JP2002315857A - Putter head provided with previously mechanically worked insert - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head for putter. SOLUTION: The face of the putter head is provided with extremely shallow marking having the depth of about 50 μm (0.05 mm). The marking is formed on an insert determining the sweet spot of the putter face by an end mill working process and the insert is elastically supported and fixed inside the cavity of the head by an elastic O ring. Since the elastic O ring absorbs any gap, it is not necessary to produce the insert corresponding to a severe tolerance and before inserting the insert to the head cavity, it can be mechanically worked outside the head. The prepared marking is a radially extended non-concentric groove.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a golf putter head. More specifically, the present invention allows expensive machining techniques to be used to provide putter faces with markings designed to facilitate control of the golf ball during the putting stroke. Related to making putter heads in different ways. Preferably, the marking is limited to the sweet spot on the putter face.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,409 (Carry-1994) discloses a putter having a vertical, flat machined surface extending between a top surface and a bottom surface. The vertical, flat machined surface is
The hitting surface of the putter is formed. According to this patent, the machining process provides a technique that can provide a very flat surface on the putter head. Unfortunately, however, this patent discloses that machined putter heads are uncommon and the machining process is extremely expensive.
Not widely accepted.

[0003] US Patent No. 3,206,206 (Santos osso-1965) discloses a putter head having a rectangular insert fitted within the putter head. The insert is grooved for contacting the ball. However, this design is probably
Due to the complexity of machining a rectangular opening in the head and subsequent machining of the insert to fit into the opening, it also appears to have not been widely accepted by those skilled in the art.

[0004] US Pat. No. 5,637,044 (Swash) discloses a putter head in which concentric grooves having a common center of rotation are formed on the face of the putter. Although the grooves are described as being fairly shallow, they generally still have a depth between 0.2 and 0.3 mm. The grooves are stated to add an advantageous spin to the ball.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a head for a putter, wherein the head has a hitting surface on which a marking is formed on at least a part of a putter face, and the marking has a micron size. Is done.

[0006]

Preferably, the marking is curvilinear, non-concentric and formed by a machining process such as a milling process. A milling machine, such as an end mill, may pass over the surface.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.

FIG. 1 shows a putter head 2 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A shaft 3 is attached to the putter head 2 by, for example, a suitable adhesive. The putter head 2 has curved side surfaces 4, 5 and a curved rear surface 6 and has a striking surface 7.

A dotted line 8 indicates a region including a sweet spot on the putter face 7, and a curved surface marking 9 is formed thereon by a machining method described below.

FIG. 2 shows a golf putter 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The golf putter 10 has a T-shaped head 11 connected to a shaft 12 using a hosel member 13. The hosel member 13 may be hollow, as best seen in FIG. The connecting portion of the shaft may include a hosel member 13. Alternatively, the hosel member 13 is eliminated, and the shaft connecting portion is connected to the head 11
May be provided directly with the shaft 14. A reinforcement ring 13A may be used to help connect the shaft 14 to the hosel member 13.

The head 11 has an outer shell 15 which is best seen in FIG.
6 is defined. A shoulder 17 is formed in the cavity 16. The putter head 11 has a hitting surface 18.

An important point of the present invention is that the cavity 1 of the head 11
6. The use of an elongated cylindrical inner insert member 19 located or arranged in the interior 6. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the inner insert member 19 has a front surface 20, a rear surface 21, and a circular peripheral surface 22 joining the front surface 20 and the rear surface 21.

The peripheral surface 22 has two semi-circular grooves 23, 24 formed thereon for purposes described below. Holes 25 are formed in the insert 19 by drilling and reaming to receive either the hosel 13 or the shaft 14 to ensure a proper fit.

As best seen in FIG. 3, hosel member 13 stops short of the end of hole 25 and shell member 15
To avoid contact with This arrangement appears to enhance the transmission of impact energy to the putter shaft as a "feel".

A putter head 1 indicated by a cross hair 27
One sweet spot 26 is arranged so as to be in the center of the area of the front surface 20 of the insert 19. The insert 19 has semicircular grooves 23, 24 in the insert 19.
Are supported and fixed in the cavity 16 using neoprene elastic O-rings 28 and 29 (see FIG. 3) fitted to the.

The shoulder 17 and the insert 1 in the cavity 16
A small gap is left between the rear surface 9 and the rear surface 9.
Also, as best seen in FIG.
9 separates the insert 19 from the outer shell member 15 so that a small gap 30 is formed between the peripheral edge 22 of the insert 19 and the outer shell member 15.

Accordingly, this allows the insert member to be insulated to some extent from the outer shell member, and the impact energy is directly passed through the insert member 19 to the hosel 13.
Therefore, it is transmitted to the shaft and is felt as "feel" in the golfer's hand.

The rear surface 21 defines a blind hole or cavity 31 that forms a space 32 in the head 11 with the remainder of the cavity 16. It is considered that this increases the resonance factor of the head that contributes to the “feel” of the putter.

To minimize the effects of off-center hits, a stabilizing weight or inertial weight 33 is attached to the head 11.
Into the side surface 34 of. The slot 35 (see FIG. 2)
Helps aim the putter face 18 The O-ring, in addition to resiliently securing the insert 19 within the cavity 16, also acts as a seal, allowing mud or moisture to enter through the gap 30 and either of the shaft connections 13 in the bore 25. Prevents side effects and protects this assembly. The shaft connecting portion 13 is provided with an outer shell member 15.
Into the hole 25 in the insert 19 through a drill hole 36 in the inside.

