JP2004024438A - Golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf club head preventing damage of welding part and obtaining sufficient impact resilience at the face. <P>SOLUTION: An opening placed on the face 2 side of the head body 1a of hollow structure is formed with a face piece 20 by welding the head body 1a has a leading edge 18 forming a boundary between a sole and the face 2 and a top edge 16 forming a boundary between the top 4 and the face 2. In the face piece 20, the sole side is welded to the head body 1a at a side nearer to the face 2 than the leading edge 18 and the top side is welded to the head body 1a at a side nearer to the top than the top edge 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a golf club head.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a conventional metal golf club head formed in a hollow shape, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-135932, a top, a sole, a back, a toe, and a heel are integrally formed by casting or the like. The body having an outer shell structure is devised such as improving the resilience by attaching a face piece, which is more suitable for hitting, separately from the body.
[0003]
The larger the vertical width of the face piece (the height dimension of the face), the wider the area where the face piece can bend and the greater the repulsive force. Each is provided so as to reach the top and the sole of the head body. Such face pieces are welded to the body at the peripheral edges of the body, that is, the top edge (the edge that hits the boundary between the face and the top) and the leading edge (the edge that hits the boundary between the face and the sole). Yes.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since the top edge and the leading edge are portions where stress tends to concentrate, if the face piece is welded to the body at the edge portion, the edge portion (welded portion) is likely to be damaged. This tendency is high especially at the leading edge where the sole (body) and the face (face piece) intersect at a small (tight) angle, and an immediate improvement is desired.
[0005]
On the other hand, if it is attempted to weld the face piece to the body while avoiding these edges, the area of the face piece may be reduced and the bending area may be narrowed. In this case, good resilience is obtained. There is also a risk of being lost.
[0006]
The present invention has been made paying attention to the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head capable of sufficiently obtaining repulsion at the face while preventing breakage at the welded portion. .
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a metal golf club head in which a face piece is welded to an opening provided on a face side of a head body having a hollow structure. A leading edge that forms the boundary between the top and the face, and the face piece is welded to the head body with the sole side facing the face side of the leading edge, and the top side is The head body is welded on the top side of the top edge.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in these drawings, the golf club head 1 according to the present embodiment is formed in a hollow shape by an outer shell of a metal such as titanium, titanium alloy, stainless steel, etc., and gently on the front by a bulge and a roll. It has a curved face 2. The golf club head 1 has a top (crown) 4 and a sole 6 on the top and bottom of the face 2, a toe 8 and a heel 10 on both sides of the face 2, and a back 12 on the opposite side of the face 2. Have.
[0010]
Further, the top 4 is provided with a shaft fastening portion 14 to which a shaft (not shown) is fastened. A top edge 16 is formed at the boundary between the face 2 and the top 4, and a leading edge 18 is formed at the boundary between the face 2 and the sole 6. In the present embodiment, as clearly shown in FIG. 3, the intersection angle θ <b> 1 between the face 2 and the top 4 is set larger than the intersection angle θ <b> 2 between the face 2 and the sole 6.
[0011]
The head 1 includes a head main body 1a having a hollow outer shell structure formed of a metal such as stainless steel, titanium, or a titanium alloy, and a face piece 20 that is fixed to the head main body 1a by welding.
[0012]
As shown in detail in FIG. 1, the head body 1 a is formed by integrally forming a top 4, a sole 6, a back 12, a toe 8, a heel 10 and a part of the face 2 by casting, and opens to the face 2 side. 40.
[0013]
The opening 40 includes a top side opening 40b extending along the top 4 from the top edge 16 to the back 12 side, and a face side opening 40a extending along the face 2 from the top edge 16 to the sole 6 side. In this case, the top side opening 40b extends from the top edge 16 toward the back 12 side by a predetermined amount (for example, 3 to 15 mm), and the face side opening 40a extends from the top edge 16 toward the sole 6 side. Thus, the length does not reach the leading edge 18. Therefore, the opening 40 causes the head body 1a to have three regions constituting a part of the face 2, that is, a face rising portion 2c that rises upward from the sole 6 toward the top 4, and a toe side face portion 2b. The heel side face portion 2a is formed.
