JP4521820B2 - Golf club head and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a golf club head, and more particularly, to a golf club head having a decorative appearance and a manufacturing method thereof.

In recent years, printers using an inkjet printing method have been used as printing apparatuses. This inkjet printing method enables high-quality printing that is almost the same as that of photographs, and can produce original designs by processing data on a personal computer. It is rapidly spreading.
The recording medium is applied not only to paper but also to sports equipment such as golf club heads, skis, snowboards, ball balls, helmets and the like. Original designs (photos and drawings) of individuals and teams are directly printed on sports equipment and used as various souvenirs and gifts.

By the way, since the ink used for inkjet printing has low concealability, if the ground color of the recording medium to be printed is a dark color system, the ink and the ground color of the recording medium overlap with each other, so that a beautiful image quality is not obtained. Therefore, a concealed color pigment such as white is used as a base paint having a high shielding property against the ground color of the recording medium in order to produce a high-definition color, and the above shielding property is high on the substrate surface of the recording medium. By applying the base paint, a concealing layer is formed. Therefore, on the surface of the recording medium such as a souvenir or gift, a hiding layer made of a paint having an arbitrary hue having a hiding property by blending a colorant or the like, and a base coat treatment on the hiding layer, On top of that, a printing layer provided with a desired pattern by ink jet printing and a protective layer are usually laminated.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-56173

  However, at this time, the portion where the thickness of the concealing layer is thin has a small concealing power and is influenced by the background color of the recording medium. Therefore, there is a problem that a difference in color tone increases between the thin and thick portions of the concealing layer, and clear ink jet printing cannot be stably printed on the substrate surface of the recording medium.

  For example, in the case of forming the concealing layer on a metal golf club head, the concealing layer needs to have a thickness of about 30 μm so that the base is not visible. Moreover, the base coating material with high shielding property is inferior in adhesiveness with the metal material, and there arises a problem that the adhesiveness is further deteriorated in combination with the thick coating. Furthermore, since the ink used for ink jet printing has poor adhesion and is inferior in weather resistance and water resistance, a special base coat treatment is required on the surface of the concealing layer so that the ink is quickly absorbed.

  However, in the case of a golf club head, if each layer such as a concealment layer is too thick, there is a problem that the coating film is peeled off by hitting the ball or rubbing on the turf. For example, when inkjet printing is performed on a golf club head, it is necessary to form a masking layer of 30 μm, a base coat treatment layer of 20 μm, a printing layer of 5 μm, and a protective layer of about 20 μm, and the combined thickness of each layer is about 75 μm. End up.

  In addition, designs such as photographs and pictures printed on the surface are designs that are attached to the owner, and are frequently rubbed. Therefore, the fungus is easy to propagate and is unclean.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, obtain a clear printed pattern applied to the surface of a metal golf club head by an ink jet printing means, and remove or remove it over a long period of time. An object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head capable of forming a decorative layer having excellent durability without being worn, and a manufacturing method thereof.

  In order to achieve the above object, a golf club head according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a decorative layer including a silver nitride layer having a concealing property on a base surface of the golf club head, a base coat layer, and an inkjet printed layer, and an outer side thereof. A golf club head having a transparent or translucent protective layer formed thereon.

  A golf club head according to a second aspect of the present invention is the golf club head according to the first aspect, wherein the silver nitride layer has a micro hardness of 170 to 220 formed by a sputtering method. Golf club head.

  A golf club head according to a third aspect of the present invention is the golf club head according to the first or second aspect, wherein the silver nitride layer has a thickness of 7 μm to 20 μm and the decorative layer has a thickness of 50 μm. A golf club head having a diameter of ˜65 μm.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a golf club head manufacturing method comprising: forming a concealing silver nitride layer on a surface of a golf club head substrate; and forming a base coat layer on the surface of the silver nitride layer. A golf club comprising: forming a decorative layer on the surface of the base coat layer by an ink jet printing means by an ink jet printing means; and forming a transparent or translucent protective layer on the outside thereof. It is a manufacturing method of a head.

  By having a structure in which a silver nitride layer is formed on the surface of the base of the golf club head, a layer having high concealability can be formed with a substantially uniform thickness over the entire surface, and clear ink jet printing A printed pattern by means can be obtained, and therefore, the appearance of the printed pattern such as a photographic image by ink-jet printing in which the background color of the substrate is concealed is obtained, and the three-dimensional and decorative properties are clear and deep. An excellent appearance can be obtained.

