Golf club head and process for making the same

Abstract

In a process for making a golf club head, an open hollow body is formed from metal to define a front striking panel, a bottom panel and a hollow neck section of the golf club head. The bottom panel extends rearwardly from a bottom end of the striking panel. The neck section is connected to the striking and bottom panels. A moldable closed hollow body is formed using a resin-impregnated fiber sheet material, and is positioned inside the open hollow body. An air bag is placed inside the closed hollow body. The open and closed hollow bodies are subsequently placed in a mold. The mold is heated, and air is blown into the air bag so as to pressurize the closed hollow body against inner surfaces of the open hollow body and the mold until the resin-impregnated fiber sheet material is cured.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The invention relates to a golf club head and a process for making the same, more particularly to a process for making a golf club head which is relatively light, which has a relatively large striking face, and which has different colors.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Golf appeals to people mainly because it is played on green fields and different landscapes where players can play with ease and style. The crisp sound of the club hitting the golf ball is relished by many golf players. Those who are familiar with the game know that there are different types of golf clubs depending on their applications and the terrain on which they are used. There are wood clubs, iron clubs and putter clubs. The process of making a golf club involves the steps of forming a club head and connecting the club head to a striking panel by welding. However, since there are certain specifications and limitations with regard to the size and weight of a golf club in the design of club heads in order to ensure desirable ball controllability of the golf club, manufacturers cannot, for the sake of increasing the ball hitting rate, merely increase the area of the striking panel. This is because increasing the area of the striking panel inevitably requires the enlargement of the size of the club head, which will lead to increased weight of the golf club as a whole. This means increased load for the golf player. Therefore, how to manufacture a light-weight golf club with an increased striking area so as to increase the ball hitting rate is a major concern in the art. In addition, there exist certain drawbacks, as set forth below, with the manufacture of conventional golf clubs:

[0005] 1. Since the striking panel and the club head of a conventional golf club are welded together manually, and since the quality of welding depends on the skill and experience of the operators, the quality of the golf club heads may differ. Poor workmanship may even result in formation of holes in the striking panel or excessive burrs or insufficient material at the juncture between the striking panel and the club head, which makes subsequent finishing operations difficult.

[0006] 2. For the reason stated above, the production speed is relatively low, and the output of individual operators differs.

[0007] 3. Since golf club heads can be formed from titanium alloy, stainless steel or aluminum alloy, specific welding solders have to be used in welding the striking panel and the club head together. For titanium-formed club heads, for instance, titanium solders have to be used. There are currently very few substitutes therefor.

[0008] 4. In view of the fact that golf club heads formed from a specific metal material require solder materials of the same material, the metallic color or luster of the golf club head is monochromatic, which is monotonous.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide a process for making a golf club head that has a large striking panel but is light-weight, and that has different colors.

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, a process for making a golf club head includes: forming an open hollow body which is made of metal and which defines a front striking panel, a bottom panel and a hollow neck section of the golf club head, the bottom panel extending rearwardly from a bottom end of the striking panel, the neck section being connected to the striking panel and the bottom panel; forming a moldable closed hollow body by using a resin-impregnated fiber sheet material, and positioning the closed hollow body inside the open hollow body; placing an air bag inside the closed hollow body; placing the open and closed hollow bodies in a mold; and heating the mold and blowing air into the air bag so as to pressurize the closed hollow body against an inner surface of the open hollow body and an inner surface of the mold until the resin-impregnated fiber sheet material is cured.

