing the same, and the use of this head. Golf club putter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A putter-shaped golf club head has been actively studied for its shape.
Various shapes such as a T-shape, an L-shape, a pin shape, and a kamaboko shape are used. In any type,
In order to improve the directionality of the hit ball, an attempt has been made to increase the sweet spot.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] In the latest head described in [1], the weight of the central portion is reduced, and the weight is arranged at both ends to form a shape having a large inertia moment. Is being done. However, the shape alone has its limitations.

[0005] Therefore, there has been a strong demand for the appearance of a putter / club head in which the inertia moment of the putter / club head itself is even greater.

In addition, the feel of a putter club when hitting a ball is very important. If the material of the ball striking surface is too hard, the resilience at the time of hitting is too large, and the directionality and sense of distance of the ball are likely to be impaired. Therefore, the appearance of a putter club having a soft feel has been strongly desired.

The present invention has been made to improve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional putter / club head.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. The inventor of the present invention has improved the inertia moment of the putter-shaped golf club head and obtained a putter club head having a large hitting surface sweet spot and excellent hit feeling. ,
A study was conducted. As a result, they have found that beryllium having a much lower specific gravity is used instead of conventional iron, copper, titanium alloy, stainless steel, and the like.

The specific gravity of beryllium is very low at 1.85. 1.48th of aluminum (2.699) and 2.14 of titanium (4.43) conventionally used for golf club heads.
It is a very light metal with a 1 / 47th ratio and 4.32 times smaller than iron (7.87). Nevertheless, the high modulus, especially the specific modulus, is surprising, about 6.3 times that of aluminum, titanium and iron. Also, the specific strength is high, and if titanium (6Al-4V) is 1, the aluminum alloy (7075-T
6) is 0.92 and alloy steel (4340) is 0.75, while beryllium is 1.23. The present invention has been completed on the basis of such knowledge, and the present invention has a metal golf ball which has a much larger inertia moment than conventional products, and has a superior degree of freedom in designing the center of gravity. Can make club heads.

Further, the beryllium used in the present invention
The aluminum alloy particle reinforced composite material will be described.
The beryllium-aluminum alloy particle reinforced composite material used in the present invention is obtained by mixing fine powder of beryllium and fine powder of an aluminum alloy and subjecting the mixture to hot isostatic pressing or hot extrusion. And manufacture. In contrast, what is usually called an alloy is produced by melting raw materials, casting this, and, if necessary, hot working.
The manufacturing process mainly used in the present invention is thus completely different. By adopting the manufacturing method used in the present invention, a material having extremely excellent mechanical properties and other performances, which cannot be obtained by an alloy manufactured by the manufacturing method, can be obtained. The microstructure of the beryllium-aluminum alloy particle reinforced composite material used in the present invention is one in which fine particles of beryllium are finely dispersed in a matrix of an aluminum alloy. Since it is a composite material having such a structure, it is unlikely to be deformed even when subjected to external stress, that is, it has high strength, high toughness, and high elastic modulus. Further, the aluminum alloy of the matrix can be heat-treated depending on the composition. Accordingly, for example, when an aluminum alloy of 5.6% of zinc, 2.5% of magnesium, 1.6% of copper, 0.25% of chromium, and remaining aluminum is used and subjected to T6 heat treatment, the specific gravity is 2.38 and the tensile strength is increased. Strength 54kgf / square m
m, specific strength 22.7, elastic modulus 12654 kgf / square m
Very excellent mechanical properties such as m and specific elastic modulus 5317 can be obtained.

[0011] Further, according to the present invention, the body portion is composed of an iron-based alloy such as a titanium alloy, a soft iron, a stainless steel, or the like, a nickel alloy or a copper alloy. , A beryllium or a beryllium-aluminum particle reinforced composite material having a much lower specific gravity, or a beryllium-aluminum alloy particle reinforced composite material and a striking surface portion made of a composite material. Then, the inertia moment of the club head increases due to the difference in specific gravity between the two materials. Thus, the sweet spot is enlarged.

