JPH07124274A - Neck of golf club - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To increase the inertia value of a golf club head and optimally locate its center of gravity, by coupling a neck to the upper structural face of the head adjacently to a hole therein so that the neck extends through the head while not coupled to the head at its portion between an upper structural face and a base of the head, and providing the neck with a means of receiving a shaft attached thereto. CONSTITUTION: A golf club head 30 has a wall 34, a sole plate 35 and a face all defining a cavity 38, and further has a neck 32 constituted of a totally cylindrical part 7 and a tapered part 6. The head 30 is formed in its top with a hole 41 of a size allowing the head 30 to appropriately fit tight around the neck 32, and in its bottom with another hole 40. The inside diameter of the upper cylindrical part 7 of the neck 32 is set slightly larger than the outside diameter of a shaft 3 so that the shaft 3 is fit tight into the upper part 7. The shaft 3 is thus coupled to the neck 32 in the state terminating not entering the cavity 38 in the head 30.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the field of golf club heads. More specifically, the present invention deals with the construction of so-called metal wood club heads.

[0002]

2. Description of the Prior Art Metal wood club heads are traditionally made of wood and are therefore referred to as such. Currently, it is typically cast, usually using stainless steel. The club head is typically formed as a hollow structure with thin walls, a somewhat thicker face, and a large hole usually located at the bottom of the structure. A thin sole plate is welded into this hole to complete the cast metal wood structure. Some so-called wood club heads are made of fiber reinforced composite structures.

A conventional feature of this type of club head structure is a socket in the upper portion of the head to which the golf club shaft can be joined, usually using an epoxy resin. For the past few years, this socket has been on the top of the upward protrusion of the club head heel. The upward protrusion is called the neck or hosel. More recently, sockets have been placed inside the head freely, with little or no neck.

In the last few years, there has been much interest in golf club heads with or without very short necks. Eliminating the neck reduces the overall weight of the head. Thus, the weight reduced by eliminating or reducing the neck is placed on the lower portion of the club head. It is believed that this reduces the center of gravity (cg) of the club head and improves the flight of the golf ball hit by the club. This redistribution of weight removes mass from the upper side of the neck, which has traditionally contributed significantly to the mass moment of inertia, especially about the horizontal axis to the club head. Generally, it was considered desirable to make the mass moment of inertia about all axes as high as possible, so it is disadvantageous to reduce the mass moment of inertia about the horizontal axis,
Properly placing this redistributed mass in the lower portion of the club head causes a problem that can only be partially compensated.

The importance of the mass moment of inertia associated with the club head is now widely recognized by club designers and many users. The placement of the mass moment of inertia is very important in minimizing the error when hitting off center. When struck off center, rotational speed is added to the club head and the speed applied to the ball is reduced. Furthermore, if the ball is hit outside the center, the direction of flight of the ball will change.

If the club head is designed to have a large moment of inertia about a specific axis of rotation, the error can be small even if the club head is hit outside the center. The larger the moment of inertia is, the larger the "sweet spot" is, so the error is small even when the ball is hit outside the center. Rotation of the club head caused by striking off center includes rotation about almost all axes, so the moment of inertia should preferably be large about all axes. However, some axes are more important than others.

During the impact of the ball and club head for only about 0.0005 seconds, the changes in club head and ball velocity are large, but due to the short time required for this, changes in club head and ball position are small. The important conclusion is that the shaft has a great effect on the flight of the ball before impact (by placing the head in the correct position at the desired speed). During impact, the shaft has little effect. Of course, after impact, the shaft has no effect because the ball leaves the club head. For these reasons, it is believed that what happens to the club head during impact has little or no bearing on the shaft. In other words, the club head behaves almost as a rigid body, while the entire club, including the shaft and grips, behaves as a flexible body.

In the case of a metal wood, a complicated shape and cross section that are practically close to the lower limit of the thickness that can be cast are required in the manufacture of the club head, and therefore, the casting process requires a lot of techniques, I tend to put out defective products.
Advantageously, the neck and socket for attaching the shaft to the head further complicates the construction and simplifies the design.

