Golf club head

Abstract

A golf club head includes a gap filler for filling up a gap between a main body and a striking plate. The filler is made of a light-sensitive resin material that is inj ected into the gap and is then hardened by lights emitted from a light source, thereby enabling the gap to be filled up and hence providing the golf club head with an improved appearance.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a golf club head and, more particularly, to a golf club head having a gap filler which fills up a gap between a main body and a striking plate and which is bound securely and permanently with surfaces of the body and the plate in order to provide the golf club head with an improved appearance.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Art

[0004] A golf club head typically includes a main body having a front opening formed with an inner stepped portion, and a striking plate connected to the main body within the opening and engaged with the stepped portion. Generally, the main body is made by casting or forging at a high temperature, which causes some variations of the main body in its shape as a result of uneven contraction as it is being cooled from the high temperature to the room temperature.

[0005] A narrow gap then appears when the striking plate is placed into the opening and engaged with the inner stepped portion shortly before the plate is pressed to get stuck in the opening or welded to the body within the opening. In the prior art, the gap is usually filled up by an adhesive either of a solvent- release type or a chemically-reactive type, such as epoxy resin, for the purpose of providing a perfect appearance for the golf club head.

[0006] However, the adhesive of the solvent-release type can not fill up the gap esirably because voltilization of the solvent readily concentrates the adhesive as it is being hardening. As to the chemically-reactive type, various agents such as those for hardening, bulking and thinning are required to be added in such a strict ratio that any deviation form the standard ratio will sharply deteriorate the fluidity of the adhesive and its ability to fill up the gap.

[0007] Furthermore, the two types of adhesives share a common problem that they can not be bound with an metal material securely and permanently. The gap filler result from them is apt to flake off as soon as the golf club head is used to striking a ball. With the filler off, the gap between the main body and the striking plate appears again and so spoils the appearance of the golf club head

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head having a gap filler made of a light-sensitive resin material which is injected into a gap between a main body and a striking plate and which is then hardened by lights to enhance abilities of the filler both to fill up the gap and to be bound securely and permanently with the metal material, so as to providing the golf club head with an improved appearance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] To achieve the aforementioned object, the present invention provides a golf club head which has a gap filler for filling up a gap between a main body and a striking plate. The filler is made of a light-sensitive resin material that is injected into the gap and is then hardened by lights emitted from a light source, thereby enabling the gap to be filled up and hence providing the golf club head with an improved appearance.

[0010] Other objects, advantages and novel features of this invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] FIG. 1 is an exploded cross-sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a golf club head in accordance with the present invention before a gap filler is formed;

[0012] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the golf club head of FIG. 1, showing the gap filler being formed by injecting a light-sensitive resin material in place into the golf club head; and

[0013] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the golf club head of FIG. 1, showing the gap filler being formed by exposing the injected resin material to lights emitted from a light source.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0014] The present invention is now to be described hereinafter by way of a preferred embodiment in reference to drawings.

[0015] Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a golf club head in accordance with the present invention includes a main body 10, a striking plate 20 and a gap filler 31. The main body 10 has a front opening 11 formed with an inner stepped portion 12, with the striking plate 20 connected to the main body 10 at the entrance of the opening 11 and engaged at least partially with the stepped portion 12. In the inventive golf club head, the gap filler 31 is made of a light-sensitive resin material 30 that is inject into a narrow gap between an inside of the striking plate 20 and the stepped portion 12 of the main body 10 and is then hardened by lights emitted from a light source 40, thereby enabling the resulting gap filler 31 to fill up the gap and hence providing the golf club head with a smooth and perfect appearance.

[0016] Referring still to FIGS. 1 to 3, details of the main body 10, striking plate 20 and gap filler 31 are shown. The main body 10 is made of stainless steel or titanium alloy by forging or casting. The striking plate 20, also made of stainless steel or titanium alloy optionally by forging, pressing or machining, has a size so slightly small than the size of the matched opening 11 of the main body 10 that the plate 20 can either be pressed to get stuck in the opening 11 or be welded to the main body 10 within the opening 11 in a manner of being engaged at least partially with the stepped portion 12. As mentioned above, the gap filler 31 is made of a light-sensitive resin material 30 hardenable by light, preferably by visible light or ultraviolet light. For example, the light-sensitive resin material may be a resin material commercially available from Dymax® Inc. under the trade-name of Dymax Ultra Fast™.

[0017] Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, after the light-sensitive resin material 30 in a liquid state has been injected into the gap between the striking plate 20 and the stepped portion 12, the injected resin material 30 is exposed to lights emitted from the light source 40, so that a photochemical reaction happens and the resin material 30 is harden into the solid gap filler 31.

[0018] The resin material 30 can be harden more quickly during a predetermined short period of time within 10 to 40 seconds, if the source 40 is selected so as to emit visible lights of blue or violet color with a wavelength between 400 nm and 500 nm and an intensity about 500 mw/cm2 or, alternatively, an ultraviolet light with a wavelength less than 390 nm.

[0019] As is well known, such a light-sensitive resin material 30 in liquid state is an excellent metal-to-metal adhesive which has a relative low viscosity or, in other words, a relative high fluidity and capillarity. The material 30 can penetrate the narrow gap and be securely and permanently bound with those surfaces of the body 10 and plate 20 in areas near the gap. Moreover, the light-sensitive resin material 30 contains no volatile solvent, which may otherwise lead to a large number of microcracks within the resulting filler 31 due to contraction of the material 30. These advantageous properties of the resin material 30 provides the gap filler 31 with a smooth surface and hence the golf club head with an improved appearance.

[0020] From the foregoing, it is apparent that this invention has the advantage of providing the gold club head with an improved appearance in comparison to the prior art, in which a related gap filler can neither fill up the gap desirably nor be bound securely and permanently with the surfaces of the body and plate.

[0021] While the principles of this invention have been disclosed in connection with a specific embodiment, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that these descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and that any modification and variation without departing the spirit of the invention is intended to be covered by the scope of this invention defined only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising:

a main body having a front opening defined therein;

a striking plate connected to said main body at the entrance of said opening;

a gap filler for filling a narrow gap between said main body and said striking plate; and

wherein said gap filler is made from a light-sensitive resin material which is injected into said gap and hardened by lights emitted from a light source, thereby filling up said gap and providing said golf club head with an improved appearance.

2. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said front opening of said main body is formed with an inner stepped portion engaged with said striking plate, and wherein said gap filler is formed between said stepped portion and said striking plate.

3. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said light-sensitive resin material is hardenable by visible lights or ultraviolet lights.

4. The golf club head as claimed in claim 3, wherein said light-sensitive resin material is a resin material under the trade-name of Dymax Ultra Fast™.

5. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lights have a wavelength between 400 nm and 500 nm.

6. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lights have an intensity about 500 mw/cm2.

7. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lights source emits said lights for 10 to 40 seconds to harden said light-sensitive resin material.