KR102156921B1 - Golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

The technology disclosed in the present specification relates to a golf club head using an aluminum-scandium alloy, which has excellent mechanical properties of ultra-light weight, high strength, and high corrosion resistance. The golf club head includes a head body including a face portion, a sole portion, a side portion, and a crown portion, wherein at least the face portion is made of a metallic material. The metallic material may be made of an aluminum-scandium alloy having tensile strength of 650 to 800 MPa, elongation of 5 to 15%, and specific strength of more than 200 kNm/kg, and has a high coefficient of restitution, a high characteristic time, and a high moment of inertia characteristic.

Description

Golf club head

The technology disclosed herein relates to a golf club head, and in particular, to a golf club head using an aluminum-scandium alloy having excellent mechanical properties of ultra-light weight, high strength, and high corrosion resistance.

Many conventional golf club heads are constructed from a variety of materials such as steel, non-ferrous metal alloys, titanium, aluminum, composites, plastics, rubber, and the like.

Recently, as the metal constituting the golf club head, aluminum alloy and stainless steel are used. In recent years, titanium alloy is used to increase the specific strength. In particular, a plate material is press-formed with a β-type titanium alloy to prevent the golf club head. After each part is manufactured, these are fixed by welding to manufacture a golf club head.

However, since titanium alloys are difficult to process and are still expensive, there are problems in terms of productivity and processing cost. Accordingly, there is a demand for the development of a new material having high strength, easy molding, and excellent weldability and productivity.

According to an embodiment of the technology disclosed herein, a golf club head having a high coefficient of restitution, a high characteristic time, and a high moment of inertia is provided by using an aluminum-scandium alloy of ultra light weight, high strength, and high corrosion resistance.

Further, according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed in the present specification, a hollow golf club head capable of maximizing durability while maximizing repulsion is provided.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed in the present specification, a method of manufacturing a golf club head with improved weldability and productivity is provided.

The technical problem to be achieved by the golf club head according to the technical idea of the technology disclosed in the present specification is not limited to the above-mentioned problem, and another problem not mentioned can be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art from the following description. will be.

The golf club head according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed in the present specification includes a head body consisting of a face portion, a sole portion, a crown portion, and a hosel portion, and the face portion may be made of a material including an aluminum-scandium alloy. And, it may be configured to have a tensile strength of 650 to 800 MPa, an elongation of 5 to 15%, and a specific strength greater than 200 kNm/kg.

The aluminum-scandium alloy is, by weight%, Zn: 7.2 to 8.2%, Mg: 1.6 to 2.6%, Cu: 1.6 to 2.6%, Zr: 0.1 to 0.14%, Sc: 0.03 to 0.2%, the balance Al and It may be made of other unavoidable impurities.

The golf club head according to another embodiment of the technology disclosed herein includes a head body consisting of a face portion, a sole portion, a crown portion, and a hosel portion, and the face portion may be formed of a material including an aluminum-scandium alloy, , The aluminum-scandium alloy is, by weight %, Zn: 7.2 to 8.2%, Mg: 1.6 to 2.6%, Cu: 1.6 to 2.6%, Zr: 0.1 to 0.14%, Sc: 0.03 to 0.2%, balance Al And other unavoidable impurities.

The face portion is composed of a composite layer in which two or more layers are stacked, at least one of the composite layers may be made of a honeycomb-shaped layer, and preferably, the composite layer is between at least two or more metal layers and the metal layer. It may include a formed honeycomb core layer.

A golf club head according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed herein includes a head body consisting of a face portion, a sole portion, a crown portion, and a hosel portion, and the face portion may be formed of a composite layer in which two or more layers are stacked. , At least one of the composite layers may be formed of a honeycomb-shaped layer.

The composite layer may include at least two or more metal layers and a honeycomb core layer formed between the metal layers.

The face portion may be composed of a material including an aluminum-scandium alloy, and the aluminum-scandium alloy is, by weight, Zn: 7.2 to 8.2%, Mg: 1.6 to 2.6%, Cu: 1.6 to 2.6 %, Zr: 0.1~0.14%, Sc: 0.03~0.2%, balance Al and other unavoidable impurities.

The face part, the sole part, the crown part, and the hosel part may be integrally formed to form a head body, or the face part may be formed in combination with the sole part and the crown part to form the head body.

