Alloy for manufacturing golf club head, golf club head, and method for manufacturing golf club head

Abstract

The alloy used for manufacturing the golf club head has good thermal stability, and the manufactured golf club head has good strength. The alloy comprises, by weight, 8%-9% of aluminum, 3.5%-4.5% of vanadium, 0.75%-1.25% of molybdenum, 0.1%-0.3% of iron, 0.2%-0.6% of silicon, smaller than or equal to 1.25% and not larger than 0% of tantalum and the balance amount of titanium. Also provided are a golf club head manufactured from the alloy, and a method for manufacturing a golf club head using the alloy.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an alloy for manufacturing a golf club head, in particular to an alloy with good thermal stability, a golf club head manufactured with the alloy, and a method for manufacturing a golf club head using the alloy. Background Art

[0002] Generally speaking, in order to meet the user's demand for lightweight golf club heads, workers may use titanium alloys to manufacture golf club heads. For example, existing titanium alloys may include metals such as aluminum, vanadium, and iron.

[0003] Furthermore, when manufacturing golf club heads with alloys, different heat treatment conditions may be applied according to the needs. Therefore, it is desirable to have an alloy for manufacturing golf club heads that can maintain the mechanical properties of the manufactured golf club heads even if the heat treatment conditions are different; that is, it is desirable to have an alloy with good thermal stability. In addition, in order to meet the needs of customers with fast swing speeds and stronger hitting power, it is also desirable to further improve the strength of golf club heads.

[0004] In view of this, the existing alloys used to manufacture golf club heads still need to be improved. Summary of the invention

[0005] To solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an alloy for manufacturing a golf club head, which has good thermal stability.

[0006] Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head having good strength.

[0007] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a golf club head, which can manufacture a golf club head with good strength.

[0008] The elements and components described throughout the present invention use the quantifiers "a" or "an" only for convenience of use and to provide a general meaning of the scope of the present invention; in the present invention, they should be interpreted as including one or at least one, and a single concept also includes multiple situations, unless it is obvious that it means otherwise.

[0009] The alloy for manufacturing a golf club head of the present invention comprises, by weight percentage, 8-9% aluminum, 3.5-4.5% vanadium, 0.75-1.25% molybdenum, 0.1-0.3% iron, 0.2-0.6% silicon, tantalum (≤1.25% and not 0) and a balance of titanium.

[0010] The manufacturing method of the golf club head of the present invention comprises: using the alloy for manufacturing the golf club head to make a striking panel; and after the striking panel is formed, heat treating the striking panel at 400-600° C. for 0.5-2 hours.

[0011] The golf club head of the present invention is manufactured using the above-mentioned alloy and manufacturing method.

[0012] Therefore, the alloy for manufacturing a golf club head of the present invention can achieve the effect of having good thermal stability through the composition ratio of the above metals, and can achieve the effect of having good strength of the manufactured golf club head. In addition, the manufacturing method of the golf club head of the present invention can achieve the effect of having good strength of the manufactured golf club head by using the above alloy to manufacture the striking plate and heat treating the striking plate after forming.

[0013] The alloy used to manufacture the golf club head may include tantalum in an amount of ≤1% by weight, thereby improving the thermal stability of the alloy and the strength of the manufactured golf club head.

[0014] The alloy used to manufacture the golf club head may include tantalum in an amount of ≤0.2% by weight, thereby improving the thermal stability of the alloy and the strength of the manufactured golf club head.

[0015] The alloy used to manufacture the golf club head may include 0.2% silicon by weight, thereby improving the strength of the manufactured golf club head.

[0016] The alloy used to manufacture the golf club head may include 0.2% iron by weight, which has the effect of improving the strength of the manufactured golf club head.

[0017] The golf club head can have a tensile strength of 180-200 ksi and a yield strength of 165-190 ksi, so that the golf club head has good strength. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are specifically described in detail below.

[0019] The alloy for manufacturing a golf club head of the present invention comprises: by weight percentage, 8-9% aluminum (Al), 3.5-4.5% vanadium (V), 0.75-1.25% molybdenum (Mo), 0.1-0.3% iron (Fe), 0.2-0.6% silicon (Si), ≤1.25% and not 0 tantalum (Ta), and a balance of titanium (Ti). The alloy is formed into a titanium alloy and used for manufacturing a golf club head, especially for manufacturing a striking face plate of a golf club head.

[0020] Molybdenum can be dissolved in the β phase in titanium alloy, improving thermal stability and increasing corrosion resistance. Therefore, the alloy for manufacturing a golf club head of the present invention includes 0.75-1.25% molybdenum by weight. In this way, the thermal stability and corrosion resistance of the alloy can be improved, and the strength of the manufactured golf club head can be improved.

[0021] Iron is a β-phase stabilizing element in titanium alloys, which can enhance the heat treatment strengthening effect and improve the alloy's processing plasticity. It is worth noting that if too much iron is added, segregation will occur during smelting. Therefore, the alloy used to manufacture a golf club head of the present invention may include 0.2% iron by weight in one embodiment. In this way, the strength of the manufactured golf club head can be improved.

