JP2002143353A - Golf club head and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf club head having a further hardened face for improving a carry and directionality. SOLUTION: This golf club head is characterized by forming a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film in a part or the whole of the face of the golf club head.

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 diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on part or all of a face of a golf club head, and a method of manufacturing the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, golf has been actively performed as an outdoor sport, and the golf population is rapidly increasing irrespective of age and gender. Conventionally, golf club drivers are made of wood, with a metal plate on the sole surface of the wooden head and an insert (reinforcement plate) of resin or the like on the face (hitting surface).
Was fixed with screws or the like. Recently, however, metalwoods, which are made of lighter metals or alloys, have begun to circulate. Metalwoods have been replaced by wooden drivers because of their greater flight distance and better directionality than wooden drivers. In this way, not only metal wood but also other golf club heads are mainly made of metal or alloy, but as the material, various carbon steels, stainless steels, which have high repulsion and corrosion resistance,
Titanium or titanium alloys, copper alloys (beryllium copper), aluminum or aluminum alloys (such as duralumin) are used.

[0003] These metals or alloys are formed by precision casting by investment casting or the like, forged and molded, or by rolling or superplastic working to reduce the weight and improve the repulsive force, and welding the metal or alloy. It is manufactured hollow. Also, since the material of the face, which is the hitting surface of the golf club head, has a great effect on the flight distance and directionality, a special pattern is formed on this face, and the main body of the head is made of lightweight titanium or titanium alloy or internal Is a hollow stainless steel, and a hard coating of titanium carbide is formed on these faces,
Further, it has been proposed to join different metals such as molybdenum and tungsten to the face.

[0004] In particular, if the face is made hard, the resilience increases due to its high hardness, and the initial velocity can also be increased. Since the frictional time between the golf ball and the face is shortened by the increase in the initial velocity, the back spin is reduced. This has the effect of allowing the ball to fly farther in a more extended trajectory. In addition, the improvement of the initial speed also has an effect that the directionality is improved because the side spin causing the slice and the hook is also reduced. However, even with a high hardness, conventionally, it has been proposed to form a film on a stainless steel head by vapor deposition of the titanium carbide hard film, but an excellent hard film is not necessarily obtained. . At present, with the increasing attractiveness to golf, which is a healthy outdoor sport, there is a need for continuous development for improving the flight distance and directionality of golf club heads.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head having a harder face in order to improve the flight distance and directionality in view of the above problems.

[0006]

The present invention provides the following invention. 1) A golf club head characterized in that a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on part or all of the face of the golf club head. 2) The golf club head is made of metal, ceramics, or a composite thereof. A golf club head according to 1), wherein a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on a part or the entire surface of the face; 3) a metal piece on which a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed;
A golf club head having a structure in which a ceramic piece or a composite piece thereof is embedded in a face of a golf club head. 4) A face of a golf club head made of metal, ceramics or a composite of these. A method for manufacturing a golf club head, in which a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on a part or all of the surface by a vapor phase growth method, 5) a metal piece or a ceramic piece on a part or all of the face of the golf club head. Or before bonding or embedding these composite pieces or after bonding or embedding, forming a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film on the metal piece, ceramic piece or composite piece thereof by a vapor phase growth method. Of the golf club head through a ceramic piece, a ceramic piece or a composite piece thereof. A method for manufacturing a golf club head, wherein a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on part or all of the surface, 6) polishing the diamond film so that the average surface roughness (Ra) is 1 μm or less And 4) or 5) above, wherein the diamond film is polished so that the average surface roughness (Ra) is 0.1 μm or less. ) Or 5).

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a golf club head in which a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on a part or all of a face of the golf club head, wherein the diamond has a Mohs hardness of 10 and a hardness higher than that. Absent. The diamond film or diamond-like carbon film on the face can be formed by a vapor phase growth method. For example, a quartz tube which is open near a tungsten filament heated to a high temperature (around 2000 ° C.) is arranged, and a mixed gas obtained by diluting a hydrocarbon gas such as methane with hydrogen is introduced through the quartz tube. 1100 °
A method in which diamond is decomposed and precipitated from the mixed gas on a substrate to be a face heated to C, or a microwave plasma CVD method using a plasma discharge or an RF plasma CVD instead of the tungsten filament.
The diamond film or the diamond-like carbon film can be formed by using the method.

