GOLF CLUB HEAD AND ORNAMENT

Abstract

This invention provides a golf club head to which an ornament is fixed. The ornament includes a cup-shaped metal shell member, a solid elastic body which has a mounting surface fitted in the golf club head, and fills the interior of the shell member, and an adhesive layer which bonds the inner surface of the shell member to the elastic body.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an ornament for a golf club head.

2. Description of the Related Art

A golf club head to which an ornament having text or a graphic is fixed is known (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-510689 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-293124). Such an ornament can improve the aesthetic design features of the golf club head. Especially the use of a three-dimensional metal ornament is expected to further improve the aesthetic design features of the golf club head.

The use of a solid metal ornament often has a considerable influence on the balance of the golf club head due to its heavy weight. In this case, the weight of the ornament can be reduced using a metal shell member only for the surface layer of the ornament. However, the fixed state of the ornament to the golf club head becomes unstable when a shell member is used alone. It is possible to charge a liquid resin into the shell member, and cure the resin, thereby filling the interior of the shell member. However, the liquid resin may form a shrinkage cavity upon curing. Then, in fixing the ornament to the golf club head, the fixed state of the ornament may become unstable as the ornament cannot be fitted in the surface of the golf club head.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to stably fix an ornament to a golf club head.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a golf club head to which an ornament is fixed, the ornament comprising a cup-shaped metal shell member, a solid elastic body which has a mounting surface fitted in the golf club head, and fills an interior of the shell member, and an adhesive layer which bonds an inner surface of the shell member to the elastic body.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ornament fixed to a golf club head, the ornament comprising: a cup-shaped metal shell member; a solid elastic body which has a mounting surface fitted in the golf club head, and fills an interior of the shell member; and an adhesive layer which bonds an inner surface of the shell member to the elastic body.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a golf club head according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the golf club head when viewed from another direction;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of an ornament;

FIG. 4A is a sectional end elevation view of a shell member taken along a line I-I in FIG. 3;

FIG. 4B is a sectional end elevation view of an elastic body taken along the line I-I in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 4C is a sectional view of an ornament 20 in a cross-section corresponding to the line I-I in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are perspective views of a golf club head 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the golf club head 10 when viewed from above; and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the golf club head 10 when viewed from below.

The golf club head 10 takes the form of a hollow body, and its peripheral wall forms a face portion 11, a crown portion 12, a sole portion 13, and a side portion 14. The face portion 11 forms a face surface (striking surface). The crown portion 12 forms the upper portion of the golf club head 10. The sole portion 13 forms the bottom portion of the golf club head 10. The side portion 14 forms the side portion of the golf club head 10. The side portion 14 includes toe-, back-, and heel-side portions. The golf club head 10 also includes a hosel portion 15 to which a shaft is attached.

The golf club head 10 serves as a driver golf club head. However, the present invention is applicable to various golf club heads such as wood golf club heads including not only a driver golf club head but also, for example, a fairway wood golf club head, utility (hybrid) golf club heads, iron golf club heads, and putters.

The golf club head 10 can be made of a metal material such as a titanium-based metal (for example, 6Al-4V-Ti titanium alloy), stainless steel, or a copper alloy such as beryllium copper.

An ornament 20 is fixed to the golf club head 10, as shown in FIG. 2. Although the ornament 20 is fixed to the heel-side portion of the side portion 14 in this embodiment, the fixing portion is not limited to this, and may be, for example, the crown portion 12 or sole portion 13. In this embodiment, the ornament 20 is separably fixed to the golf club head 10 by a bolt 24. However, the fixing method is not limited to this, and adhesion or sticking may be adopted.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the ornament 20. The ornament 20 is formed by bonding a shell member 21 and an elastic body 22 together. FIG. 4A is a sectional end elevation view of the shell member 21 taken along a line I-I in FIG. 3. FIG. 4B is a sectional end elevation view of the shell member 21 taken along the line I-I in FIG. 3. FIG. 4C is a sectional view of the ornament 20 in a cross-section corresponding to the line I-I in FIG. 3.

The shell member 21 is made of a cup-shaped metal open on the side of attachment to the golf club head 10. As the shell member 21 is made of a metal, its abrasion resistance and texture can improve. Examples of the metal which forms the shell member 21 include chromium plating, stainless steel, and an aluminum alloy. Although various molding methods can be adopted to mold the shell member 21, electroforming is preferable in terms of forming a sharp three-dimensional structure. In this case, chromium or a chromium alloy is preferably used as the metal which forms the shell member 21.

In this embodiment, a plurality of linear grooves 21a′ are formed in an outer surface 21a of the shell member 21, thereby improving the aesthetic design features of the golf club head 10. An aesthetic design pattern represented not only by such a graphic but also by text and a color can be formed on the outer surface 21a of the shell member 21. Such an aesthetic deign pattern may be printed on the outer surface 21a.

A circular recessed portion 211 is formed at the central portion of the outer surface 21a of the shell member 21, and a through hole 212 into which the bolt 24 is to be inserted is formed at the center of the recessed portion 211. The recessed portion 211 at least partially accommodates the head of the bolt 24.

