JP2008049203A - Golf club shaft - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf club shaft which is improved in dynamic properties at dynamic playing such as easiness of taking timing without giving so much influence on dynamic properties of the golf club shaft. <P>SOLUTION: The golf club shaft is made of fiber reinforced resin, and employs at least one sheet of prepreg formed by a straight layer in which superelastic alloy fiber is used together with carbon fiber. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a golf club shaft.

  In recent golf club shafts, fiber reinforced resin has been widely adopted as the main material, the weight has been reduced, and the freedom of design of bending rigidity and torsional rigidity has increased, and the flight distance required for golf clubs It is effective in improving important performances such as increasing the number of dots and stabilizing the directionality (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  Carbon fibers are mainly used as the reinforcing fibers, and glass fibers, aramid fibers, and metal fibers are also used. By combining these materials and particularly those having different elastic moduli of carbon fibers, it is possible to design the distribution of bending stiffness and torsional stiffness, and the flight distance is increased and the directionality is improved.

  In this way, the degree of freedom in designing the bending rigidity and torsional rigidity is increased, and in fact, due to the characteristics of these shafts, golf clubs are provided that have increased flight distance and improved directionality. The characteristics of the shaft show a static behavior, and it has not been clarified in detail how each player swings, that is, how it affects the dynamic behavior. It is very difficult to elucidate the behavior, distance, and direction of golf clubs, especially shafts, during swinging.

  The flying distance and directionality at the time of hitting are determined by the head speed when the ball and the club head collide, the angle of the head face, and the trajectory of the head before and after the collision. In swing during actual play, backswing is started from the addressed state, timing is taken at a position called the top, and the swing is turned back down to make the club head collide with the ball. In these series of swinging operations, it is very difficult to adjust the factors affecting the flight distance and direction of the hit ball according to the player's will immediately before the ball and club head collide or after entering the downswing. It is. In other words, the player must always learn a certain swinging trajectory, and in order to make the head and the ball collide in the above-mentioned series of swinging motions, It is important to master the timing at the so-called top. The timing is varied according to the characteristics, weight, length, center of gravity, hardness, etc. of each player and club.

Various improvements have been proposed for the shaft so that this timing can be easily achieved and the club head can collide with the ball stably at a high speed. For example, by reducing the weight and increasing the length, even a less powerful player can obtain a high head speed, or the overall hardness can be reduced, the shaft can be easily bent, the timing can be adjusted easily, and the head speed can be increased. There are some that try to make large using the recovery of deflection. In addition, there is an attempt to improve the rigidity distribution of the shaft, design the position where it bends flexibly in addition to the overall hardness, and improve the ease of timing, etc. Is soft and easy to bend, that is, a so-called pointed tone player, has the effect of increasing the head speed, increasing the ball trajectory and increasing the flight distance, even with a weak player, and having a relatively hard tip, In the case where the grip side is soft, that is, the so-called hand tone, the swinging speed is high, and there is an effect of improving the directionality than the effect of increasing the head speed and the flight distance by restoring the deflection of the shaft.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-140839

  As described above, various golf shafts have been proposed by using fiber reinforced resin as a material, and the demands of players in golf play, that is, increased flight distance and stability of directionality have been improved. The static physical properties of the golf shaft, that is, weight, bending rigidity, and torsional rigidity are not substantially affected, the timing of dynamic play is improved, the swing is stabilized, and the shaft during swing is further improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf club shaft that facilitates restoring the bending of the golf club and increases the flight distance and improves the directionality stability.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a golf club shaft made of a fiber reinforced resin in which a plurality of prepregs impregnated with a resin are sequentially wound and laminated, and the impregnated resin is cured. One prepreg is a straight layer in which reinforcing fibers are arranged at (0 ° ± 5 °) with respect to the shaft axis, and the reinforcing fibers are composed of superelastic alloy fibers and carbon fibers. Has been.
A golf club shaft made of fiber reinforced resin having a tone ratio of 50.0 or more, wherein the prepreg having the reinforced fiber using the superelastic alloy fiber and the carbon fiber in combination with the shaft full length L from the tip to the tip To approximately 1/3 · L.

Alternatively, a golf club shaft made of a fiber reinforced resin having a tone ratio of 48.0 or more and less than 50, the prepreg having the reinforced fiber using the superelastic alloy fiber and the carbon fiber in combination with respect to the shaft full length L from the tip. It was disposed in a range from a position of approximately 1/3 · L to a position of approximately 2/3 · L from the tip.
Alternatively, a golf club shaft made of a fiber reinforced resin having a tone ratio of less than 48.0, the prepreg having the reinforced fiber using a superelastic alloy fiber and a carbon fiber in combination with the total length L of the shaft is approximately 2 from the tip. / 3 · L to the base end.

