Golf club heads and their manufacturing methods

Abstract

A golf club head and its manufacturing method are disclosed. The golf club head includes a club head body and at least one hybrid weight. The club head body has at least one injection chamber. The at least one hybrid weight is embedded and confined within the at least one injection chamber. The at least one hybrid weight is formed by mixing a plurality of metal particles with a binder and then curing it. The at least one hybrid weight is fixed by embedding rather than by welding or screwing, thus eliminating the need for welding and locking structures. Furthermore, when the shape and structure of the club head body are redesigned, only the shape and position of the at least one injection chamber need to be adjusted, while the same injection material can still be used to manufacture the at least one hybrid weight, avoiding the problems of mold opening and difficult inventory management.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a golf club and its manufacturing method, particularly to a golf club head with a counterweight and its manufacturing method. Prior Technology

[0002] To improve the performance and feel of golf clubs during a swing, many clubs incorporate weights on the clubhead to finely adjust the clubhead's center of gravity. Typical golf clubs use welding or screwing to attach block or ring-shaped weights to the clubhead. However, welding often fails because the weights and clubhead are made of dissimilar metals, requiring expensive hard welding. Screwing, on the other hand, necessitates designing screw holes and assembly space on the clubhead. Regardless of the method, these pre-designed and manufactured weights are typically only compatible with their designated clubheads and lack versatility. This means that when manufacturers release clubheads with different shapes, they must not only consider the aforementioned connection issues but also redesign the weight shape, leading to continuous mold creation, unmanageable inventory, and increased costs. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head with a more flexible and highly common design.

[0004] Therefore, the golf club head of the present invention includes a club head body and at least one hybrid weight. The club head body has at least one injection chamber communicating with the outside through an opening. The at least one hybrid weight is embedded in the at least one injection chamber, and its maximum cross-sectional area is larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the opening of the at least one injection chamber, thus confining it within the at least one injection chamber. The at least one hybrid weight is formed by mixing a plurality of metal particles with a binder and then curing it.

[0005] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing the above-mentioned golf club head.

[0006] Therefore, the method for manufacturing a golf club head according to the present invention includes a preparation step, an injection step, and a curing step. In the preparation step, at least one injection chamber communicating with the outside through an opening is formed in a club head body. In the injection step, a plurality of metal particles and a binder are injected sequentially or simultaneously into the at least one injection chamber. In the curing step, the metal particles and the binder are cured in the at least one injection chamber to form at least one mixed weight with a maximum cross-sectional area larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the opening of the at least one injection chamber.

[0007] The advantages of this invention are as follows: the at least one hybrid counterweight is fixed by embedding rather than by welding or screwing, thus eliminating the need for costly hard welding and the design of holes and assembly space on the ball head body. When the shape and structure of the ball head body are redesigned, only the shape and position of the at least one injection chamber need to be adjusted, but the same injection material (i.e., the metal particles and the binder) can still be used to produce the at least one hybrid counterweight, thus avoiding the problems of mold opening and difficult inventory elimination. At the same time, the metal particles can be selected with different densities according to requirements, and the ratio of the metal particles and the binder can be adjusted to adjust the overall weight and center of gravity position. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0008] Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of the method for manufacturing a golf club head according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a side sectional view illustrating one of the ball-head bodies in a preparatory step; Figure 3 is a top view illustrating the top view of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a side sectional view illustrating one of the infusion steps of this embodiment; Figure 5 is a side sectional view illustrating one of the curing steps in this embodiment; and Figure 6 is a bottom view illustrating the bottom view of a golf club head produced by this curing step. Implementation

[0009] Referring to Figures 1, 2, and 3, one embodiment of the manufacturing method of the golf club head of the present invention includes a preparatory step 11, a pouring step 12, and a curing step 13. In the preparatory step 11, a pouring chamber 211 is formed within a club head body 21 by casting, forging, lamination, or precision machining, and the pouring chamber 211 communicates with the outside through an opening 212. The contour of the pouring chamber 211 can be quickly adjusted using computer-aided design and automated manufacturing to correspond to the actual shape and center of gravity configuration of the club head body 21. It should be noted that the number of pouring chambers 211 can also be multiple, and the direction and depth of their openings 212 can be determined according to the structure of the club head body 21 and the actual position of the pouring chambers 211.

