JP2001259091A - Golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To prevent sink in the extended peripheral portion of the face opening of the head main body and the face member, and that the face opening and the face member of the head main body are sufficiently fixed by welding. SOLUTION: A face member is fixed to a head body by welding from both sides from the outside and from the inside.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a golf club head having at least a metal hollow portion in which a face member is fixed to a head body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional golf club head, a face member is fitted into a face opening provided in a head body,
Welded only from the outside.

[0003]

As a result, in order to increase the welding strength with the face member, the welding rod is sufficiently melted into the gap between the face opening of the head body and the face member while the welding rod is sufficiently melted. It is necessary to weld the face opening and the face member, and it is necessary to take a long time to perform welding, and as a result, excessive welding tends to cause sink marks.

Accordingly, the present inventors have found that the extension of the face opening of the head body and the face member are unlikely to sink, and that the face opening and the face member are fixed to each other by welding. As a result of intensive studies for the purpose of being able to do so, the present invention has been accomplished.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems, the golf club head of the present invention employs the following means. The golf club head of the present invention comprises a golf club head having a metal hollow portion having at least a face member fixed to the head main body, wherein the face member is fixed by welding from the outside and the inside of the head main body. is there.

In the golf club head described above, the metal 70 constituting the head body and the face member is formed.
% Or more are composed of the same metal element.

3. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the head body is formed by casting, and the face member is made of a forged or rolled material.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In a wood type golf club head according to the present invention, a head body 1 is formed of a metal outer shell such as stainless steel, a titanium alloy, a copper alloy, and an aluminum alloy, and the interior is hollow or hollow. Is filled with a small material having a specific gravity of 1.0 or less such as a foamed resin.

In the present invention, at least 50%, preferably 70% or more, of the sole area of the head body 1 is used as the face opening 3, and the sole 7 (FIG. 2), the crown 4 (FIG. 4), or the crown It is necessary to have the inside welding opening 9 in the back part 5 (FIGS. 5 and 8) including the part and a part of the sole part. The inner welding opening needs to have a certain size in order to improve the workability of welding the face member from the inside of the head main body, and preferably, the inner welding opening 9 has a sole area of 70% or more. When there is, it is preferable because work is easy.

According to the present invention, as shown in FIG.
The face member 2 is formed separately from the face member 2a in the face opening 3 of the head body, and the face member is fixed by arc welding from both the outside of the head body and the inside of the head body as shown in FIG. .

According to the present invention, it is not necessary to melt the peripheral edges of the face opening 3 of the head main body and the face member 2a deeply by a single welding as in the prior art. Sink is less likely to occur. Such an effect is particularly effective for a relatively hard-to-weld metal material such as a titanium alloy or an aluminum alloy.

The effect is high when the face peripheral portion 3b (FIG. 6) of the face opening of the head body and the face member 2a are made thin. Therefore, the entire periphery of the edge member of the face member is welded to the face opening from the outside of the head body, and at least 60% or more, preferably 90% or more, of the face member from the inside of the head body is welded. It is preferable to fix to the face opening. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the hosel portion 4 and the face portion 2 are integrally formed by forging or the like, and the crown portion 4 including the side portion 6 and the sole portion 7 are formed separately as shown in FIG. When molded, this is the case where the face portion and the crown portion are welded outside and inside, and the sole portion is welded only from outside. This is because the crown portion is easily deformed particularly when the ball is hit, and requires strength.

For example, when the head body is manufactured by casting using a titanium alloy, the thickness of the crown portion 4 and the side portion 5 is usually about 1.5 mm even if it is thin. Welding is possible even when the thickness is 0.2 mm or less, and 0.8-1.0 mm is also possible. However, in the case where an extended peripheral edge portion is provided on the face forming the face portion at the peripheral edge portion of the face opening portion of the head main body, it is preferable that the thicknesses of the face member and the extended peripheral edge portion are equalized.

Further, according to the present invention, good weldability can be obtained by using 70% or more of the same metal element for the head body and the face member.

For example, in the case of a titanium alloy head, a case where a high elasticity titanium alloy having a large amount of α phase is used for the head main body and a low elasticity titanium alloy having a large amount of β phase is used for the face member may be used.

