JP2005211438A - Golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf club head capable of increasing a carry, by heightening a hitting-out angle, even if a golfer slow in a head speed uses the golf club head. <P>SOLUTION: This golf club head 1A is integrated by welding upper parts 10, lower parts 20, a hosel part 30 and a face part 40. The upper parts 10 have a crown part 11, an upper side part 12 and a space 13 for installing the hosel part. The lower parts 20 have a sole part 21 and a lower side part 22. Respective parts for constituting this golf club head are composed of titanium or a titanium alloy. A modulus of longitudinal elastic modulus of the upper parts 10 is set lower than any modulus of longitudinal elastic modulus of the lower parts 20 and the hosel part 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a metal hollow golf club head, and more particularly to a wood-type golf club head having a shape similar to that of a wood type.

  Hollow metal golf club heads such as drivers and fairway woods are widely used. In general, a hollow wood-type golf club head includes a face portion for hitting a ball, a crown portion constituting an upper surface portion of the golf club head, a sole portion constituting a bottom surface portion of the golf club head, and a golf club. It has a side part constituting a side part on the toe side, back side and heel side of the head, and a hosel part. A shaft is inserted into the hosel portion of the golf club head and fixed with an adhesive or the like. Recently, many golf club heads called utility clubs are also commercially available, and one type of utility golf club head is similar to the above-described wood type golf club head (ie, face portion, sole portion, side portion). A variety of golf club heads having a head portion and a crown portion are also commercially available.

  As a metal constituting the hollow golf club head, an aluminum alloy, stainless steel, or titanium alloy is used, but in recent years, a titanium alloy is particularly widely used.

  In order to increase the flight distance of a hollow metal golf club head, development has been conducted focusing on flying the ball far away by increasing the rebound of the ball by utilizing the deflection of the face surface. However, for golfers with a slow head speed, this type of golf club head has little deformation of the face surface, has little effect of increasing the initial ball speed, and does not raise the ball, so the flight distance may not increase.

  The present applicant has found that the metal material constituting the crown portion is the most longitudinal elastic modulus as a golf club head capable of increasing the launch angle and consequently increasing the flight distance even when a golfer with a slow head speed is used. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-79768 proposes a method characterized by having a low value.

  In the golf club head of the same publication, the longitudinal elastic modulus of the crown portion is made smaller than that of other members such as the sole portion, thereby making it possible to increase the ball launch angle at the time of impact. As a result, even if a golfer with a slow head speed is used, the launch angle becomes high and the flight distance can be extended.

  FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the golf club head disclosed in the publication.

  The golf club head 1 includes a face portion 2, a crown portion 3, a sole portion 4, a side portion 5, and a hosel portion 6. The side portions 5 are all integrated from the toe side to the back side and the heel side. Moreover, in this embodiment, the side part 5 and the hosel part 6 are integrally molded by casting. The face part 2, the crown part 3 and the sole part 4 are all molded separately.

  The face part 2, the crown part 3, the sole part 4, and the side part 5 with the hosel part are integrated by welding to form a golf club head.

  Each part constituting this golf club head is made of titanium or a titanium alloy. The longitudinal elastic modulus of the crown portion 3 is lower than that of any other portion, that is, the face portion 2, the sole portion 4, the side portion 5, and the hosel portion 6.

Since the longitudinal elastic modulus of the crown portion 3 is thus lowered, the ball launch angle at the time of impact is high. Therefore, even if a golfer with a slow head speed is used, a large flight distance can be obtained.
JP 2003-79768 A

  It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf club head that can have a higher launch angle than the golf club head disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-79768.

  The golf club head of the present invention is a metal hollow golf club head having at least a face portion, a sole portion, a side portion, and a crown portion, and the metal material constituting the crown portion and at least the upper portion of the side portion is the most. The longitudinal elastic modulus is low.

  According to the golf club head of the present invention, the longitudinal elastic modulus of the crown portion and at least the upper portion of the side portion is smaller than that of other members such as the sole portion, thereby increasing the ball launch angle at the time of impact. be able to. As a result, even if a golfer with a slow head speed is used, the launch angle becomes high and the flight distance can be extended.

  In the golf club head of the present invention, it is preferable that at least the crown part and at least the upper part of the side part are press-molded separately from other parts and joined to the other parts by welding or the like. If it does in this way, the metal material which has the longitudinal elastic modulus suitable for each part as a metal material which comprises each part can be selected.

  In order to easily bend at least the upper part of the crown part and the side part, it is preferable that the thickness of at least the upper part of the crown part and the side part is 0.5 to 1.2 mm.