  In addition, according to the manufacturing method according to the present invention, a layer having high concealability can be formed with a substantially uniform thickness over the entire surface, and a printed pattern can be obtained by a clear inkjet printing means. .

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a golf club head 10 made of a titanium alloy as an example of a golf club head according to the present invention. A pattern such as a photographic image is formed on a crown portion 11 of the golf club head 10 by ink jet printing means. A printed decorative layer 5 is formed on the surface.
FIG. 2 shows an enlarged cross-sectional view illustrating the decorative layer 5.

  Referring to the cross section of this decorative layer 5 shown in FIG. 2, a silver nitride layer 2 formed by silver nitride treatment on the whole or a part of the substrate 1 of the golf club head 10, and the silver nitride layer 2 is formed on the surface of the base coat layer 3 and an ink jet print layer 4 formed by ink jet printing on the surface of the base coat layer 3. A transparent protective layer 6 is formed.

  In the present invention, the golf club head, for example, welds, bonds, etc. a plurality of members made of a metal material such as steels such as soft iron and SUS, titanium alloys, pure titanium, aluminum alloys, copper alloys, nickel alloys, tungsten alloys, etc. Are joined together, and then the surface is formed smoothly.

  The silver nitride layer formed on the surface of the base 1 of the golf club head 10 is formed by a sputtering method. By having such a structure in which the silver nitride layer 2 is formed on the surface of the substrate 1, a layer having high concealability can be formed with a substantially uniform thickness over the entire surface. A printed pattern by an ink jet printing means can be obtained.

Next, a method for forming the silver nitride layer on the base surface of the golf club head will be described.
First, in a sputtering facility, silver atoms are evaporated and ionized, and the partial pressure of nitrogen gas is increased to form a silver nitride layer on the base surface of the golf club head while reacting nitrogen atom ions and silver atom ions. In this case, the formation of the silver nitride layer is initially driven into the base of the golf club head while reacting Ag and N atoms. When the driving is completed, the silver nitride layer is gradually deposited on the surface of the base of the golf club head and has a micro hardness of 170 A silver nitride layer of about ~ 220 will be formed. This is because the surface hardness of the material of the metal golf club head, for example, the surface hardness of titanium alloy is about 200, so that the nitridation formed on the surface in order to follow the vibration and deflection at the time of hitting the ball. This is because it is desirable that the microhardness of the silver layer is as high as that of the head material.

  Since the formation of the silver nitride layer 2 by this sputtering method is not the adhesion of only the surface, such as painting or plating, but it is formed continuously with a part of the material (compound or forced solid solution). Strong adhesion to the club head substrate can be achieved.

Further, the silver nitride layer 2 formed by the sputtering method has a thickness of 20 μm or less and has a sufficiently high concealing white color, has no unevenness such as uneven coating, and exhibits a uniform white color. . The thickness of the silver nitride layer is 7 μm to 20 μm or less, preferably about 10 μm. When the thickness exceeds 20 μm, the sputtering treatment time is extended more than necessary, the operability is poor, and this is not economically preferable. Also, if the silver nitride layer is thin, the undercoat will be transparent and ink jet printing will not be achieved.
Accordingly, since the silver nitride layer can be formed with a thickness of 20 μm or less, the decorative layer can be formed with a thickness of about 50 μm to 65 μm, and the ball is hit or rubbed with grass. There is no risk of the coating film coming off.

  Further, in the silver nitride layer 2, “silver” in the silver nitride layer reacts with OH in the air to ionize a very small amount (0.001-0.02 mm / liter). When these ions adhere to the cell surface of aerobic bacteria (most fungi requiring oxygen—E. Coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, ringworm, mold, etc.), the aerobic bacteria are killed. This is because it is oxidatively destroyed by the interaction of static electricity generated between negatively charged silver ions and the attachment of ions to bacterial cells. Therefore, the fungus is difficult to propagate in the decorative layer, so it is clean.

Further, the ink of the silver nitride layer 2 and the ink jet printing layer 4 has poor adhesion, and is inferior in weather resistance and water resistance. Therefore, the surface of the silver nitride layer 2 is subjected to a base coat treatment that absorbs the ink quickly, A base coat layer 3 needs to be formed on the surface of the silver nitride layer 2.
The material of the base coat layer 3 is appropriately selected depending on the type of ink constituting the ink jet printing layer 4. For example, it is possible to use a transparent ink receiving material mainly composed of porous inorganic fine particles such as epoxy-based material, urethane-based material, acrylic-based material and the like and alumina. The base coat layer 3 preferably has a thickness of about 15 μm to 25 μm.

