VIBRATION REDUCING GOLF CLUB
A vibration reducing golf club includes a club main structure and a plurality of piezoelectric materials. The club main structure includes a club shaft and a ball head and can sustain the mechanical energy resulting from the swing of the club shaft and the collision between the ball head and a golf ball and consequently produces vibration and bending deformation. The piezoelectric materials are connected with conductive wires and adhered to the club shaft. When the club shaft undergoes mechanical deformation, the piezoelectric materials can transform the energy of mechanical deformation into electrical energy, thereby producing a voltage output and then feeding the voltage back to another piezoelectric material, so as to produce a deformation against the vibration direction of the club shaft. Thus, the vibration energy of the club shaft can be consumed. Therefore, the vibration reducing performance can be obtained by reducing the vibration of the club shaft.
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This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 97109127, filed Mar. 14, 2008. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vibration reducing golf club.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the progress of technology, material culture and life quality are gradually improved, and sports and leisure activities become fashionable. Golf, used to be a noble game played by nobility, is popularized therewith. More and more people of all age groups and different genders get involved in the golf game, and most of them are golf lovers. Currently, the number of people involved in the golf is increasing abruptly.
In Taiwan area, the number of manufacturers of the golf equipments grows increasingly, and the techniques and export amounts are progressively improved. In recent years, manufacturers of the golf club continuously bring in new materials and new techniques to improve the quality and accelerate the production of the golf clubs. Among the golf clubs, the carbon fiber golf club, made of a composite material and characterized by “light, thin, elastic, and flexible” etc., is developed and gradually warmly welcomed by the international market. Many manufacturers accept the appointments from the international famous sports brand to manufacture and supply the golf equipments, and become one of the world's largest exporters.
In the golf game, in addition to the techniques and stability, properties of the golf clubs are also one of the factors determining the win or lose of a game. As the golfers pay more attention to the feeling of golf swing, the design and fabrication of the golf clubs increasingly become important. Therefore, the manufacturers are trying hard to provide the golfers a better design of the golf equipments with higher performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, the present invention is directed to provide a vibration reducing golf club, so as to achieve the effect of controlling the vibration of the golf club.
The present invention provides a vibration reducing golf club, which includes a club main structure and a plurality of piezoelectric materials. The club main structure includes a club shaft and a ball head. The club main structure can sustain the mechanical energy resulting from the swing of the club shaft and collision between the ball head and a golf ball and produces bending deformation and vibration. The piezoelectric materials are adhered to the club shaft. When the club shaft undergoes mechanical deformation, the piezoelectric materials transform the energy of mechanical deformation into an electrical energy, thereby producing a voltage output. Thus, the vibration energy of the club shaft can be consumed. Therefore, the vibration reducing performance can be obtained by reducing the vibration of the club shaft.
The vibration reducing golf club in the present invention further includes a control module and an energy storage module. The control module includes a conductive circuit configuration and a control circuit configuration. The conductive circuit configuration cross-connects the piezoelectric materials. The control circuit configuration is used to control the voltage output and transmission after one of the piezoelectric materials transforms the mechanical energy into an electrical energy, and to apply the produced electrical energy to another piezoelectric material, so as to transform the electrical energy into the mechanical energy. The energy storage module is used to provide the electrical energy required by the control module.
In the present invention, the piezoelectric materials are adhered to the club, and produce the electromechanical coupling effect to achieve the effect of controlling the vibration of the golf club. Further, the energy storage device may be added to store the piezoelectric energy transformed by the piezoelectric materials. In addition, the present invention utilizes a converse piezoelectric effect of the piezoelectric materials to transform the electrical energy into the mechanical energy, so as to release a power in forward direction of the collision, thereby enhancing the force for hitting a golf ball. After the collision, a force in opposite direction of the vibration of the club shaft is released by the converse piezoelectric effect of the piezoelectric materials, so as to resist and consume the vibration of the club shaft, thereby achieving better vibration reducing effect.
In order to the make aforementioned and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
Referring to
dBv=20 log10(v)
where v is the vibration velocity at the measuring point of the club, and dBv is the vibration velocity after being converted into the log dimension. It is apparent from
In the first embodiment, the piezoelectric materials of the vibration reducing golf club may also be adhered at the following positions on the club shaft.