In the present invention, the metal forming the golf club head is titanium or a titanium alloy, and the longitudinal elastic modulus of at least the upper portion of the crown portion and the side portion is 10500 kgf / mm ² (102.9 × 10 ⁹ Pa) or less, and the sole It is preferable that the longitudinal elastic modulus of the part is 11000 kgf / mm ² (107.8 × 10 ⁹ Pa) or more. Further, the difference between the longitudinal elastic modulus of at least the upper portion of the crown portion and the side portion and the longitudinal elastic modulus of the sole portion is 1000 to 3000 kgf / mm ² (9.8 × 10 ^{9 to} 29.4 × 10 ⁹ Pa). Is preferred.

  The present invention is particularly suitable for application to a large golf club head having a volume exceeding 250 cc, particularly 300 cc, especially 350 cc. An example of the golf club head is a driver. However, the present invention is also applicable to a fairway wood, a utility golf club head similar to a wood type, and the like.

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1A is a perspective view of the golf club head 1A, FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1A, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the golf club head.

  In this golf club head 1A, an upper part 10, a lower part 20, a hosel part 30, and a face part 40 are integrated by welding. The upper part 10 includes a crown portion 11, an upper side portion 12, and a space 13 for attaching a hosel portion. The lower part 20 has a sole portion 21 and a lower side portion 22.

  These upper part 10 and lower part 20 are manufactured by casting, forging or press molding, respectively. In order to facilitate casting or the like, the crossing angle θ between the crown portion 11 and the upper side portion 12 is set to be larger than 90 ° (for example, 91 ° to 120 °).

  The upper side portion 12 occupies the upper half of the side portion of the golf club head 1A, and the lower side portion 22 occupies the lower half of the side portion of the golf club head 1A. The upper side portion 12 and the lower side portion 22 are abutted and welded.

  The hosel portion 30 is welded to the upper part 10. The hosel portion 30 includes a substantially bell-shaped skirt portion 31, a column upper 32 protruding upward from the skirt portion 31, and a column lower 33 extending downward from the skirt portion 31. The peripheral edge portion of the skirt portion 31 is welded to the upper part 10. Note that the peripheral edge portion of the skirt portion 31 is also welded to a part of the upper edge of the face portion 40.

  The column upper 32 and the column lower 33 are a series of coaxial cylindrical ones, and are fixed to the skirt portion 31 by welding. In the vicinity of the lower end of the inner peripheral surface of the column lower 33, a step portion 33a having a small diameter on the lower side is provided. The shaft (not shown) is inserted into the hosel portion 30 until it abuts against the step portion 33a, and is fixed with an adhesive. The hosel portion 30 may be provided so as to reach the sole portion 21 or may be provided so as not to reach the sole portion 21.

  After the upper part 10, the lower part 20, the hosel part 30 and the face part 40 are welded, a finishing process such as polishing or painting is performed as necessary to obtain a product golf club head.

  Each part constituting this golf club head is made of titanium or a titanium alloy. The longitudinal elastic modulus of the upper part 10 is lower than any longitudinal elastic modulus of the lower part 20 and the hosel part 40.

  Thus, since the longitudinal elastic modulus of the upper part 10 which comprises the crown part 11 and the upper side part 12 is made low, the launch angle of the ball at the time of impact is high. In particular, since the upper side portion 12 also has a low longitudinal elastic modulus, the ball launch angle is higher than that of the golf club head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-79768. Therefore, even if a golfer with a slow head speed is used, a large flight distance can be obtained.

The difference in longitudinal elastic modulus between the upper part 10 and the lower part 20 constituting the sole part is 1000 kgf / mm ² (9.8 × 10 ⁹ Pa) or more, particularly 1500 kgf / mm ² (14.7 × 10 ⁹ Pa). If it exists above, it will become easy to bend the crown part and the upper side part 12, and it will become possible to obtain a larger flight distance. Note that if the difference between the longitudinal elastic modulus of the crown portion and the upper side portion 12 and the longitudinal elastic modulus of the sole portion 21 is excessive, the launch angle becomes high, but the repulsive force of the ball at the time of hitting the ball decreases and the flying force decreases. Since the distance decreases, it is usually preferably 3000 kgf / mm ² (29.4 × 10 ⁹ Pa) or less, particularly 2600 kgf / mm ² (24.5 × 10 ⁹ Pa) or less.

  In this embodiment, the upper side of the side part is constituted by the upper part 10 and the lower side is constituted by the lower part 20, but the entire side part may be constituted by the upper part 10. Moreover, in this embodiment, although the side part 5 and the hosel part 6 are separate bodies, you may shape | mold integrally.

