JP4355274B2 - Golf club head and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a golf club head capable of improving aesthetics by improving a coating film.

  Golf club heads, particularly wood-type golf club heads, are not only improved in hitting performance such as flight distance and directionality, but are also required to have beauty and luxury in the design appearance of the head. In view of such a situation, for example, the following Patent Document 1 has been proposed.

  In Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 5, a transparent base layer b1 formed on the most side of the head substrate a on the surface of the head substrate a made of a metal material, and a colored transparent color formed on the outer side thereof. A golf club head in which a coating film b including a clear layer b2 is formed is described. Since the coating film b can be seen through the head substrate a, the golf player can feel the thickness of the coating film b, and the coating using a conventional pigment-based paint that cannot see through the head substrate a. A novel and high-class impression can be given compared with a film.

JP 2003-38688 A

  By the way, when the base layer b1 is coated on the head base a made of a metal material, it is inevitable that various coating film defects occur in the base layer b1. For example, the bubbles present in the paint of the underlayer b1 burst when the paint is dried, or the influence of oil, casting nest, surface defects m such as pinholes, etc. present on the surface of the head substrate a. As a result, a pinhole j, which is a small hole as if with a needle, is often formed in the coating film of the base layer b1. The Patent Document 1 describes that in paragraph “0013”, when a pinhole j is found after forming the base layer b1, the pinhole j is repaired using a putty material.

  As putty materials for pinhole restoration, lacquer putty, polyester putty, and the like are generally known, but each has a gray color and has a different hue from the transparent base layer b1. For this reason, when the pinhole j of the base layer b1 is repaired using a putty material as in the prior art, the pinhole repair mark (putty material) k is visually recognized from the outside like a spotted pattern, and the appearance of the head is thereby improved. Rather, there is a drawback of lowering.

  For this reason, conventionally, in order to make the pinhole repair mark inconspicuous, it is performed to use a paint having a dark color for the color clear layer b2. However, this method has a drawback that it limits the color design of the head. It is also conceivable to repair the surface defect portion of the head base body a by welding the same metal material as that of the head base body a prior to the formation of the base layer b1. However, this method has a drawback that the number of man-hours is remarkably increased and the head productivity is lowered, and it is difficult to know all the surface defects existing on the head substrate before coating.

  The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described problems. A transparent coating film formed on a head substrate, a transparent base layer formed most on the head substrate side, and a pin of the base layer are provided. The pinhole repair mark is visually recognized from the outside, based on the structure that includes a transparent repair material that fills the hole-like coating film defects, and an outer layer that is formed on the outside of the base layer and the repair material and has transparency. The object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head that is hard and good-looking.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a golf club head in which a transparent coating film capable of seeing through the head substrate is formed on at least a part of the surface of the head substrate made of a metal material. The transparent coating film is formed on the outermost side of the transparent base layer formed on the head substrate side, a transparent repair material that fills in the pinhole-shaped coating film defects of the base layer, and the base layer and the repair product. And an outer layer having transparency.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the golf club head according to the first aspect, the repaired object is formed using a paint of the same series as the base layer.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the head substrate includes a face surface and a crown surface forming a head upper surface continuous with an upper edge of the face surface, and the transparent coating film forms a peripheral region of the crown surface. The golf club head is characterized in that a non-transparent coating film is formed in a peripheral region of the crown surface and formed in a removed crown inner region.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the golf club head according to any one of the first to third aspects, the outer layer includes a colored clear color transparent layer.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a golf club head manufacturing method comprising a step of forming a transparent coating film on a head substrate made of a metal material, wherein a transparent paint is applied to the head substrate to form a base layer. Forming the underlying layer, forming a pinhole-like coating film defect in the underlying layer, repairing the filling defect by filling a transparent repair material, and outside the repaired underlying layer And an outer layer forming step for forming at least one outer layer having transparency.