[0014]
In addition, the position of the upper end surface of the face rising portion 2c, that is, the position of the lower end surface 31 of the face side opening 40a is set from the center O of the face 2 to the center O and the leading edge 18 so that the repulsion of the face 2 is not impaired. Is more than ½ of the distance between the center and the center of the face 2 (is located closer to the leading edge 18 than the center O of the face 2). That is, as specifically shown in FIG. 2, when the head 1 is placed on the ground along the lie angle and viewed from the face 2 side, it passes through the perpendicular d passing through the toe side edge of the face 2 and the heel side edge. The distance between the vertical line e is defined as the maximum width of the face 2, and the vertical line (vertical bisector of the line c perpendicular to the vertical line d and the vertical line e) at the center position of the maximum width of the face 2 is defined. It is defined as a face width center line b. Then, the midpoint between the leading edge 18 and the top edge 16 on the face width center line b is defined as the center O of the face 2, and the lower end surface 31 of the face side opening 40a is defined as the center O of the face 2. And the leading edge 18 side of the middle point P between the leading edge 18 and the leading edge 18. That is, if the distance along the face width center line b between the leading edge 18 and the top edge 16 is L, the lower end surface 31 of the face side opening 40a is not separated from the leading edge 18 by more than L / 4.
[0015]
The face piece 20 fixed to the head main body 1a by welding includes a projecting piece 20b that closes the top side opening 40b of the head main body 1a and a main body 20a that closes the face side opening 40a. It is formed by punching a rolled material of a metal (for example, titanium alloy or stainless steel) having a smaller elastic modulus than the main body 1a into an appropriate shape. In this case, the protruding piece 20b is formed by bending (plastic processing) the rolled material so as to coincide with the top side opening 40b of the head body 1a after or simultaneously with the punching process. The folding line at this time forms part of the top edge 16 of the face 2 and continues to the top edge 16 on the head body 1a side when the face piece 20 is welded to the opening 40 of the head body 1a as described later. It is set as follows. Further, when the face piece 20 is formed, the curved shape of the bulge roll of the face 2 is also formed.
[0016]
Therefore, the face piece 20 formed in this way has an end face 23 on the projecting piece 20b side that abuts against the front end face 32 of the top side opening 40b of the head body 1a, and a side end face 35 of the opening 40 of the head body 1a. , 36 and end faces 21 on the main body 20a side which are abutted against the lower end face (upper end face of the rising part 2c) 31 of the face side opening 40a of the head main body 1a. Yes.
[0017]
2 to 4 show a state in which the opening 40 of the head main body 1a is closed by the face piece 20 and the face piece 20 is welded to the head main body 1a (the welded portion is indicated by W). As shown in the figure, the face piece 20 is fitted into the opening 40 of the head main body 1a and welded to the head main body 1a along its peripheral edge. Specifically, the upper end surface 31 (the lower end surface of the face side opening 40a) 31 of the rising portion 2c of the head body 1a that is abutted against each other and the end surface 21 of the face piece 20 are welded from the front side of the face 2, The front end face 32 of the top-side opening 40b of the head body 1a that is abutted against each other is welded from the top 4 side to the end face 23 of the head body 1a that is abutted against each other. 36 and the side end faces 25 and 27 of the face piece 20 are welded from the front side of the face 2. In addition, although welding is performed by laser welding, TIG welding, etc., it is preferable to perform by laser welding at the point that the addition of the extra weight by a weld bead can be avoided.