  When the thickness of the crown portion and the upper side portion using a titanium alloy having a low longitudinal elastic modulus is made thinner than the lower side portion and the sole portion, the golf club head has a low center of gravity. For this reason, the ball is more easily bent and the ball is easily raised by lowering the center of gravity. Moreover, you may arrange | position weight material with a larger specific gravity than the material currently used for the crown part in a sole part. For example, a tungsten alloy (specific gravity 10-19) etc. are mentioned. Even when the thickness of the crown part is the same as that of the side part or sole part, the crown part has a low longitudinal elastic modulus and is easily bent, and mechanical properties such as tensile strength are improved and it is resistant to repeated deformation. Become.

  Next, a metal material constituting the golf club head will be described. The upper part 10 and the lower part 20 are preferably made of a titanium alloy, and the hosel part 30 is preferably made of pure titanium or a titanium alloy.

The titanium alloy of the upper part 10 is preferably a β-type titanium alloy having a longitudinal elastic modulus of 10500 kgf / mm ² (102.9 × 10 ⁹ Pa) or less, for example, Ti-15V-3Cr-3Sn-3Al, Ti-13V- 11Cr-3Al, Ti-15Mo-5Zr, Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Al, Ti-3Al-8V-6Cr-4Mo-4Zr, Ti-22V-4Al are exemplified. The upper part 10 may be an amorphous alloy having a lower elasticity than the lower part 20.

  The face portion 40 may be either the β-type titanium alloy described above or an α-β-type titanium alloy described later.

As the lower part 20, Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-6V-2Sn, which is an α-β type titanium alloy having a longitudinal elastic modulus of 11000 kgf / mm ² (107.8 × 10 ⁹ Pa) or more, almost α type ( near-8) Ti-8Al-1Mo-1V of titanium alloy, β-3 titanium alloy Ti-3Al-8V-6Cr-4Mo-4Zr heat treated so that the longitudinal elastic modulus is in this range, Ti-22V-4Al can also be used.

  Examples of the constituent material of the hosel part include Ti-3Al-2V of pure titanium or α-β type titanium alloy, and titanium alloy further improved in machinability by adding sulfur and rare earth elements thereto.

  In general, the β-type titanium alloy changes its longitudinal elastic modulus depending on the form of heat treatment. The following Table 1 shows the treatment forms and longitudinal elastic moduli of various titanium alloys and pure titanium, and preferred usage parts of the titanium or titanium alloy.

  In addition, in the heat treatment of the β-type titanium alloy, it is preferable that the material used for the upper part is not subjected to age hardening because the elastic modulus can be kept low. In other words, the other head main body is, for example, age-hardened first using the same β-type titanium alloy, and thereafter, the β-type titanium alloy not age-hardened is welded to the upper part. The β-type titanium alloy to be welded to the upper part is preferably annealed or solution-treated. Similarly to the upper part, the lower part may be used in a state of aging treatment using a β-type titanium alloy.

  The thickness of the crown portion 11 and the upper side portion 12 of the golf club head is preferably 1.2 mm or less, particularly 1.0 mm or less in order to facilitate bending. In order to ensure strength, the thickness of the crown portion 11 and the upper side portion 12 is preferably 0.5 mm or more, particularly 0.7 mm or more. Since the crown portion 11 and the upper side portion 12 do not directly hit the ball, the thickness is less than half that of the face portion 40.

  As for the hosel part, it is preferable that the wall thickness is small as long as necessary strength can be secured. In particular, it is preferable to reduce the thickness of the hosel portion disposed inside the golf club head because it is possible to reduce the extra weight and to easily design the center of gravity near the center of the face surface.

  A golf club head particularly effective for applying the present invention is a large-sized golf club head in which a crown portion is easily bent. Specifically, a golf club having a head volume of 250 cc or more, preferably 300 cc or more, more preferably 350 cc or more. Club head. However, generally, when the volume of a golf club head increases, the weight of the golf club head increases accordingly. When this weight becomes excessively large, it becomes difficult to swing the golf club smoothly. For this reason, the head volume is considered to be limited to about 600 cc from the viewpoint of this weight restriction. The present invention is preferably applied to a driver head having a loft angle of 7 ° to 15 °.

  It is preferable that the golf club head has a higher face height because the loft angle increases when the ball hits the face surface. Specifically, the maximum face height is preferably 45 mm or more, particularly 50 mm or more, particularly 53 mm or more. However, if the height of the face is 100 mm or more, the wind pressure resistance of the face surface during the swing becomes too large, which is not preferable.

  When used as a driver head, the club length is usually about 43 inches to 50 inches, so that a head weight of about 165 to 205 g is preferable in consideration of swing balance. If it is too heavy, the swing balance becomes heavy and the general golfer cannot swing completely. If the head weight is too light, the rebound of the ball may be deteriorated.