Further, as described in the preceding section,
From high specific gravity, soft iron, stainless steel, nickel alloy or copper alloy, low specific gravity, beryllium, or
By changing to a beryllium-aluminum particle reinforced composite or a beryllium-aluminum alloy particle reinforced composite, the weight of the club head is reduced. Thus, this weight can be placed at any position on the club head. For example, if a material having a very large specific gravity, such as tungsten or a tungsten alloy, is attached to both ends of the body portion, the moment of inertia of the head is further increased. In this method, a concave portion is provided in the body portion, and a material having a very large specific gravity, such as tungsten or a tungsten alloy, is mounted therein. In addition, by using beryllium for the striking surface, the degree of freedom in designing the club head is greatly improved.

Beryllium is an expensive material. Therefore,
The inventor has further studied the manufacturing method in order to reduce the manufacturing cost. As a result, beryllium and aluminum, or beryllium and aluminum alloy, are mixed in a powder state, compression-molded cold,
Sintering and / or hot extrusion and / or hot isostatic pressing
It is clear that it can be manufactured by
This has made it possible to provide the product of the present invention industrially at low cost.

In the case where the ball striking face is made of a particle-reinforced composite material of beryllium and an aluminum alloy, it has been successfully manufactured by the investment casting method. The production of castings from the molten metal or alloy by the investment casting method has already been performed for some metals. However, beryllium and beryllium alloys have poor performance when manufactured by a melting method. However, the inventors have found that by including nickel that particularly improves the flowability in the molten state, the investment casting method using the mixed state of the aluminum alloy in the molten state and beryllium in the solid phase allows the alloy to be beryllium. It has been found that a casting of a particle-reinforced composite material with an aluminum alloy can be manufactured. According to this method, the ball striking surface portion of the golf club head can be provided industrially at low cost.

In the case where the ball striking portion is made of a particle-reinforced composite material of beryllium and an aluminum alloy, the inventors have further studied to reduce the manufacturing cost. As a result, a semi-molten aluminum alloy containing at least one selected from the group consisting of magnesium, silicon, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, iron, titanium, and zirconium; It has been found that a solid product of a particle-reinforced composite material can be produced by solidifying under pressurized conditions into a product shape or a shape close thereto. According to this method,
It is possible to industrially provide a high-precision, light-weight golf ball head hitting surface portion industrially at low cost.

The composition of the material used in the present invention will be described. Beryllium is a pure metal. As impurities
Less than 3% BeO, less than 0.3% Al, less than 0.5% C, less than 0.2% C, less than 0.2% ppm Fe,
It can contain 0.2% or less of Mg and 0.2% or less of Si. The aluminum alloy contains at least one selected from the group consisting of aluminum and magnesium, silicon, nickel, copper, zinc, and manganese, and at least one selected from chromium, iron, titanium, and zirconium. If the content of magnesium is 1% or less, a remarkable improvement in strength cannot be expected, and if it is 10% or more, the ductility sharply decreases. Therefore, the content of magnesium is set to 1% or more and 10% or less. If the content of silicon is 0.3% or less, a remarkable improvement in strength cannot be expected, and if it is 10.0% or more, the ductility sharply decreases.
% Or less. If the content of nickel is 0.1% or less, remarkable improvement in fluidity in the molten state cannot be expected, and 10.0%
Above, the degree of improvement of the effect decreases,
1% or more and 10.0% or less. If the content of copper is 0.1% or less, remarkable improvement in mechanical properties by heat treatment cannot be expected, and if it is 10.0% or more, the degree of improvement in its effect is reduced. It was as follows. If the content of zinc is 0.01% or less, remarkable improvement in mechanical properties by heat treatment cannot be expected, and if it is 10.0% or more, stress corrosion cracking is likely to occur.
It was as follows. When manganese is 0.1% or less, remarkable improvement in strength cannot be expected, and when manganese is 2.0% or more, the ductility rapidly decreases. Therefore, chromium and zirconium are used in an amount of 0.1% or more and 2.0% or less. Means that recrystallized grains are refined and stress corrosion cracking resistance is prevented, but significant improvement cannot be expected in both chromium and zirconium at 0.01% or less, and the improvement of the effect decreases at 5.0% or more. Therefore, the content is set to 0.01% or more and 5.0% or less. Iron improves the strength, but if it is 0.01% or less, no remarkable improvement can be expected. If it is 5.0% or more, the degree of improvement in its effect is reduced. Therefore, iron is 0.01% or more and 5.0% or less. And Titanium improves the corrosion resistance, but if it is 0.01% or less, no remarkable improvement can be expected. If it is 5.0% or more, the degree of improvement in its effect is reduced, so that 0.01% or more and 5.0% or less.
It was as follows.