As a specific example, α + β
Type titanium alloy, Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-6Al-2Sn-4Zn-2Mo, Ti-
8Al-1V-1Mo, Ti-5Al-2.5Sn, etc., and a β-type titanium alloy, Ti-
11.5Mo-6Zn-4.5Sn, Ti-3Al-8
V-6Cr-4Mo-4Zr, Ti-15V-3Sn-
When using 3Cr-3Al or the like, or using maraging steel or maraging stainless steel for the face member,
This is the case where SUS630 is used for the head body.

As described above, since different types of alloy elements are included, even if the melting temperature and the like are different, if 70% or more of the same metal element is included, stable welding can be obtained, which is preferable. .

Furthermore, by forming the head body 1 by casting and using a forged or rolled material for the face member 2a, defects such as voids and the like that occur in cast products do not occur on the face surface, and the strength of the face surface is stabilized. Therefore, the thickness can be reduced, which is preferable.

Next, the golf club head of the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments. The golf club head of the present invention has a head body formed by casting with Ti-6Al-4V, and uses a titanium alloy Ti-4.5Al-3V-2Mo-2Fe plastically deformable at 700 ° C. for the face member. As shown in Table 1, golf club heads were prepared.
Titanium alloy used for the head body, Ti-6
Al-4V is composed of about 90% of titanium element, and titanium alloy used for the face member, Ti-4.5Al-3V-2Mo-2Fe is composed of about 88% of titanium element. I have.

[0020]

[Table 1]

Table 2 shows the mechanical properties of the metals used in the examples and comparative examples. The ratio of the sole opening indicates the ratio of the inside welding opening 9 to the entire area of the sole 7 of the golf club head. In the present embodiment and the comparative example, the opening is provided in the sole.

[0022]

[Table 2]

By using a material having high strength for the face member, the thickness of the face can be reduced and the ball can be repelled. However, as shown in Table 1, in Comparative Example 1, when the face member was fitted and fixed to the head main body by welding, welding was performed only from the outside to cause sink in the head main body, and to improve the appearance. If you polish too much,
The strength may be reduced, which is not preferable.

Therefore, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the head main body as in Comparative Example 2 and to form the head body safely. Then,
The effect of increasing the rebound of the ball as described above is reduced, the head volume is increased, and the degree of freedom of the position of the center of gravity is limited.

However, according to the present invention, as shown in the first to third embodiments, the thickness of the head body can be reduced.
By appropriately selecting the face member according to the purpose, it is possible to increase the rebound of the ball and to freely design the position of the center of gravity.

[0026]

The effects of the golf club head of the present invention are as follows: the extension peripheral portion of the face opening of the head main body and the face member are unlikely to sink, and the face opening of the head main body and the face member are sufficiently welded. And can be fixed. In particular, the head body, especially the vicinity of the face member weld, can be made thinner than the conventional golf club head.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an example of a front view of a golf club head body illustrating the concept of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a golf club head main body AA 'shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of a cross-sectional view and an exploded view in which a face member and a sole member are fitted into openings thereof.

FIG. 3 is a golf club head main body AA ′ shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an assembly view in which a face member and a sole portion are welded to a head main body based on a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 4 is a golf club head main body AA ′ shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view and an exploded view in which a face member and a crown member are fitted into respective openings thereof.

FIG. 5 is a golf club head main body AA ′ shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view and an exploded view in which a face member and a back member are fitted into openings thereof.

FIG. 6 is a front view of another embodiment of the golf club head body showing the concept of the present invention and having no face extending peripheral portion.

FIG. 7 is a golf club head main body BB ′ shown in FIG. 6;
FIG. 4 is an assembly view in which a face member and a sole portion are welded to a head main body based on a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view in which a face member including a forged hosel portion and a sole member are fitted to a golf club head body showing the concept of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. Head body 2. Face portion 2a. Face member 3. Face opening 3a. Member locking collar 3b. Face peripheral portion 3c. Face extension peripheral portion 4. Crown portion 4a. Crown member 5. Back part 5a. Back member 6. Side part 7. Sole part 7a. Sole member 8. Hosel part 9. Inner welding opening 10. Weld from outside 11. Weld from inside

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A golf club head having a metal hollow portion having a face member fixed to at least a head body, wherein the face member is fixed by welding from outside and inside of the head body. Wood type golf club head. 2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein at least 70% of the metal forming the head body and the face member is made of the same metal element. 3. The head body is formed by casting, and the face member is made of forged or rolled material.
Or the golf club head according to claim 2.