JP2008154975A - Putter head - Google Patents

Abstract

A putter head with a low backspin amount is provided.
A plurality of grooves 4 extending in a toe-heel direction are provided in parallel on a face surface 3 of a putter head 1. The width W of the groove 4 is 0.5 to 1.6 mm, and the ratio W / S between W and the groove interval S is 0.5 to 2.0, preferably 0.5 to 1.5. The depth H of the groove is 0.03 to 1.2 mm. The cross-sectional shape of the groove 4 is square or U-shaped. The groove 4 may be a vertical groove, or both a horizontal groove and a vertical groove may be provided. The face surface 3 is further provided with a groove 5 having a depth different from that of the groove 4.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a golf putter head, and more particularly to a putter head having a groove on a face surface.

  The putter head is a putter head that is a golf club for rolling a ball on the green. As described in paragraph 0002 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-777, the entire face surface is commonly called a milling eye, and has grooves formed by cutting with a milling machine in an arc shape at regular intervals when viewed from the front of the face surface. , Often seen. The reason for forming this groove is that a soft feeling can be obtained by reducing the contact area with the golf ball, and that the ball is difficult to slip when the face surface is wet due to rain or dew, or a design pattern There are various advantages, such as the appearance of, and is often seen in putter club heads for advanced players who place emphasis on feel and feel.

According to claims 3 to 5 of the publication, the groove interval is set to 0.3 to 3 mm, the groove depth is set to 0.03 to 0.3 mm, and the arc radius of the arc-shaped groove is set to 8 to 80 mm. It is described that.
JP 2003-777 A

  The putter head generally has a loft angle of about 2 to 5 °, and it was found by high-speed camera shooting that a backspin is applied to the golf ball immediately before impact. This backspin deteriorates the rolling of the ball. An object of the present invention is to provide a putter head improved to reduce the backspin.

  The putter head of the present invention (Claim 1) is a putter head in which a plurality of grooves are formed on a face surface, and a first group of grooves parallel to each other and a groove depth different from that of the first group of grooves. It is characterized in that it has at least two kinds of grooves including a group of grooves.

  A putter head according to a second aspect of the present invention is the putter head according to the first aspect, wherein the ratio W / S of the groove width W (mm) of the first group of grooves to the width S (mm) between the grooves is 0.5 to 2.0. It is characterized by this.

  A putter head according to a third aspect is characterized in that, in the second aspect, the groove width W of the first group of grooves is 0.5 to 1.6 mm.

  A putter head according to a fourth aspect is the depth of the second group of grooves according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the depth H of the first group of grooves is 0.03 to 1.2 mm. Is 0.01 to 0.3 mm.

  A putter head according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the cross-sectional shape of the groove of the first group is a square or a U-shape.

  A putter head according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the putter head according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the first group of grooves and the second group of grooves extend in different directions. .

  A putter head according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the putter head according to the sixth aspect, wherein the grooves of the second group are made of milling eyes.

  The putter head according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the putter head according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the grooves of the second group are all arc-shaped.

  A putter head according to a ninth aspect is characterized in that, in any one of the first to eighth aspects, the face surface is made of an insert material made of a material different from that of the main body.

  A putter head according to a tenth aspect of the present invention is the putter head according to the ninth aspect, wherein the insert material is made of a laminated material in which a plurality of materials are laminated.

  The putter head according to an eleventh aspect is characterized in that, in the tenth aspect, at least one layer of the laminated material is made of metal, and at least one other layer is made of synthetic resin, rubber or elastomer.

  As a result of the inventors' research, it has been found that the backspin is reduced when the contact area between the face surface and the ball is reduced. When the golf ball was hit with a putter, the dent on the face surface was examined by applying pressure sensitive paper to the face surface of the putter head. When the ball was hit at a long distance, the mark was about 5 mm. It was observed that the ball remained, and it was found that the ball had some deformation.

  Therefore, a groove similar to the corrugation provided on the iron head was inserted in the face surface, the initial backspin amount of the ball was examined, and the amount of rolling was examined. As a result, in the case of an iron head, since the head speed is much faster than that of a putter head, the ball will bite into the corrugation (groove), so it is thought that the backspin amount will increase. It was found that the amount of spin decreased.

  The present invention is based on such knowledge.

  In the present invention, since the grooves of a plurality of groups including at least the first group and the second group having different extending directions are provided, the contact area between the face surface and the ball is reduced and the backspin is reduced.

  In the present invention, since grooves having different extending directions are provided and the number of grooves is large, when the grooves are formed by cutting, it takes time and effort. Moreover, when manufacturing a putter head with a groove | channel by casting, when both the groove | channels of a 1st group and a 2nd group are deep, the hot water flow of the part between grooves will worsen, and the defect rate will become high. There is a fear.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the putter head is easily manufactured by making the depths of the first group grooves and the second group grooves different.