The golf club shaft according to the present invention has the effect of improving the ease of timing during dynamic play and stabilizing the swing.
In addition, the deflection of the shaft that occurs during swinging can be easily restored, increasing the flight distance of the ball and improving the stability of directionality.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the illustrated embodiment.

  FIG. 1 illustrates a golf club in which a golf club shaft 1 according to the present invention is used, and this club may be of wood type or iron type. The shaft 1 is made of a fiber reinforced resin, and a head 2 is fixed to the tip (chip) 5 side, and a grip 3 is fixed to the base end (butt) 4 side. L indicates the total length of the shaft.

  FIG. 2 illustrates a development view of each layer of a prepreg used in a shaft manufacturing method generally called a sheet winding method. That is, the prepregs 10, 11,... In which the reinforcing fibers are impregnated with the resin are sequentially wound around an intermediate core material called a mandrel and laminated, and then the impregnated resin is cured to produce a shaft.

  In FIG. 2, the prepregs 10 and 10 in (a) are called oblique layers, and generally the angle of the reinforcing fiber is set with respect to the mandrel axis (that is, the shaft axis 6 in FIG. 1). 45 ° ± 10 °. The shaft twist rigidity (referred to as rotational torque) is determined by this angle, the elastic modulus of the reinforcing fiber, the number of windings, and the like.

  The prepregs 11... In FIG. 2B are called straight layers, and reinforcing fibers are arranged substantially parallel to the mandrel axis (that is, the shaft axis 6 in FIG. 1). The bending rigidity of the shaft 1 is determined by physical properties such as elastic modulus and strength of the reinforcing fiber of the straight layer and the number of windings.

  With such an oblique layer, a straight layer, or a partial reinforcing layer, various physical properties such as the weight, bending rigidity, and torsional rigidity of the shaft 1 can be designed.

  The golf club shaft 1 according to the present invention includes, for example, a nickel / titanium alloy (hereinafter referred to as “super-alloy alloy fiber 8”) in at least one of the prepregs 11 as a straight layer shown in FIG. (Sometimes called "Ni-Ti alloy"). The Ni / Ti alloy fiber 8 has an extremely large elongation of 10 to 60%, and the prepreg 11 is used in combination with carbon fibers as a main reinforcing fiber.

  Then, by using the superelastic alloy fiber 8 for the prepreg 11 as a straight layer, the arrangement direction of the fiber 8 is set to 0 ° ± 5 ° with respect to the shaft axis 6 as shown in FIG.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, superelastic alloy fibers 8 are arranged on the entire shaft length L. Further, in another embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the shaft has a tip tone rate (definition will be described later) of 50.0 or more, and the superelastic alloy fibers 8. The case where it arrange | positions in the range to the position of about 1/3 * L is shown.

  In another embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the shaft has a tonal rate of 48.0 or more and less than 50, and the superelastic alloy fibers 8 are approximately 1/3 · L from the tip 5 with respect to the shaft total length L. It is arranged in a range from the position to the position of approximately 2/3 · L from the tip 5.

  In still another embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a shaft having a tone ratio of less than 48.0—so-called “hand-held shaft” —having superelastic alloy fibers 8 with respect to the shaft total length L. In the range from the position of about 2/3 · L to the base end 4 to the base end 4.

By the way, the definition of “first tone rate” in the present invention will be described below. That is, when the “first tone ratio” is T, the forward flex is F ₁ , and the reverse flex is F ₂ , the following formula 1 is obtained.

Here, the flex is the rigidity of the shaft 1. As shown in FIG. 7, the forward flex F ₁ has a point 129mm from the tip 5 as a load point W ₁ and a point 824mm from the load point W ₁ as a fulcrum. A is a flex (displacement amount of the tip 5) measured by applying a load W _t of 2.7 kg with a position 140 mm from the fulcrum A as a point of action B.
Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the reverse flex F ₂ has a point of action 12 mm from the tip 5 as a working point, a point 140 mm from this point C as a fulcrum D, and a point 776 mm from this fulcrum D as a load point W. ₂ is a flex measured by applying a load W _t of 1.3 kg (displacement of the base end 4).

Next, Example 1 (Shaft A), Example 2 (Shaft B), and Example of the present invention having the total length L, weight, forward flex F ₁ , and reverse flex F ₂ as shown in Table 1 below. 3 (Shaft D), Example 4 (Shaft E), Example 5 (Shaft G), Example 6 (Shaft H), and Comparative Example 1 (Shaft C), Comparative Example 2 (Shaft F), Comparative Example 3 (shaft I) was produced respectively.

