JP2006175135A - Golf club head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a golf club head having a metal outer shell structure with enhanced hitting property by reducing the difference between the carry by hitting at the center part and the carry by hitting at the toe side or the heel side as much as possible while enhancing the rigidity of the center portion of a face outer shell. <P>SOLUTION: A thick-walled part is formed in a longitudinal direction at a substantial center of the face outer shell becoming a hitting face in the golf club head constituted such that the body becomes hollow due to the metal outer shell structure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement of a face outer shell suitable for a golf club head having a metal outer shell structure, and even when a golf ball is hit at different positions on the face outer shell, a difference in flight distance is small. It was made to become.

  A golf club head having a metal outer shell structure has been adopted in a type commonly called a driver because it can reduce the weight while increasing the flight distance of a golf ball, and has been improved in many ways. This golf club head having a metal outer shell structure is constructed by joining and assembling a plurality of components such as a face outer shell, a crown outer shell, a sole outer shell, and a hosel outer shell.

  FIG. 12 is a view showing the configuration of the golf club head 11 having such a metal outer shell structure, and the open end to which the face outer shell 12, the crown outer shell 13, the sole outer shell 14, and the hosel outer shell 15 face each other. The parts are joined and assembled by welding, and the joined part is polished to complete the golf club head 11. The tip of the extended portion 15a of the hosel outer shell 15 is welded to the inner bottom of the sole outer shell 14, while the tip of the shaft is inserted into and fixed to the core hole 15b formed in the hosel outer shell 15. Is completed.

  In the golf club head 11 having the conventional metal outer shell structure configured as described above, in order to increase the flight distance, generally, the thickness of the face outer shell 12 is reduced to reduce the rigidity. Is easy to bend. When the rigidity of the face outer shell 12 is lowered, there is a characteristic that it is most likely to bend at the center and gradually becomes difficult to bend toward the outer periphery. The greater the amount of bend, the greater the repulsive force, and the golf ball hits the center. By doing so, the flight distance can be increased.

However, if the thickness of the face outer shell 2 is reduced and the rigidity is reduced in this way, the golf ball flying distance by hitting in the central portion can be increased, but the deflection amount increases, so that the durability of the central portion is increased. There is a problem that the property is lowered and this portion is easily damaged. In order to solve this problem, an attempt has been made to solve this problem by forming an annular or circular thick portion at the center. This is intended to increase the thickness of the annular region sandwiched between the central region and the outer edge region, and is intended to suppress deformation and improve durability (for example, Patent Document 1). .
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-331051

  FIG. 13 is a view showing a state in which the face outer shell 12 of the golf club head 11 improved as described above is formed. A broken line R1 at the outer edge indicates that the face outer shell 12 is a crown outer shell 13, a sole outer shell 14, and a hosel outer portion. The joint part with the shell 15 is shown, and the inner ring line R2 and the outer ring line R3 of the thick part 12a formed at the center of the back surface of the face outer shell 12 are shown by broken lines. Accordingly, the face outer shell 12 configured in this manner has increased rigidity at the outer peripheral portion and the central portion thereof.

  When a golf ball is hit with the golf club head 11 formed as described above, when the hit point is a sweet spot at the center, the hit stress is concentrated at the center to obtain the greatest repulsive force, and the flight distance is reduced. While being able to enlarge, the deformation | transformation of the face outer shell 12 is suppressed by the thick part 12a, and durability can be improved.

  However, as shown in FIG. 14 (A), when the striking point SP of the golf ball is on the toe side and a striking force F is applied thereto, a stress Fa is generated that causes the toe side of the thick wall portion 12a to bend in the centripetal direction. A stress Fb is generated in which the side is bent in the centrifugal direction. That is, the thick portion 12a is twisted at the center of the face outer shell 12 to generate a couple of forces, causing bending deformation in opposite directions on the toe side and the heel side, and the concentration of impact stress is dispersed. Therefore, the repulsive force will be reduced. This is the same when the striking point SP is on the heel side as shown in FIG. 14B, and the repulsive force of the face outer shell 12 is reduced by the couple generated in the thick portion 12a. .

  This is due to the fact that the thick wall portion 12a occupies a large area in the face outer shell 12, but the shape of the thick wall portion 12a greatly affects. That is, as described above, the face outer shell 12 can obtain a high repulsive force by lowering rigidity and facilitating bending. However, in the conventional configuration, the thick portion 12a becomes a resistor that hinders ease of bending, This will increase the rigidity on the toe side and heel side. Therefore, in the conventional golf club head 11 configured as described above, the flight distance by hitting the center portion and the flight distance on the toe side and the heel side are greatly different.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional problem, and while improving the rigidity of the center portion of the face outer shell, the difference between the flight distance due to hitting the center portion and the flight distance due to hitting the toe side and the heel side is obtained. It is intended to be as small as possible, and is intended to improve the impact performance of a golf club head having a metal outer shell structure.