In the case of a putter club, the shot feeling is very important together with the moment of inertia. The beryllium, beryllium-aluminum particle reinforced composite material, and beryllium-aluminum alloy particle reinforced composite material used in the present invention have high specific strength but low hardness. Because of its low hardness, putter clubs made of these materials have a good feel at impact. Thereby, excellent directionality and a sense of distance of the hit ball can be obtained.

To further improve the feel at impact, a thin layer of a softer material is formed on the surface of the ball striking surface. That is, at least one selected from the group consisting of gold, gold alloy, silver, silver alloy, copper, copper alloy, lead, lead alloy, zinc, zinc alloy, aluminum, aluminum alloy, magnesium, magnesium alloy, and synthetic resin. One type of thin layer covers the ball striking surface. As a method of coating, a method such as plating or vapor deposition may be used. Further, a cladding method may be used.

The environment in which the head of a golf club is used is apt to be humid, and is subjected to repeated stress.
Therefore, electrolytic corrosion is likely to occur on the ball striking surface,
Measures are needed to prevent this. Coating the surface is one of the methods. The coating method can be selected from a vapor deposition treatment, a chemical conversion treatment, a ceramic dispersion plating treatment, a CVD coating treatment, a PVD coating treatment, an HCD ion plating treatment, a DLC treatment and a diamond coating treatment.

The basic feature of the present invention is that, as described above, the ball striking surface portion is made of a particle-reinforced composite material of beryllium and an aluminum alloy, whereby excellent properties can be obtained. In some cases, however, these may need to be sacrificed to some extent to reduce costs. In that case, instead of the above-described method based on the powder metallurgy method, it is possible to employ a melting method which is a method of manufacturing an ordinary alloy. A) beryllium b) aluminum c) at least one a, b, or a selected from the group consisting of magnesium, silicon, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, iron, titanium, and zirconium;
After the components containing components b and c are uniformly melted by a melting method, they are solidified and used. If necessary, this can be plastically worked into a predetermined shape for use. This makes it possible to supply an iron club head at low cost. .

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated one.

First, a golf putter club shown in FIG. 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. This putter
As shown in FIG. 1, the club 1 includes a putter / club head 3 and a shaft 4 having a tip portion fixed to the head 3 in a fitted state. Also, the head 3
Body part 6 and weight parts 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-
4 and the striking surface 2. Body part 6 is 43
0 stainless steel. The ball striking surface 5 is made of beryllium-
The surface of the plate of the aluminum alloy particle reinforced composite material is plated with gold, and attached to the body part 6 with screws. In addition, the weight parts 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5
Reference numeral -4 uses a copper-tungsten alloy and is mounted on the body part 6 by press fitting. Further, the shaft 4 may be one conventionally used.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the ball striking face 2 is made of a beryllium-7075 aluminum alloy particle reinforced composite material. Further, weight portions 5-1 and 5-2 are mounted on both ends of the body portion 6 by press-fitting, whereby a high inertia moment is obtained.