The sole part, the crown part, and the hosel part may be made of the same material as the face part.

The sole portion may include a weight portion having a mass of 60 to 70 g.

The face portion of the head body may include a sweet spot extending to an edge of the face portion.

The head body including the face portion, the sole portion, the crown portion, and the hosel portion may include an anodized film of 50 to 200 μm.

Since the aluminum-scandium alloy according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed in the present specification has excellent mechanical properties of ultra-light weight, high strength, high corrosion resistance, and has high surface hardness, the following effects can be obtained when used as a golf club head material. .

Because it has superior strength and hardness than the existing golf club head material, the distance of the golf ball increases due to its large repulsive force, and it is difficult to form rust on the club because it has good abrasion resistance and corrosion resistance. There is an advantage that it can be manufactured at a low price.

In addition, the moment of inertia is large, the sweet spot is wide, and due to the characteristics of being lighter than the conventional golf club head material, it is possible to realize a configuration including a weight part in the sole part, so that the center of gravity can be located farthest from the swing center axis. As a result, accuracy and distance can be dramatically increased.

However, the effects that can be achieved by the golf club head according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed in the present specification are not limited to those mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned are clearly to those skilled in the art from the following description. It will be understandable.

In order to more fully understand the drawings cited in the present specification, a brief description of each drawing is provided.
1 is a perspective view showing a golf club head according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed herein.
2 is a perspective view showing a golf club head according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed herein.
3 is an exploded perspective view showing a golf club head according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed in the present specification.
4(a) is a cross-sectional view of a face portion of a golf club head according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed herein, and FIG. 4(b) is a view showing a honeycomb core layer.
5 is a view for showing the direction of a golf ball when using a golf club head according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed in the present specification.
6 is a diagram illustrating a deformation amount and dispersion after a collision when a golf club head is used according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology.
7 is a flow chart showing a method of manufacturing a golf club head according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed in the present specification.

Since the technology disclosed in the present specification can make various changes and have various embodiments, specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings, and will be described in detail through the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the technology disclosed in this specification to a specific embodiment, and the technology disclosed in this specification is understood to include all changes, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the technology disclosed in this specification. Should be.

In describing the technology disclosed in the present specification, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known technology may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the technology disclosed in the present specification, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, numbers (eg, first, second, etc.) used in the description of the present specification are merely identification symbols for distinguishing one component from another component.

In addition, in the present specification, when one component is referred to as "connected" or "coupled" with another component, the one component may be directly connected or combined with the other component, As long as the substrate does not exist, it will be understood that it may be connected or combined via another component in the middle.

In addition, as for the constituent elements represented by'~ unit' in the present specification, two or more constituent elements may be combined into one constituent element, or one constituent element may be divided into two or more for each more subdivided function. In addition, each of the components to be described below may additionally perform some or all of the functions that other components are responsible for in addition to its own main function, and some of the main functions that each component is responsible for are different. It goes without saying that it may be performed exclusively by components.

Expressions such as "first", "second", "first", or "second" used in various embodiments may modify various elements regardless of their order and/or importance, and the corresponding elements Not limited. For example, without departing from the scope of the technology disclosed in the present specification, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, a second component may be renamed to a first component.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the technology disclosed in the present specification will be described in detail.

The properties that must be provided as a material of a golf club head include corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, high surface hardness and mechanical properties, durability, appearance, and feel. The hardness, strength, and abrasion resistance of a material are very important properties required when manufacturing a club.

The golf club head 100 according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed herein includes a head body 110 composed of a face portion 1, a sole portion 2, a crown portion 3, and a hosel portion 120. .

The golf club head according to the present embodiment may be of any one type of driver, wood, utility, and hybrid, but a driver head having a thin thickness and a light weight is particularly preferred.

In the golf club head according to the present embodiment, the face portion may be made of a material including an aluminum-scandium alloy. The material constituting the sole part, crown part, and hosel part of the golf club head is not limited, but may be made of a metal material, a thermoplastic material for resin, or a composite material including a thermosetting material, and preferably a material including an aluminum-scandium alloy It can be composed of.