  Therefore, the present invention solves the above problems by means described below. That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in the golf club head configured so that the main body is hollow by the metal outer shell structure, the thick portion is formed in the longitudinal direction substantially at the center of the back surface of the face outer shell that becomes the striking surface. .

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the thick portion is formed over the crown outer shell and the sole outer shell.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the thickness of the face outer shell other than the thick portion is 2.5 mm or less.

  According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the first or second aspect of the invention, the loft angle is set to 15 ° or less.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the thick part of the back surface of the face outer shell is joined by welding.

  In the invention of claim 6, in the invention of claim 1 or claim 2, the thick part of the face outer shell is integrally formed by forging or casting.

  In the invention of claim 7, in the invention of claim 1 or 2, the thick portion is made different from the material of the face outer shell.

  According to the present invention, while improving the rigidity of the center part of the face outer shell, the difference between the flight distance by hitting the center part and the flight distance by hitting the toe side and the heel side is made as small as possible. The impact performance of the golf club head having a metal outer shell structure can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIGS. 1 to 3 are views showing the structure of a metal outer shell head body according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The face outer shell 2, the crown outer shell 3, the sole outer shell 4, and the hosel outer shell 5 are shown in FIGS. The open end portions facing each other are joined and assembled by welding, and the joined portion is polished to complete the golf club head 1. The tip of the extended portion 5a of the hosel outer shell 5 is welded to the inner bottom of the sole outer shell 4. On the other hand, the tip of the shaft is inserted into and fixed to the core hole 5b formed in the hosel outer shell 5. Is completed.

  Then, the thick portion 2a is formed in the longitudinal direction at the approximate center of the back surface of the face outer shell 2, and this thick portion 2a may be integrated by welding, forging or casting. May be formed integrally. Further, the thick part 2a to be formed may be the same material as the face outer shell 2 or may be a different material.

  FIG. 2 is a view showing a state in which the face outer shell 2 of the golf club head 1 of the present invention constructed as described above is formed. A broken line L1 at the outer edge portion indicates that the face outer shell 2 is the crown outer shell 3 and the sole outer shell. 4, the joint part with the hosel outer shell 5 is shown, and the external shape of the thick part 2a formed in the back surface of the face outer shell 2 is shown with the broken line L2. Since the face outer shell 2 configured in this way has a large mass at the portion where the thick portion 2a is formed, the rigidity of the central portion is high.

  FIG. 3 schematically shows a state at the moment of hitting a golf ball with the golf club head 1 of the first embodiment. FIG. 3A shows hitting the golf ball at the toe side hit point SP. In this case, the impact force F is applied. In this state, the mass in the lateral direction of the thick portion 2a of the face outer shell 2 is poor, so there is no room for couples. Therefore, the entire surface of the face outer shell 2 is centripetal although there is a local difference in size. It can be bent and deformed in the direction to prevent the damping of the repulsive force. This is the same when the striking point SP is on the heel side as shown in FIG. 3B, and is not affected by the couple of the thick portion 2a, and can prevent the damping force from being greatly attenuated.

  In order to verify the results, the applicant of the present application tried a plurality of experiments under different conditions, and the results are shown in the numerical tables of FIGS. FIG. 4 shows the measurement results of the coefficient of restitution, and the prototype head A, the comparison head A, and the comparison head B employed in this experiment are all titanium heads manufactured by the 4 pcs forging method. In the prototype head A, the thickness of the thick part of the face outer shell 2 is 10 mm, the other part is 2 mm, and the loft angle is set to 15 ° or less.

  The comparative head A has a general configuration in which the entire face is formed with a uniform thickness of 2.6 mm without forming a thick portion. The comparative head B is formed with a circular thick part having a diameter of 40 mm at the center of the face, and the other part has a thickness of 2 mm. The head A, the comparison head A, and the comparison head B all have a crown outer shell and a sole outer shell with a thickness of 1 mm, and the hosel outer shell is formed by cutting a round bar. Joined by welding, polished and painted to complete.

  In the experiment method, the golf ball is hit at three positions on the toe side and the heel side that are 20 mm away from the center of each golf club head, and the coefficient of restitution is calculated from the rebound speed of the golf ball. I made it. As shown in FIG. 4, the experimental result shows that the largest difference in the comparison of the coefficient of restitution at a position 20 mm away from the coefficient of restitution at the center, that is, the maximum difference is the smallest in the prototype head A of the present invention, It can be seen that the difference in the coefficient of restitution from the heel side is small.

