JP4256248B2 - Iron type golf club head - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an iron type golf club head capable of suppressing the generation of abnormal noise and the decrease in durability while improving the resilience performance.

  In order to improve the flight distance in an iron type golf club, the center of gravity of the head has been made lower and deeper. This is expected to improve the flight distance by launching the ball with a high launch angle and a reduced backspin amount. However, there is a limit to the control of the center of gravity of the head. In order to further improve the flight distance, the iron type golf club head has been attempted to improve the coefficient of restitution of the head as in the case of the wood type golf club head (for example, see Patent Document 1 below).

JP 2001-29523 A

  For example, as shown in FIG. 10, there is known an iron type golf club head c composed of a face plate a and a head main body b made of a material different from the face plate a. The face plate a is composed of a central thick part a1 having a large thickness and a thin part a2 having a small thickness formed in an annular shape so as to surround the thick part a1. And this thin part a2 is joined to the head main-body part b. An opening O is formed in the head main body b. Such a head c greatly deforms and bends the thin-walled portion a2 at the time of hitting the ball, efficiently transmits kinetic energy to the ball, and increases the coefficient of restitution.

  However, in such a head c, when the ball is hit, the thin portion a2 having a small thickness vibrates greatly. Moreover, since the thin portion a2 is supported by the head main body portion b, this vibration is transmitted to the head main body portion b side, and resonates with the vibration on the head main body portion b side, thereby generating abnormal noise. There is.

  The inventors have proposed a head d as shown in FIG. 11 in order to reduce the resilience performance as much as possible and to prevent the occurrence of abnormal noise as described above. The head d is the same as the above in that it is composed of a face plate a and a head main body portion b having an opening O, but the face plate a is a thick central portion having a large thickness. a1, a thin-walled portion a2 having a small thickness formed so as to surround the thick-walled portion a1, and a peripheral thick-walled portion a3 having a large thickness formed annularly on the outside thereof. The thick part a3 is joined to the head body part b. In such a head d, the vibration of the peripheral thick part a3 becomes smaller than the above form while substantially maintaining the resilience performance, and the generation of the abnormal noise is suppressed.

  However, the head d shown in FIG. 11 has the following new defects. That is, as shown in a partially enlarged view in FIG. 12, the width wa of the back surface of the peripheral thick portion a3 and the width wb of the support surface e of the head main body portion b are set to substantially the same dimension. The vibration at the time of hitting the ball is strengthened by interfering with each other at the edge ae on the back surface of the face plate a and the edge of the support surface e of the head body portion b, and the face plate a is displaced or lifted from the head body portion b. For example, the durability of the joint was difficult.

  The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described problems. The ball hitting ball is basically provided with a protruding portion that protrudes from the support surface of the face mounting portion toward the center of the head in the thick peripheral portion of the face member. It is an object of the present invention to provide an iron type golf club head capable of reducing the interference between the face member and the head main body at the time and improving the durability.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an iron type golf club head comprising a face member forming at least a part of a face surface and a head main body joined to the face member. The face member is formed with a concave groove extending in an annular shape along the outer peripheral end surface on the back surface thereof, so that a central thick portion surrounded by the concave groove and including a sweet spot, the concave groove and the outer periphery A thick peripheral portion sandwiched between end faces, the head main body portion has an opening, and a face mounting portion to which the face member is joined is provided around the opening, The face mounting portion has an inward surface that faces the outer peripheral end surface of the face member, and an annular shape that rises toward the center of the head at the rear end side of the inward surface and supports the back surface of the thick peripheral portion of the face member Together and a bearing surface, the peripheral thick portion of the face member, the protruded from the bearing surface of the face mounting part on the head center side, an iron type golf club head characterized by having a protruding portion that annularly continuous It is.

The invention according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion, you characterized by having a protruding width of 0.5~2.0mm the head center side from the bearing surface.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the face member, a ratio (t2 / t3) of a thickness t2 of the peripheral thick part and a thickness t3 of the concave groove is 1.1 to 1.7. it shall be the features a.

The invention according to claim 3, wherein the face member, the cross-sectional shape of the groove, groove wall surface of at least the peripheral thick portion side you characterized by continuing smoothly through the groove bottom surface and the circular arc portion.