In the present embodiment, there is no limitation on the type of the aluminum-scandium alloy, but one obtained by adding scandium to aluminum can be suitably used. More preferably, 0.03 to 0.2 wt% of scandium, 7.2 to 8.2 wt% of zinc, 1.6 to 2.6 wt% of magnesium, 1.6 to 2.6 wt% of copper, 0.1 to 0.14 wt% of zirconium and the remainder are aluminum and It may have a composition containing other inevitable impurities. As unavoidable impurities, impurities such as iron, silicon, manganese, and chromium may be further included within the generally included tolerance. Typically, less than 0.1 wt% iron, less than 0.1 wt% silicon, less than 0.01 wt% manganese, less than 0.01 wt% chromium may be included, but is not limited thereto.

In this embodiment, when composed of a material containing an aluminum-scandium alloy, the tensile strength is 650 to 800 MPa, the elongation is 5 to 15%, the specific strength is greater than 200 kNm/kg, and the specific strength is titanium. It can be said to be about 40% higher than the alloy and about 90% higher than the magnesium alloy.

In another embodiment of the technology disclosed herein, the golf club head 200 includes a head body 210 including a face portion 10, a sole portion 20, a crown portion 30, and a hosel portion 220. Including, the head body 210 may be composed of a hollow (hollow) including a recess (recess) part 50, the face part 10 may be composed of a composite layer in which two or more layers are stacked. have. At least one of the composite layers may be formed of a honeycomb-shaped layer. The material constituting the composite layer is not limited, but it may be preferably made of an aluminum-scandium alloy.

In general, the hardness of a metal material increases by welding, but the aluminum-scandium alloy has excellent weldability compared to the aluminum 7XXX series, and thus has excellent welding strength and no welding deformation.

The composite layer may include at least two or more metal layers and a honeycomb core layer formed between the metal layers, an outer metal sheet 70 formed on the outside from the hollow, and an inner metal sheet formed on the inside It may be composed of 80 and a honeycomb core layer 60. The metal layer may have a thickness of 1.5 to 2 t in the double structure and 1 to 1.5 t in the triple structure. For this reason, the golf club head has a high repulsion characteristic and the flying distance can be increased.

It is also possible to control the desired flying distance and the longest flying distance by adjusting the thickness of the inner and outer metal layers 70 and 80 and the thickness of the honeycomb core layer 60. In addition, due to the inner metal layer 80 and the honeycomb core layer 60 formed on the inside, it is possible to prevent the club head from being bent or destroyed, and to increase durability. The bonding method between the honeycomb core layer 60 and the outer metal layer 70 and the inner metal layer 80 may be performed by welding or bonding, but is not limited thereto.

In this embodiment, the head body 210 may be a cast, forged or press-formed product, and preferably may be manufactured by a method of making and pressing a plate through rolling. The hosel part 220 into which the shaft is inserted may be integrally molded with the head body 210, and may be manufactured by extruding an alloy billet in the form of a pipe.

The golf club head according to the present embodiment can be easily manufactured to have a wider sweet spot than a conventional head while maintaining its strength without increasing the total mass, and allowing the center of gravity (CG) to be located farthest from the swing center axis. I can.

In this embodiment, the golf club head may have a specific gravity of 2.5 to 3.0, and preferably may have a specific gravity of 2.8. Here, the golf club head may have a weight of 130 to 140 g, in the head body, the face portion may have a thickness of 1.0 to 4.0t, the sole portion 0.9 to 1.1t, the crown portion may have a thickness of 0.9 to 1.1t, the The hosel portion may have a thickness of 12.7Ψ, 2.0 to 2.1t.

The sole portion of the golf club head may further include a weight portion, so that the moment of inertia of the club head may be increased, and the sweet spot may be configured to extend to the edge of the face portion. It is preferable that the weight part included in the sole part is made of a material having a sense of weight, and as an example, a bolt may be used. The weight portion may have a weight of 60 to 70g. The golf club head may have a moment of inertia (MOI) of 5700 to 5800 g·cm2, and preferably, a moment of inertia of about 5700 g·cm2.

Therefore, due to the high moment of inertia, even if the ball hits a place outside the sweet spot of the head face, it is possible to maintain the direction and the flying distance. In addition, since the center of gravity of the club head is located farthest from the swing center axis, it is easy to swing the golf club with the head attached, which can lead to an improvement in swing speed. In addition, even if the hitting position on the surface hit by the ball is irregular due to the wide sweet spot at the face of the head, the flight path of the hit ball becomes stable and the case of miss shots can be reduced, and the conventional titanium alloy material Compared to the head of the can improve the accuracy of about 10%.

