JP2015186513A - Golf club head and method for manufacturing golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf club head that includes face lines including relatively smooth surfaces and a ball hitting surface including a relatively rough surface roughened by unevenness of a predetermined pattern instead of irregular unevenness.SOLUTION: A golf club head comprises a head base material 22 and a plated layer 24 provided on a surface of the head base material 22 and including unevenness depending on a surface shape of the head base material 22. A ball hitting surface 13 in which grooves 15 of a first pattern is formed and face lines 14 recessed from the ball hitting surface 13 are formed in the surface of the head base material 22. Grooves 16 of a second pattern are formed in an area provided in the ball hitting surface 13 out of the plated layer 24.

Description

  The present invention relates to a golf club head and a method for manufacturing a golf club head.

  A golf club head attached to the tip of a golf club is provided with a flat face for hitting a ball. In the face, a groove having a predetermined depth called a face line is formed in order to increase the frictional force with the ball and to make it easier to apply backspin to the ball.

  Since this face line is likely to be clogged with foreign matter such as water, dirt, and grass during a shot, it has been proposed to smooth the surface of the face line and to easily discharge foreign matter that has entered the face line. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-110425 (Patent Document 1), a plating layer is formed on the surface of the face line, and the surface of the face line is reduced to the extent that the arithmetic average roughness of the plating layer surface is 0.20 μm or less. It has been proposed to smooth.

  On the other hand, the portion of the face other than the face line (ball striking surface) is processed so that the surface thereof is as rough as possible within the range defined by the Golf Rules in order to give the ball a sufficient amount of backspin. It is desirable. For this reason, generally, an abrasive is made to collide with the surface of the ball striking surface by shot blasting such as sand blasting to provide irregularities on the surface of the ball striking surface, thereby roughening the ball striking surface.

JP 2010-110425 A

  As described above, regarding the roughness of the face surface, there is a conflict between the face line and the hitting surface. In other words, it is desirable that the surface of the face line is smoothed, while the surface of the hitting surface is desirably roughened. For this reason, when the hitting surface is roughened by shot blasting, it is necessary to devise measures to prevent the face line from being roughened. For example, in Patent Document 1 described above, when sandblasting is performed on the ball striking surface, a masking material is applied to the face line to protect the surface of the face line from the abrasive.

  However, in order to achieve both the protection of the face line and the roughening of the ball striking surface, it is necessary to uniformly apply the masking material to the face line while preventing it from adhering to the ball striking surface. It becomes complicated. Moreover, the process of removing the said masking material is also required after a sandblasting process. Thus, when the hitting surface is roughened by shot blasting, the manufacturing process becomes complicated.

  Further, when the abrasive material collides with the face in the shot blasting process, irregular irregularities are generated in the portion where the abrasive material collides, and gloss is lost from the portion. As a golf club head, it is desirable that the golf club head has a glossy surface and looks good. Therefore, it is not desirable that the gloss is lost by shot blasting.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a golf club head having a face line having a relatively smooth surface and a striking surface having a relatively rough surface roughened by irregularities of a predetermined pattern instead of irregular irregularities. One of the purposes is to do. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing such a golf club head by a simple process that does not use shot blasting such as sand blasting. Other purposes will be apparent from the entire specification.

  A golf club head according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a head base material and a plating layer provided on the surface of the head base material. This plating layer is formed so that the surface has irregularities according to the surface shape of the head substrate.

  In one embodiment, the head substrate has a ball striking surface on which a groove of the first pattern is formed and a face line that is recessed from the ball striking surface. The grooves of the first pattern are formed on the surface of the head substrate by, for example, milling using a milling machine. When milling is performed using a milling machine, a partial arc-shaped groove appears on the surface of the head substrate. The shape of the groove of the first pattern is not limited to the partial arc shape, and is formed in various shapes according to the tool to be used.

  In one embodiment, a groove of the second pattern is formed in a region provided on the hitting surface of the plating layer. Of the plating layer, a region provided with the groove of the second pattern (that is, a region excluding a region provided in the face line of the plating layer) may be referred to as a rough surface portion. Since the groove of the second pattern is provided in the rough surface portion, the plating layer is formed so that the surface roughness is rougher than the region corresponding to the face line in the rough surface portion. The grooves of the second pattern are formed in various shapes by, for example, laser milling.

  In one embodiment, the rough surface portion has an arithmetic average roughness of 0.3 μm or more, while an arithmetic average roughness of a portion of the plating layer covering the surface of the face line is 0.2 μm to 0.00 mm. 6 μm. As described above, the rough surface portion on the hitting surface of the face is not rough irregularities formed by shot blasting, but is roughened by irregularities (grooves) of a predetermined (regular) pattern obtained by milling or the like. Therefore, gloss can be prevented from being lost from the face FA.

  A method of manufacturing a golf club head according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a step of forming a groove having a first pattern on a surface of a head substrate, a step of forming a face line on the surface of the head substrate, A step of providing a plating layer on the surface of the head substrate on which the first pattern groove and the face line are formed; and forming a second pattern groove in a region of the plating layer provided on the ball striking surface. And a step of performing.