The moment of inertia about various axes and the position of the center of gravity are very important parameters in design. These properties are controlled by distributing the mass. Thus, a portion of the club head can be modified to be lighter in weight if the club head retains adequate strength and rigidity, and this reduction in weight can be redistributed to other locations. . This, when done properly, improves mass redistribution and thus improves club performance. Of course, this means that the weight of the club head is optimal. The designer cannot freely change the weight of the head. One area where mass reduction takes place is the neck and socket.

In the past, attempts have been made to reduce the weight of the neck. like this. One of the trials was 19
U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,8, filed December 29, 86, and issued to Helmstedta on August 27, 1991.
No. 06. However, the helm stepter does not have a separate, separate tube element that extends across the entire club head. The casting is generally enlarged to accommodate the shaft. The shaft of the helm stepter is inserted into this hole and extends across the club head. This construction does not maximize the desired weight loss at the neck. Thus, the weight moved rearward and downward is small, which results in a large moment of inertia in the toe-to-heel direction about the vertical and horizontal axes.

Another prior art golf club head is the Golf Smith Stock No. 40 commercial designation club head. Its appearance, which is not visible in cross section, gives the impression that the shaft socket is formed as a separate tube and is properly joined to the head casting. However, the actual part, like the helm stepter, actually has a socket that is an integral part of the head casting. This does not offer the desired advantages, as in the case of the Helmstedter.

Another commercially available head is the compressed metal type, designated Rich Mark RTS model.
The rich mark has a hollow casting head and a neck separate from the shaft. The neck is glued only to the upper half of the heel portion of the club head. The neck is bent about 5 ° and has a wall thickness of about 0.024 inch. This formation failed to redistribute the weight as desired to increase the mass moment of inertia.

[0013]

The present invention was made with the recognition that mass tends to be somewhat concentrated near the heel of the club. If this mass can be placed elsewhere, such as behind and below the head, a large inertial value can be achieved, which in turn improves the position of the center of gravity of the club head.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a golf club head including a hollow head structure having a base and a structural surface. The upper structure surface is provided with holes. The tubular neck has a first end and a second end and extends into the bore of the hollow head structure. The first end of the neck is rigidly attached to the base, and the neck is firmly connected to the upper structural surface adjacent the hole. The neck extends through the head in a substantially uncoupled manner between the base and the upper structural surface. The neck has means at its second end for securely attaching to the golf club shaft such that the shaft terminates near the second end of the neck.

The present invention provides a very light weight and very stiff neck, which has the advantage of a low center of gravity found in the short or no neck designs of conventional fiber reinforced composite or metal golf club heads. To realize. At the same time, greater moments of inertia can be achieved than in conventional designs, thus offering the great advantage of improved weight distribution. The present invention is preferably welded, soldered, or silver brazed to the lower portion of the metal wood club head. This allows the head casting to be even simpler.

Further, the club head may be made of fiber reinforced resin composite material. The new neck design of the present invention is installed by bonding to such a head with an adhesive. This configuration allows the head to be more easily manufactured and removed from the weight near the heel and placed elsewhere where it is desirable to have a large moment of inertia.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a typical metal wood head 20 of conventional design. The head 20 is a hollow body made of a relatively thin outer shell. Head 20 is typically made by casting using a metal that is a special alloy of stainless steel with a commercial designation of 17-4 ph. The head 20 has a face 2, which surrounds the wall 4, the sole plate 1 and the inner cavity 22. The wall 4 has a thickness of about 1.016 mm (0.040 inches). The thickness of face 2 is typically 2.54 mm to 3.3.
It is 02 mm (0.10 inch to 0.13 inch).
Fiber-reinforced resin heads often have the same shape, but use thicker walls.

Some prior art designs had the neck 9 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which was very short. In fact, some conventional club heads have essentially no neck formed. Some conventional necks are much longer than the necks shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and are typically 38.1 mm (1.5 inches) or more.

