JP2001259090A - Method for manufacturing golf club head made of titanium or titanium alloy - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy which tremendously enhances the durability of a face plate and does not allow the face plate to break even in a long-term use. SOLUTION: This method for manufacturing the golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy comprises forming the golf club head 1 by joining a back face 2 which is made of titanium or a titanium alloy as a blank and is formed by a casting method and the face plate 3 which is formed of titanium or a titanium alloy having a strength higher that the strength of the back face 2 as a blank and is formed by a casting method, by welding 5. After the back face 2 and the face plate 3 are joined by executing welding 5, both are subjected to a solution heat treatment, then to an aging treatment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Titanium or titanium alloy golf club heads (hereinafter referred to as heads) are currently the mainstream products of this type, and such heads have conventionally been produced by casting and forging. It was widely produced using two types of manufacturing methods: First, a typical example of the casting method is a head formed by a casting method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-112498.
A hollow back face having an opening on the front side and a face plate are precision-cast integrally, and the back plate and the face plate are sealed. On the other hand, a typical forging method is disclosed in JP-A-3-170.
No. 720 discloses a forged back face and a face plate joined by welding.

[0003]

However, in general, heads manufactured by a casting method and a forging method each have characteristics that are contradictory to each other. Has the advantage of being easily processed, but on the other hand, has the disadvantage that the elongation of the manufactured product is small and the toughness value is inferior. On the other hand, the forging method had characteristics completely opposite to those of the casting method. For this reason, as a criterion regarded as important in the manufacture of the head, the face plate needs to have high strength and high toughness capable of improving the flight distance and preventing the ball from breaking on impact. The face required flexibility of the processing shape to improve the head balance when swinging the golf club, so each manufacturing method had disadvantages at the product level when manufacturing the head. Had.

[0004] In recent years, a manufacturing method has been disclosed which combines the respective characteristics of the casting method and the forging method. Among the manufacturing methods, a particularly typical method is to cast the back face with a titanium alloy, A face plate formed of a titanium alloy having a higher strength than that of a back face subjected to aging treatment and solution treatment, and each constituent part is joined (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-170020), or a back face made of titanium alloy On the other hand, the face plate integrated with the neck part that holds the club shaft is made of a titanium alloy that is stronger than the back face that has been subjected to aging treatment and solution treatment, and each component is welded to the head There was a method of manufacturing.

However, even in each of the manufacturing methods having both the casting method and the forging method as described above, the procedure is such that the face plate which has been subjected to the aging treatment or the solution treatment is welded to the back face. However, such a high strength is rather an adverse effect, and the workability of the head after joining is very poor, leading to an increase in manufacturing cost, and the face plate that has been subjected to each of the heat treatments described above has a heat during welding. Due to the history, the change in mechanical properties becomes very large near the welded part of the face plate, the material deteriorates significantly, and as a result, the head breaks after a short use. there were.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy, in which the durability of the face plate is remarkably improved and the face plate is not broken even when used for a long period of time. It is in.

[0007]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a back face made of titanium or a titanium alloy and formed by a casting method. A method of manufacturing a golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy, in which a golf club head is formed by welding a face plate formed of titanium or a titanium alloy having a higher strength as a raw material and formed by a forging method by welding. After joining the back face and the face plate by welding,
It is characterized by being subjected to a solution treatment and then to an aging treatment. The present invention is also applied to a face plate having a neck portion for holding a club shaft, as in the second aspect of the present invention.

The titanium alloy used for the back face is, specifically, a Ti-6Al-4V alloy or the like. The titanium alloy used for the face plate is, specifically, Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy or Ti-15V.
-3Al-3Cr-3Sn alloy, Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al alloy and the like. The solution treatment refers to one of the components of titanium or titanium alloy forming the face plate.
Alternatively, this is a treatment method in which the two components are heated to a temperature at which they dissolve in another solid solution, then rapidly cooled, and the components are prevented from being precipitated on the face plate. On the other hand, the aging treatment is a treatment method in which a low-temperature heat treatment is performed as compared with the solution treatment to precipitate an unstable phase of titanium or a titanium alloy and increase hardness, strength, electric conductivity, and the like.

With this configuration, the back face and the face plate are welded and joined, and then the solution treatment and the aging treatment are sequentially performed. The structure is modified into a homogeneous metal structure, and at the same time, the mechanical strength of titanium or a titanium alloy is also enhanced, so that the face plate can be prevented from breaking for continuous use of the golf club. Further, since the shape processing and adjustment of the golf club head are performed before the heat treatment, the work efficiency of manufacturing the golf club head is remarkably improved.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a head 1 formed by a method for manufacturing a titanium or titanium alloy golf club head according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the head 1 according to the first embodiment, the back face 2 having the neck 4 at the upper end is precision-cast with a titanium alloy, while the face plate 3 is forged with a titanium alloy having a higher strength than the back face 2. After joining the back face 2 and the face plate 3 formed by the manufacturing method described above by welding 5, the face plate 3
And a solution treatment for the back face 2 and then an aging treatment for the face plate 3 subjected to the solution treatment. In the solution treatment and the aging treatment described above, since the welding 5 is performed in the previous step, the method is applied to both the face plate 3 and the back face 2. However, the effect of each heat treatment is exerted on the face plate. There are only three.

FIG. 2 shows a head 1 according to a second embodiment manufactured by the present invention. The head 1 has a face plate 7 and a neck portion 4 for holding a club shaft 6 integrated therein. The head 1 of the second embodiment is manufactured according to the following conditions, and each head 1 is subjected to a swing test repeatedly, and the durability of the face plate 7 is applied to the face plate 7. Three kinds of titanium alloys capable of the above were selected, and each of the titanium alloys was compared in Experiments 1 to 3.