  According to various embodiments of the present invention, a golf ball having a face line having a relatively smooth surface and a ball striking surface having a relatively rough surface roughened by irregularities of a predetermined pattern instead of irregular irregularities Club heads can be provided. Further, such a golf club head can be manufactured by a simple process without using shot blasting such as sand blasting.

The front view which shows the structure of the golf club which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. 1 is a front view showing a golf club head according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic view showing a cross section of a golf club head according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, various embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In addition, the same referential mark is attached | subjected to the component which is common in drawing. Further, the drawings are not necessarily shown to the same scale for convenience.

  FIG. 1 is a front view schematically showing a golf club according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 illustrates an iron golf club. As shown in FIG. 1, an iron golf club 10 mainly includes a grip G, a shaft S coupled to the grip G, and a golf club head coupled to the shaft S via a hosel HZ (hereinafter simply referred to as “head”). And 12).

  A head according to an embodiment of the present invention will be further described with reference to FIGS. 2 is an enlarged front view schematically showing the head 12 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a cross section of the head 12 shown in FIG. It should be noted that FIGS. 2 and 3 do not necessarily reflect the actual dimensions correctly in order to show the structure of the head 12 in an easily understandable manner.

  The head 12 shown in FIG. 2 is placed on the horizontal plane HP so that the center line CL of the shaft axis is inclined by a predetermined lie angle. The head 12 includes a face FA, a top surface TP continuous with the upper edge of the face FA, a sole surface SL continuous with the lower edge of the face FA, and a toe surface TU connecting the top surface TP and the sole surface SL. .

  The head 12 according to an embodiment of the present invention is manufactured by forming a plating layer 24 on the surface of the head substrate 22. In one embodiment, the head substrate 22 is obtained by casting or forging a metal material such as stainless steel or titanium alloy. The head substrate 22 may be manufactured from a single metal material or may be manufactured from a plurality of metal materials.

  In one embodiment, the head substrate 22 has, on its surface, a hitting surface 13 that is flat when viewed macroscopically, and a plurality of face lines 14 that are recessed from the hitting surface 13. The surface of the head substrate 22 is covered with the plating layer 24. In FIG. 2, in order to show the arrangement of the ball striking surface 13 and the score line 14 in the face FA, an area corresponding to the ball striking surface 13 and the score line 14 in the face FA. Are indicated by reference numeral 13 and reference numeral 14, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a large number of grooves (or cutting marks) 22a having a predetermined pattern are formed on the surface of the head base material 22 by milling or the like. The groove 22a is formed, for example, by milling using a milling machine. When the groove 22a is formed using a milling machine, the groove 22a is formed to have a partial arc-shaped pattern. The groove 22a may be formed over the entire surface of the ball striking surface 13, or may be formed only in part. However, since it is desirable to give a sufficient amount of backspin to the ball when it hits the face FA, it is desirable that the groove 22a be formed in an area including at least the sweet spot of the head 12. By forming the groove 22a in the face FA, the frictional force acting between the face FA in which the groove 22a is formed and the ball can be increased, and the amount of backspin applied to the ball can be increased. The groove 22a is formed such that the arithmetic average roughness of the ball striking surface 13 in which the groove 22a is formed is, for example, 0.5 μm to 5.0 μm.

  A plurality of face lines 14 are formed on the surface of the head substrate 22 in which the grooves 22a are formed. Each of the plurality of face lines 14 is formed so as to extend along the toe-heel direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2). In one embodiment, the face line 14 is formed to have a depth of about 0.3 mm to 0.45 mm. Various specifications such as the number of face lines, depth, and width can be arbitrarily set within a range in accordance with the golf rules. In one embodiment, the face line 14 is formed by engraving the surface of the substrate 22 using a milling machine or an engraving machine. In another embodiment, the face line 14 is formed by pressing a stamping die having a convex portion having a shape corresponding to the face line 14 against the substrate 22.

  As described above, a groove (groove 22a) having a depth on the order of micrometers is formed on the surface of the ball striking surface 13. This prevents the ball striking surface 13 from being macroscopically flat. It is not a thing. The hitting surface 13 indicates a portion of the surface of the head base material 22 on the face FA side where the score line 14 is not formed. Since the depth of the groove 22a formed on the ball striking surface 13 is on the order of several micrometers to several tens of micrometers, the ball striking surface 13 is compared with the score line 14 having a depth on the order of several hundred micrometers. And macroscopically it can be understood as flat.