[0008] The diamond-like carbon (DLC) film is a film in which carbon and hydrocarbons having physical properties close to diamond are mixed, and the structure can be confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. For example, the Raman spectrum of a typical DLC film shows the spectrum of the non-target with a shoulder d band including the peak and sp ³ clusters composed g band sp ² clusters. The present invention can use all the materials generally called DLC. This DLC film has a hardness of 3000-5000 HV
This property is slightly inferior to that of a diamond film, but is much better than other materials. This DLC film is superior to a diamond film mainly because of its dense amorphous structure, its surface is smooth and there is no crystal grain boundary, that is, its smoothness.
When a diamond film is used, polishing described later is required to improve smoothness, but this DLC film has a great advantage that polishing is not required.

As a substrate on which a diamond serving as a face can be formed, for example, a cemented carbide sintered plate such as WC-Co,
A Mo plate, a W plate, or an alloy plate thereof, a silicon nitride ceramic, a silicon carbide ceramic, a composite of a silicon nitride ceramic and a metal, or the like can be used. Also, DLC
Can be used as a substrate on which stainless steel, alloy steel, alumina ceramics, silicon carbide ceramics and the like can be formed. A diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film may be directly formed on a part or the entire surface of the face of these golf club heads, or a metal piece, a ceramic piece, or a composite thereof formed with the diamond film or the diamond-like carbon film A structure in which a piece or the like is embedded in the face portion of the golf club head may be adopted. Before and after joining or embedding a metal piece, ceramic piece, or a composite piece thereof into part or all of the face of a golf club head, diamond is applied to the metal piece, ceramic piece, or a composite piece thereof by a vapor phase growth method. A film or a diamond-like carbon film may be formed, and a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film may be provided on a part or all of the face of the golf club head via the above-mentioned metal piece, ceramic piece, or a composite piece thereof.

A metal piece, a ceramic piece, or a composite piece thereof, on which a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film has been formed, can be placed anywhere on the golf club head. Therefore, even when the golf club is made of wood, it can be embedded in the face portion and joined by mechanical means such as screws or means such as adhesion. In this case, when the main shell material and the face material of the golf club head can be welded to each other with metal, welding can be performed directly.
It can also be joined by gluing or screwing. As described above, there is no particular limitation on the joining method between the main shell material of the golf club head and the face material on which the diamond film or the diamond-like carbon film is formed, and an appropriate joining means can be used.

As described above, the face material or the golf club head on which the diamond film or the diamond-like carbon film is formed is polished as necessary (in the case of a diamond film) to obtain an average surface roughness (Ra). 1 μm or less,
Preferably, the average surface roughness (Ra) is set to 0.1 μm or less. For example, a diamond film formed on the face by a vapor phase growth method is a polycrystalline material,
It has severe irregularities of 00 μm. Although the contact between the golf ball and the face is instantaneous, such a diamond film having a highly uneven surface having a highly uneven surface is a diamond film which is a golf ball and a face material compared to a film having a smooth film surface. The contact angle with the ball fluctuates and the direction of the hit ball is not constant, resulting in inferior results. Therefore, it is desirable that the average surface roughness (Ra) is reduced to 1 μm or less by the above polishing.

Conventionally, polishing of diamond is very difficult, and a method called so-called co-rubbing, in which diamond is polished with diamond, has been used. According to this, there is a problem that polishing for a long time is required and the cost becomes enormous, and it is only performed for a special purpose. However, regarding polishing of diamond, the present inventors have proposed that Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ru, R
one or more elements selected from the group consisting of h, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt, and Ti, V, Zr, Nb, Mo, H
It can be easily and quickly polished by a grindstone mainly containing an intermetallic compound with one or more elements selected from the group consisting of f, Ta and W, thereby forming a golf club head for the first time. Polishing of the finished diamond film could be achieved. A golf club head with a smooth diamond film has a brilliant luster and has a remarkably high hardness, so the resilience can be improved by its high hardness, and the initial speed can be increased. Since the friction time between the golf ball and the face is shortened, back spin is suppressed, and the ball has an excellent effect of being able to fly farther in an extended trajectory. Further, the improvement of the initial speed has a remarkable effect that the directionality is improved because the side spin causing the slice and the hook is also reduced. The diamond-like carbon film has the same effect. Although such a diamond film or diamond-like carbon film has been described as being limited to the face, it may be provided on other sole surfaces, side portions, neck portions, bars (pattern portions), etc., and its use is limited. It does not do.