The shaft 3 is typically joined to the socket 5 of the club head 20 with a strong epoxy resin.
The socket 5 is integrally formed with the casting head 20 in a conventional manufacture of a metal wood head. The socket 5 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as a "bore-through" head in which the shaft 3 extends completely from the top of the wall 4 through the bottom into the cavity 22 of the head 20. This is the currently considered preferred design. Depending on the design,
A long neck 9 is used and the tip of the shaft 3 is glued to the hollow neck 9. In this case, the shaft does not extend the cavity 22 all the way to the bottom of the head 20.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the club head 20 taken along the line AA of FIG. FIG. 3 shows that the socket (or tube) 5 is integral with the wall 4 and that an excess of metal, indicated by reference numeral 10 in FIG. 3, is required to form the socket 5. Next, the shaft 3 is inserted into the socket 5 and attached. In FIG. 3, the shaft 3 is the club head 2
0 extends to a deep inside the socket 5 in the cavity 22. The excess metal in region 10 adds undesired weight to locations that cannot be used to increase the mass moment of inertia about other desired axes.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the present invention. The club head 30 has a face 36 that defines a wall 4, a sole plate 35, and a cavity 38. The club head 30 further includes a generally cylindrical portion 7 and a tapered portion 6.
The lower portion 39 may have a cylindrical shape, if desired, and may be cylindrical if desired. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. The club head 30 is preferably made of metal, but fiber-resin composite material may be used. A hole 41 is provided in the top of the head 30 that is sized for a proper interference fit on the outside of the neck portion 6, and another hole 40 similar to this hole is provided in the bottom of the head 30. The lower neck portion 39 may be glued, welded,
Alternatively, it is attached to the head 30 by silver brazing.

In a variant, the lower neck portion 39 is joined to the inside of the bottom of the head 30 without actually penetrating the bottom surface and the hole 40 is not used. This construction is similar to the so-called "blind hole" head design (not penetrating the bottom) as compared to the so-called "bore-through" design (where holes 40 are specifically provided through the bottom of the head 30). is there.

The inner diameter of the cylindrical upper portion 7 of the neck 32 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the golf club shaft 3. Thus, the shaft 3 can be snugly fitted to the upper portion 7 of the neck 32 and attached by any suitable means. The golf club shaft may optionally be made to have a diameter large enough to be slid onto the outer portion of the neck. This type of feature is called a "shaft overhosel". Thus, another preferred embodiment of the present invention is to make the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 7 of the neck 32 small enough to fit inside such a shaft to implement a shaft overhosel design. In either case, shaft 3 is preferably connected to neck 32 and terminates before entering the cavity of club head 30. Thus, the shaft 3 need not extend entirely within the club head 30. Shaft 3
It may extend significantly into the club head 30 as shown in phantom in FIG.

The neck 32 of FIGS. 4 and 5 differs in structure from the socket 5 of FIGS. Neck 32
Does not have a socket 5 integrally formed with the cast outer side of the outer shell or neck 32.

The wood head is often made of graphite or other fiber reinforced composite material that has a similar shape to cast metal wood except that it has a large wall thickness. This manufacturing method can be modified to accommodate the neck 32 of the present invention. The neck 32 may be made of metal or fiber-resin composite material. This is the head 30
Is glued in place.

A comparison of FIGS. 5 and 3 shows that much less metal is required to practice the invention. The club head 30 includes a neck 32 and a neck 30.
There is no excess metal required in the region 10 of the club head 20 in the region that joins the. The important reason is that the thickness is 1.
While it is very difficult to cast metal of 016 mm (0.040 inch) or less, the construction of the separate neck 32 is much easier and can be performed with a much thinner wall. is there. The nature of the assembly is less metal for another reason. In the prior art casting, the tube 5 is replaced by the club head 2.
It is very impractical to cast it completely apart from the zero wall 4, an excess of metal is needed, as shown at 10 in FIG. The present invention only has an open gap between the lower neck portion 39 and the shell 34 of the club head 30.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lower neck portion 39 of the neck 32 has a larger diameter than the upper cylindrical portion 7 to which the shaft 3 is joined. The upper part 7 is often called a socket. As shown in FIG. 4, the transition from the large lower portion 39 of the neck 32 to the socket 7 is conveniently a simple taper section.

It is believed that necks with such a taper are attractive in some designs, while straight, constant diameter necks are preferred in other designs. Constant diameter neck 3
2 is shown in phantom in FIG.