The insert 19 is arranged in the cavity 16 by elastic O-rings 28, 29, thereby
The arrangement forming part of 8 provides a number of important advantages.

For example, the circular peripheral surface 22 of the insert 19 does not need to be made to tight tolerances, and the insert 19 can be made of rod mass,
In fact, no machining is required.

Similarly, since the rear surface 21 stops short of the shoulder 17 in the cavity 16, the rear surface 21 does not need to be made with tight tolerances. In fact, the rear surface 21 is
The end of the insert 19 does not need to be machined at all, as it is hidden from view within, and may be finished as cut or cast, as appropriate.

Any mismatch in fit can be absorbed by the elasticity of the O-ring. This means that only the front surface 20 forming the sweet spot needs to be covered by the cost of the machining process.

Also, the ability to pre-machine the insert 19 outside the cavity 16 before mounting it in the cavity means that the machining can be considerably simplified.

FIG. 5, exaggerated for simplicity, shows the sweet spot 26 of the insert 19.
9 illustrates the characteristics of the surface markings formed thereon. As shown, 0.7 m having the cross-section shown in FIG.
There are m-pitch (P) curved non-concentric grooves. The grooves or markings shown in FIG. 6 are in micron size (Mic
ron size 1 μm = 1 / 1,000th of 1 mm).

As used herein, “micron size”
The term is used in the aforementioned US Pat. No. 5,637,044.
No. (Swash) minimum groove (0.2 mm)
It is intended to convey the meaning of the depth (D) of the marking or groove, several orders of magnitude smaller.

This is 0.2 mm in the Swash patent.
In the present invention, the depth is 0.05 mm (50 μm).
To a depth (D) of 0.1 mm. 25.4mm diameter
In a practical embodiment of the invention with an insert of
One pass through a 62 mm diameter tungsten carbide end mill over the front of the insert.

In the practice of the present invention, it is possible to use an end mill having a diameter between 25 and 76 mm. Curved non-concentric markings made by end milling have a constant diameter and
The same configuration is provided for the golf ball as it moves relative to the putter face during a stroke. This is a groove that extends radially from a common center point,
The above Swas providing different configurations for golf balls
This is in contrast to the H patent.

Also, if the pad is angled from the desired path of travel, this small depth of groove or marking may cause the face to slip, but lightly bent lines may be slightly self-centering. Effect (self
centralizing effect).

The insert member 19 is made of a material selected to be a soft, ductile material, such as, for example, brass, to transmit impact and thereby facilitate the transmission of impact energy as a "feel" to the golfer's hand. I do. The outer shell member 15 and the hosel member 13 are made of aircraft-quality high-strength aluminum (specification 6082T6 (H3
0)).

The putter head of the present invention may be used with any conventional shaft, but with a fairly large diameter (between 25 and 45 mm) and a thin plate thickness (between 0.75 and 1 mm). It would be most advantageous to enhance its "feel" with a parallel shaft or grip, made from. When using such large size shafts or grips, the preferred material is carbon fiber.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a putter head according to a first aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a putter head according to a second aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view of the putter head shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an insert for insertion into a putter head according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a curvilinear marking formed on a putter face according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of a marking according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 putter head 3 shaft 4, 5 side surface 6 rear surface 7 hitting surface, putter face 8 area including sweet spot 9 marking 10 golf putter 11 head 12 shaft 13 hosel member 13A reinforcing ring 14 shaft 15 outer shell Member 16 Cavity 17 Shoulder 18 Hitting surface 19 Insert member 20 Front surface 21 Rear surface 22 Peripheral surface 23, 24 Groove 25 Hole 26 Sweet spot 27 Crosshair 28, 29 O-ring 30 Gap 31 Blind hole, cavity 32 Space 33 Stabilizing weight 34 Side 35 Slot 36 Drill hole

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C002 AA04 CH01 MM04 PP02 PP04 ZZ01

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A putter head having a hitting surface on which a marking is formed on a part of the hitting surface, wherein the marking has a micron size. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the marking is 50 μm (0.05 m).
The putter head according to claim 1, having a depth of m). 3. The putter head according to claim 2, wherein the marking is a V-shaped groove having a pitch of 0.7 mm. 4. The putter head according to claim 1, wherein the marking is curvilinear and non-concentric. 5. The putter head according to claim 1, wherein the marking is formed on an insert disposed in a closed cavity formed in the head. 6. The putter head according to claim 5, wherein the insert is separated from the head by a clearance space. 7. The insert is made of bar mass material,
A putter head according to claim 6. 8. The putter head according to claim 6, wherein the insert is made of a cast material. 9. The putter head according to claim 7, wherein the insert has a front surface, and only the front surface is machined from a bar material or a casting material. 10. The putter head according to claim 1, wherein the marking is created by a milling process. 11. The putter head according to claim 10, wherein the milling step uses an end mill. 12. The putter head according to claim 5, wherein the insert defines a sweet spot for the putter. 13. A putter head insert having a marking formed on a face thereof, wherein the marking is of micron size. 14. The mark having a size of 50 μm (0.05 m
14. The putter head insert according to claim 13, having a depth of m). 15. The putter head insert according to claim 13, wherein the marking is curvilinear and non-concentric.