JP2005270518A - Golf club head, manufacturing method thereof, and golf club - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf club head capable of effectively suppressing coating irregularities on the surface of the golf club head, and to provide a manufacturing method thereof and a golf club provided with the head. <P>SOLUTION: The golf club comprises the golf club head 1, a shaft and a grip. The golf club head 1 comprises a face part 2, a crown part 3, a sole part 4, and a side part including a toe part 5 and a heel part 6. Then, a coating film of a uniform thickness ≥1 μm and <20 μm is formed on at least a part of the surface of the golf club head 1. The coating film can be formed by a super spindle coating method. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a golf club head and a golf club, and more particularly to a golf club head in which a thin and uniform coating film is formed on the surface of the golf club head, a manufacturing method thereof, and a golf club provided with the head.

  Conventionally, a coating film is generally formed on the surface of a golf club head such as a metal wood type golf club head. By forming the coating film in this way, the surface of the head can be protected and design beauty and luxury can be imparted to the head.

As an example in which a coating film is formed on the surface of a golf club head, for example, there is a golf club head described in JP-A-2002-224248. In the golf club head described in this document, a coating film is formed on at least a part of the head surface, and a heavy coating film portion containing a metal filler having a specific gravity of 4 to 22 is provided on the coating film. . The heavy coating film has a thickness of 20 μm to 100 μm.
JP 2002-224248 A

  However, in the golf club head described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-224248, since a coating film is formed by a technique such as spraying by a conventionally known general painting robot, a paint pool is formed on the head surface. It tends to occur. In particular, when the golf club head has a portion manufactured by a thixomolding manufacturing method that provides good surface accuracy, paint accumulation is more likely to occur. Further, when a coating film is formed on the face surface of the head, as shown in FIG. 2B, a raised portion 9 due to paint accumulation is easily formed at the upper corner of the groove portion constituting the score line 7. Become.

  Due to the occurrence of the paint pool as described above, there arises a problem that coating unevenness occurs and the aesthetic appearance of the golf club head is impaired. In addition, the coating film is likely to be chipped at a location where the coating film is locally thick like the bulging portion 9 described above, resulting in a problem that the corrosion resistance is lowered. Furthermore, if the bulging portion 9 due to the paint pool is formed on the upper corner of the side wall of the groove portion forming the score line, a desired spin cannot be stably applied to the ball at the time of hitting, and the bulging portion 9 Another problem is that the ball trajectory of the ball becomes unstable due to variations in the shape of the ball.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and includes a golf club head that can effectively suppress uneven coating on the surface of the golf club head, a manufacturing method thereof, and the head. An object is to provide a golf club.

  The golf club head according to the present invention includes a coating film having a uniform thickness of 1 μm or more and less than 20 μm on at least a part of the surface. “Uniform thickness” does not mean that the thickness is completely uniform, but means that the thickness variation is small, and the effect of the present invention can be obtained even if there is a slight thickness variation. Should be construed as included in the present invention. Moreover, the thickness of a coating film is the thickness of the coating film of one layer, and typically means the thickness of the coating film of the uppermost layer.

  When the golf club head includes a face portion having a groove portion forming a score line on the face surface, the coating film is formed on the face surface so as to cover the groove portion, and at the upper corner of the side wall of the groove portion. It is preferable to extend from the surface of the groove part to the face surface located in the vicinity of the groove part without locally rising. Further, when the golf club head includes a head part produced by a thixomolding manufacturing method, it is preferable to form the coating film on the surface of the head part. As the head parts, for example, crown parts made of magnesium alloy can be cited.

  A golf club according to the present invention includes the above-described golf club head.

  In one aspect, a method for manufacturing a golf club head according to the present invention includes the following steps. Mold a golf club head. The surface of the golf club head is polished. The golf club head is rotated by spraying the paint onto at least a part of the surface of the golf club head while rotating the ground golf club head and moving the paint blowing means for blowing the paint toward the golf club head. A coating film is formed on the surface of the head. Here, the concept of “molding a golf club head” includes not only molding a golf club head integrally by casting or the like, but also golfing by joining the parts after producing the parts of the golf club head. This includes the case of molding a club head.