  The golf club head of the present invention is a golf club head in which a transparent coating film through which the head substrate can be seen is formed on at least a part of the surface of the head substrate made of a metal material. A transparent underlayer formed on the most head substrate side, a transparent repair material that fills in pinhole-like coating film defects of the underlayer, and an outer layer that is formed outside the underlayer and the repair material and has transparency. including. Such a transparent coating film is difficult to visually recognize from the outside because repair marks such as pinholes are transparent. Therefore, it is possible to provide a head that exhibits a good appearance without impairing the aesthetics of the transparent coating film.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1A illustrates an overall perspective view of a wood-type golf club head (hereinafter simply referred to as “head”) 1 as an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B shows an overall perspective view of the head base 2 in a state before painting.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, the head base 2 includes a face surface 2a for hitting a ball, a crown surface 2b that forms an upper surface of the head connected to the upper edge of the face surface 2a, and a lower surface of the face surface 2a. The heel side passes through the back face from the toe side edge of the face surface 2a between the sole surface 2c (not visible in FIG. 1 (B)) connected to the edge and forming the bottom surface of the head, and the crown surface 2b and the sole surface 2c. A hosel portion 2e into which a shaft (not shown) is inserted is provided on the heel side.

  The head substrate 2 is at least partially made of a metal material. In the present embodiment, the head substrate 2 is entirely made of a metal material. The metal material constituting the head base 2 is not particularly limited, but preferably a titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, stainless steel or the like having a high specific strength is suitable. The head base 2 is formed in a hollow shape by integrally joining parts prepared through processing such as casting, forging or pressing.

  The head base 2 of this embodiment is configured to include parts formed by casting. For this reason, surface defects including one or more pinholes inevitably exist on the surface. FIG. 2 shows an example of the surface defect 5 present in the head substrate 2. 2A illustrates a pinhole 5A penetrating the head substrate 2 inward and outward, and FIG. 2B illustrates a recess 5B not penetrating the head substrate 2 but having a concave surface due to sink marks or the like. Is done.

  On at least a part of the surface of the head substrate 2, a transparent coating film 3 that can see through the head substrate 2 is formed. In the present embodiment, the transparent coating film 3 is formed in the crown inner region 2b1 excluding the peripheral region 2b2 of the crown surface 2b of the head substrate 2. Below, the structure of the transparent coating film 3 is described with the construction method.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of a method for forming the transparent coating film 3 on the head substrate 2 having the pinhole 5A. In the present embodiment, the head substrate 2 is first subjected to a physical base treatment or degreasing treatment in which the surface is polished in advance with a wire brush, sandblast, or the like. The head substrate 2 is preferably subjected to a surface finishing process simultaneously with the base process or separately from the base process.

  The surface finishing treatment includes, for example, mirror (mirror surface) finishing, hairline finishing, satin finishing or embossing finishing, and the surface of the head substrate 2 can be finished more beautifully than the base treatment. In the mirror finishing, the surface of the head substrate 2 is beautifully finished in a mirror shape by polishing such as a buff type or a barrel type. The satin finish is useful for creating a glossy surface that is matt and softer than the mirror finish by sand blasting, rubbing with a wire brush, or using chemicals together. Moreover, as an embossing finish, the surface is formed in an uneven surface by a press or the like. Further, the surface finishing treatment is not limited to this, and for example, various patterns can be applied.

  Next, in this example, a process of forming a colorless and transparent undercoat layer 3a on the surface of the head substrate 2 is performed by applying a transparent paint to the head substrate 2 that has been subjected to the finishing treatment. As the transparent paint, a colorless and transparent paint using a polyester resin, an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, or the like as a base resin is used. In this example, a one-component thermosetting polyester-based paint is used because it has good adhesion to metal materials such as titanium alloy and stainless steel and is resistant to impact. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that other paints such as a two-component room temperature curable paint or a heat curable paint may be used.

  In the present embodiment, a transparent one-component thermosetting polyester-based paint is uniformly applied to the head substrate 2 and then is baked and cured by heating at 150 ° C. for about 15 to 20 minutes, for example. Thereby, the transparent coating film in which the paint is cured, that is, the base layer 3 a can be fixed on the surface of the head substrate 2. Such a foundation layer 3a is useful for smoothing the surface and improving the adhesion of a coating material to be applied later.

  The thickness of the foundation layer 3a is not particularly limited, but is preferably 5 μm or more, more preferably 10 μm or more, for example. When the thickness of the foundation layer 3a is less than 5 μm, it tends to be difficult to smooth the unevenness on the surface of the head substrate 2, and uneven coating tends to occur. On the other hand, if the thickness of the underlayer 3a is too large, the adhesion and impact resistance tend to decrease, which is not preferable. From such a viewpoint, the thickness of the base layer 3a is preferably 40 μm or less, more preferably 25 μm or less.