The invention according to claim 4, wherein the bearing surface, the width of the top portion side, you being smaller than the width of the sole portion side.

The invention according to claim 5, wherein the protruding portion has a width protrudes protruding the head center side from the bearing surface is it being a constant.

  In the present invention, a protruding portion that protrudes from the support surface of the face mounting portion toward the center of the head is provided in the thick peripheral portion of the face member. Thereby, the interference between the face member and the head main body at the time of hitting can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the durability of the joint portion due to interference.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view of an iron type golf club head in a reference state as an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a rear view thereof, FIG. 3 is an enlarged end view taken along line AA of FIG. Respectively. The reference state is a state in which the head 1 is set to a prescribed lie angle α and loft angle β (real loft angle) determined for the head and is grounded to the horizontal plane HP.

  An iron type golf club head (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as a “head”) 1 of the present embodiment is a plate-like face that constitutes at least a part (main part in this example) of a face surface F that strikes a ball. A member composed of two members, that is, a member 2 and a head main body 3 having the face member 2 disposed on the front surface is exemplified.

  The face member 2 has a substantially flat surface 2A on the face surface F side (however, a narrow groove such as the face line 12 may be provided), a back surface 2B which is the opposite surface, and these It is formed in a plate shape having an annular outer peripheral end surface e extending between the two. The face member 2 of this embodiment is formed of a titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V). However, it is of course possible to use a material other than the titanium alloy for the face member 2, and for example, SUS450 (maraging copper) having excellent resilience can also be used.

  FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the face member 2 as viewed from the back surface 2B. The back surface 2B of the face member 2 is provided with a concave groove 4 extending continuously in an annular shape along the outer peripheral end surface e. Thereby, the face member 2 is divided into a central thick part 5 surrounded by the concave groove 4 and including the sweet spot SS, and a peripheral thick part 6 sandwiched between the concave groove 4 and the outer peripheral end surface e. Is done. The groove width of the concave groove 4 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 2.5 mm or more, more preferably 4.0 mm or more, and the upper limit is preferably 15.0 mm or less, more preferably 10.0 mm or less. .

  The central thick part 5 is formed in a horizontally long substantially oval shape including the sweet spot SS. Accordingly, the surface side is a portion where frequent hitting with the ball is scheduled. As shown in FIG. 3, the sweet spot SS is a point where a normal N, which is lowered from the head gravity center G to the face surface F, intersects the face surface F. The thickness t1 of the central thick portion 5 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 2.7 mm or more, more preferably 2.8 mm or more. When the thickness t1 is less than 2.7 mm, the strength is insufficient and the durability tends to deteriorate. Conversely, if the thickness t1 is too large, the overall rigidity of the face member 2 is increased, and the resilience performance tends to deteriorate. From such a viewpoint, the upper limit of the thickness t1 is 3.3 mm or less, more preferably 3.2 mm or less, in combination with any of the lower limits.

  Further, it is desirable that the thickness t2 of the peripheral thick portion 6 is determined within a range that is equal to or smaller than the thickness t1 of the central thick portion 6 by about 0.2 mm. Specifically, the thickness t2 is preferably 2.5 mm or more and 3.2 mm or less. As shown in FIG. 3, the peripheral thick portion 6 is supported by a face mounting portion 10 of the head main body portion 3 described later. For this reason, if the thickness t2 is too small, as described in the background art, this portion tends to vibrate at the time of hitting, and this tends to resonate with the vibration on the head main body 3 side to generate an abnormal noise. Conversely, if it is too large, the resilience performance of the head tends to be reduced.

  The face member 2 is not particularly limited, but the thickness t3 of the concave groove 4 is preferably 1.6 mm or more, more preferably 1.8 mm or more. If the thickness t3 is less than 1.6 mm, the durability of the face member 2 tends to be deteriorated. Conversely, if the thickness t3 is too large, it is difficult to improve the resilience performance of the face member 2. From such a viewpoint, the upper limit of the thickness t3 is preferably 2.5 mm or less, more preferably 2.3 mm or less in combination with any of the lower limit values.