  In another aspect, the golf club head manufacturing method according to the present invention includes the following steps. Mold a golf club head. The surface of the golf club head is polished. A coating film is formed on at least a part of the surface of the polished golf club head by a super spindle coating method.

  The coating film forming step preferably includes a step of forming a coating film having a thickness of 1 μm or more and less than 20 μm.

  Since the golf club head of the present invention is provided with a coating film having a uniform thickness of 1 μm or more and less than 20 μm on at least a part of the surface, it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of coating unevenness on the surface of the golf club head. It can be suppressed, and various problems caused by coating unevenness can be solved.

  Since the golf club of the present invention includes the above-described golf club head, it is possible to obtain a golf club in which coating unevenness that causes a problem on the surface of the golf club head is effectively suppressed.

  In the method of manufacturing a golf club head according to one aspect of the present invention, the surface of the golf club head is rotated from the paint blowing means while rotating the golf club head and moving the paint blowing means for blowing the paint toward the golf club head. Since a coating film is formed on the surface of the golf club head by spraying a paint on at least a part thereof, a thin coating film having a uniform thickness can be formed on the surface of the golf club head. Accordingly, it is possible to effectively suppress the coating unevenness that causes a problem on the surface of the golf club head.

  In the golf club head manufacturing method according to another aspect of the present invention, since the coating film is formed on at least a part of the surface of the golf club head by the super spindle coating method, the surface of the golf club head is thin with a uniform thickness. A coating film can be formed, and coating unevenness that causes a problem on the surface of the golf club head can be effectively suppressed.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The present invention is typically applied to a wood golf club, but the idea of the present invention can also be applied to an iron golf club.

  The golf club in the present embodiment includes a golf club head described later, a shaft, and a grip. Well-known shafts and grips can be used.

  The golf club head in the present embodiment is typically made of metal, and can be made of at least one material of, for example, titanium, titanium alloy, stainless steel, aluminum, aluminum alloy, magnesium, and magnesium alloy. In the case of a wood golf club, the golf club head has a face portion, a crown portion, a sole portion, a side portion, and a neck portion (hosel portion). In the case of an iron golf club, the golf club head has a face portion, a top edge portion, a sole portion, a back portion, and a neck portion (hosel portion).

  The golf club head in the present embodiment includes a coating film having a substantially uniform thickness of about 1 μm or more and less than 20 μm on at least a part of the surface. The thickness of the coating film is preferably about 3 μm to 18 μm, more preferably about 5 μm to 15 μm. The coating film is formed by curing a paint applied to the surface of the golf club head, covering and protecting the surface of the head, and improving corrosion resistance, trauma resistance, head aesthetics, and the like. it can.

  The above-mentioned coating film may be constituted by a single film, but may be constituted by laminating a plurality of films. When laminating a plurality of films, for example, it is conceivable to form a relatively thick base film and to form one or more coating films thinner than the base film on the base film.

  By forming a thin and uniform coating film on the surface of the golf club head as described above, it is possible to effectively suppress the coating unevenness to the extent that becomes a problem on the surface of the golf club head. Can be improved. In addition, since the coating film is thin and has a substantially uniform thickness, the occurrence of locally thick spots in the coating film can be suppressed, and the coating film can be chipped due to the presence of the spots. It can also be suppressed. Thereby, the impact resistance and corrosion resistance of the golf club head can be improved. Furthermore, a paint having high hardness can be used, and scratch resistance can be improved.