[0018]
As described above, in the golf club head 1 of the present embodiment, the sole 6 side of the face piece 20 is welded to the head body 1a on the face 2 side of the leading edge 18, and the top 4 side of the face piece 20 is from the top edge 16. Is also welded to the head body 1a on the top 4 side. That is, the face piece 20 is welded to the head body 1a while avoiding the peripheral edges of the head body 1a where stress tends to concentrate, that is, the top edge 16 and the leading edge 18 (as described above, This is made possible by the presence of the rising portion 2c of the main body 1a and the top opening 40b (projection piece 20b). Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the welded portion W from being damaged due to stress concentration at the time of hitting.
[0019]
In the golf club head 1 of the present embodiment, the sole side of the face piece 20 extends to the leading edge 18 side beyond the midpoint P between the center O of the face 2 and the leading edge 18, It is possible to avoid a situation in which the resilience of the face 2 is impaired by the welding portion W on the sole side of the face piece 20.
[0020]
In addition to the above, in the golf club head 1 of the present embodiment, the intersection angle θ1 between the top 4 and the face 2 is set larger than the intersection angle θ2 between the sole 6 and the face 2 so that the leading edge 18 side The face piece 20 is formed with a protruding piece 20b that is bent so as to form a part of the top edge 16 on the top edge 16 side where stress concentration is prevented from occurring on the top edge 16 side. As a result, the amount of shortening of the face piece 20 on the sole 6 side due to the presence of the rising portion 2c is lengthened on the top 4 side to compensate. That is, since the face piece 20 has a bent region (repulsion region) on the sole 6 side due to the presence of the rising portion 2c, the protruding piece 20b is formed on the top 4 side where there is no risk of damage due to stress concentration. While preventing damage due to stress concentration, the flexure region is widened on the top 4 side, and a sufficient repulsive force can be generated. In particular, the top edge 16 side having a large crossing angle is a part that is easily affected by bending. Therefore, if the area of the face piece 20 is increased at this part, the bending of the face 2 at the time of hitting ball is transmitted to the top 4 side well. Is done. Therefore, the ball can be repelled in the entire head main body 1a, the shot feeling becomes soft, and the flight distance can be expected.
[0021]
Further, the opening 40 of the head body 1a of the golf club head 1 of the present embodiment is provided with not only the face side opening 40a but also the top side opening 40b. Therefore, since the opening area of the face-side opening 40a is narrowed by the rising portion 2c, the top-side opening 40b can be widened. Therefore, when the head body 1a is molded by casting, only the face-side opening 40a is provided. It is easier to remove the core than in the case where it is provided. In particular, since the top side spreads, this is effective when the inner surface of the sole is uneven.
[0022]
Further, in the golf club head 1 of this embodiment, the face piece is a rolled material, and the protruding piece of the face piece is formed by plastic working. Therefore, the breaking strain is large, the thickness is thin, and the strength can be increased. That is, it is possible to provide a golf club head that is higher in resilience and less likely to be damaged. In particular, when the rolling direction is directional, the fracture strain can be further increased by directing the direction in which the rolling ratio is high in the top-sole direction.
[0023]
5 to 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.
[0024]
As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the golf club head 1 </ b> A according to the present embodiment also includes a head body 1 a having a hollow outer shell structure, and a face piece 60 fixed to the head body 1 a by welding. Consists of. As shown in detail in FIG. 5, the head main body 1 a is integrally formed by casting a top 4, a sole 6, a back 12, a toe 8, a heel 10, and a face rising portion 99 that rises upward from the sole 6 toward the top 4. And substantially the entire region corresponding to the face 2 (the entire face region excluding the face rising portion 99) is opened (the opening is indicated by reference numeral 80).
[0025]
The opening 80 of the head main body 1a includes a top side opening 80b extending along the top 4 from the top edge 16 toward the back 12, and a face side opening 80a extending along the face 2 from the top edge 16 toward the sole 6. It consists of. In this case, the top opening 80b extends from the position corresponding to the top edge 16 toward the back 12 by a predetermined amount (for example, 3 to 15 mm), and the face opening 80a corresponds to the top edge 16. It extends from the position where the leading edge 18 does not reach the leading edge 18 toward the sole 6 side.