1. The piezoelectric materials may be adhered at positions in a larger deformation region of the resonant frequency mode of the club shaft in the desired vibration reducing frequency scope, so as obtain better vibration reducing effect. The larger deformation region of the club shaft varies according to different resonant frequencies. Therefore, the piezoelectric materials may be adhered in several regions.
2. The piezoelectric materials may also be adhered to an outer surface of the club shaft or to an inner tube wall of the club shaft as required.
3. The piezoelectric materials may be a combination of several units adhered to the club shaft along its axis as required.
4. The piezoelectric materials may be adhered to the club shaft along its axes at different angles as required. The polarities of the piezoelectric materials adhered to the club shaft along its axes at different angles are arranged in forward direction or reverse direction.
5. The piezoelectric materials may be embedded in grooves of the club shaft as required.
6. When the club shaft is a composite material shaft, the piezoelectric materials may be encapsulated by a lamination layer of the composite material shaft as required.
To sum up, the position where the piezoelectric materials are adhered may be one selected from one or any combinations of the above positions.
Referring to
The adhesion manner of the piezoelectric materials 304 of the second embodiment may be an outer adhesion, inner adhesion, or encapsulating manner. Among the manners, the outer adhesion and the inner adhesion will not affect the original golf club manufacturing process. In
The manufacturing processes of
In Step 1, one glass fiber/epoxy-resin prepreg cloth 704 is adhered on a surface of the inner mold 706 made of the fluoro polymer material.
In Step 2, each of the conductive copper foils 702 is respectively adhered at the symmetrical position (0°/180° or 90°/270°).
In Step 3, three piezoelectric strips 700 are placed on each of the conductive copper foils 702.
In Step 4, the conductive copper foils 702 are respectively placed on the piezoelectric strips 700, and an insulating material is coated between the piezoelectric strips 700, so as to isolate the upper and the lower conductive copper foils 702.
In Step 5, one glass fiber/epoxy resin prepreg cloth 704 is adhered to the conductive copper foils 702.
In Step 6, they are encapsulated by one OPP thin film encapsulates, and placed into the outer mold 708 of moulded metal.
In Step 7, the outer mold 708 is placed into a hot press machine, and is pressurized to 2 kg/cm2 and heated for 30 minutes in an environment of 135° C.
In Step 8, the outer mold 708 is cooled down, then opened, so as to remove the OPP thin film and take out the inner mold 706, thus obtaining the moulded piezoelectric unit.
In Step 9, a solvent type epoxy adhesive curable at 130° C. is coated on the surface of the piezoelectric unit, and then the piezoelectric unit is laid for the solvent evaporating to dry.
In Step 10, the piezoelectric unit is pushed into the appropriate position in the club shaft by a fixture.
In Step 11, the club is placed into the oven and heated at 135° C. for 30 minutes, thus finishing the assembly processes of the inner adhering piezoelectric materials.
To sum up, the present invention uses the piezoelectric materials to transform the mechanical load into the voltage output, or transform the voltage input into the force output, and thus having the advantages of high piezoelectric constant, quick response, small volume, and no electromagnetic interference, etc. Therefore, when applied to the golf club, the present invention alleviates the vibration resulting from the collision between the golf club and the golf ball, and particularly, the violent vibration caused by failing to hit the sweet spot. In addition, the present invention also employs the control module and the energy storage module to control the piezoelectric materials, so as to achieve a vibration reducing golf club capable of reducing the vibration and/or enhancing the hitting force.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A vibration reducing golf club, comprising:
- a club main structure, comprising a club shaft and a ball head, wherein the club main structure is capable of sustaining a mechanical energy resulting from a swing of the club shaft and collision between the ball head and a golf ball, and produces bending deformation and vibration; and
- a plurality of piezoelectric materials, adhered to the club shaft, wherein when the club shaft undergoes mechanical deformation, the piezoelectric materials transform an energy of mechanical deformation into an electrical energy, thereby producing a voltage output, thus consuming vibration energy of the club shaft and obtaining a vibration reducing performance by reducing vibration of the club shaft.
2. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of piezoelectric materials comprise connecting in parallel.
3. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, further comprising:
- a control module, comprising:
- a conductive circuit configuration, cross-connecting the piezoelectric materials; and
- a control circuit configuration, for controlling voltage output and transmission after one of the piezoelectric materials transforms the mechanical energy into the electrical energy, and applying the produced electrical energy to another piezoelectric material, so as to transform the electrical energy into the mechanical energy; and
- an energy storage module, for providing the electrical energy required by the control module.
4. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 3, wherein a cross-connect manner of the conductive circuit configuration comprises serial connection or parallel connection.
5. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 3, wherein the energy storage module comprises a battery or an energy storage device.
6. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 5, wherein the energy storage device stores the electrical energy output by the piezoelectric materials into a rechargeable cell.
7. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 6, wherein the energy storage device comprises a rectifier circuit, a capacitor, and the rechargeable cell.
8. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 6, wherein the control circuit configuration comprises a vibration control configuration, capable of releasing a voltage stored in the rechargeable cell through a control circuit after the ball head hits the golf ball, and leading the voltage to the piezoelectric materials, so as to transform the electrical energy into the mechanical energy, thereby releasing a force to resist the deformation of the club shaft.
9. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 8, wherein the vibration control configuration further comprises an amplifier, for amplifying the voltage output by one of the piezoelectric materials, and applying the voltage to another piezoelectric material.
10. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 3, wherein the control circuit configuration further comprises a power driving circuit configuration, for releasing a force when the ball head hits the golf ball, so as to increase a flight kinetic energy of the golf ball.
11. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 10, wherein the power driving circuit configuration comprises a timer.
12. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 11, wherein when the piezoelectric materials are deformed to transform the mechanical energy into the electrical energy to produce the voltage output, the power driving circuit configuration triggers the timer to start counting, and after a period of time, the voltage stored in a rechargeable cell is released through a control circuit, and is led to one of the piezoelectric materials, such that the electrical energy is transformed into the mechanical energy, so as to output a power to drive the club shaft, thereby enhancing an impact force of the ball head when hitting the golf ball.
13. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 12, wherein the period of time when the timer is counting starts when the club shaft begins to deform and ends when the club shaft restores and the ball head finishes hitting the golf ball.
14. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 3, wherein the conductive circuit configuration further comprises a switching switch, for switching the control circuit configuration to a vibration control configuration or a power driving circuit configuration.
15. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, wherein a position of the piezoelectric materials adhered to the club shaft is one selected from a deformation region of a resonant frequency mode of the club shaft in a vibration reducing frequency scope, so as to obtain the vibration reducing effect.
16. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 15, wherein the position of the piezoelectric materials adhered to the club shaft comprises several regions.
17. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric materials comprise a combination of a plurality of units adhered to the club shaft along its axis.
18. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, wherein one of the piezoelectric materials is adhered to the club shaft along its axis, and anther piezoelectric material is adhered to a corresponding other side of the club shaft.
19. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 18, wherein polarities of the piezoelectric materials adhered to two sides of the club shaft are arranged in same or opposite directions.
20. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric materials are adhered to the club shaft along its axes at different angles.
21. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 20, wherein polarities of the piezoelectric materials adhered to the club shaft along its axes at different angles are arranged in same or opposite directions.
22. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric materials are adhered to the club shaft through an outer adhesion manner.
23. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, wherein the club shaft further comprises a plurality of grooves, and the piezoelectric materials are embedded in the grooves.
24. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric materials are adhered to an inner tube wall of the club shaft through an inner adhesion manner.
25. The vibration reducing golf club according to claim 1, wherein when the club shaft is the composite material shaft, the piezoelectric materials are encapsulated by a lamination layer of the composite material shaft.
Type: Application
Filed: May 8, 2008
Publication Date: Sep 17, 2009
Applicants: INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Hsinchu), ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL MULTITECH CO., LTD (Kaohsiung)
Inventors: Dar-Ming Chiang (Hsinchu City), Shu-Ru Lin (Taichung County), Jaw-Min Pern (Hsinchu County), Sheng-Long Liang (Hsinchu County), Chin-Tang Chang (Tainan City), Huang-Chieh Fang (Kaohsiung City), Hui-Yen Chuang (Kaohsiung City)
Application Number: 12/116,973
International Classification: A63B 53/00 (20060101);