Since the golf club head according to the present embodiment has a high coefficient of restitution, a further improved distance of the golf ball using the golf club is possible. The golf club head according to this example has a coefficient of restitution of 0.83 to 0.92 under standard USGA test conditions.

In addition, in this embodiment, it is also possible to improve the flying distance by increasing the characteristic time of the golf club head. Such a golf club head can achieve a characteristic time limit set by a golf management agency, such as a characteristic time limit of 257 microseconds (µs) set by the USGA, and preferably has a characteristic time of 250 µs or more.

In the method of manufacturing a golf club head according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology, the billet casting (Casting) step; Extrusion step; Annealing step; Rolling (Rolling) step; Press forging step; A welding step; Grinding & polishing step; Sol plate hem hole machining step; A solution of heat treatment; Post-curing (Artificial aging) step; Surface treatment (AAO) step; And attaching weights.

A method of manufacturing a golf club head includes casting a billet by melting aluminum and scandium. The billet contains Zn: 7.2~8.2 wt%, Mg: 1.6~2.6 wt%, Cu: 1.6~2.6 wt%, Zr: 0.1~0.14 wt%, Sc: 0.03~0.2 wt%, balance Al and other inevitable impurities Can be cast.

Thereafter, the billet is extruded into an extruded shape member (eg, 15t (thickness) X 165mm (width) X 3000mm (length)), and then cut into an appropriate length for rolling the extruded shape member, followed by annealing (annealing) treatment.

Subsequently, after primary rolling of an extruded shape member having a thickness of 15 tons, annealing and rolling steps are repeated to produce a rolled sheet of 1t to 3.5t. Here, the shrinkage rate of the thickness in the rolling process should not exceed 30%.

After that, in the forging press step, the head face, crown, and sole plate are pressed with respective molds to form a shape and cut at the same time. Subsequently, a club head is manufactured by welding the face part, the sole part, the crown part, and the hosel part to each other using a 1.2 pi welding rod wire having the same main component of the rolled sheet and the alloy. The alloy according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed in the present specification is characterized in that no welding deformation occurs even when welding is performed.

Thereafter, the welding bead is removed by wet method so that the golf club head is not heated.

Thereafter, adjusting the weight of the golf club head to 200 g, and forming a hole at the bottom of the sole plate in order to mount the weight member.

After that, it includes a step of heat treatment, and a method such as ?ching may be used. After quenching, it includes a step of post-curing treatment at about 120° C. for about 24 hours in an artificial age-curing process.

Subsequently, an anodizing surface treatment step may be included. An Al ₂ O ₃ layer formed in a regular arrangement while forming nano-sized pores on the aluminum surface can be treated on the surface of the aluminum-scandium alloy.

In the anodizing surface treatment step, an alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) are mixed using a rectifier, and a low voltage is used. The thickness of the anodized film may be 50 to 200 μm.

In the present embodiment, when an anodized surface-treated aluminum-scandium alloy is used, the surface hardness of the golf club head can be improved. The surface hardness of the anodized aluminum oxide may be HV 350 to 450 when the film thickness is 40 to 50 microns, and HV 450 or more when the film thickness is 70 to 100 microns. In addition, it is possible to prevent scratches naturally occurring on the bottom of the sole part, and there is an effect that the flying distance can be improved with high surface hardness on the face part of the head.

After that, by attaching the weight portion to the hole processing portion at the bottom of the sole portion, it is possible to increase the moment of inertia of the golf club head.

[Example]

In the golf club head, a golf club head made of an aluminum-scandium alloy (Example 1) and Comparative Example 1 made of a titanium alloy according to an embodiment of the technology disclosed herein were manufactured, respectively.

Evaluation such as flying distance

For the golf club heads of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, each weight (Weight), characteristic time (CT), coefficient of restitution (COR), face thickness (Face Thickness), head speed (Head Speed), smash factor (Smash Factor), Ball Speed, Launch Angle, Back Spin, Carry and Total Distance were evaluated, and the robot test results were shown together with Table 1. .