  As shown in FIG. 3 (A), immediately after the coating material of the base layer 3a is applied, the coating material may exist on the pinhole 5A of the head substrate 2 due to its own viscosity or surface surface force. However, as shown in FIG. 3 (B), when the paint of the base layer 3a is cured, the paint located on the pinhole 5A is missing or dented during the curing, so that the base layer 3a A pinhole-like coating film defect 6 is formed on the surface.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3C, a repairing process is performed in which the pinhole-shaped coating film defect 6 generated in the base layer 3a is filled with a transparent coating material to fill the coating film defect. . That is, the repairing process is performed after the base layer 3a is once cured. Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, it is desirable to reliably fill the coating film defect 6 by applying a slightly more transparent coating material to the coating film defect 6 of the underlayer 3a. Thereafter, the coating material is cured in the coating film defect 6 and integrated with the base layer 3a, thereby forming a transparent repair product 3b filling the coating film defect 6 of the base layer 3a. Since such a repaired product 3b is transparent, the repair mark of the coating film defect 6 can be made inconspicuous from the outside.

  In the repairing process of the present embodiment, the repaired product 3b is formed using the same series of paint as that of the base layer 3a. In general, even if it is a transparent paint, if the raw materials are different, the transparency and reflectance may be slightly different, and the boundary between the base layer 3a and the repaired object 3b may not be completely lost. As in the present embodiment, the repaired object 3b is formed of the same series of paint as the underlayer 3a, more preferably a paint of the same composition, thereby making it difficult to visually recognize the repair mark and further improving the appearance. To help. In addition, when the repaired product 3B and the base layer 3a are made of the same series of paints, the adhesion between them is improved and it is useful for increasing the adhesive strength. In this specification, forming the underlayer 3a and the repaired product 3b with the same series of paints means, for example, forming both the underlayer 3a and the repaired product 3b with a paint based on a polyester resin, The base layer 3a and the repair material 3b are both formed with a paint based on an epoxy resin, or the base layer 3a and the repair material 3b are both formed with a paint based on an acrylic resin. It means that the resin is made of the same series of resin materials. Preferably, both the base layer 3a and the repair material 3b are formed of a one-component curable polyester paint. When two-component curable paints are used, the same series of paints only need to have the same main agent and curing agent for the two paints to be compared, and the paint viscosity is different due to the excess of solvent. There is no problem.

  The repair process can be performed by various methods. For example, as a method of applying a transparent paint to the coating film defect 6 of the underlayer 3a, a method using a brush or a spray gun, a method of pouring the paint directly into the dent portion of the coating film defect 6 using an injector, Can include a method in which a paint is directly deposited on the concave portion of the coating film defect 6 using a thin bar or the like, and any of these may be adopted. However, the method using a brush or a spray gun tends to apply the repair paint over a wide range, and tends to make the coating thickness of the underlayer 3a uneven and large. Also, the method using an injector requires maintenance work before and after using the injector. Since the application range of the paint for the repaired product can be kept small and the work can be performed in a simple process without requiring maintenance, a method of directly depositing the paint on the concave portion of the coating film defect 6 using a thin bar or the like is available. Most preferred.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3D, in the repaired object 3b, a raised portion is removed by polishing, for example, and is smoothed according to the surrounding base layer 3a.

  Next, an outer layer forming step of forming at least one outer layer having transparency on the outer side of the base layer 3a in which the coating film defect 6 is repaired (in other words, the outer side of the base layer 3a and the repaired product 3b) is performed. As shown in FIG. 4, the outer layer of the present embodiment is composed of two layers of a color clear layer 3c made of a colored and transparent colored transparent paint and a colorless and transparent clear layer 3d on the outside thereof. Illustrated.

  The colored transparent paint is not particularly limited, but a polyester resin, an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, or the like is used as a base resin, and in this embodiment, the paint is colored while ensuring transparency with a dye. Is used. The dye is not particularly limited, but one or more dyes selected from synthetic dyes, vegetable dyes, animal dyes, mineral dyes, and the like can be adopted, and various colors can be adopted without particular limitation. . The dye has a particle size of 1 to 2 nanometers and is very small compared to the pigment, and is preferable in that it is suitable for the production of a colored transparent paint. However, as long as the paint can be colored and transparent, the developer is not limited to the dye, and various types can be adopted.