[0013]

Next, an embodiment will be described. It should be noted that the present embodiment is merely an example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. That is, it includes other aspects and modifications included in the technical idea of the present invention.

(Example 1) A cemented carbide disk having a diameter of 25 mm and a thickness of 3 mm was used, and a diamond thin film was formed thereon by a hot filament method using a mixed gas of H ₂ / CH ₄ . The thickness of the diamond thin film is 10 μm. The unevenness of the diamond at this time was about 1 μm. This was rotated at room temperature using a TiAl intermetallic compound grindstone at a rotational speed of 20
Polished at 00 rpm for 3 minutes to obtain an average surface roughness (Ra) of 0.
A cemented carbide disk having a diamond polished surface of 1 μm or less was produced. The cemented carbide disk has a diameter of 50 mm and a thickness of 3 mm, such as Ti + Mo-based cemented carbide, Ti-6Al + Mo-based cemented carbide, TiAl + Mo-based cemented carbide, and a diameter of 50 m.
0.5 m thick and 0.21 mm thick WC in m were used. Next, the cemented carbide disk having the polished diamond thin film was joined to a portion of the golf club head made of a titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) to be a face. As a result, a golf club head having a high-hardness face having a shiny diamond film surface was obtained. In any case, the resilience can be further improved as compared with a titanium alloy golf club head (not having a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film), and the ball can be made to fly farther in an extended trajectory. The effect that can be obtained was obtained. The use of such a golf club head has an effect of improving the flight distance even for a beginner, a weak woman, and an older person. A more skilled golfer has an excellent effect that the skill can be further improved.

[0015]

The present invention is directed to a golf club head having a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film formed on part or all of a face of a golf club head, and having a smooth diamond film polished as necessary. The face portion of the diamond film has a brilliant luster and has a remarkably high hardness, so that the resilience can be improved by the high hardness, and the initial speed can be increased. The backspin is suppressed because the friction time between
It has an excellent effect that the ball can be hit farther in an extended trajectory. Further, the improvement of the initial speed has a remarkable effect that the directionality is improved because the side spin causing the slice and the hook is also reduced.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (71) Applicant 592200338 Nippon Material Co., Ltd. 1-15-10 Oritate, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi (71) Applicant 399007165 Applied diamond limited company 1-8-Hinagaoka, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa 32 (74) The above four agents 100093296 Patent Attorney Isamu Kogoshi (72) Inventor Toshihiko Abe 4-2-1 Kutake, Miyagino-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture Inside the Tohoku Institute of Industrial Technology (72) Inventor Hashimoto et al. Miyagi Prefecture 4-2-1, Kutake, Miyagino-ku, Sendai-shi Tohoku Institute of Industrial Technology (72) Inventor Yoshinobu Yashima 1-15-110, Oritate, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture (72) Inventor Shuichi Takeda 1 Hyugaoka, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa -8-32 F term (reference) 2C002 AA02 AA03 AA04 CH01 MM04 MM07 PP04

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A golf club head having a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film formed on part or all of a face of the golf club head. 2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the golf club head is made of metal, ceramics, or a composite thereof, and a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on a part or the entire surface of the face. Golf club head. 3. A golf club head having a structure in which a metal piece, a ceramic piece, or a composite piece thereof formed with a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is embedded in a face of the golf club head. 4. A golf club head characterized in that a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on a part or all of a face of a golf club head made of metal, ceramics or a composite thereof by a vapor phase growth method. Manufacturing method. 5. A metal piece, a ceramic piece, or a composite thereof before or after joining or embedding a metal piece, a ceramic piece, or a composite piece thereof in a part or all of a face of a golf club head. A diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on a piece by a vapor phase growth method, and a diamond film or a diamond-like carbon film is formed on a part or all of a face of a golf club head through the metal piece, the ceramic piece or a composite piece thereof. A method for manufacturing a golf club head, comprising forming a film. 6. The golf club head manufacturing method according to claim 4, wherein the diamond film is polished so that the average surface roughness (Ra) is 1 μm or less. 7. The method of manufacturing a golf club head according to claim 4, wherein the diamond film is polished so that the average surface roughness (Ra) is 0.1 μm or less.