In the putter head of the present invention, since the backspin amount of the putted ball is small as described above, the ball rolling on the green overspins at an early stage away from the face surface, and the ball is aimed. Rolls smoothly on the line. In particular, when the grass on the green is reversed, it is possible to prevent the ball foot from unintentionally being short-circuited and being largely short-circuited (a long distance from the stopped ball to the cup remains).
In the present invention, the hit feeling can be adjusted by configuring the face surface with an insert material different from that of the main body.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  1 is a front view of a putter head according to an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a face surface portion of FIG.

  The putter head 1 is made into a putter by inserting a shaft (not shown) into the hosel portion 2 and fixing it with an adhesive or the like.

  A plurality of grooves 4 extending in the toe-heel direction are provided in parallel on the face surface 3 of the putter head 1 as the first group of grooves. The face surface 3 is provided with a second group of grooves 5 made up of substantially arc-shaped milling eyes.

  The groove 4 extends in the horizontal direction in the sole state in which the center portion of the sole surface of the putter head 1 in the toe-heel direction is in contact with the horizontal plane. The center of each groove 4 in the longitudinal direction is located near the center of the putter head 1 in the toe-heel direction.

  The length of the groove 4 is preferably 5 mm or more, particularly 30 mm or more. The groove 4 may exist over the entire length of the face surface 3 in the toe-heel direction. The number of grooves 4 is preferably 3 or more, particularly about 3 to 30.

  The distance from the lower edge of the lowest groove 4 and the sole surface of the putter head 1 is preferably 10 mm or less. If there is a groove at a position higher than the contact point of the ball during putting, the effect of reducing backspin cannot be obtained.

  Next, the width, groove interval, depth and groove cross-sectional shape of the first group of grooves 4 will be described.

  In the present invention, the ratio W / S between the groove width W and the groove interval S of the first group of grooves 4 is preferably 0.5 to 2, more preferably 0.5 to 1.5, particularly preferably. 0.6 to 1.3. If W / S is less than 0.5, groove formation becomes difficult. If it is greater than 2, the ball may come into contact with only a portion without a groove, or may come into contact with a portion with a groove.

  The groove width W of the first group of grooves 4 is preferably 0.5 to 1.6 mm, in particular 0.5 to 1.25 mm, in particular 0.75 to 1.25 mm. If the groove width is less than 0.5 mm, it is difficult to form the groove. The reason why it is 1.6 mm or less is that the ball dent has a diameter of about 2 to 5 mm. If the groove width is larger than 1.6 mm, there is a possibility that the edge portion of the groove portion easily varies in the distance that the ball rolls.

  The groove spacing S of the first group of grooves 4 is preferably about 0.25 to 3.2 mm, particularly about 0.25 to 2.5 mm. If the groove interval S is smaller than 0.5 mm, the groove formation becomes difficult.

  The groove 4 is for reducing the contact area between the face surface 3 and the ball. Therefore, the depth of the groove 4 is not affected in terms of effect, but is preferably 1.2 mm or less. When the diameter of the dent is about 2 to 3 mm, the ball is deformed by about 0.03 mm, and therefore preferably has a depth of 0.03 mm or more.

  The cross-sectional shape of the first group of grooves 4 may be any of a V-groove, U-groove, and square groove, but the U-groove and the square groove are preferable because the contact area of the face surface hardly changes even when the ball is deformed. . Further, it is preferable to round the corner where the face surface and the groove are in contact with each other because the influence of backspin is reduced.

  The depth of the second group of grooves 5 is preferably smaller than that of the first group of grooves 4, and is preferably 0.01 to 0.3 mm, particularly 0.03 to 0.1 mm. The second group of grooves 5 may be milling eyes. FIG. 4 shows the definition of the depth and interval of the grooves 5 made of milling eyes. The groove 5 may have a U-shaped or semicircular cross-sectional shape shown in FIG. 5 or may be a square groove.

  Each of the grooves 5 is formed so that circular arcs having the same radius are continuously formed and the center of the circle is positioned on a straight line. The center of the arc is preferably located at the center of the face surface 2 in the toe / heel direction. The groove 5 is provided in a region where at least the first group of grooves 4 is present.

  In this embodiment, the first group of grooves is formed in the horizontal direction, but the first group of grooves may be formed in the vertical direction. In this case, the groove width, spacing, and W / S are as described above. Also in the case of a longitudinal groove, the length is preferably 5 mm or more. In the case of a longitudinal groove, it is preferably provided in at least the central region of the face surface in the toe-heel direction. The length of the central region in the toe-heel direction is preferably 5 mm or more.