  Next, using the prototype head A, the comparison head A, and the comparison head B, an experiment was conducted in which a golf ball was tried and its flight distance was measured. This is completed as a golf club by attaching a shaft and a grip to each head, and this is swung at a head speed of 40 meters per second by a robot distance measuring device, and the flying distance of the golf ball at this time is measured five times. The average value is shown in FIG. As is apparent from the results shown in the figure, the maximum difference between the flight distance when the test is hit at the center and the test distance when the test is hit at a position 20 mm away from the center is the smallest in the prototype head 1 of the present invention. It can be confirmed that the difference in flight distance between the toe side and the heel side is small.

  FIG. 6 shows experimental results for confirming what results are obtained when the thickness of the thick portion 2a of the face outer shell 2 is different. The thickness of the part is 10 mm to 4 mm. The same comparison head A as the comparison head A in the above-described experiment was used. FIG. 6 shows the result of an experiment performed in the same manner as the experiment for the coefficient of restitution described above. As is clear from the result shown in the figure, as the thickness of the thick portion decreases, the maximum difference in the coefficient of restitution is Although slightly larger, no significant difference is observed when compared with the result of the comparison head A having a general configuration.

  Therefore, an experiment was conducted in which the golf ball was trial hit and the flight distance was measured using the prototype head A to the prototype head D and the comparative head A. As in the above-described experiment, the robot was swung at a head speed of 40 meters per second using a robot flight distance measuring device, and the flight distance of the golf ball at this time was measured five times, and the average value is shown in FIG. As is apparent from the results shown in the figure, the maximum difference between the flight distance when the test is hit at the center and the test distance when the test is hit at a position 20 mm away from the center is 7 to 9 m in the trial head A to the trial head D. On the other hand, it can be recognized that the comparative head A has a large difference of 14 m.

  As shown by the above results, in the present invention, the amount of deflection of each part of the striking surface can be adjusted by the form and material of the vertical thick part 2a formed on the back surface of the face outer shell 2. Another embodiment can be configured. That is, FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the thick portion 2a formed on the back surface of the face outer shell 2 is divided into two in the vertical direction. Compared to the embodiment, the rigidity of the central portion is lowered so as to be easily bent.

  In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the thick portion 2a is formed over the crown outer shell 3 and the sole outer shell 4, and contrary to the second embodiment, the rigidity of the central portion is increased and it is difficult to bend. Become. The fourth embodiment shown in FIG. 10 is a modification of the third embodiment, in which a thick portion 2a having a thin central portion is formed, and the rigidity of the central portion can be lowered as compared with the third embodiment. . The fifth embodiment shown in FIG. 11 is a modification of the third embodiment, in which the continuation of the thick portion 2a is cut in the middle to lower the rigidity of the central portion.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the degree of freedom in forming the thick portion 2a is high, and the rigidity of the center portion, the toe side, and the heel side can be easily set in the form of the thick portion 2a. In addition, since the thick portion 2a is formed in the longitudinal direction at the approximate center of the back surface of the outer face of the face, even when the toe side or the heel side becomes the strike point away from the center portion, the rebound rate and the flight distance are large. Stable hitting performance can be obtained without any difference.

It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the structure of 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the formation state of the face outer shell of 1st Example of this invention. It is a figure explaining the hit | damage performance of 1st Example of this invention. It is a numerical table | surface of the experimental result which compares a coefficient of restitution coefficient measurement value. It is a numerical table | surface which shows the experimental result which compares a flight distance measured value. It is a numerical table | surface of the experimental result which compares the coefficient of restitution coefficient by the difference in a thick part. It is a numerical table | surface of the experimental result which compares the flight distance measured value by the difference in a thick part. It is a figure which shows the formation state of the face outer shell of 2nd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the formation state of the face outer shell of 3rd Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the formation state of the face outer shell of 4th Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the formation state of the face outer shell of 5th Example of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the structure of the conventional golf club head. It is a figure which shows the formation state of the face outer shell of the conventional golf club head. It is a figure explaining the hit | damage performance of the conventional golf club head.

Explanation of symbols

1 .... Golf club head 2 .... Face shell 2a ... Thick part 3 .... Crown shell 4 .... Sole shell 5.・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Hosel shell

Claims (7)

In the golf club head configured so that the main body is hollow by the metal outer shell structure,
A golf club head characterized in that a thick portion is formed in a longitudinal direction substantially at the center of the back surface of the outer face of the face that is a striking surface.   2. The golf club according to claim 1, wherein the thick part is formed over the crown outer shell and the sole outer shell.   3. The golf head according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the face outer shell other than the thick part is 2.5 mm or less.   The golf head according to claim 1, wherein a loft angle is 15 ° or less.   3. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein a thick portion on the back surface of the face outer shell is joined by welding.   3. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the thick part on the back surface of the outer face of the face is integrally formed by forging or casting.   3. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein the thick portion is different from a material of the face outer shell.

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