JPH10118227A - Golf club head and its manufacture - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf club head which ensures a long flying distance by curving the face part of a hollow body of club head so that the wall thickness is approx. equal in the vertical direction and small in the central part and large at the ends about the horizontal direction, and thereby equipping a trait with high rigidity and flexibility which are incompatible originally. SOLUTION: A golf club head has a hollow body 10, which is composed of an oversurface 12, a face part 14 formed on one side face adjoining approx. perpendicularly to the oversurface 12, and a side peripheral part 16 in a consolidated structure. The rear surface of the face part 14 is curved in such a way that the wall thickness is smaller as going nearer the center of the face part 14, so that a small wall thickness part 18 is produced relatively in the central part, and the wall thickness is equal in the vertical direction identical to the shorter sides of the face part 14 and is small in the central part in the horizontal direction identical to the longer sides of the face part 14 and large in the end parts continuously. This accomplishes meeting at the same time an originally incompatible demand of flexibility and high strength which is required of a face part 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a golf club head having a head body such as a metal face.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional so-called metal drivers are:
As disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-33970,
A face member of a metal plate was welded to a golf club head body in which a plurality of metal shell pieces were integrally joined. Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-137818, a golf club head in which a main body side is integrally formed by plastic working or the like, and a face member made of a metal plate is welded to the front opening. Proposed.

[0003]

The above-mentioned face member is a portion that hits a ball and therefore receives an extremely large impact, and requires relatively considerable strength. Furthermore, in order to hit the golf ball and fly the ball accurately and far away, a certain degree of flexibility is required,
In particular, the higher the flexibility, the larger the sweet spot on the face surface and the more stable the flight direction of the golf ball. Therefore, the face surface is required to have a contradictory performance of high rigidity and flexibility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and provides a metal golf club head having high strength, flexibility, and a long flight distance, and a method of manufacturing the same. With the goal.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a hollow main body having a face surface portion, wherein the thickness of the face surface portion is substantially equal to a vertical direction which is a short direction of the face surface portion. The golf club head is formed on a curved surface so that the center portion is thinner and both end portions are thicker in the horizontal direction which is the longitudinal direction.

A hollow main body having an opening at the bottom and a face on one side is cast, and the thickness of the face is equal in the vertical direction and the center in the horizontal direction is thin at both ends. A method of manufacturing a golf club head in which a portion is formed thick and a sole portion separately formed from the main body is attached to the opening of the main body.

In the golf club head of the present invention, the peripheral portion on the back side of the face portion is relatively thick and the center portion is thin, so that the flexibility of the face portion is increased, the speed of hitting ball is increased, and the sweet spot is increased. Is to widen. In addition, since the peripheral portion to which a relatively high bending stress is applied is thick, the strength of the face surface itself can be maintained at a desired value.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The golf club head according to this embodiment has a hollow main body 10, the main body 10 includes a curved upper surface portion 12, a face surface portion 14 formed on one side surface at a substantially right angle to the upper surface portion 12, and a face. A side peripheral portion 16 located behind the surface portion 14 is integrally formed. An opening 24 is formed in the bottom of the main body 10, and a flat sole 26 is attached to the opening 24 and closed.

The back surface of the face portion 14 is formed as a curved surface so that the thickness becomes thinner toward the center of the face portion 14, and the center portion is formed as a relatively thin portion 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the thickness of the face surface 14 is equal to the vertical direction, which is the short direction of the face surface portion, and is equal to the horizontal direction, which is the longitudinal direction of the face surface portion.
It is formed so that the center portion is thin and both end portions are continuously thick.

A shaft mounting portion 20 is formed at one end of the upper surface portion 12 by integral molding or the like, and a shaft 22 is fitted and fixed to the shaft mounting portion 20.

The main body 10 is made of a titanium alloy and is cast with high strength β-type titanium, and the sole 26 is made of pure titanium. In addition, the kind and composition of the metal of the main body 10 can be arbitrarily selected.

In this method of manufacturing a club head, first, the main body 10 is cast, and the thin portion 18 is formed at a predetermined position on the face surface 14.
Is formed. The face surface portion 14 is appropriately subjected to cutting or the like by an NC machine or the like. Thereafter, the sole 26 formed into a predetermined shape is fixed to the opening 22 of the main body 10 by welding, screws, or the like. Then, the shaft 22 is inserted into the shaft mounting portion 20 and fixed with an adhesive or the like.

In the golf club head of this embodiment, the face portion 14 has a thin portion 18 having a continuously reduced thickness.
Is formed, for example, the thickness near the center of the thin portion 18 is 2.5 to 3.5 mm, and the surrounding face surface portion 14 is formed.
It can be thinner. Thereby, the face portion 1
The elasticity of the sweet spot 4 can be enhanced and widened, and the peripheral edge is formed thick, so that the strength is reliably ensured. In addition, face 1
4 becomes lighter, so that the head itself can be made lighter. In particular, it is formed on a curved surface such that the center portion is thin and both ends are thick in the horizontal direction, which is the longitudinal direction of the face surface portion 14, and is substantially equal to the vertical direction, which is the short direction of the face surface portion 14. In the short direction where the target strength is obtained, the center portion is formed equally thin and a very wide sweet spot can be obtained.

The golf club head of the present invention
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and is applicable to club heads other than the driver. In addition, after the face surface, top surface, side periphery, etc. are individually formed by titanium or titanium alloy by plastic working such as pressing or forging, the body is assembled by welding, etc., and the shaft mounting part is formed separately. The present invention is applicable to a golf club head having an appropriate structure such as a welded one. In addition, the thin portion may be formed by cutting or plastic working instead of casting.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A golf club head according to an embodiment of the present invention and a conventional golf club head were hit under the same conditions except for the face surface portion 14, and when hit at the center of the face surface, In the case of this embodiment, the flight distance of the ball was 187.2 yards, whereas that of the conventional example was 195 yards. Also,
The result of hitting the ball at the same position at a position slightly deviated from the center portion also has a variation in the flight distance at each position, but hitting with the golf club head of this embodiment is 5 to 5. The flight distance was 10 yards long.

[0016]

According to the golf club head of the present invention and the method of manufacturing the same, the peripheral portion of the face surface is thick and the thin portion is formed at the center, so that the flexibility and high strength of the face surface portion are obtained. At the same time. As a result, the golf ball can be made to fly accurately and far away, and the weight of the golf club head can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a golf club head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the golf club head of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Main body 12 Top surface part 14 Face surface part 16 Side peripheral part 18 Thin part 20 Shaft attachment part 22 Shaft 26 Sole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A golf club head having a hollow main body having a face portion, wherein the thickness of the face portion is equal in the vertical direction, the center portion is thin in the horizontal direction, and both ends are thick. 2. A hollow main body having an opening at the bottom and a face on one side is cast, and the thickness of the face is equal in the vertical direction and the center in the horizontal direction is thin at both ends. And a method of manufacturing a golf club head in which a sole formed separately from the main body is attached to the opening of the main body.