  Particularly preferably, the ratio (t2 / t3) between the thickness t2 of the peripheral thick portion 6 and the thickness t3 of the concave groove 4 is 1.1 or more, more preferably 1.2 or more. If the ratio (t2 / t3) is less than 1.1, the noise is likely to occur when the ball is hit. Conversely, if the ratio is too large, the resilience is improved but the durability of the face member 2 tends to be reduced. . From such a viewpoint, the upper limit of the ratio (t2 / t3) is preferably 1.7 or less, more preferably 1.6 or less, in combination with any of the lower limit values.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the face member 2 has, for example, a thickness t3a on the top portion side of 1.6 to 2.3 mm and a thickness t3b on the sole portion side of 1.8. It is desirable that the thickness be set to ˜2.5 mm, and the difference in thickness (t3b−t3a) be 0.2 to 0.5 mm. Thereby, the center of gravity of the face member 2 can be positioned further downward, which is useful for providing a head that is easy to hit. Further, since the iron head 1 normally hits a ball placed on the lawn, the durability is not substantially deteriorated even if the thickness t3a on the top portion side is reduced. In this embodiment, the change of the thickness t3 in the concave groove 4 is smoothly performed.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the head main body 3 includes, for example, a top frame 3a that forms the upper part of the head, a sole frame 3b that forms the lower part of the head, and a toe frame 3c that connects between them on the tip side of the head. A neck portion 3d that connects the top portion frame 3a and the sole portion frame 3b on the heel side of the head, and a shaft attachment portion 3e into which a shaft (not shown) extends upward from the neck portion 3d. In this example, the head main body portion 3 is exemplified by a head portion frame 3a, a toe portion frame 3c, a sole portion frame 3b, and a neck portion 3d, and an opening O penetrating in the front-rear direction.

  The head main body 3 is not particularly limited, but is preferably composed of stainless steel such as SUS630, SUS255, or SUS450 or other metal material having a relatively high specific gravity. Since the specific gravity of the metal material is larger than that of the material of the face member 2 (in this example, titanium alloy), the weight of the head can be distributed more to the periphery of the face member 2, thereby increasing the sweet area. To help.

  Further, the head main body 3 is provided with a face mounting portion 10 having a stepped cross section around the opening O. The face mounting portion 10 has an inward surface 7 that faces the outer peripheral end surface e of the face member 2 and is joined to the outer peripheral end surface e, and a wall shape that rises toward the center of the head at the rear end side of the inward surface 7. None includes an annular support surface 8 that supports the back surface of the peripheral thick portion 6 of the face member 2. The inward surface 7 has substantially the same contour shape as the outer peripheral end surface e of the face member 2 and has a depth dimension substantially the same as the thickness of the outer peripheral end surface e. In the present embodiment, the support surface 8 forms an annular continuous surface along a single plane.

  The face member 2 is fitted into the face mounting portion 10 by, for example, press-fitting, and the outer peripheral end surface e is supported on the inward surface 7 and the rear surface of the peripheral thick portion 6 is supported on the support surface 8. Thereafter, the head main body 3 is attached to the face attachment 10 by, for example, caulking a part of the head main body 3. At this time, an adhesive can be used in combination, and screwing, bonding, or the like can be used instead of caulking.

  As a result, a face portion FP that defines the face surface F between the surface 2A of the face member 2 and the front surface of the head main body 3 is formed. Further, the back surface 2B side of the face member 2 is not in contact with the head main body 3 except for the support surface 8, and a pocket-shaped cavity C is formed in this example. Further, a back head portion (not shown) that closes the opening O on the rear side of the head may be provided, and a hollow head may be provided in which a hollow portion is provided between the back surface 2B of the face member 2 instead of the cavity C.

  FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. The width Wa of the support surface 8 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 2 mm or more, more preferably 3 mm or more. If the width Wa is less than 2 mm, a sufficient bonding area with the face member 2 cannot be ensured, and the durability of the bonded portion is likely to be impaired. Conversely, if the width Wa is too large, the resilience performance of the face member 2 is deteriorated and the flight distance is easily lost. From such a viewpoint, the width Wa is preferably 6 mm or less, more preferably 5 mm or less, and further preferably 4 mm or less in combination with any of the lower limit values.