  The coating film may be formed on the entire surface of the golf club head, but in the case of a wood golf club head, for example, only on the surface of the face portion, only on the surface of the crown portion, only on the surface of the side portion, Forming on the surfaces of the face portion and the crown portion, on the surfaces of the face portion and the side portion, on the surfaces of the crown portion and the side portion, and on the surfaces of the face portion, the crown portion, and the side portion is also conceivable. In the case of an iron golf club head, it may be formed on the entire surface of the head, but only on the surface of the face portion, only on the surface of the top edge portion, only on the surface of the back portion, and on the face portion and the top edge portion. Forming on the surface, the surface of the face portion and the back portion, and the surface of the face portion, the top edge portion, and the back portion are also conceivable.

  In addition, when the golf club head includes a face portion having a groove portion that forms a score line on the face surface, the coating film is formed on the face surface so as to cover the groove portion, and at the upper corner of the side wall of the groove portion. It is preferable to extend from the surface of the groove part to the face surface located in the vicinity of the groove part without locally rising.

  The upper corners of the side walls of the grooves constituting the score line affect the spin rate of the ball after hitting. When the coating swells on the upper corner of the side wall of the groove, the amount of spin of the ball after hitting varies due to variations in the height of the swell. Thus, when the spin amount of the ball after hitting varies, the trajectory of the ball becomes unstable, and the flight distance of the ball also varies.

  Therefore, the amount of spin of the ball after hitting by extending the coating film from the surface of the groove portion to the face surface located in the vicinity of the groove portion without locally rising at the upper corner of the side wall of the groove portion as described above. Can be reduced. Thereby, the trajectory of the ball can be stabilized, and variation in the flight distance of the ball can be reduced.

  The golf club head may include a head part manufactured by a thixo molding method. In this case, it is preferable to form a thin coating film as described above on the surface of the head part.

  Since the surface accuracy of the head parts produced by the thixomolding manufacturing method is good, paint accumulation is relatively likely to occur. However, by reducing the thickness of the coating film as described above, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of paint accumulation on the surface of the head part produced by the thixomolding manufacturing method, and to improve the aesthetics of the golf club head. it can. In addition, as a head part, the crown part made from a magnesium alloy with which the head main body of a wood golf club is mounted | worn can be mentioned, for example.

  The coating film may be colored or colorless and transparent (so-called clear coating film). When the coating film is colored, a desired color tone can be imparted with a pigment or a colorant. For example, it is possible to form a coating film composed of a first layer made of a pigment-based coloring paint and a transparent clear layer.

  As the material for the coating film, for example, acrylic resin, urethane resin, epoxy resin, vinyl chloride, thermoplastic polyester, and thermosetting polyester can be used.

  Next, a method for manufacturing a golf club head in the present embodiment will be described.

  First, a golf club head is formed into a predetermined shape. For example, a golf club head can be integrally formed by casting or the like, but after manufacturing each part of the golf club head (head body, crown part, face part, face / neck part, etc.), these are welded. The golf club head may be formed by bonding.

  After the golf club head is formed into a predetermined shape as described above, the surface of the golf club head is polished. For example, the surface of the golf club head is cleaned, and after the cleaning, surface polishing treatment such as shot blasting or sand blasting is performed.

  Then, while rotating the ground golf club head and moving the paint blowing means such as a paint spray nozzle for blowing the paint toward the golf club head, the paint blowing means is moved to at least a part of the surface of the golf club head. A paint film is formed on the surface of the golf club head by spraying paint. Specifically, the paint blowing means may be sprayed onto the golf club head by moving the paint blowing means in at least one direction of up / down / left / right while rotating the golf club head, and the paint blowing means is moved up / down / left / right while revolving the golf club head. The paint may be sprayed onto the golf club head by moving it in at least one direction, and the paint spraying means may be moved in at least one of the top, bottom, left and right directions while the golf club head rotates and revolves to spray the paint on the golf club head. May be.