  The material of the putter head of the present invention is arbitrary, such as metal, synthetic resin, rubber, ceramics, and carbon. Further, only the face surface may be made of a material different from the main body portion of the putter head.

  In the above embodiment, the groove 4 is linear, but may be curved such as an arc. Moreover, you may provide both a horizontal groove and a vertical groove.

  In the above embodiment, the second group of grooves 5 is made of milling eyes, but grooves made of V-grooves, U-grooves, square grooves or the like may be provided by cutting or casting.

  An embodiment in which the face surface is made of an insert material will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 is a front view of the putter head 1A, FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 6, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the back side of the insert material, and FIG. It is the IX-IX sectional view. The putter head 1A is the same as the putter head 1 except that the insert materials 10 and 20 are provided on the face surface, and the same reference numerals denote the same parts.

  The first insert material 10 has a substantially rectangular plate shape with the back surface removed and formed into a recess 11, and the groove 4 is provided on the front surface of the insert material 10.

  From the back surface corresponding to the bottom surface of the recess 11 of the insert material 10, a plurality of (in this embodiment, 12) columnar, preferably columnar, convex portions 12 project. The convex portion 12 has a height such that the front end surface thereof is flush with the rear surface of the peripheral wall portion 13 surrounding the recess 11.

  The total thickness T of the insert material 10 is 2 to 6 mm, the depth of the recess 11, that is, the height of the convex portion 12 is 1 to 3 mm, the number of the convex portions 12 is 10 to 30, and the diameter of the convex portion 12 is 1 to 3 mm, and the wall thickness N of the peripheral wall 13 is preferably about 1 to 3 mm. The length of the insert material 10 in the toe-heel direction is preferably about 40 to 100 mm, and the height is preferably about 10 to 30 mm.

  In this embodiment, the recess 11 is filled with a second insert material 20 made of synthetic resin, rubber or elastomer. The insert material 10 in which the recess 11 is filled with the second insert material 20 is fitted and bonded to the recess of the head main body via an adhesive. In addition, with the adhesive or instead of the adhesive, the inside of the recess may be widened and the inlet may be narrowed to make it difficult to come off. Moreover, as long as it is metal and ceramics, you may employ | adopt fixing methods, such as crimping, welding, and brazing.

  As described above, by providing the insert members 10 and 20 on the face surface, it is possible to adjust sensory elements such as the hit feeling, feeling, and touch of the putter head 1A.

  The first insert material 10 is preferably a metal such as titanium, titanium alloy, stainless steel, soft iron, aluminum, aluminum alloy, or noble metal, but may be rubber, synthetic resin, ceramics, carbon, or the like. May be.

  Synthetic resins constituting the second insert material 20 include polyurethane, nylon, polyester, polycarbonate, etc., rubber as silicone rubber, chloroprene rubber, nitrile rubber, natural rubber, styrene butadiene rubber, etc., and elastomer as styrene elastomer, Urethane elastomers, ethylene elastomers, polyester elastomers, olefin elastomers, amide elastomers and the like are suitable. The Shore A hardness of this synthetic resin is preferably about 90 to 98, and the Shore A hardness of rubber and elastomer is preferably about 20 to 30.

  In the present invention, the second insert material 20 may be omitted, and only the first insert material 10 may be provided.

  Hereinafter, examples and comparative examples will be described.

Comparative Examples 1-4
As a putter head, a pin type putter head (material stainless steel SUS304) having a loft angle of 4 degrees was used for evaluation.

  In Comparative Example 1, none of the grooves 4 and 5 was provided.

  In Comparative Examples 2 to 4, only the groove 4 was provided, and the groove 5 was not provided.

  Specifically, on the face surface, six straight first-group grooves 4 are formed as shown in a portion where the ball is hit (an intermediate portion in the toe / heel direction of the face). The grooves were machined to form square grooves. The length of the groove 4 is 54 mm, which is the longest groove length at the lowest position, and the shortest groove length is 37 mm.

  The groove width of the groove 4 was 0.75 mm, and the groove depth was 0.4 mm. The groove spacing was as shown in Table 1.

  A steel shaft was attached to each putter head to form a putter having a club length of 34 inches. A top amateur (advanced golfer) hit a distance of 2.5 m with the putter of Comparative Example 1, puts it with the putter of Comparative Examples 2 to 4 at the same head speed as the swing, and rolled the ball on the actual green. Photographed with a high-speed camera and measured the amount of spin of the ball. The ball flew slightly after the hit, then landed and rolled. The experimental results are shown in Table 1. The unit rpm in the table indicates the number of rotations per minute.

  As shown in Table 1, the putter head with the groove 4 has less initial back spin, more forward spin after landing, better rolling, and longer rolling distance.