  The support surface 8 may have a substantially constant width Wa, but preferably, the width Wa1 on the top portion side is smaller than the width Wa2 on the sole portion side. Thereby, in the head main body 3, the weight on the top portion side can be reduced, more weight can be distributed to the sole portion side, and the height of the head center of gravity G can be lowered. In this case, it is desirable that the support surface 8 has a width Wa1 on the top portion side of 2 mm or more and 4 mm or less, a width Wa2 on the sole portion side of 3 mm or more and 6 mm or less, and a ratio (Wa2 / Wa1) of 1. It is preferably greater than 0 and about 3.0 or less.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, which are partial enlarged views of FIG. 3, the peripheral thick portion 6 of the face member 2 protrudes from the support surface 8 of the face mounting portion 10 to the head center side. The protruding portion 9 is provided. The protruding portion 9 is provided continuously in an annular shape. Such a protruding portion 9 shifts the edge 6 e on the concave groove side of the thick peripheral portion 6 of the face member 2 from the edge 8 e on the inner side of the support surface of the head body 3. When hitting a ball, the edges 6e and 8e have a high degree of freedom and are easy to vibrate. However, by shifting the positions of the edges 6e and 8e as in the present invention, the face member 2 and the head body 3 are interfered and joined. It is possible to prevent a large force from acting on the portion, thereby preventing a decrease in durability.

The protruding portion 9 has a width Wb protrusion protruding in 0.5~2.0mm before Kisasae surface 8 to the head center side. When the protrusion width Wb is less than 0.5 mm, the effect of preventing the interference between the face member 2 and the head main body 3 is reduced, and the durability of the joint portion is liable to decrease. The durability of the joint can be improved, but the resilience performance tends to decrease. The protrusion width Wb is particularly preferably 0.7 mm or more and 1.6 mm or less. In this example, the protrusion width Wb is formed to be substantially constant. This is useful for obtaining a good hitting sound by vibrating the entire face member 2 uniformly. The protrusion width Wb is particularly preferably about 8 to 35%, more preferably 15 to 33% of the width Wa of the support surface 8.

Further, in order to further enhance the durability of the joint portion between the face member 2 and the head main body 3, as shown in FIG. 7, a plane that passes through the outer peripheral end surface e of the face member 2 and is parallel thereto in an arbitrary cross section. It is desirable that the crossing length T1 on the top portion side where Z1 crosses the head 1, the thickness t2 of the peripheral thick portion 6, and the width Wa1 of the support surface 8 satisfy the following relationship.
T1 ≧ 1.2 × (Wa1 + t2)
If the transverse length T1 is reduced, the center of gravity of the head 1 can be lowered, and the rigidity on the top portion side is reduced, so that the loft angle is deformed to increase the ball hitting angle and the ball launch angle is increased. The effect of increasing is obtained. However, since the transverse length T1 affects the relaxation of the impact force at the time of hitting the ball, if the transverse length T1 is reduced, the durability tends to be deteriorated. In this embodiment, the joint length between the face member 2 and the head main body 3 in an arbitrary cross section is specified by (Wa1 + t2), and this value is multiplied by a coefficient of “1.2” obtained as a result of the experiment. Is set so that the transverse length T1 is equal to or greater than Thereby, deterioration of durability is prevented. The upper limit of T1 is preferably 8.5 mm, and there is no particular need to set an upper limit for T2, but it is preferable to suppress it to about 30 mm, for example.

From the same point of view, as shown in FIG. 8, in any cross section, a plane Z2 passing through the outer peripheral end surface e of the face member 2 and parallel to the plane Z2 crosses the head 1, and the transverse length T2 on the sole portion side, and the sole It is desirable that the thickness t2 of the peripheral peripheral thick part 6 and the width Wa2 of the support surface 8 satisfy the following relationship. The factor by which (Wa1 + t2) is increased is based on the fact that the iron type golf club head frequently hits the ball on the sole side.
T2 ≧ 1.6 × (Wa1 + t2)

  As shown in FIG. 9A, particularly preferably, in the cross-sectional shape of the concave groove 4 in the face member 2, at least the groove wall surface 4a on the peripheral thick portion 6 side passes through the groove bottom surface 4b and the arc portion 4c. It is desirable to connect smoothly. This is because when the ball is hit, the corner portion formed by the groove wall surface 4a and the groove bottom surface 4b of the concave groove 4 is deformed into an acute angle, so that stress concentration occurs due to the notch effect, which deteriorates the durability of the face member 2. To prevent.