[0011] According to another aspect of the present invention, a golf club head produced according to the afore-mentioned process includes a front striking panel, a bottom panel extending rearwardly from a bottom end of the striking panel, a top wall extending rearwardly from a top end of the striking panel, a hollow neck section extending upward from one end of the top end of the striking panel and connected to the bottom panel, and a lateral wall interconnecting the bottom panel and the top wall and extending from one side of the striking panel to another opposite side of the striking panel. The front striking panel, the bottom panel and the hollow neck section are made of metal, and the top and lateral walls are made of plastic.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an open hollow body for use in a process of making a golf club head according to the present invention;

[0014] FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the preferred embodiment of a golf club head, showing a moldable closed hollow body disposed inside the open hollow body of FIG. 1 to form a semi-finished product;

[0015] FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing the semi-finished product when provided with an air bag and when placed inside a mold;

[0016] FIG. 4 is the same view as FIG. 3, but with the closed hollow body being pressurized against inner surfaces of the open hollow body and the mold;

[0017] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the product taken out from the mold;

[0018] FIG. 6 is another schematic sectional view of the product of FIG. 5, which is taken along a line perpendicular to the plane of the sectional view of FIG. 5; and

[0019] FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view of the product of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0020] FIG. 1 shows a metal open hollow body 21 which is used in a preferred embodiment of the process according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the open hollow body 21 is made of a titanium alloy. The open hollow body 21 defines a front striking panel 211, a bottom panel 213 and a hollow neck section 212. The bottom panel 213 extends rearwardly from a bottom end of the striking panel 211. The neck section 212 is connected to the striking panel 211 and the bottom panel 213. Furthermore, the striking panel 211 is formed with an inwardly projecting flanged end 2110 that extends along a top end of the striking panel 211. The bottom panel 213 is formed with an inwardly projecting flanged end 2130 along a rear end thereof (see FIG. 5).

[0021] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a moldable closed hollow body 22 is formed by using a resin-impregnated fiber sheet material, and is positioned inside the open hollow body 21. The resin-impregnated fiber sheet material is arranged with four to ten layers, and includes a carbon fiber and a resin, such as epoxy resin. The moldable closed hollow body 22 is adhered to inner surfaces of the striking panel 211 and the bottom panel 213, and includes a reinforcing layer 222 extending from a top end of the striking panel 211 to the neck section 212, a bottom wall 221 lining the bottom panel 213, a top wall 225 extending rearwardly from the top end of the striking panel 211, a front wall 226 (see FIG. 5) lining the striking panel 211, and a lateral wall 220 which extends from one side of the striking panel 211 to the opposite side of the striking panel 211 between the bottom panel 213 and the top wall 225. Resin-impregnated fiber strips 227, 228 are respectively inserted into corner spaces 215, 216 (see FIG. 5) defined by the flanged ends 2110, 2130 of the striking panel 211 and the bottom panel 213, respectively. An injection hole 224 is formed in the lateral wall 220 of the closed hollow body 22, and an air bag 23 is placed inside the closed hollow body 22, as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, a semi-finished product is obtained.

[0022] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a mold 3 comprising upper and lower mold halves 31, 32 is prepared. A mouth 231 is mounted in the injection hole 224 to connect fluidly with the air bag 23. Then, the semi-finished product along with the mouth 231 is placed inside the lower mold half 32 such that the mouth 231 extends outwardly of the lower mold half 32. Then, the upper mold half 31 is placed on top of the lower mold half 32. The mold 3 is heated to a temperature of about 130° C. At the same time, air is blown into the air bag 23 using an air pump head 4 (shown in phantom lines) at a pressure of 3 to 7 mg/cm2 to inflate the air bag 23 so as to pressurize the closed hollow body 22 against an inner surface of the open hollow body 21 and an inner surface 35 of the mold 3 until the resin-impregnated fiber sheet material is cured, thereby forming a product 24, which has to undergo further finishing steps. Thereafter, the air pump head 4 is detached from the mouth 231, and the product 24 is released from the mold 3. Referring to FIG. 6, a sealing piece 25 is disposed to close the injection hole 224 after the air bag 23 is removed from the product 24. The product 24 is subjected to surface finishing operations, including grinding, polishing, etc., to yield a finished golf club head 2 as shown in FIG. 7.