  Comparative Examples 1, 2, and 3 are shafts composed of a prepreg laminated structure in which carbon fibers are set as reinforcing fibers with a pretone ratio T set to 53.5%, 49.3%, and 44.2% (measured values).

  In Examples 1 to 6, a prepreg in which a Ni / Ti alloy fiber having superelasticity is disposed on a carbon fiber of a main reinforcing fiber--specifically, a prepreg manufactured by Nippon Steel Chemical Co., Ltd .; product number MJO100-500 / 1200-A15 / K03 --- was used.

  First, Example 1 (Shaft A) has a structure in which the straight layer is replaced with a prepreg in which the Ni / Ti alloy fibers are arranged over the entire length L as compared with Comparative Example 1. In Example 2 (Shaft B), the prepreg provided with the Ni / Ti alloy fibers was placed on the straight layer at a position 1/3 · L from the shaft tip, which was 381 mm from the tip 5 in FIG. It is a structure that has been replaced across positions.

  Similarly, Example 3 (shaft D) and Example 4 (shaft E) are arranged by replacing the comparative example 2 (shaft F) with the prepreg having the above alloy fibers. However, in Example 3 (shaft D), alloy fibers are arranged over the entire length L, and in Example 4 (shaft E), as shown in FIG. 5, 762 mm from the position of 381 mm from the tip 5 of the shaft. It replaces the prepreg with alloy fibers over a range of positions.

  Further, Example 5 (shaft G) and Example 6 (shaft H) are obtained by replacing the comparative example 3 (shaft I) with the prepreg having the above alloy fibers. However, in Example 5 (shaft G), alloy fibers are arranged over the entire length L, and in Example 6 (shaft H), as shown in FIG. It was arranged over the.

From Table 1 above, it can be seen that the tones rate T and torque of Examples 1 and 2 and Comparative Example 1 are substantially the same. The same applies to Examples 3 and 4 and Comparative Example 2, and the same applies to Examples 5 and 6 and Comparative Example 3.
The head 2 and the grip 3 (as shown in FIG. 1) are attached to the shafts of Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3, and the following Table 2, Table 3, and The results of Table 4 were obtained.

  Specifically, the players (subjects a to e) using the shaft of the comparative example 1 for daily use, and the players (subjects f to j) using the shaft of the examples 1 and 2 and the shaft of the comparative example 2 are used. And the players (subjects k to o) using the shafts of Examples 3 and 4 and the shafts of Comparative Examples 3 and 6 actually hit the shafts of Examples 5 and 6, and the vault head at the time of actual hitting collides. The head speed just before impact, the ball speed just after impact, the launch angle with respect to the horizon, and the distance that the ball flew and the lateral displacement are measured, depending on the player's satisfaction, weight, hardness, and ease of swinging. Evaluation was also performed at the same time. These results are shown in Tables 2, 3 and 4. The measurement result of each test subject is an average value of five ball hits and measurement values, and the sensitivity evaluation results are scored for each item by a five-point method after each shaft hit.

In Table 2, the difference between Comparative Example 1 (Shaft C), Example 1 (Shaft A), and Example 2 (Shaft B) is shown in the lowermost row as an average of five subjects. Also, in Table 3, the difference between Comparative Example 2 (Shaft F), Example 3 (Shaft D) and Example 4 (Shaft E) is shown in the lowermost row as an average of five subjects each. Yes. In Table 4, the difference between Comparative Example 3 (Shaft I), Example 5 (Shaft G) and Example 6 (Shaft H) is shown in the lowermost row as an average of five subjects. Yes.
A head 2 “NEWBREED loft 10.5 °” manufactured by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. was attached to each shaft.

  From Table 1, it can be seen that the golf club shaft of the present invention has almost no effect on the static physical properties of bending rigidity and torsional rigidity called torque, which are represented by forward and inverse flex. The weight is increased by several grams (up to 6.5 g) by arranging alloy fibers. However, the static physical properties, the dynamic behavior of the player during swinging, and the effect on the player's sensibility have not been elucidated in detail, and when a person actually plays, the swinging depends on the condition of the body and golf course. There are not a few influences.

  As can be seen from the results of actual hits in Table 2, Table 3, and Table 4, the golf club using the shaft of the present invention has a high head speed and a high ball speed immediately after impact, resulting in a large flight distance. Yes. This means that the physical properties of the static shaft are almost the same and the weight is slightly increased, but the timing of each subject is improved when swinging dynamically, especially when turning at the top. It is a result. Also, the launch angle of the ball has increased, which is also a factor that increases the flight distance. This means that the deflection in the direction opposite to the direction of the general hitting ball that occurs on the shaft when turning down from the top during swinging is easier to restore in the direction of the general hitting ball than in the conventional shaft. . On the other hand, the directionality is also improved.