  For example, the coating film can be formed by a super spindle coating method. In the super spindle coating method, for example, in a clean room, a first table holding a plurality of golf club heads rotates at high speed while rotating a second table holding the first table at high speed to spray a paint gun. In this method, the paint is sprayed onto the golf club head while moving up and down. This super spindle coating method can be performed using a digitally controlled coating system, and by setting various conditions such as the amount of paint discharged from the coating gun, atomization pressure, and pattern pressure, the coating film thickness (Coating mass) can be controlled with high accuracy.

  In the case of selectively forming a coating film on the surface of the golf club head, a mask film is selectively formed on the surface of the golf club head, and the surface of the golf club head not covered with the mask film is formed. Only a coating film may be formed by the above-described method.

  By forming the coating film by the above-described method, a coating film having a uniform thickness as described above can be formed on the surface of the golf club head. It is also possible to laminate a plurality of coating films. For example, a coating film composed of a plurality of films can be formed through undercoating, intermediate coating (coloring), and topcoating (clearing) processes.

  After the coating film is formed as described above, drying and baking are performed in order to cure the coating film. When a multi-layered coating film is formed, drying and baking processes may be performed for each layer forming process.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  First, Example 1 of this invention is demonstrated using FIGS. 1-3. As shown in FIG. 1, the golf club according to the first embodiment includes a golf club head 1 and a well-known shaft and grip.

  The golf club head 1 according to the first embodiment is made of a titanium alloy, and as shown in FIG. 1, a side portion including a face portion 2, a crown portion 3, a sole portion 4, a toe portion 5 and a heel portion 6. And have. A score line 7 is formed on the face surface which is the surface of the face portion 2 on the ball striking face side. The score line 7 is composed of a groove formed on the face surface.

  FIG. 2 (a) shows a cross-sectional view of the face surface and its vicinity in the golf club head 1 of the first embodiment, and FIG. 2 (b) shows a cross-section of the face surface and its vicinity when coating is performed by a conventional method. The figure is shown.

  In Example 1, a coating film 8 having a substantially uniform thickness is formed so as to cover the face surface as shown in FIG. The coating film 8 may be formed so as to extend on the crown part 3 or the side part. As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the coating film 8 extends from the surface of the groove part to the face surface located in the vicinity of the groove part without locally rising at the upper corner of the side wall of the groove part forming the score line 7. 2B, it can be seen that there is a bulging portion 9 that rises locally at the upper corner portion of the side wall of the groove portion forming the score line 7 in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the coating film 8 has a three-layer structure, and has a base film (undercoat: primer) 8 a made of polyester having a thickness of about 15 μm in the lowermost layer and a thickness of about 10 μm on the base film 8 a. And an intermediate film 8b made of colored polyester, and a surface film 8c made of colorless and transparent polyester having a thickness of about 14 μm on the intermediate film 8b. In the first embodiment, the base film 8a is thicker than the intermediate film 8b and the surface film 8c, and the surface film 8c is thicker than the intermediate film 8b, but any other combination is possible. Can be adopted.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the golf club head 1 according to the first embodiment will be described.

  First, a head body made of a titanium alloy is produced by casting. The head body forms the crown portion 3, the sole portion 4, and the side portions including the toe portion 5 and the heel portion 6 in the golf club head 1. On the other hand, the face portion 2 made of titanium alloy is produced by forging or the like. The face portion 2 and the head body are joined by welding. Thereby, the golf club head 1 can be molded.

  Next, the molded golf club head 1 is washed, and the surface of the golf club head 1 is polished by sandblasting or the like. Thereafter, the base film 8a, the intermediate film 8b, and the surface film 8c are sequentially formed by the super spindle coating method. At this time, drying and baking processes are performed to cure each coating film. The golf club head 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 can be manufactured through the above steps.

  In addition, when this inventor observed the golf club head 1 in the present Example 1 visually, it was confirmed that there was almost no coating unevenness and the aesthetic appearance of the head was improved.

  Next, since this inventor performed the test in order to confirm the effect at the time of forming the coating film based on this invention, the result is demonstrated using Table 1. FIG.