  In this embodiment, after the colored transparent paint is applied to the outside of the base layer 3a, a baking process is performed at about 150 ° C. for about 15 to 20 minutes. As a result, the colored transparent paint is cured outside the base layer 3a to form the color clear layer 3c. If the thickness of the color clear layer 3b is too thin, skillful techniques are required in the painting process, and it may be difficult to feel the thickness of the coating film. If the color clear layer 3b is too thick, , It tends to be brittle and inferior in impact resistance. Although not particularly limited, the thickness of the color clear layer 3b is preferably 10 μm or more, more preferably 20 μm or more, and the upper limit is preferably 50 μm or less, more preferably 40 μm or less.

  It is also conceivable that the above-described color clear layer 3c is directly applied to the head substrate 2 instead of the colorless and transparent base layer 3a. However, since the color clear layer 3c contains a developer such as a dye, due to these effects, the adhesion with the head substrate 2 is lower than that of the colorless and transparent clear paint. It becomes easy to fall. Further, even when the coating film defect 6 such as a pinhole is repaired, it is not preferable because the repair marks are more conspicuous than the colorless and transparent clear paint.

  Next, in the present embodiment, a clear layer 3d is formed by painting a colorless and transparent clear paint on the outside of the color clear layer 3c. The clear paint is a colorless and transparent paint and serves to cover and protect the color clear layer 3c and to further improve the durability and impact resistance of the coating film. As the clear paint, for example, a paint using a polyester resin, a urethane resin, an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, or the like as a base resin is desirable. In the present embodiment, the same paint as that for the base layer 3a is used.

  In the head 1 of the present embodiment, an example in which the non-transparent coating film 4 is formed on the peripheral region 2b2, the side surface 2d portion, and the hosel portion 2e of the crown surface 2b is exemplified. The non-transparent coating film 4 includes at least one layer obtained by curing a paint containing a pigment or the like. For this reason, the non-transparent coating film 4 cannot be seen through the head substrate 2 therethrough. In general, there are many welding traces and polishing traces of the head base 2 in the peripheral region 2b2 of the crown surface 2b of the head base 2, the hosel part, the side surface 2d, and the like. Moreover, since the polishing is performed not only in one direction but also in multiple directions, the appearance of the head 1 may be impaired if the polishing marks are viewed from the outside. For this reason, in the head 1 of this embodiment, by forming the non-transparent coating film 4 in the region as described above, it is possible to obscure an unsightly portion of the head substrate 2. The peripheral area 2b2 of the crown surface 2b is in the range of a width W of 5 to 10 mm from the boundary of the crown surface.

  The head 1 as described above can see through the head base 2 made of a metal material through the transparent coating film 3 from the outside. For this reason, when the head 1 is seen, the thickness of the transparent coating film 3 can be sensed, which is useful for impressing as a light head. In addition, as in the present embodiment, by finishing the head substrate 2 in advance, the finishing feeling of the head substrate 2 (finish feeling of mirror, hairline, etc.) can be seen through the transparent coating film 3. It is possible to make the head design more innovative and widen the design range. Moreover, since the transparent coating film 3 includes the colored clear color clear layer 3c, the head 1 of this embodiment tends to be monotonous due to the synergistic effect of the color of the color clear layer 3c and the metal base color of the head substrate 2. The color tone of the head 1 can be made a novel and novel appearance.

  The total thickness t of the transparent coating film 3 is not particularly limited, but the impact resistance is lowered, for example, it becomes too brittle, the thickness of the transparent coating film 3 is easily felt, and the head feels heavy. Tend. From such a viewpoint, the total thickness of the transparent coating film 3 is preferably 100 μm or less, more preferably 90 μm or less, and still more preferably 80 μm or less.

  Furthermore, since the coating film defect 6 generated in the undercoat layer 3a is repaired by the transparent repair product 3b, the repair coating mark is difficult to visually recognize from the outside. Therefore, the defect that repair marks such as pinholes look like spots can be improved as in the conventional head, and the aesthetics of the head 1 can be greatly improved. In addition, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom in head design, for example, by adopting a light color for the color clear layer 3C included in the outer layer.