  Furthermore, from the result of the sensitivity evaluation, the ease of swinging is improved, and as a result, satisfaction (like, dislike) is improved. In addition, the maximum weight increase of several grams compared to the comparative example is not felt to the extent that each subject affects the ease of swinging, and does not have a negative effect on the improvement of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a golf club shaft made of a fiber reinforced resin in which a plurality of prepregs impregnated with a resin in a reinforcing fiber are sequentially wound and laminated, and the impregnated resin is cured. At least one prepreg is a straight Since the reinforcing fiber is arranged in a layer (0 ° ± 5 °) with respect to the shaft axis, and the reinforcing fiber is composed of a superelastic alloy fiber and a carbon fiber, This improves the ease of timing when playing, and stabilizes swing.
In addition, the deflection of the shaft that occurs during swinging can be easily restored, increasing the flight distance of the ball and improving the stability of directionality.

  A golf club shaft made of fiber reinforced resin having a tone ratio of 50.0 or more, wherein the prepreg having the reinforced fiber using the superelastic alloy fiber and the carbon fiber in combination with the shaft full length L from the tip to the tip To about 1/3 · L, so it is effective for the shaft of the first tone, and the golf club regardless of whether the superelastic alloy fiber is about 1/3 · L from the tip 5 The dynamic characteristics can be greatly improved.

Further, a golf club shaft made of a fiber reinforced resin having a tone ratio of 48.0 or more and less than 50, the prepreg having the reinforced fiber using the superelastic alloy fiber and the carbon fiber in combination with respect to the shaft full length L from the tip. Since it is arranged in the range from about 1/3 · L position to about 2/3 · L position from the tip, it has a short-range superelastic alloy fiber as a shaft with a pretone ratio of 48.0 or more and less than 50 Regardless, the dynamic characteristics of the golf club can be greatly improved.
Further, the golf prep shaft made of fiber reinforced resin having a tone ratio of less than 48.0, the prepreg having the reinforced fiber using the superelastic alloy fiber and the carbon fiber in combination, is approximately 2 from the tip with respect to the shaft full length L. Since it is arranged in the range from the position / 3 · L to the base end, the dynamic characteristics of the golf club can be improved as a hand-tuned shaft regardless of the arrangement of superelastic alloy fibers in a short range.

It is a top view of an example of the golf club using the shaft concerning the present invention. It is a top view which shows the example of a prepreg. It is a top view which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the other form of implementation of this invention. It is a top view which shows another form of implementation of this invention. It is a top view which shows another form of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the measuring method of a forward type flex. It is explanatory drawing of the measuring method of a reverse type flex.

Explanation of symbols

1 Golf club shaft 4 Base end (bat)
5 Tip (tip)
6 Shaft center L Shaft total length T Tone rate F ₁ Forward flex F ₂ Reverse flex

Claims (4)

In a golf club shaft made of a fiber reinforced resin in which a plurality of prepregs impregnated with a resin in a reinforcing fiber are sequentially wound and laminated, and the impregnated resin is cured,
At least one prepreg is a straight layer, the reinforcing fibers are arranged at (0 ° ± 5 °) with respect to the shaft axis, and the reinforcing fibers are a combination of superelastic alloy fibers and carbon fibers. A golf club shaft characterized by being configured.   A golf club shaft made of a fiber reinforced resin having a tone ratio of 50.0 or more, wherein the prepreg having the reinforced fiber using a superelastic alloy fiber and a carbon fiber in combination is substantially the same from the tip to the shaft full length L. A golf club shaft characterized by being arranged in a range up to a position of 1/3 · L.   A golf club shaft made of fiber reinforced resin having a tone ratio of 48.0 or more and less than 50, the prepreg having the reinforced fiber using the superelastic alloy fiber and the carbon fiber in combination with the total length L of the shaft is approximately 1 from the tip. A golf club shaft, wherein the golf club shaft is disposed in a range from a position of / 3 · L to a position of approximately 2/3 · L from the tip.   A golf club shaft made of a fiber reinforced resin having a tone ratio of less than 48.0, wherein the prepreg having the reinforced fiber using a superelastic alloy fiber and a carbon fiber in combination is approximately 2/3 from the tip with respect to the shaft full length L. A golf club shaft that is disposed in a range from the position of L to the base end.

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