[0012]

EXAMPLES (Experiment 1) An experiment was conducted by setting each condition as follows. The face plates 7 of (1) to (3) all use the one integrated with the neck part 4, while the back face 2 is
A precision-cast Ti-6Al-4V alloy was used. (1) Face plate: A round bar made of a Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy is hot-forged freely, further subjected to a solution treatment only, and welded to a back face 2 for use. (2) Face plate: A round bar made of a Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy is hot-forged, subjected to a solution treatment, then subjected to an aging treatment, and then welded to the back face 2 and used for welding 5. (3) Face plate: A round bar made of a Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloy, which has been hot forged freely, is welded 5 to the back face 2, then subjected to a solution treatment, and further to an aging treatment. Use things. Each of the heads (1) to (3) thus configured was tested for each item by the following method.

[0013]

[Table 1] The head 1 manufactured under each condition was swung at 50 m / s (average swing speed of a professional golfer), and the durability of each face plate 7 was measured. As shown in Table 1, 20 to 40 swing tests were performed. Just went
In the above (1) and (2), all the face plates 7 were broken, but in the (3), 3
Even when the swing test was performed 000 times, the face plate 7 did not break.

(Experiment 2) An experiment was conducted by setting each condition as follows. Note that the face plates 7 in (1) to (3) are all used integrally with the neck part 4, while the back face 2 is all made of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. Use precision casting. (1) Face plate: Ti-15V-3Al-3Cr-
A round bar of 3Sn alloy is hot free forged, further subjected to a solution treatment, and welded to the back face 2 by use 5. (2) Face plate: Ti-15V-3Al-3Cr-
A round bar of 3Sn alloy is hot free forged, subjected to a solution treatment, then subjected to an aging treatment and then welded to the back face 2 by use of a 5. (3) Face plate: Ti-15V-3Al-3Cr-
A round bar of 3Sn alloy hot-forged with a back face 2 which has been welded 5 in advance and joined, and the joined face plate 7 has been subjected to a solution treatment and then to an aging treatment. use.

[0015]

[Table 2] As in Experiment 1, the durability of each face plate 7 was measured at a swing speed of 50 m / s. As shown in Table 2, when the swing test was performed 1000 to 1500 times, (1) and (2) In the case of (3), all the face plates 7 were broken, but in the case of (3), 30
Even when the swing test was performed 00 times, the face plate 7 did not break.

(Experiment 3) The face plate 7 and the back face 2 forming the head 1 were constructed as described below, and an experiment was conducted under the conditions set. (1) Face plate: A round bar made of a Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al alloy is hot-forged, subjected to solution treatment, and then joined to the back face 2 by welding 5. (2) Face plate: A round bar made of a Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al alloy is hot free forged, subjected to a solution treatment and an aging treatment, and then welded to a back face 2 for use. (3) Face plate: A round bar of Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al alloy is hot-forged freely, and the back plate 2 is welded, subjected to a solution treatment, and further subjected to an aging treatment.

[0017]

[Table 3] As in Experiments 1 and 2, the durability of each faceplate 7 was measured at a speed of 50 m / s.
Just by performing a swing test of 00 to 150 times,
In the cases of (1) and (2), all the face plates 7 were broken, but in the case of (3), the face plate 7 did not break even after 3000 swing tests.

As a result of each of the above experiments, the Ti-15V-
3Al-3Cr-3Sn alloy, Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3A of Experiment 2
Regardless of which Ti alloy is used among the Ti alloys and the Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al alloys of Experiment 3, the face plate 7 must be welded 5 to the back face 2 before solution treatment or aging treatment. Thus, the face plate 7 is not broken even after the swing test is performed 3000 times or more, and the durability is remarkably improved.

[0019]

According to the present invention, since the solution treatment and the aging treatment are performed after the face plate and the back face are welded, the deteriorated portion of the titanium or titanium alloy deteriorated by the influence of the heat generated by the welding. A golf club having an improved uniform metal structure and improved mechanical strength of titanium or a titanium alloy, and therefore, has a remarkably excellent durability without breaking even during continuous long-term use of the golf club. A head can be provided. Further, since the face plate and the back face are welded before each of the heat treatments, the modification of the golf club head is very easy, and the production cost can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a first embodiment of a golf club head manufactured according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a second embodiment of the golf club head manufactured according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Head (golf club head) 2 Back face 3, 7 Face plate 4 Neck part 5 Welding

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Yoshihiko Shikata 2-12-20 Fukaekita, Higashinari-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Naniwa Forging Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2C002 AA02 CH01 CH03 CH05 CH06 MM04 PP02 PP03 PP05

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A back face (2) made of titanium or a titanium alloy and formed by a casting method, and a back face (2) made of a titanium or a titanium alloy having a higher strength than the back face (2) and formed by a forging method. A method of manufacturing a golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy, which forms a golf club head (1) by welding a face plate (3) with a welding (5). A method for manufacturing a golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy, comprising performing a solution treatment and then an aging treatment after joining the face plate (3) by welding (5). 2. A back face (2) made of titanium or a titanium alloy and formed by casting, and a back face (2) made of titanium or a titanium alloy having a higher strength than the back face (2) and formed by forging. Weld (5) with the face plate (7) with the neck (4)
A method of manufacturing a golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy, which forms a golf club head (1) by welding, wherein the back face (2) and the face plate (7) are welded (5). A method of manufacturing a golf club head made of titanium or a titanium alloy, wherein a solution treatment is performed, and then an aging treatment is performed.