  First, the test method will be described. As a conventional product, a golf club in which a 60 μm thick coating film made of polyester is formed on the face surface of a golf club head 1 made of titanium alloy by hand-wiping is prepared. Golf clubs equipped with the club head 1 were prepared, attached to a swing robot, hit at a head speed of 43 m / s, and the initial ball speed, launch angle, backspin amount, carry and total flight distance were measured. Mizuno Pro 300SII330 (manufactured by Mizuno Co., Ltd.) having a loft of 11 degrees was used for the golf club, Dunlop Everio manufactured by Dunlop Co., Ltd., and Robot Shot 2 made by Miyamae was used for the swing robot. Note that the launch angle, the initial ball speed, and the backspin amount were determined by marking two arbitrary points on the surface of the ball in advance, and placing 3500 μs and 5500 μs balls on the side in the flying direction after hitting the ball. The images were taken with a CCD camera, and the amount of movement at five points on the ball surface was measured and determined by the DLT method.

  As shown in Table 1, the product of the present invention has a lower backspin amount and a lower standard deviation of the backspin amount. Also, the standard deviation of carry and total flight distance is low. From this, by forming a coating film like the product of the present invention, in addition to the effects on the appearance of the head as described above, it is possible to suppress variations in the amount of backspin, and performance is also aesthetically pleasing. It can be said that a golf club excellent in terms of surface is obtained.

  Although the embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described above, it is also planned from the beginning to appropriately combine the configurations of the embodiments and examples. Moreover, it should be thought that embodiment and the Example which were disclosed this time are illustrations in all points, and are not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and includes meanings equivalent to the terms of the claims and all modifications within the scope.

  The present invention can be effectively used for golf club heads and golf clubs.

It is a front view of the golf club head in Example 1 of the present invention. (A) is a partial cross-sectional view showing the face surface and the vicinity thereof in the golf club head shown in FIG. 1, and (b) is the face surface in the golf club head when a coating film is formed by a conventional coating method and the face surface thereof. It is a fragmentary sectional view showing the neighborhood. It is the elements on larger scale of the cross section shown to Fig.2 (a).

Explanation of symbols

  1 golf club head, 2 face part, 3 crown part, 4 sole part, 5 toe part, 6 heel part, 7 score line, 8 coating film, 8a base film, 8b intermediate film, 8c surface film, 9 swelled part.

Claims (8)

  A golf club head comprising a coating film (8) having a uniform thickness of 1 μm or more and less than 20 μm on at least a part of a surface thereof. A face portion (2) having a groove portion forming a score line (7) on the face surface;
The coating film (8) is formed on the face surface so as to cover the groove portion, and the face is located in the vicinity of the groove portion from the surface of the groove portion without locally rising at the upper end corner of the side wall of the groove portion. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the golf club head extends on a surface. With head parts made by thixo molding manufacturing method,
The golf club head according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the coating film (8) is formed on a surface of the head part.   The golf club head according to claim 3, wherein the head part is a crown part made of a magnesium alloy.   A golf club comprising the golf club head according to claim 1. Forming a golf club head (1);
Polishing the surface of the golf club head (1);
The surface of the golf club head (1) is rotated from the paint blowing means while rotating the ground golf club head (1) and also moving the paint blowing means for blowing the paint toward the golf club head (1). Forming a coating film (8) on the surface of the golf club head (1) by spraying a paint on at least a part thereof;
A method of manufacturing a golf club head, comprising: Forming a golf club head (1);
Polishing the surface of the golf club head (1);
Forming a coating film (8) on at least a part of the surface of the polished golf club head (1) by a super spindle coating method;
A method of manufacturing a golf club head, comprising:   The golf club head manufacturing method according to claim 6, wherein the coating film forming step includes a step of forming a coating film having a thickness of 1 μm or more and less than 20 μm.

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