  As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described by taking the wood type golf club head as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to such a form, and iron type, utility type, and putter type are also included. It is possible to apply. Needless to say, the transparent coating film 3 can include, for example, a layer containing a glitter having a high glitter and / or a glitter having a polarizing action as the outer layer.

  A wood-type golf club head was prototyped according to the following procedure and tested as described below.

(Preparation of head substrate)
A head body (face opening type with a face surface as an opening) made of a titanium alloy (TI-6Al-4V) and a lost wax precision cast is joined to a face plate made of the same titanium alloy by TIG welding, and polished appropriately. A substrate was prepared. The head volume is 400 cc.

(Formation of underlayer)
Masking was applied to the sole surface and the face surface of the head substrate, and a polyester-based resin clear coating was applied to all other portions. Thereafter, baking was performed at 150 ° C. for 20 minutes to form an underlayer.

(Formation of repairs)
For the heads of the examples, coating defects such as pinholes were filled using the same clear paint as the base layer, and baked at 150 ° C. for 20 minutes to form repairs. Moreover, about the comparative example, the coating-film defect was filled up with the lacquer putty which has a gray-type color. In any case, the surface was smoothed by polishing after the repaired product was cured.

(Formation of non-transparent coating film)
As shown in FIG. 1 (A), a polyester resin-based colored paint (non-transparent) is applied to the peripheral area of the crown surface, the side surface and the hosel part, and baked at 150 ° C. for 20 minutes to form a non-transparent coating film. Formed.

(Formation of outer layer)
A color clear paint (colored transparent) of polyester resin was applied to the entire area except the masked portion, and baked at 150 ° C. for 20 minutes to form a color clear layer. Further, a clear paint (colorless and transparent) of polyester resin was applied to the outside, and baked at 150 ° C. for 20 minutes to form a clear layer.
The thickness of each coating film was adjusted to substantially 15 μm.

  In the test, visual evaluation was performed on 30 heads of each of the example head and the comparative head. In visual evaluation, five testers observe the transparent coating film formed on the crown surface of the head, count the number of spots (pinhole repair marks) with a different hue from the head substrate, and the number of spots is Five or more heads observed were judged as defective and the defect rate was calculated (average value of n = 5).

  As a result of the test, the defect rate of the head of the example was 10%, whereas the defect rate of the head of the comparative example was 60%. Thus, the significant effect of the present invention could be confirmed.

(A) is a perspective view of the golf club head of this embodiment, (B) is a perspective view of a head substrate. (A), (B) is an expanded sectional view explaining the surface defect of a head base | substrate. (A)-(D) are expanded sectional views explaining the formation method of a transparent coating film. It is an expanded sectional view explaining the formation method of a transparent coating film. It is sectional drawing which illustrates the transparent coating film of the conventional golf club head.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Golf club head 2 Head base | substrate 3 Transparent coating film 3a Underlayer 3b Repair material 3c Color clear layer 3d Clear layer 5 Surface defect 6 Coating film defect

Claims (5)

A golf club head in which a transparent coating film capable of seeing through the head base is formed on at least a part of the surface of the head base made of a metal material,
The transparent coating film is a transparent underlayer formed on the most head substrate side,
A transparent repair material that fills in the pinhole-like coating film defects of the underlayer, and
A golf club head comprising: an underlayer formed on the outer side of the base layer and the repaired object, and a transparent outer layer.   The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the repaired object is formed using a paint of the same series as the base layer. The head base includes a face surface and a crown surface forming a head upper surface continuous with an upper edge of the face surface;
The golf club head is characterized in that the transparent coating film is formed in a crown inner region excluding a peripheral region of the crown surface, and a non-transparent coating film is formed in a peripheral region of the crown surface.   4. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the outer layer includes a colored clear color clear layer. A method for manufacturing a golf club head comprising a step of forming a transparent coating film on a head substrate made of a metal material,
A base layer forming step of forming a base layer by applying a transparent paint to the head substrate;
A repair process for filling the coating film defects by filling a transparent repaired product with pinhole-shaped coating film defects generated in the underlayer,
An outer layer forming step of forming at least one outer layer having transparency on the outside of the repaired foundation layer.

Images