JP2003180887A - Golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a durable golf club head which is excellent in improving the stability of a golf ball and the distance. <P>SOLUTION: A first thick part 11 positioned at the center of the rear surface of a face 2 and a plurality of second thick parts 12 radially extending from the first thick part 11 toward peripheral edges on the rear surface of the face 2 are formed on the rear surface of the face 2 consisting of a titanium alloy, etc., in the golf club head. A direct crash by an impact with a ball is evaded by the first thick part 11 and also the impact is distributed to the circumference by the second thick part 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hollow golf club head made of titanium or an alloy thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a head of a golf club, a metal head made of metal has been widely used.
This type of metal head is made of aluminum, steel, titanium, or alloys thereof. A metal head having a hollow inside is formed by forming a predetermined male die and a female die, pouring fluidized metal into the gap, allowing the metal to cool, solidifying and casting.

In this type of metal head, it is required to fly a golf ball to a long distance and to realize accurate ball control. Therefore, various techniques have been provided and improved regarding the face surface of the golf club head which is directly hit by the golf ball. For example, improvements have been made such as forming the face surface from a high-strength titanium alloy to make it thinner, facilitating elastic deformation of the face surface, improving the repulsive force at the time of contact with the ball, and improving the flight distance. It was

[0004]

Due to the conventional thinning or improvement of the face surface, a certain effect has been achieved in improving the flight distance of the ball. However, the thinning of the face surface naturally causes a problem of breakage due to the decrease in strength of the face surface. Therefore, there is a problem of how to adjust both the demand for thinning and the demand for maintaining strength.

An object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head which is excellent in the flight directionality and flight distance of a golf ball while maintaining good strength.

[0006]

The head of the invention 1 is a metal hollow golf club head having a face surface against which a golf ball abuts, and the back surface of this face surface is located at the center of the back surface of the face surface. It has a first thick portion and a plurality of second thick portions that spread radially from the first thick portion to the peripheral edge of the face surface back surface.

In this golf club head, a predetermined thick portion is partially formed on the back surface (a hollow surface inside the head) of the face surface with which the ball directly abuts. First
The thick portion is a portion that causes a large impact by directly contacting the golf ball when hitting a ball. This first thick portion suppresses the maximum stress to break that occurs between the golf ball and the face surface. Then, the stress in the first thick portion is radially distributed by the second thick portion toward the peripheral edge of the face surface. The first thick portion and the second thick portion can be set to have the same thickness or different thicknesses.

A head according to a second aspect of the present invention is the head according to the first aspect, wherein the first thick portion extends from the surface center of the face surface to at least the range of the "effective ball crush diameter" of the golf ball. With this head, when the golf ball comes into contact with the face surface and is crushed at the time of hitting, within the range in which the golf ball and the face surface can contact (within the range of "effective ball crush diameter of golf ball"), The first thick-walled portion covers the back surface portion in the central area of the surface to prevent direct destruction of the face surface at the time of impact.

Considering that the diameter of the golf ball is 1.68 inches (42.7 mm) and the golf ball is deformed to about 2/3 at the time of ball impact,
This "effective ball collapse diameter of the golf ball" is about 23
It is about 28 mm. The head of the invention 3 is the head of the invention 2, wherein in the radially extending second thick portion, the intervals between the respective second thick portions adjacent to each other are smaller than the effective ball crushing diameter of the golf ball. is there.

When the golf ball is hit from the center of the face surface at the time of hitting the ball, the impact is more likely to escape from the peripheral portion of the face surface to the head main body portion than when the ball hits the center of the face surface. Therefore, the wall thickness near the center is not necessary. However, even if the golf ball hits such a range, there is a risk of damage. Therefore, in this head, any one of the second thick-walled portions that radially spread from the center of the face surface to the peripheral edge of the face surface and are adjacent to each other in a predetermined range is
It is arranged so that it always exists on the contact surface of the golf ball to maintain strength.

A head according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the head according to the third aspect, wherein the thickness of the second thick portion gradually decreases from the first thick portion toward the peripheral edge of the face surface back surface. The closer to the edge of the face, the easier it is to distribute the impact force to the head body, and the less the necessity of strengthening the face surface itself. Therefore, the thickness of the second thick portion is also changed to provide only necessary reinforcement, and the weight of the head can be reduced. In addition, here, the thick deformation of the second thick portion may be continuously changed from the first thick portion. That is, it includes the case where the thickness of the portion of the second thick portion that is closest to that of the first thick portion and the thickness of the first thick portion match.

A head of an invention 5 is the head according to any one of the inventions 1 to 4, and the thickness of the first thick portion of the face surface is 2.
The thickness of the second thick part is 4 to 2.9 mm, and the thickness is 2.3 to 2.8 mm. By maintaining the face surface at a predetermined thickness, it is possible to maintain sufficient strength while maintaining weight reduction and operability.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. As shown in FIG. 1, a wood-based golf club head adopting an embodiment of the present invention is a head main body 1
And a face surface 2 with which the golf ball directly abuts, and a hosel portion 3 into which a shaft 10 is inserted and connected.

The head body 1 is made of aluminum, titanium,
It is made of a metal material such as steel or an alloy thereof, and is integrally cast with the hosel portion 3. As a material for forming the head body 1, for example, a titanium alloy having a composition of Ti-6% Al-4% V can be exemplified. Further, for example, a method of integrally casting the whole in a mold made by the known lost wax method, a method of separately casting the crown side and the sole side of the head body 1 and welding, and the like can be appropriately selected. It can be manufactured.