[0024]

According to the present invention, in a putter-club head, a ball striking surface portion is formed of beryllium or beryllium;
A particle-reinforced composite material with an aluminum alloy containing at least one selected from the group consisting of magnesium, silicon, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, iron, titanium, zirconium, and boron. Is what it is. This particle-reinforced composite material is made of iron alloy,
Specific gravity is smaller than copper alloys. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a golf club head having a large moment of inertia, a large sweet spot, and a large degree of freedom in design, as compared with the related art. Also, since this material is soft, an excellent shot feeling can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf putter club according to a first embodiment of the present invention, showing only a tip end portion of a shaft.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a golf putter club according to a second embodiment of the present invention, showing only a tip end portion of a shaft.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. Golf putter club 2. Ball striking face part 3. Head for putter club 4. Shaft 5-1 Weight 5-2.・ ・ Weight 5-1 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Weight 5-2 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Weight 6 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Body part

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A golf putter / club having at least a hitting surface portion provided on a front surface, a body portion for supporting the same, and a shaft fitting portion for attaching a shaft, and having a putter / club head shape. A golf putter-club head, wherein the hitting surface portion is made of beryllium. 2. A golf putter / club having at least a hitting surface portion provided on a front surface, a body portion for supporting the same, and a shaft fitting portion for mounting a shaft, and having a putter / club head shape. A golf putter-club head, wherein the hitting surface portion is made of a particle-reinforced composite material of beryllium and aluminum. 3. A golf putter / club having at least a hitting surface portion provided on a front surface, a body portion for supporting the same, and a shaft fitting portion for attaching a shaft, and having a putter / club head shape. In the head, the ball striking portion is made of beryllium and an aluminum alloy containing at least one selected from the group consisting of magnesium, silicon, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, iron, titanium, and zirconium. A golf putter-club head comprising a mold composite material. 4. A golf putter-club having at least a hitting surface portion provided on a front surface, a body portion supporting the same, and a shaft fitting portion for attaching a shaft, and having a putter-club head shape. A head for a golf putter / club, wherein the hitting surface portion is made of an alloy of beryllium and aluminum. 5. A golf putter-club having at least a hitting surface portion provided on a front surface, a body portion supporting the same, and a shaft fitting portion for mounting a shaft, and formed in a putter-club head shape. In the head, the hitting surface portion contains at least one selected from the group consisting of magnesium, silicon, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, iron, titanium, and zirconium.
A golf putter / club head comprising a beryllium-aluminum alloy. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the ball striking surface portion is made of copper, copper alloy, gold, gold alloy, silver, silver alloy, nickel,
At least one selected from the group consisting of nickel alloy, chromium, chromium alloy, cobalt, cobalt alloy, iron, iron alloy, lead, lead alloy, aluminum, aluminum alloy, and synthetic resin; A golf putter / club head characterized by being clad. 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the coating layer provided on the ball striking surface is formed by vapor deposition, chemical conversion coating, ceramic dispersion coating, CVD coating, PVD coating, HCD ion plating, or DLC. A golf putter / club head formed of at least one selected from the group consisting of a diamond coating process and a diamond coating process. 8. A golf putter / club head according to claim 1, wherein at least one member selected from the group consisting of tungsten and a tungsten alloy is attached to both ends of the body portion. 9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the striking surface portion is formed by cold-pressing the raw material in a mixed powder state, and then sintering and / or hot-extrusion and / or hot-pressing. Pressure (Hot Isostatic Press)
ing) to produce a golf iron club head. 10. The striking surface portion according to claim 1, wherein
Group consisting of magnesium, silicon, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, iron, titanium, and zirconium
A golf putter club manufactured by casting by an investment casting method from a coexistence state of an aluminum alloy in a molten state containing at least one selected from the group consisting of beryllium and beryllium in a solid phase. Manufacturing method of the head. 11. The striking surface portion according to claim 1, wherein
Group consisting of magnesium, silicon, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese, chromium, iron, titanium, and zirconium
A golf putter club manufactured by solidifying under a pressurized state from a coexistence state of a molten aluminum alloy containing at least one selected from the group consisting of beryllium and a solid phase beryllium. Manufacturing method of the head. 12. A golf putter-club head provided with a shaft to which the tip of the head according to claim 1 is fixed.