Comparative Examples 5-7
Next, the same effect as in Comparative Examples 2 to 6 was tested except that the W / S was kept constant at 0.9 and the groove width was changed, and the effect of the groove width was examined.

  Specifically, as the putter head, W = 0.75 mm, S = 0.83 mm, W / S = 0.9, H = 0.4 mm (Comparative Example 5), W = 1.25 mm, S = 1.39 mm, W / S = 0.9, and H = 0.4 mm (Comparative Example 6).

  The same experiment was performed with the same swing as when a distance of 4.8 m was hit with the putter of Comparative Example 1.

  For comparison, the same putter head as in Comparative Example 1 was also tested under the same conditions (Comparative Example 7). The results are shown in Table 2.

Example 1
In Comparative Example 5, a groove 5 having a groove width narrower and a groove depth shallower than that of the groove 4 was provided. The groove 5 was a U groove having a depth of 0.075 mm and a groove width of 0.39 mm. An arc-shaped groove having a radius of one circle is provided, and the center of the circle is shifted by 1.2 mm in the vertical direction to provide a plurality of grooves. The results of experiments conducted under the same conditions as in Comparative Examples 5 to 7 are also shown in Table 2.

  As shown in Table 2, both Comparative Examples 5 and 6 showed a decrease in backspin and a longer rolling distance than Comparative Example 7.

  In Example 1, the back spin is further smaller than that of Comparative Example 5, and the rolling distance is good.

Example 2
The putter head 1A shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 was manufactured using the first insert material 10 and the second insert material 20, and was used for a golfer's trial hit, and the hit feelings were tabulated. No. In 1 and 2, the second insert material was omitted and only the first insert material 10 was used.

The dimension of each part of the 1st insert material 10 is as follows.
Toe-heel length: 60mm
Height: 14mm
Thickness T: 4mm
Peripheral wall thickness N: 1.5 mm
Depth 11 depth: 2 mm
The combinations of the insert material are as follows. No. 3-No. 8, the left side of the + symbol is the material of the first insert material, and the right side is the material of the second insert material.

No. 1: Only the first insert material 10 made of stainless steel 2: Only the first insert material 10 made of an aluminum alloy 3: Stainless steel + high hardness resin 4: Aluminum alloy + high hardness resin 5: Stainless steel + rubber 6: Aluminum alloy + rubber 7: High hardness resin + rubber 8: High hardness resin + High hardness resin

  SUS304 was used as the stainless steel. 6061 was used as the aluminum alloy. A urethane resin having a Shore A hardness of 95 was used as the high hardness resin. As the rubber, nitrile rubber having a Shore A hardness of 25 was used.

  As a result of arranging the evaluation rankings of the softness of the hit feeling from the softest, it was confirmed that the hit feeling was adjusted. When the favorability was examined by 18 golfers, no. No. 8 is the highest. 5, no. 6, no. 1, 2 (isotopes), no. 3, no. The order was 7.

It is a front view of the putter head concerning an embodiment. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 2. It is sectional drawing of the surface vicinity of the face surface explaining a milling eye. It is explanatory drawing of the cross-sectional shape of the groove | channel 5 in embodiment. It is a front view of the putter head concerning another embodiment. It is the VII-VII sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the 1st insert material. It is the IX-IX sectional view taken on the line of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Putter head 2 Hosel part 3 Face surface 4 Groove of 1st group 5 Groove of 2nd group

Claims (11)

In the putter head in which a plurality of grooves are formed on the face surface,
A putter head comprising at least two types of grooves: a first group of grooves parallel to each other and a second group of grooves having a groove depth different from that of the first group of grooves.   2. The putter head according to claim 1, wherein a ratio W / S of a groove width W (mm) of the first group of grooves to a width S (mm) between the grooves is 0.5 to 2.0.   The putter head according to claim 2, wherein the groove width W of the first group of grooves is 0.5 to 1.6 mm.   4. The depth H of the first group of grooves is 0.03 to 1.2 mm and the depth of the second group of grooves is 0.01 to 0.3 mm according to claim 1. A putter head characterized by being.   5. The putter head according to claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the first group of grooves is square or U-shaped.   6. The putter head according to claim 1, wherein the first group of grooves and the second group of grooves extend in different directions.   7. A putter head according to claim 6, wherein said second group of grooves comprises a milling eye.   The putter head according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein each of the grooves of the second group has a substantially arc shape.   9. The putter head according to claim 1, wherein the face surface is made of an insert material made of a material different from that of the main body.   10. The putter head according to claim 9, wherein the insert material is made of a laminated material in which a plurality of materials are laminated.   11. The putter head according to claim 10, wherein at least one layer of the laminated material is made of metal, and at least one other layer is made of synthetic resin, rubber, or elastomer.

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