  9B, when the circular groove 4c is not provided in the concave groove 4, the vibration f1 generated in the concave groove 4 and the vibration f2 generated in the peripheral thick portion 6 intersect at the corner P. Therefore, not only the concentration of stress but also a resonance sound or a hybrid sound of the vibrations f1 and f2 occurs. On the other hand, as in the present embodiment, by providing the concave portion 4 with the arc portion 4c, the concave groove 4 and the peripheral thick portion 6 can have a single vibration mode, and as a result, The hitting sound is improved. From these viewpoints, the radius of curvature R of the arc portion 4c is preferably about 0.20 to 0.50 mm, for example.

Based on Table 1, an iron type golf club head (# 5) having a loft angle of 25 ° was manufactured. Each head was formed by press-fitting and caulking a head main body portion made of a SUS630 lost wax casting product and a face member made of a 6Al-4V-Ti plate material. The concave groove provided on the back surface of the face member was 4 mm wide and formed by milling using an NC machine.
The test method is as follows.

<Durability>
Each test head was equipped with the same shaft, and an iron type golf club having a total length of 38.0 inches was manufactured. Each club is attached to a swing robot manufactured by Miyamae Co., Ltd., set a head speed of 41.0 m / s and hits a 3,000 ball at a sweet spot, the state of the face part, the joint part of the face member and the head main body part Each state was observed.

<Rebound performance>
U. S. G. A. The restitution coefficient of each test head was measured based on the procedure for Measureing the Velocity Ratio of a Club Head for Conformance to Rule 4-1e, Revision 2 (February 8, 1999). The larger the value, the better.

<Hit sound>
The ball was hit by 10 average golfers of handicap 10-20, and evaluated by a five-point method with the feeling of a tester. Evaluation was made based on the average value of the evaluation points of each golfer. The larger the value, the better.
Table 1 shows the test results.

  As a result of the test, it was confirmed that all of the heads of the examples exhibited good durability performance. In addition, it can be confirmed that the coefficient of restitution is similar to the comparative example.

1 is a front view of an iron type golf club head showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. FIG. It is the perspective view seen from the back side of the face member. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of the top portion side in FIG. 3. It is the elements on larger scale by the side of the sole part of FIG. It is the elements on larger scale by the side of the sole part of FIG. It is sectional drawing of the conventional head. It is sectional drawing of the other conventional head. It is the elements on larger scale by the side of the sole part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Iron type golf club head 2 Face member 3 Head main-body part 4 Concave groove 5 Center thick part 6 Periphery thick part 7 Inward surface 8 Support surface 9 Overhang | projection part 10 Face attachment part

Claims (5)

An iron-type golf club head configured using a face member that forms at least a part of a face surface, and a head main body joined to the face member,
The face member is formed with a concave groove extending annularly along the outer peripheral end surface on the back surface thereof, so that a central thick portion surrounded by the concave groove and including a sweet spot, the concave groove and the outer peripheral end surface And the peripheral thick part sandwiched between
The head main body has an opening, and a face mounting portion to which the face member is joined is provided around the opening.
The face mounting portion has an inward surface that faces the outer peripheral end surface of the face member, and an annular support surface that rises toward the center of the head at the rear end side of the inward surface and supports the back surface of the thick peripheral portion of the face member And including
The peripheral thick part of the face member protrudes from the support surface of the face mounting part to the head center side, and has a protruding part that continues in an annular shape,
The iron-type golf club head , wherein the protruding portion has a protruding width of 0.5 to 2.0 mm from the support surface toward the center of the head. The face member, in claim 1 in which the ratio of the thickness t3 in the the thickness t2 groove of the peripheral thick portion (t2 / t3) is characterized in that 1.1 to 1.7 The described iron-type golf club head. 3. The iron-type golf according to claim 1 , wherein in the cross-sectional shape of the groove, the face member has at least a groove wall surface on the peripheral thick wall portion side continuously connected via a groove bottom surface and an arc portion. Club head. The iron type golf club head according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the support surface has a width on the top portion side smaller than a width on the sole portion side. 5. The iron type golf club head according to claim 1 , wherein the protruding portion has a constant protruding width protruding from the support surface toward the center of the head.

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