GOLF CLUB HEAD

Abstract

A golf club head has a three-piece construction, including a front piece, an intermediate piece and a rear piece. The front and rear pieces are made of metal, while the intermediate piece is made of fiber-reinforced plastic, composite material or metal. The intermediate piece is jointed to the front and rear pieces by means of adhesives or welding. Bolts are provided in a lower portion of the rear piece to threadingly engage the front piece to securely fix all the pieces together to form the golf club head, which has a lowered gravity center and enhanced striking stability.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(a) Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a golf club head, and in particular to a golf club head having lowered gravity center to enhance striking stability and performance of playing golf.

(b) Description of the Prior Art

Golf has been a very popular sports game for social relationship between people can be improved during the driving from one hole to another hole in the golf field. To have an excellent performance of playing golf, practice is the most important way. However, good and appropriate golf clubs also play an important role in playing the game. For different striking, different clubs may be selected. For example, for long distance driving, a wooden club is used. For a currently available wooden club, a club head is often made of metals or composite materials. FIG. 1 of the attached drawings shows a metal club head, designated at 1. The manufacturing of the metal club head 1 is first forming respectively a body 11 that has a top opening and a lid 12. The lid 12 is then mounted to the body 11 to close the top opening by welding. During the welding process, the lid 12 must be first retained to the body 11 by spot welding, and then a hard welding process can be carried out. This complicates the manufacturing process and often suffers undesired displacement of the lids 12, which leads to flaw products. Further to lower the gravity center of the club head 1, adjustment of weight must be carried out on the bottom or other portions of the club head 1. Thus, it is desired to provide a golf club head that can be manufactured with a simplified process, while effectively lowering the gravity center thereof at the same time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide a golf club head, which, without adversely affecting the structural strength of a golf club head, enhances the efficiency of manufacturing of the golf club head, shortening the manufacturing time, and also lowers the gravity center of the golf club head to enhance striking stability and performance of golf playing.

To achieve the above objective, in accordance with the present invention, a golf club head is provided, comprising a three-piece construction, of which a front piece and a rear piece are made of metal, while an intermediate piece is made of fiber-reinforced plastic, composite material or metal. The intermediate piece is jointed to the front and rear pieces by means of adhesives or welding. Bolts are provided in a lower portion of the rear piece to threadingly engage the front piece to securely fix all the pieces together to form the golf club head, which has a lowered gravity center and enhanced striking stability.