The elastic body 22 is a solid material which fills the interior of the shell member 21, and is made of, for example, a resin block having a specific shape formed by molding in advance. Examples of the material of the elastic body 22 include rubber and a resin. The elastic body 22 may be made of a resin mixed with a metal material. The metal material is, for example, tungsten, magnesium, or a damping material, and can be mixed in the elastic body 22 in the form of a powder or a flake. As the metal material is mixed in the elastic body 22, the ornament 20 can also be used as a weight for barycentric position adjustment of the golf club head 10.

The elastic body 22 includes an adhesive surface 22a and a mounting surface 22b fitted in the golf club head 10.

The adhesive surface 22a is a portion bonded to an inner surface 21b of the shell member 21 by an adhesive layer 23, and has an outer shape roughly conforming to the shape of the inner surface 21b. In this embodiment, since the adhesive layer 23 is formed over the entire region on the adhesive surface 22a, the outer shape of the adhesive surface 22a is slightly smaller than the shape of the inner surface 21b of the shell member 21.

Further, a slightly recessed, separated portion 220 is formed in the portion of the adhesive surface 22a, which is located behind the surface of the shell member 21, in which the grooves 21a′ are formed. The separated portion 220 is more considerably separated from the inner surface 21b of the shell member 21 than the remaining portion of the adhesive surface 22a. The elastic body 22 can be relatively thick in the separated portion 220.

A circular recessed portion 221 is formed at the central portion of the separated portion 220, and a through hole 222 into which the bolt 24 is to be inserted is formed at the center of the recessed portion 221. The recessed portion 221 partially accommodates the recessed portion 211 in the shell member 21.

In this embodiment, the mounting surface 22b has an outer shape roughly conforming to that of the golf club head 10. In this embodiment, since the ornament 20 is fastened to the golf club head 10 using the bolt 24 as a method of fixing the ornament 20 to the golf club head 10, the mounting surface 22b comes into contact (especially, press contact) with the surface of the golf club head 10. If adhesion or sticking is selected as the fixing method, an adhesive or a sticker is interposed between the mounting surface 22b and the surface of the golf club head 10. An example of the sticker includes a double-sided sticky tape.

The adhesive layer 23 bonds the inner surface 21b of the shell member 21 to the adhesive surface 22a of the elastic body 22. The adhesive layer 23 is formed by, for example, supplying a liquid adhesive to the gap between the inner surface 21b of the shell member 21 and the adhesive surface 22a of the elastic body 22, and solidifying the adhesive. As the adhesive which forms the adhesive layer 23, a synthetic adhesive such as an epoxy resin adhesive or an acrylic adhesive is preferable. Especially the use of an adhesive, that has a hardness higher than the elastic body 22 after solidification, makes it possible to reinforce the shell member 21 and, more specifically, reinforce the surface portion of the shell member 21, in which the grooves 21a′ are formed, by the adhesive layer 23 formed in the separated portion 220.

After the shell member 21 is bonded to the elastic body 22, the bolt 24 is inserted into the holes 212 and 222 and screwed into a screw hole 14a (FIG. 3) formed in the golf club head 10, thereby fixing the ornament 20 to the golf club head 10.

In this embodiment, since the solid elastic body 22 fills the interior of the shell member 21 and forms the mounting surface 22b, the mounting surface 22b can be fitted in the golf club head 10, thereby stably fixing the ornament 20 to the golf club head 10. Since the shell member 21 is bonded to the elastic body 22 by the adhesive layer 23, their adhesion strength can be improved. This contributes to tightly fixing the shell member 21 and the elastic body 22 to each other.

Also, since the elastic body 22 forms the mounting surface 22b, and the ornament 20 is fixed to the golf club head 10 by fastening using the bolt 24, the ornament 20 can be more reliably fitted in and fixed to the golf club head 10 by elastic deformation of the elastic body 22. Moreover, a plurality of types of ornaments 20 having different design patterns and weights can be prepared and selected by the user.

While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-269372, filed Dec. 8, 2011, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Claims

1. A golf club head to which an ornament is fixed,

the ornament comprising

a cup-shaped metal shell member,

a solid elastic body which has a mounting surface fitted in the golf club head, and fills an interior of said shell member, and

an adhesive layer which bonds an inner surface of said shell member to said elastic body.

2. The head according to claim 1, wherein said shell member is made by electroforming.

3. The head according to claim 1, wherein said elastic body is made of a resin mixed with a metal material.

4. The head according to claim 1, wherein

said shell member and said elastic body include holes, respectively, into which a bolt is to be inserted, and

the ornament is fixed to the golf club head by the bolt.

5. The head according to claim 1, wherein said elastic body includes a gap portion separated from the inner surface of said shell member, and said adhesive layer includes a portion formed by an adhesive which fills said gap portion.

6. An ornament fixed to a golf club head, the ornament comprising:

a cup-shaped metal shell member;

a solid elastic body which has a mounting surface fitted in the golf club head, and fills an interior of said shell member; and

an adhesive layer which bonds an inner surface of said shell member to said elastic body.