  In the present invention, specifically, a high-strength Ti-15Mo-5Zr-3Sn is used for the face portion, and a 2.5 mm plate material is press-molded. Ti-13V-11Cr-3Al is used for the upper part, and a plate material of 1.0 mm is formed by press molding. The lower part is formed by casting using a titanium alloy of Ti-6Al-4V, and the thickness of the sole part is 1.5 mm and the thickness of the side part is 1.2 mm. These are welded to form a hollow golf club head.

  In the present invention, a rib or a bent portion may be formed on the sole portion from the face side toward the back side. In the golf club head having this configuration, the deformation of the sole portion is small.

[Examples 1 to 3]
Parts having a shape as shown in FIG. 2 were manufactured, and these were joined by welding to manufacture a golf club head for a driver having a volume of 350 cc. Both the upper part 10 and the lower part 20 were manufactured by press-forming a titanium alloy plate, and the hosel part 30 was manufactured by cutting a rod-shaped body of a titanium alloy and punching a portion where the shaft is bonded.

In addition, the thickness of each part is as follows.
Face part: 2.5 mm (uniform)
Crown: 1.0 mm (uniform)
Sole part: 1.15 mm (uniform)
Upper side: 1.0mm
Lower side: 1.15mm

  Table 2 shows the material of each part and its longitudinal elastic modulus.

[Comparative Examples 1-3]
A golf club head was manufactured by press-molding the parts shown in FIG. 3 with the materials shown in Table 2 (excluding the hosel part). The thickness of each part was the same as in Examples 1-3.

  As shown in Table 2, the face portion is made of Ti-15V-3Cr-3Sn-3Al which has been subjected to cold rolling with good resilience performance, and the other members are made of titanium alloys having different elastic moduli. Creating a head.

  The Ti-22V-4Al non-heat-treating material constituting the upper part is in a state of being press-molded and has low elasticity. Since the ball directly hits the face surface, heat treatment, solution treatment, aging treatment, and the like are necessary. However, since the ball does not directly hit the crown portion and the side portion, heat treatment is not necessary.

  A golf club was manufactured by attaching a 45 inch (114 cm) carbon shaft to the golf club head. Table 3 shows the test hit evaluation results of this golf club head with a swing robot (head speed: 43 m / sec). Table 4 shows the test hit evaluation results for the swing robot (head speed 39 m / sec), and Table 5 shows the test hit evaluation results by humans.

[Comparative Example 4]
A golf club was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the face portion was made of the same titanium alloy for the crown portion, the sole portion, and the side portion, and evaluation was performed in the same manner. The results are shown in Table 3.

  As shown in Tables 3 to 5, Comparative Examples 1 to 3 are 0.4 to 0.5 ° compared to a golf club head (Comparative Example 4) in which the crown part, the sole part, and the side part are all the same type of titanium alloy. The launch angle is higher. Moreover, Examples 1-3 have a higher launch angle than Comparative Examples 1-3.

  In this evaluation, the thickness of the crown portion was set to 1.0 mm. However, by making the thickness thinner, the launch angle is further increased, and a lower elastic titanium alloy such as Ti-15Mo-5Zr or Ti-15Mo is used. It was recognized that the launch angle was increased by using -5Zr-3Al.

  After this test was completed, flaws were carefully examined, but no cracks or permanent deformation were observed.

1 is a perspective view and a sectional view of a golf club head according to an embodiment. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a golf club head according to an embodiment. It is a disassembled perspective view of the conventional golf club head.

Explanation of symbols

1,1A Golf club head 10 Upper parts 11 Crown part 12 Upper side part 20 Lower parts 21 Sole part 22 Lower side part 30 Hosel part 40 Face part

Claims (5)

In a metal hollow golf club head having at least a face portion, a sole portion, a side portion, and a crown portion,
A golf club head, wherein a metal material constituting the crown portion and at least the upper portion of the side portion has the lowest longitudinal elastic modulus.   2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the crown portion and at least an upper portion of the side portion are press-molded separately from other portions and joined to the other portions.   3. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein a thickness of at least an upper portion of the crown portion and the side portion is 0.5 to 1.2 mm. 4. The metal forming the golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the metal that forms the golf club head is titanium or a titanium alloy, and a longitudinal elastic modulus of at least an upper portion of the crown portion and the side portion is 10500 kgf / mm ² or less. A golf club head, wherein the longitudinal elastic modulus of the portion is 11000 kgf / mm ² or more. 5. The golf club head according to claim 4, wherein a difference between a longitudinal elastic modulus of at least an upper portion of the crown portion and the side portion and a longitudinal elastic modulus of the sole portion is 1000 to 3000 kgf / mm ² .

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