[0026]
Also in the present embodiment, the position of the upper end surface of the face rising portion 99, that is, the position of the lower end surface 91 of the face side opening 80a is from the center O of the face 2 so as not to impair the repulsion of the face 2. The distance between the center O and the leading edge 18 is ½ or more of the distance (the face O is located closer to the leading edge 18 than the center O of the face 2).
[0027]
Further, the face piece 60 fixed to the head main body 1a by welding includes a projecting piece 60b that closes the top side opening 80b of the head main body 1a, the face side opening 80a and the rising part 99 together with the entire face 2. Is formed by punching a rolled material of a metal (for example, titanium alloy or stainless steel) having a smaller elastic modulus than the head main body 1a into an appropriate shape. Also in this case, the protruding piece 60b is formed by bending (plastic processing) the rolled material so as to coincide with the top side opening 80b of the head body 1a after or simultaneously with the punching process. The folding line at this time forms the top edge 16 of the face 2.
[0028]
Accordingly, the face piece 60 formed in this way includes the end face 73 on the side of the projecting piece 60b abutted against the front end face 92 of the top side opening 80b of the head body 1a, the front end face 95 of the toe 8 and the heel 10. The inner end surfaces 75 and 77 are abutted against 96, and the end surface 71 on the main body 60a side is abutted against the lower end surface (upper end surface of the rising portion 99) 91 of the face side opening 80a of the head main body 1a. .
[0029]
6 to 8 show a state in which the opening 80 of the head main body 1a is closed by the face piece 60 and the face piece 60 is welded to the head main body 1a (the welded portion is indicated by W). As shown in the figure, the face piece 60 is fitted into the opening 80 of the head main body 1a and welded to the head main body 1a along the peripheral edge thereof. Specifically, the upper end surface (the lower end surface of the face side opening 80a) 91 of the head main body 1a butted against each other and the end surface 71 of the face piece 60 are welded from the front side of the face 2, and The front end surface 92 of the top side opening 80b of the head body 1a butted against each other and the end surface 73 of the face piece 60 are welded from the top 4 side, and the front end surfaces 95 and 96 of the toe 8 and the heel 10 butted against each other. And the inner end faces 75 and 77 of the face piece 60 are welded from the toe 8 side and the heel 10 side. Other configurations are the same as those in the first embodiment.
[0030]
As described above, the golf club head 1A of the present embodiment also has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and thus can obtain the same effects as those of the first embodiment.
[0031]
Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, in each of the embodiments described above, the head main body 1a is integrally formed by casting. However, the head main body 1a may be formed by other forming methods such as forging and rolling. Further, the head main body 1a may be formed by joining a plurality of parts by welding or the like.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the golf club head of the present invention, the rebound on the face can be sufficiently obtained while preventing the welded portion from being damaged.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a golf club head according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the golf club head according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the golf club head of FIG.
4 is a cross-sectional view of the golf club head of FIG.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a golf club head according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a golf club head according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the golf club head of FIG. 6. FIG.
8 is a cross-sectional view of the golf club head of FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,1A ... Golf club head 1a ... Head main body 2 ... Face 4 ... Top 6 ... Sole 16 ... Top edge 18 ... Leading edge 20 ... Face piece

Claims (4)

In a metal golf club head formed by welding a face piece to an opening provided on the face side of a head body having a hollow structure,
The head body has a leading edge that forms a boundary between the sole and the face, and a top edge that forms a boundary between the top and the face,
2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the face piece is welded to the head body on the face side with respect to the leading edge, and the top side is welded to the head body on the top side with respect to the top edge. The crossing angle between the top and the face is larger than the crossing angle between the sole and the face,
The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the face piece has a protruding piece that is bent so as to form a part of the top edge. The golf club head according to claim 2, wherein the projecting piece of the face piece is formed by plastic working. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the face piece is a rolled material.

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