JP2001231894A - Golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf club head comprising an alloyed steel of light weight and excellent in strength which is capable of increasing the volume. SOLUTION: This golf club comprises the alloyed steel of martensitebased metal composition consisting of 0.01-0.07 wt.% C, 0.1-0.5 wt.% Si, 0.01-0.2 wt.% Mn, 5.4-6.0 wt.% Ni, 12.0-14.0 wt.% Cr, 2.5-3.4 wt.% Mo, 1.5-2.5 wt.% Cu, 6.5-8.0 wt.% Co, 0.3-1.5 wt.% Nb, and the balance Fe with inevitable impurities which may contain Al or Ti of 0.5 wt.% or less.

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 which is lightweight, has high strength, and has a relatively large volume.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, metal wood of golf clubs and club heads of irons are made of stainless steel S.
What is referred to as US630 or SUS431 is often used. These stainless steel club heads are manufactured by precision casting, and it is desired that these golf clubs are easy to swing and hard to cause a miss shot such that a hit ball goes straight without bending right and left. ing. For this reason, efforts are made to make the golf club head lighter to make it easier to swing, to widen the optimal hitting area on the face face of the club head, and to increase the moment of inertia in order to avoid miss shots where the hitting ball slices or hooks. Has been made.

[0003] However, if the optimal hitting area of the club head is widened, the flight direction is stable even if the position of hitting the golf ball on the face is not constant, so that the number of missed shots can be reduced. In addition, when the moment of inertia of the club head is increased, the rotation of the head due to the impact of the head when the golf ball is hit is slightly suppressed, so that the optimum hitting area is eventually expanded and the hitting direction is stabilized. Was.

[0004] In addition, in the case of a metal wood head having a hollow structure, the weight is distributed more toward the sole portion than the crown portion of the head, and the center of gravity of the head is lowered, so that the head face of the head is optimally hit. Attempts have been made to increase the moment of inertia by enlarging the area or increasing the volume of the club head. On the other hand, in the case of the iron head, the weight is distributed more to the periphery of the head, such as the toe (front) and the heel (front), than the vicinity of the center of gravity of the head, so as to enlarge the optimal hitting area.

[0005]

Even if the optimum hitting ball area can be expanded as in the prior art, the overall weight of the club increases with the increase in the volume of the club head.
The problem was that a light swing became difficult. On the other hand, in order to suppress an increase in weight, the thickness of the head is reduced entirely and partially to reduce the strength of the head and cause cracks. The resilience was reduced. In particular, with conventional iron heads made of stainless steel, it is impossible to greatly change the volume or thickness of the head, and at present, it is practically difficult to expand the optimal hitting area by the above method.

Recently, a golf head using a titanium alloy having a strength equal to that of stainless steel and a specific gravity smaller than that of stainless steel has been developed to solve the above problems. However, the titanium alloy is expensive and has a very high activity, so that a special production apparatus by a dense casting method is required, which is a problem because the golf club becomes expensive. The object of the present invention is to solve such problems,
An object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head that can maintain the strength of a golf head and increase the volume without increasing the overall weight. The object of the present invention is to
It is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive golf club head which is excellent in strength against hitting balls, has few missed shots when hitting balls, and has low cost.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a metal golf head which is as light and inexpensive as titanium alloys and which is easy to manufacture.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The object of the present invention is to provide:
C: 0.01 to 0.07% by weight, Si: 0.1 to 0.5
Wt%, Mn: 0.01 to 0.2 wt%, Ni: 5.4
To 6.0% by weight, Cr: 12.0 to 14.0% by weight, M
o: 2.5-3.4% by weight, Cu: 1.5-2.5% by weight, Co: 6.5-8.0% by weight, Nb: 0.3-1.
It can be achieved by a golf club head having a composition of 5% by weight, the balance being Fe and impurities unavoidably mixed therein, and composed of an alloy steel having a metal structure mainly composed of martensite.

Further, the alloy steel has a T content of 0.5% by weight or less.
The above object can be achieved by a structure made of an alloy steel which is a metal structure mainly composed of martensite and contains i and / or Al.

The golf club head of the present invention is a martensite-based high-hardness alloy steel having the above composition and has a value equivalent to the specific gravity of conventional stainless steel and has a strength exceeding that of stainless steel. It is possible to reduce the thickness of the club head while maintaining high strength, and to distribute the weight of the entire club without changing the weight even if the volume is increased. Therefore, the abrasion resistance due to use is excellent, and generation of scratches on the face surface can be avoided.

The golf club head of the present invention has a low carbon content, but increases the amount of Cr to 12 to 14% by weight, and further contains Cu to increase the strength of the metal structure and reduce the volume due to the light weight. Increase is possible.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

EXAMPLE As shown in Table 1, the golf club head of the present invention has a specific gravity of alloy steel of 8.0, which is close to the specific gravity of stainless steel (SUS63017-4PH) of comparative example of 7.8. Tensile strength is 950MPa of stainless steel
Whereas the club head of the present invention of the embodiment is 1
It was proved to be quite strong at 550 MPa. Also,
In this embodiment, the hardness of the alloy steel is 470 HV, whereas the hardness of the stainless steel is 310 HV, and the titanium alloy (6-
Since 4) is 317 HV, it is clear that it is superior in resilience to these conventional products.

[0012]

[Table 1]

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, it has been found that the hardness of the face surface of the club head is superior to that of a conventional product, and that the same strength can be obtained even if the thickness is reduced.

[0014]

Since the golf club head of the present invention is formed mainly of alloy steel having a specific gravity equivalent to that of stainless steel and having a strength higher than that of stainless steel, it is the same as a conventional club head made of stainless steel. Even if it is heavy, the thickness of the club head can be reduced to increase the volume of the club head. As a result, the optimal hitting area can be expanded, and a stable hitting direction can be ensured.

Further, since the resilience of the club head is excellent, the initial velocity of the golf ball at the time of hitting the ball can be easily increased, and the contact time between the golf ball and the face surface is shortened. Therefore, since no extra spin is applied to the ball, slicing in the hitting direction and bending of the hook can be suppressed, and the ball runs longer after falling on the ground, thereby increasing the overall flight distance.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a graph showing a hardness test result of a golf club head of the present invention.

Claims (2)

[Claims] C: 0.01 to 0.07% by weight, Si:
0.1 to 0.5% by weight, Mn: 0.01 to 0.2% by weight, Ni: 5.4 to 6.0% by weight, Cr: 12.0 to 1
4.0% by weight, Mo: 2.5 to 3.4% by weight, Cu:
1.5 to 2.5% by weight, Co: 6.5 to 8.0% by weight,
Nb: A golf club head containing 0.3 to 1.5% by weight, the balance being Fe and an alloy steel having a metal structure mainly composed of martensite, which is an impurity unavoidably mixed therein. 2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein said alloy steel is made of an alloy steel having a metal structure mainly composed of martensite containing 0.5% by weight or less of Ti and / or Al.