The cross-sectional shape of the neck 32 does not necessarily have to be circular. If desired, it may be oval, elliptical, or pear-shaped. However, the top end 7 of the neck must be circular to match a shaft of circular cross section.

It should be noted that the neck 32 is not part of the shaft 3. The neck 32 is completely separate from the shaft 3 and serves as a mount for the lower end of the shaft 3. Once permanently bonded to the head 30, the sole plate 35, which is typically welded to the bottom of the head 30, is generally considered to be part of the head 30, and thus logically of the head 30. Can be considered part.

Furthermore, it should be noted that the present invention can be used as a long neck or as a medium length neck or as a short length neck. The neck may have a constant diameter or may be tapered so that the diameter at one end is greater than the diameter at the other end. The cross-sectional shape does not necessarily have to be circular at the bottom, but may be oval or elliptical if desired. It may be a "neckless" design that is wholly contained within the club head and that functions together such that the neck and socket come together. Alternatively, it may have a length of several inches, which projects significantly above the top of the club head.

While this invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a typical cast metal wood.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the metal wood face shown in FIG. 1 immediately behind the face.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of the wood shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view just behind the face of the club head of the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view of the club head shown in FIG. 4 taken along the line BB.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Sole Plate 2 Face 3 Shaft 4 Wall 5 Socket 6 Tapered Part 7 Upper Cylindrical Part 9 Neck 10 Excess Metal Part 11 Gap 20 Head 22 Cavity 30 Club Head 32 Neck 35 Sole Plate 36 Face 38 Cavity 39 Lower Neck Part 40, 41 holes

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A hollow head structure having a base and an upper structural surface, the upper structural surface having a hole, and a tubular neck having a first end and a second end and extending into the hole of the hollow head structure. And having the first of the neck
The end is rigidly attached to the base, the neck is directly connected to the superstructure surface adjacent to the hole, and the neck is substantially between the base and the superstructure surface. A golf club head extending through the head without being coupled to the neck, the neck being provided with means for securely attaching the neck to a golf club shaft. 2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the neck extends beyond the upper structural surface and out of the hole. 3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the neck terminates in the upper structural surface. 4. The golf club shaft is mounted inside the second end of the neck.
The golf club head described in 1. 5. The first diameter of the first end of the neck is greater than the second diameter of the second end and the outer surface portion of the neck is between the first end and the second end. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the golf club head is tapered. 6. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein both the head structure and the neck are made of metal and the neck is connected to the base and the upper structural surface. 7. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the head structure and the neck are made of fiber reinforced resin, and the neck is bonded to the base and the upper structural surface. 8. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the neck extends through the base. 9. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the neck is attached to the base without penetrating it. 10. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the golf club shaft is mounted within the neck and extends substantially the entire length of the neck. 11. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the golf club shaft is mounted on the second end of the neck. 12. A hollow member having a lower structural surface and an upper structural surface, and a tubular neck having a first end and a second end, the first end of the neck having a first diameter. The second of the neck
The end has a second diameter, the first diameter is greater than the second diameter, and the neck has a tapered outer surface portion between the first end and the second end, the tubular neck of the tubular neck The first end extends into the hollow member through the hole provided in the upper structural surface and is firmly connected to the lower structural surface,
The tubular neck is firmly connected to the upper structural surface, is not substantially connected to the hollow member between the lower structural surface and the upper structural surface, the neck is the golf club shaft of the A golf club head having attachment means for securely attaching a first end to the neck. 13. A hollow head structure having a base and an upper structural surface, wherein a hole is provided in the upper structural surface, a first end and a second end, and between the first end and the second end. A tubular neck having an intermediate portion, the neck extending into a hole in the hollow head structure, the first end of the neck rigidly connected to the base, the intermediate portion of the neck adjacent the hole. And is rigidly connected to the upper structural surface, the neck extending through the head in a substantially unconnected state between the base and the upper structural surface, A golf club head, wherein the circumference of the first end is substantially equal to the circumference of the intermediate portion of the neck, the neck having attachment means for securely attaching the neck to a golf club shaft.