[0010] Referring to Figures 1 and 4, in the infusion step 12, a plurality of metal particles are mixed with a binder to form a flowable infusion material 22. The metal particles can be selected from metals of different densities (the metal particles can be of the same type or different types of metals), and the binder can be resin, but is not limited thereto. The ratio of the metal particles to the binder can also be adjusted according to actual needs. The infusion material 22 is injected into the infusion chamber 211 through the opening 212, filling the infusion chamber 211 completely. Besides mixing the metal particles and the binder to form the infusion material 22 before infusion, the metal particles can be filled first, followed by the binder, or vice versa, depending on requirements. When the number of filling chambers 211 is increased to a plurality, the filling material 22 can be sequentially poured into the filling chambers 211. However, different filling materials 22 can also be used for separate filling, which can be adjusted according to the required overall weight and center of gravity position. Referring to Figures 1, 5, and 6, in the curing step 13, the filling chamber 211 is heated to cure the filling material 22 (see Figure 4), forming a hybrid weight block 23 embedded in the filling chamber 211. The maximum cross-sectional area of ​​the hybrid weight block 23 is larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the opening 212 of the filling chamber 211, thereby being confined within the filling chamber 211, and finally a golf club head 2 with the hybrid weight block 23 is obtained.

[0011] Since the hybrid weight 23 is not fixed by welding or locking, it avoids problems such as poor welding quality, high cost of hard welding, and the need to reserve space or pre-design locking accessories. Furthermore, when the outline, clubhead type, or structure of the clubhead body 21 changes, only the design parameters of the injection chamber 211 need to be adjusted with computer assistance to create the corresponding injection chamber 211 in the preparatory step 11. Regardless of the design of the injection chamber 211, the hybrid weight 23 can be manufactured using the injection material 22. Therefore, it avoids the common problem of old weights becoming unusable after clubhead redesign and requiring new molds, significantly reducing unnecessary expenses. Moreover, through the selection of materials for these metal particles and the adjustment of the proportion of the injection material 22, the precise weight and center of gravity of the hybrid weight 23 can be further adjusted. This function can also be further configured with multiple injection chambers 211 and multiple hybrid weights 23, thus offering high versatility and customization capabilities.

[0012] In summary, the present invention eliminates the need for welding and locking, thus avoiding the problems associated with these two conventional assembly methods. Furthermore, the injection material 22 can be used for ball head bodies 21 with different designs, preventing situations where the ball head body 21 becomes unsuitable after design changes, necessitating new mold opening and inventory buildup. Therefore, the present invention truly achieves its objective.

[0013] However, the above description is merely an embodiment of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application and the contents of the patent specification shall still fall within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

[0014] 11: Preparatory Steps 12: Injection Procedure 13: Curing Steps 2: Golf club head 21: Ball head body 211: Infusion Chamber 212: Opening 22: Castable refractory 23: Hybrid counterweight

Claims

1. A golf club head, comprising: a club head body having at least one injection chamber communicating with the outside through an opening; and at least one hybrid weight embedded in the at least one injection chamber, wherein the maximum cross-sectional area of ​​the at least one hybrid weight is larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the opening of the at least one injection chamber and is confined within the at least one injection chamber, wherein the at least one hybrid weight is formed by mixing a plurality of metal particles with a binder and then curing.

2. The golf club head as claimed in claim 1, wherein, The binder for at least one of the mixed counterweights is resin.

3. A method for manufacturing a golf club head, comprising: a preparatory step of forming at least one injection chamber communicating with the outside through an opening in a club head body; an injection step of injecting a plurality of metal particles and a binder sequentially or simultaneously into the at least one injection chamber; and a curing step of curing the metal particles and the binder in the at least one injection chamber to form at least one mixed weight block with a maximum cross-sectional area larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the opening of the at least one injection chamber.

4. A method for manufacturing a golf club head as described in claim 3, wherein, In this infusion step, the metal particles are mixed with the binder and then injected together into the at least one infusion chamber.

5. The manufacturing method as described in claim 3, wherein, In this infusion step, the binder is resin.

6. A method for manufacturing a golf club head as described in claim 3, wherein, In this preparatory step, the at least one injection chamber is formed by casting, forging, lamination manufacturing, or precision machining.

7. A method for manufacturing a golf club head as described in claim 3, wherein, In the curing step, the at least one injection chamber is heated so that the metal particles and the binder are cured in the at least one injection chamber to form the at least one mixed counterweight.

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