The inkjet printing layer 4 is formed by inkjet printing means.
The ink jet printing means is basically composed of, for example, a computer to which control information such as various patterns and the size of a substrate to be decorated and a set position is input, and a printing apparatus that operates according to output information that is processed by the computer. It is configured. The pattern stored in the computer may be created using a pattern application preliminarily input to the computer itself, or a separately created printed pattern may be transmitted through an image processing means such as a scanner or a digital camera. May be entered.
The ink used in ink jet printing is not particularly limited, and for example, water-soluble ink used in conventional ink jet printing can be used. The thickness of the ink jet printing layer made of this ink is preferably about 3 μm to 10 μm, and is determined by the pigment type and pigment concentration.

The protective layer 6 is preferably formed to be transparent or translucent so as to protect the exposed design portion and improve durability. By forming the protective layer 6 in this way, the color tone of the design portion can be stabilized and the appearance can be made soft.
The coating thickness of the protective layer 6 is normally set to about 10 μm to 20 μm. The coating material for the protective layer is a colorless transparent or translucent coating material, and serves to cover and protect the decorative layer 5 and to improve the durability and impact resistance of the coating film. As the coating material for the protective layer 6, for example, a coating material based on a polyester resin, a urethane resin, an epoxy resin, an acrylic resin, or the like is desirable.

  According to the configuration as described above, the appearance of the golf club head has a clear, deep, three-dimensional, and excellent decorative property, as a printed pattern such as a photographic image by ink-jet printing in which the base color of the base is concealed is obtained. Appearance can be obtained.

The golf club head having the decorative layer is produced, for example, as follows.
First, the surface of the base material of the golf club head 10 made of a titanium alloy is subjected to a polishing process such as barrel polishing or paper polishing so that the base surface is made smooth.
Next, as shown in FIG. 2, a silver nitride layer 2 is formed on the substrate 1 by a sputtering method so as to have a thickness of 10 μm.
Next, a base coat process is performed on the surface of the silver nitride layer 2 to form a base coat layer having a thickness of 20 μm. Further, the base coat layer may be in an uncured wet state, or may be in a state of being preheated and cured to some extent.
Next, inkjet printing is performed on the surface of the base coat layer 3 by inkjet printing means. Water-soluble ink is ejected from the ink jet nozzle, and the decorative layer 6 is formed by forming the ink jet printing layer 4 having a thickness of about 5 μm of the photographic image pattern read by the image scanner on the base coat layer.
Subsequently, the protective layer coating material was applied onto the inkjet printing layer 4 by air spray so that the coating film had a thickness of 20 μm, and dried in hot air at 100 ° C. for 40 minutes to form the protective layer 6.
In this case, the protective layer may be applied in a state where the inkjet printing layer is uncured, and the inkjet printing layer and the protective layer may be dried together, or the protective layer is formed after the inkjet printing layer is cured. May be.
The decorative layer 5 formed in this way had good adhesion to the substrate 1, a photographic image with a clear and beautiful finish, and high decorative value.

1 is a perspective view showing a golf club head according to the present invention. The cross-sectional enlarged view explaining a decoration layer.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base 2 Silver nitride layer 3 Base coat layer 4 Inkjet printing layer 5 Decoration layer 6 Protective layer 10 Golf club head 11 Crown part

Claims (4)

  A golf club head comprising: a decorative layer including a silver nitride layer having a concealing property, a base coat layer, and an ink jet printing layer; and a transparent or translucent protective layer formed on the outer surface of the decorative layer.   The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the silver nitride layer has a micro hardness of 170 to 220 formed by a sputtering method.   The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the silver nitride layer has a thickness of 7 μm to 20 μm, and the decorative layer has a thickness of 50 μm to 65 μm. A step of forming a concealing silver nitride layer on the surface of the golf club head substrate, a step of forming a base coat layer on the surface of the silver nitride layer, and forming an ink jet print layer on the surface of the base coat layer by an ink jet printing means And a step of forming a decorative layer by the step of forming a transparent or semi-transparent protective layer on the outer side of the decorative layer.

Images