The face surface 2 is also a thin plate member made of titanium or an alloy thereof, like the head body 1.
For example, Ti-15% Mo-5% Zr-3% Al, Ti-20% V-4% Al-1
A composition such as% Sn can be exemplified. The face surface 2 has a thick portion on the back surface side as described later in detail, but is manufactured by a well-known method such as casting, punching, or cutting. Then, the head body 1 is welded and fixed at a predetermined position.

The surface of the face surface 2 (the surface on the outer side with which the ball abuts) is basically smooth like a general face surface, and necessary anti-slip grooves and the like are formed. On the other hand, on the back surface of the face surface 2 (the hollow surface inside the golf club head), as shown in detail in FIGS. 2 to 4, the first thick portion 11 and the plurality of second thick portions are provided. 12 and a normal portion 13 other than that are formed.

The first thick portion 11 is formed within a certain range from the surface center of the face surface 2. Preferably, when the golf ball hits the center of the face surface 2,
It is formed in a region that sufficiently covers the range of the "effective ball collapse diameter" of the golf ball (see the range indicated by X in FIG. 2). Specifically, it is set so as to include a diameter circle of at least 23 to 28 mm. The thickness of the first thick portion 11 may be set to about 2.4 to 2.9 mm in the case of forming the face surface from the above composition.

The second thick portion 12 is formed at a plurality of locations and spreads radially from the first thick portion 11 toward the peripheral edge of the face 2. Each of the second thick-walled portions 12 gradually narrows and / or thins from the first thick-walled portion to the peripheral edge of the face surface 2. The width can be set arbitrarily, for example, 4.0-1
The thickness is preferably about 0.0 mm, and the thickness is set in the range of about 2.3 to 2.8 mm when the face surface is formed from the above composition. The end of the second thick-walled portion 12 closest to the first thick-walled portion 11 has the same thickness as that of the first thick-walled portion 11, and the second thick-walled portion 12 is continuously connected to the first thick-walled portion 11. The thickness may be gradually reduced toward the periphery.

The intervals between the respective second thick-walled portions 12 adjacent to each other are set to be smaller than the size of the effective ball crushing diameter of the golf ball (see the range indicated by Y in FIG. 2). ). These first thick part 11
And, in the portion 13 other than the second thick portion 12, the thickness thereof is set to be thinner than these portions, and is approximately 1.9 to
It is 2.7 mm, preferably about 2.0 to 2.1 mm.

In the golf club head having the face surface 2 as described above, the first thick portion 11 is formed at the portion where a large impact is caused by the direct contact with the golf ball at the time of hitting the back surface of the face surface 2 with which the golf ball directly abuts. The first thick-walled portion 11 is provided so as to suppress the maximum stress against breakage that occurs between the golf ball and the face surface 2 and prevent damage to the face surface 2. Here, at least
The first thick-walled portion 11 covers the back surface portion of the center area of the face surface 2 with which the golf ball directly abuts upon hitting (see FIG. 2: X). Then, the stress generated in the first thick portion 11 is radially dispersed toward the peripheral edge of the face surface 2 via the second thick portion 12.

If the golf ball is hit from the center of the face surface 2 at the time of hitting the ball, the peripheral edge of the face surface 2 is different from the case where the ball hits the first thick portion 11 straight. The impact easily escapes from the head body 1 toward the head body 1. Therefore, the wall thickness near the center is not necessary. However, even if the golf ball hits such a range, there is a risk of damage. With respect to the impact in such a case, any one of the second thick-walled portions that radially spread from the center of the face surface 2 to the peripheral edge of the face surface and are adjacent to each other within a predetermined range is inevitable. It exists on the contact surface and maintains its strength (Fig. 2: Y
reference).

It should be noted that the impact force on the head body 1 can be dispersed more easily toward the peripheral edge of the face surface 2.
The need for strengthening as such becomes smaller, so
The thickness of the thick portion 12 is also changed so that only the necessary reinforcement is applied to reduce the weight of the head. [Other Embodiments] (a) The number of second thick portions and the positions of the second thick portions in the above embodiments can be set arbitrarily.

[0023]

With the golf club head of the present invention, the flight distance and stability of the golf ball are improved, and the face surface is less likely to be damaged.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a golf club head adopting an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a back surface side of a face surface 2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 head body 2 face side 11 First thick part 12 Second thick part

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A hollow golf club head made of metal having a face surface with which a golf ball abuts, the back surface of the face surface having a first thick portion located at a central portion of the back surface of the face surface, and the first thick portion. A golf club head having a plurality of second thick portions extending radially from one thick portion to a peripheral edge of the face surface back surface. 2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the first thick portion extends from the surface center of the face surface to at least the range of the effective ball crush diameter of the golf ball. 3. The second thick-walled portion that radially spreads is such that the intervals between the respective second thick-walled portions that are adjacent to each other are smaller than the effective ball collapse diameter of the golf ball. Golf club head. 4. The golf club head according to claim 3, wherein the thickness of the second thick portion gradually decreases from the first thick portion toward the peripheral edge of the face surface back surface. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the first thick portion of the face surface is 2.4 to 2.9 mm, and the thickness of the second thick portion is 2.3 to 2.8 mm. The described golf club head.