[0023] The golf club head 2 thus produced according to the above-described process includes: the front striking panel 211; the bottom panel 213, which extends rearwardly from the bottom end of the striking panel 211; the top wall 225, which extends rearwardly from the top end of the striking panel 211; the hollow neck section 212, which extends upward from one end of the top end of the striking panel 211 and which is connected to the bottom panel 213; and the lateral wall 220, which interconnects the bottom panel 213 and the top wall 225 and which extends from one side of the striking panel 211 to another opposite side of the striking panel 211. The front striking panel 211, the bottom panel 213 and the hollow neck section 212 are made of metal, whereas the top and lateral walls 225, 220 are made of plastic.

[0024] In view of the aforesaid, the golf club head according to the present invention has the following advantages:

[0025] 1. Since the striking panel, the bottom panel and the neck section of the golf club head are integrally formed from a light-weight metal material, such as titanium alloy, and since the rest of the golf club head is formed from a resin-impregnated fiber sheet material which is of a much lighter weight, the golf club head as a whole is comparatively lighter than conventional golf club heads.

[0026] 2. In view of the light-weight of the golf club head of the present invention, the striking panel can be enlarged to increase the striking area with little effect on the overall weight of the golf club head.

[0027] 3. The parts of the golf club head that are formed from resin-impregnated fiber sheet material can be coated with coatings or paints of different colors during the finishing steps to make the golf club head more colorful and appealing.

[0028] While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. A process for making a golf club head, comprising:

forming an open hollow body which is made of metal and which defines a front striking panel, a bottom panel and a hollow neck section of the golf club head, said bottom panel extending rearwardly from a bottom end of said striking panel, said neck section being connected to said striking panel and said bottom panel;

forming a moldable closed hollow body by using a resin-impregnated fiber sheet material, and positioning said closed hollow body inside said open hollow body;

placing an air bag inside said closed hollow body;

placing said open and closed hollow bodies in a mold; and

heating said mold and blowing air into said air bag so as to pressurize said closed hollow body against an inner surface of said open hollow body and an inner surface of said mold until said resin-impregnated fiber sheet material is cured.

2. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said resin-impregnated fiber sheet material is arranged with four to ten layers.

3. The process as claimed in claim 2, wherein said resin-impregnated fiber sheet material includes a carbon fiber and an epoxy resin.

4. The process as claimed in claim 3, wherein the air is introduced into said air bag at a pressure of 3-7 kg/cm.

5. The process as claimed in claim 4, wherein said mold is heated to a temperature of about 130° C.

6. The process as claimed in claim 5, wherein said open hollow body is made of a titanium alloy.

7. The process as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moldable closed hollow body is pressurized against inner surfaces of said striking panel and said bottom panel to line said inner surfaces of said striking panel and said bottom panel and against said mold to define a top wall extending rearwardly from a top end of said striking panel, and a lateral wall extending between said bottom panel and said top wall and extending from one side of said striking panel to another opposite side of said striking panel.

8. The process as claimed in claim 7, wherein said striking panel is formed with an inwardly projecting flanged end extending along said top end of said striking panel, and said bottom panel is formed with an inwardly projecting flanged end along a rear end thereof.

9. The process as claimed in claim 8, wherein a resin-impregnated fiber strip is inserted into a corner space defined by each of said flanged ends of said striking panel and said bottom panel before said closed hollow body is placed inside said mold.

10. A golf club head produced according to the process of claim 1, comprising a front striking panel, a bottom panel extending rearwardly from a bottom end of said striking panel, a top wall extending rearwardly from a top end of said striking panel, a hollow neck section extending upward from one end of said top end of said striking panel and connected to said bottom panel, and a lateral wall interconnecting said bottom panel and said top wall and extending from one side of said striking panel to another opposite side of said striking panel, wherein said front striking panel, said bottom panel and said hollow neck section are made of metal, and said top and lateral walls are made of plastic.