  As described above, the plating layer 24 is provided on the surface of the head substrate 22 on which the grooves 22a and the face lines 14 are formed. Although the plating layer 10 is made of various metal materials such as nickel, chromium, and zinc, the material of the plating layer 10 applicable to the present invention is not limited to those exemplified in this specification. The plating layer 24 is formed to have a thickness of about 5 μm to 50 μm, for example, and preferably has a thickness of about 15 μm to 30 μm.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the plating layer 24, the region corresponding to the ball striking surface 13 (the region covering the ball striking surface 13) has a first shape having a shape along the groove 22 a formed in the head base material 22 in the lower layer. The groove 15 appears. When the groove 22a is formed in a partial arc shape by milling using a milling machine, the first groove 15 appearing on the surface of the face FA is also formed in a partial arc shape corresponding to the shape of the groove 22a. In one embodiment, the groove 22a is formed to have a width of about 100 μm to 400 μm. Therefore, even if the plating layer 24 of about 5 μm to 50 μm is formed, the surface of the plating layer 24 extends along the groove 22a. The groove 15 having a different shape appears reliably.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the second groove 16 is formed in a region corresponding to the ball striking surface 13 of the plating layer 24. The second groove 16 is formed to have a depth of approximately 5 μm to 15 μm by, for example, laser milling. The second groove 16 is not formed on the surface of the face line 14 but is formed only on the surface of the ball striking surface 13. Thereby, the roughening of the surface of the face line 14 can be prevented. In shot blasting in which an abrasive is sprayed, the collision area of the abrasive cannot be finely adjusted, so that it is necessary to protect the face line with the masking material as described above. On the other hand, in laser milling, it is not necessary to mask the surface of the face line 14 because the laser irradiation area can be set finely. For example, according to current golf rules, the interval between face lines is specified to be not less than three times the groove width of the face lines and not less than 1.905 mm, but according to laser milling, only the region of 1.905 mm width ( That is, it is possible to irradiate the laser (without irradiating the score line adjacent to the region). Thus, by using laser milling, the second groove 16 can be formed only in the ball striking surface 13 without using a masking material.

  In one embodiment, the surface of the region corresponding to the ball striking surface 13 of the plating layer 24 (the region covering the ball striking surface 13) has an arithmetic average roughness of 0.3 μm or more (according to 4.2.1 of JIS B0601: 2001). It means “arithmetic mean roughness with contour curve as roughness curve”. As a result, the frictional force acting between the balls increases, and a sufficient amount of backspin can be applied to the balls.

  In one embodiment, the surface of the area corresponding to the score line 14 of the plating layer 24 (area covering the score line 14) has an arithmetic average roughness of 0.2 μm to 0.6 μm (however, the ball striking surface 13 of the plating layer 24). It takes a value smaller than the arithmetic average roughness of the area corresponding to. To do. The surface roughness of the area corresponding to the score line 14 of the plating layer 24 can be adjusted by adjusting the type of the milling machine or engraving machine blade used to form the score line 14. When forming 14 using a stamping die, it can be adjusted by adjusting the roughness of the surface of the convex portion.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the surface of the area corresponding to the face line 14 of the face FA is formed to be relatively smooth (than the surface of the area corresponding to the hitting surface 13). For this reason, the face line 14 can be hardly clogged with foreign matter. In addition, the first groove 15 and the second groove 16 are formed on the surface of the area corresponding to the hitting surface 13 of the face FA, whereby the surface of the area corresponding to the hitting face 13 of the face FA. Has a relatively large arithmetic average roughness (at least than the surface of the region corresponding to the face line 14). Since such a rough surface is realized not by the irregular irregularities formed by shot blasting but by the irregularities (grooves) of a predetermined (regular) pattern obtained by milling or the like, from the face FA It is possible to prevent the gloss from being lost.

  Moreover, since the head according to the embodiment of the present invention does not use shot blasting, it can be manufactured without a troublesome process such as application of a masking material to the score line and its removal.

  The dimensions, materials, and arrangement of each component described in this specification are not limited to those explicitly described in the embodiments, and each component may be included in the scope of the present invention. Can be modified to have different dimensions, materials, and arrangements. In addition, components that are not explicitly described in the present specification can be added to the described embodiments, or some of the components described in the embodiments can be omitted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Golf club 12 Golf club head 13 Hitting surface 14 Face line 15 1st groove | channel 16 2nd groove | channel FA face 22 Base material 22a Groove 24 Plating layer

Claims (6)

A head substrate;
A plating layer provided on the surface of the head substrate, and having irregularities according to the surface shape of the head substrate;
With
The head base material has a ball striking surface on which a groove of the first pattern is formed and a face line recessed from the ball striking surface.
2. A golf club head, wherein a groove having a second pattern is formed in a region of the plated layer provided on the hitting surface.   2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein a rough surface portion in which the groove of the second pattern is formed in the plating layer has an arithmetic average roughness of 0.3 μm or more.   The arithmetic average roughness of a portion of the plating layer covering the surface of the face line is 0.2 μm to 0.6 μm, and is smaller than the arithmetic average roughness of the rough surface portion. A golf club head according to claim 2.   4. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the plating layer has a thickness of 5 μm to 50 μm. 5.   A golf club comprising the golf club head according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Forming a groove of the first pattern on the surface of the head substrate;
Forming a face line on the surface of the head substrate;
Providing a plating layer on the surface of the head substrate on which the grooves of the first pattern and the face lines are formed;
Forming a groove of a second pattern in a region provided on the ball striking surface of the plating layer;
A method of manufacturing a golf club head comprising:

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