The head speed is a numerical value representing the speed of the club head, and it is possible to measure how fast a swing can be made while the posture is not disturbed. Ball speed is a measure of the speed at which the ball leaves the face, indicating how well the golfer's swing is transmitted to the ball. The smash factor is the ball speed divided by the head speed and relates to the amount of energy transferred from the club head to the ball. The launch angle is a number that indicates the angle at which the ball leaves the ground when it hits the ball, and is a factor that determines the trajectory of the ball from the ground and the angle at which the ball floats. Backspin refers to the rotation of the ball in the opposite direction in the direction it travels, and is a measure of how the golfer stops the ball close to its intended landing point. Carry measured only the distance the ball flew, and the distance it flew in the air. Total is a measure of the distance the ball rolls over the ground.

[Table 1]

As can be seen from Table 1, the club head of Example 1 has slightly lower values of CT and COR than that of Comparative Example 1, but has a lower spin and an appropriate firing angle due to the preferred CG distribution, resulting in maximum flying distance. You can see that you can.

Evaluation of deformation amount and direction of golf ball after collision

After the golf club head collides with the golf ball, the amount of deformation of the head and the direction of the golf ball when it leaves the sweet spot were evaluated.

As can be seen from FIG. 5, when compared with the titanium alloy material of Comparative Example 1, if the amount of impact is the same, the characteristics of the aluminum-scandium alloy of Example 1 can be seen that the entire face of the head is deformed. In addition, due to the difference in the thickness of the face portion of the head of Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, the face portion of the head of the aluminum-scandium alloy of Example 1 is deformed over the entire surface.

Evaluation of deformation and dispersion after impact

After the golf club head collides with the golf ball, the amount of deformation of the head and the dispersibility of the golf ball when it leaves the sweet spot were evaluated.

As can be seen from FIG. 6, when the golf ball flies in a direction other than the sweet spot and collides with the face portion of the head, the angle at which the golf ball flies may vary depending on the degree of deformation of the face portion. Comparing the angle difference between the direction in which the golf ball enters and the direction out of the collision, compared to Comparative Example 1 (approximately 66°) on the left side of FIG. 6, It can be seen that the amount of deformation is small, and it can be seen that the straightness is more secured due to the smaller angle. Therefore, even if the golf ball hits a place outside the sweet spot of the face part of the head, it is possible to keep the direction and distance as far as possible.

100: golf club head
110: head body
1: face
2: Solbu
3: crown
120: hosel part
200: golf club head
210: head body
10: face part
20: Solbu
30: crown part
220: hosel part
50: recess (recess)
60: honeycomb core layer
70: outer metal layer
80: inner metal layer

Claims (13)

As a golf club driver head,
Including a head body consisting of a face portion, a sole portion, a crown portion and a hosel portion,
The face portion is made of a material containing an aluminum-scandium alloy, and is configured to have a tensile strength of 650 to 800 MPa, an elongation of 5 to 15%, and a specific strength greater than 200 kNm/kg,
The sole part, the crown part and the hosel part are made of the same material as the face part,
The aluminum-scandium alloy is, by weight %, Zn: 7.2 to 8.2%, Mg: 1.6 to 2.6%, Cu: 1.6 to 2.6%, Zr: 0.1 to 0.14%, Sc: 0.03 to 0.2%, the balance Al and Consists of unavoidable impurities,
The golf club driver head has a specific gravity of 2.5 to 3.0 and a weight of 130 to 140 g,
Characterized in that the face portion has a thickness of 1.0 to 4.0t, the sole portion 0.9 to 1.1t, the crown portion 0.9 to 1.1t, and the hosel portion 2.0 to 2.1t,
Golf club driver head. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The face portion is composed of a composite layer in which two or more layers are stacked, and at least one of the composite layers is composed of a honeycomb-shaped layer,
Golf club driver head. The method of claim 4,
The composite layer comprises at least two or more metal layers and a honeycomb core layer formed between the metal layers,
Golf club driver head. delete delete The method of claim 1,
The face portion, the sole portion, the crown portion and the hosel portion are integrally formed to constitute the head body,
Golf club driver head. The method of claim 1,
The face portion is formed by being combined with the sole portion and the crown portion to constitute a head body,
Golf club driver head. delete The method of claim 1,
The sole portion includes a weight portion having a mass of 60 to 70g,
Golf club driver head. The method of claim 1,
The face portion of the head body includes a sweet spot expanded to an edge of the face portion,
Golf club driver head. The method of claim 1,
The surface of the head body includes an anodized film of 50 to 200 μm,
Golf club driver head.

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