The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a conventional golf club head;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a golf club head constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a golf club head constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a top view of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 2 and 3, a golf club head constructed in accordance with the present invention comprises a front piece 2, an intermediate piece 3, and a rear piece 4, which are respectively shaped or molded and are combined together to form a golf club head. The front piece 2 and the rear piece 4 are made of metal, while the intermediate piece 3 can be made of a composite material, such as fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP), or metal. The front piece 2 and the rear piece 4 each have one side jointed to the intermediate piece 3. The jointing side of each of the front and rear pieces 2, 4 forms a circumferential step-like recess 21, 41 for fitting into the opposite sides of the intermediate piece 3 and fixing thereto by means of for example adhesives or welding. In a lower portion of the front piece 2, two internally-threaded fastening members 22 are formed on opposite side portions thereof. The rear piece 4 forms projections in which bores or through holes 42 are defined to correspond to the internally-threaded fastening members 22. When the front, intermediate, and rear pieces 2, 3, 4 are fixed together, bolts 31 are further extended through the holes 42 of the rear piece 4 to engage the internally-threaded fastening members 22 of the front piece 2 to further secure the pieces 2, 3, 4 together and also to lower the overall gravity center of the golf club head due to the weights of the bolts 31. Since the front piece 2 is made of metal, a striking face can be directly formed on an end or side face of the front piece, or alternatively, a striking face formed of a plate of different material can be mounted to the front piece 2.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the golf club head of the present invention is of a three-piece structure with front and rear pieces being made of metal and intermediate piece of composite material, which are jointed together by means of adhesives and further secured by bolts. In this way, as compared to the conventional technology of simply welding, the manufacturing process has reduced steps and the manufacturing time is shortened. Further, both application of adhesives and tightening of bolts can be easily done by any operator who is not an experienced or skilled operator. The flaw rate of product can be effectively lowered to further reduce the manufacturing costs and enhance market competitively. Further, arranging the bolts 31 in the lower portion to enhance the fixing or securing force can also realize lowering of the overall gravity center of the golf club head, which leads to stability of ball hitting and enhance the performance of playing golf.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. In accordance with the another embodiment of the present invention, a golf club head is made up of three pieces, including a left-side piece 5, an intermediate piece 6, and a right-side piece 7, which are respectively shaped or molded. The left-side piece 5 and the right-side piece 7 are made of metal, while the intermediate piece 6 can be made of a composite material, such as fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP), or metal. The left-side piece 5 and the right-side piece 7 each have one side jointed to the intermediate piece 6. The jointing side of each of the left-side piece 5 and right-side piece 7 forms a circumferential step-like recess 51, 71 for fitting into the opposite sides of the intermediate piece 6 and fixing thereto by means of for example adhesives or welding. In a lower portion of the left-side piece 5, two internally-threaded fastening members 52 are formed on opposite side portions thereof. The right-side piece 7 forms projections in which bores or through holes 72 are defined to correspond to the internally-threaded fastening members 52. When the left-side, intermediate, and right-side pieces 5, 6, 7 are fixed together, bolts 61 are extended through the holes 72 of the right-side piece 7 to engage the internally-threaded fastening members 52 of the left-side piece 5 to more securely fix the pieces 5, 6, 7 together. Further, a striking plate 8 is provided to a front side of the combined left-side, intermediate, and the right-side pieces.

The manufacturing process of the golf club head, as compared to the conventional technology of simply welding, can be carried out with reduced steps and the manufacturing time is shortened. Further, both application of adhesives and tightening of bolts can be easily done by any operator who is not an experienced or skilled operator. The flaw rate of product can be effectively lowered to further reduce the manufacturing costs and enhance market competitively. Further, using the bolts 61 to enhance the fixing or securing force can also lower the overall gravity center of the golf club head, which leads to stability of ball hitting and enhances the performance of playing golf.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising a front piece, an intermediate piece, and a rear piece, which are respectively shaped and are combined together to form the golf club head, wherein the front piece and the rear piece are made of metal, while the intermediate piece is made of a material selected from a group consisting of composite material, fiber-reinforced plastics, and metal, the front piece and the rear piece each having a jointing side jointed to the intermediate piece, each jointing side of the front and rear pieces forming a circumferential recess for fitting to opposite sides of the intermediate piece and fixing thereto by means of adhesives or welding, a lower portion of the front piece forming two internally-threaded fastening members on opposite side portions thereof, the rear piece forming through holes corresponding to the internally-threaded fastening members, whereby when the front, intermediate, and rear pieces are fixed together, bolts are further extended through the holes of the rear piece to engage the internally-threaded fastening members of the front piece.

2. A golf club head comprising a left-side piece, an intermediate piece, and a right-side piece, which are respectively shaped and are combined together to form the golf club head, wherein the left-side piece and the right-side piece are made of metal, while the intermediate piece is made of a material selected from a group consisting of composite material, fiber-reinforced plastics, and metal, the left-side piece and the right-side piece each having a jointing side jointed to the intermediate piece, each jointing side of the front and rear pieces forming a circumferential recess for fitting to opposite sides of the intermediate piece and fixing thereto by means of adhesives or welding, a lower portion of the left-side piece forming two internally-threaded fastening members on opposite side portions thereof, the right-side piece forming through holes corresponding to the internally-threaded fastening members, whereby when the left-side, intermediate, and right-side pieces are fixed together to form a combined body, bolts are further extended through the holes of the rear piece to engage the internally-threaded fastening members of the front piece, a metal striking plate being further mounted to a front side of the combined body.