[0022] Silicon can improve the hardness and strength of austenite in the alloy, that is, adding silicon can improve the yield strength of the alloy. It is worth noting that martensite can make the alloy have good hardness and toughness. Adding too much silicon will reduce the formation of martensite in the alloy, thereby causing the hardness and yield strength of the golf club head to decrease. Therefore, the alloy for manufacturing a golf club head of the present invention can include 0.2% silicon by weight in one embodiment. In this way, the strength of the manufactured golf club head can be improved.

[0023] Tantalum is a β-phase stabilizing element in titanium alloys, which can improve the thermal stability of titanium alloys. In addition, since tantalum has a larger atomic radius, it can also improve the solid solution strengthening effect. Therefore, the alloy used to manufacture golf club heads of the present invention may include tantalum of ≤1% by weight in one embodiment; and ≤0.2% by weight in another embodiment. In this way, the thermal stability of the alloy can be improved, and the strength of the manufactured golf club head can be improved.

[0024] The manufacturing method of the golf club head of the present invention can be used to manufacture a golf club head, or to manufacture a part of the components of the golf club head, and the present invention is not limited thereto. In this embodiment, the above alloy can be used to make a striking plate. For example, the above alloy can be melted into an alloy rod; the alloy rod is heated and forged to form a flat plate blank; the plate blank is hot-rolled multiple times to form a thin plate blank; and the thin plate blank is pressed, cold-rolled, annealed or polished to form a striking plate.

[0025] Specifically, the press forming step may be performed at 830° C. to 880° C. for 6 to 36 minutes, for example, in one embodiment.

[0026] The manufacturing method of the golf club head of the present invention may further include heat treating the striking panel after the striking panel is formed. For example, after the striking panel is formed, it can be welded to the ball head body, and the entire ball head together with the striking panel is heat treated, and the present invention is not limited thereto. The temperature of the above-mentioned heat treatment may be 400-600°C; in another embodiment, it may be 450°C. The time of the above-mentioned heat treatment may be 0.5-2 hours; in another embodiment, it may be 1 hour. In this way, the strength of the manufactured golf club head can be further improved. Therefore, the golf club head made of the alloy used to manufacture the golf club head of the present invention can have a tensile strength of 180-200 ksi and a yield strength of 165-190 ksi.

[0027] In order to verify that the alloy used to manufacture golf club heads of the present invention has good thermal stability and club head strength, the alloy of the present invention (Group 1) and the existing alloy (Group 2) shown in Table 1 were used to manufacture golf club heads, and bombardment tests were performed to measure mechanical properties. In the manufacturing process of the above golf club heads, both groups included the following steps: press forming at 830°C for 12 minutes to form a striking panel; and after the striking panel was formed, heat treatment was performed at 600°C for 1 hour. The results are shown in Tables 2 and 3.

[0028] Table 1. Composition ratio of each alloy in this test (weight percentage)

[0029] Group Al V Mo Fe Si Ta Ti 1 8～9 3.5～4.5 0.75～1.25 0.1～0.3 0.2～0.6 ≤1.25 Balance 2 7～9.5 0.5～2 - ≤0.4 0.05～0.4 - Balance

[0030] Table 2. Golf club head bombardment test

[0031] Group CT value (μs) Bombardment Durability Curve change after 3000 shellings (R) 1 246 6778 74.6 2 248 6850 343.3

[0032] Table 3 Mechanical properties of golf club heads in each group of this test

[0033] Group Tensile Strength(ksi) Yield strength (ksi) Young's modulus (GPa) 1 177.3 168.6 136.5 2 156.4 153.6 131.7

[0034] According to the test results in Table 2, the golf club heads made of the alloy of the present invention (Group 1) have a significantly reduced curvature change after being hit compared to the golf club heads made of the existing alloy (Group 2), that is, the alloy of the present invention has better anti-deformation ability than the existing alloy. In addition, according to the test results in Table 3, the golf club heads made of the alloy of the present invention have better strength than the golf club heads made of the existing alloy.

[0035] In addition, the alloy of the present invention was used to manufacture a golf club head, and the mechanical properties of the golf club head under different heat treatment conditions were measured. In the above manufacturing process, the striking panel was formed by press forming at 830°C for 12 minutes; and after the striking panel was formed, the striking panel was subjected to heat treatment under different conditions. The results are shown in Table 4.

[0036] Table 4 Mechanical properties of golf club heads under different heat treatment conditions

[0037]

[0038]

[0039] According to the test results in Table 4, the golf club head striking faceplate made of the alloy of the present invention has better mechanical properties after being heat treated at 450°C for 1 hour. In addition, after being heat treated at 500°C for 1 hour and 1.5 hours, the mechanical properties of the striking faceplate did not change dramatically, which shows that the alloy of the present invention has good thermal stability.

[0040] In addition, the alloy of the present invention was used to manufacture a golf club head, and the mechanical properties of the golf club head were measured at different press forming times. In the above manufacturing process, the press forming was performed at 830° C. for 6 to 36 minutes to form a striking face plate. The results are shown in Table 5.

[0041] Table 5 Mechanical properties of golf club heads at different pressing times

[0042] Forming conditions Tensile Strength(ksi) Yield strength (ksi) Young's modulus (GPa) 830℃, 6 minutes 169.9 157.8 116.1 830℃, 12 minutes 173.6 142.4 112.5 830℃, 18 minutes 174.3 144.7 110.2

[0043] It can be seen from Table 5 that when the alloy of the present invention is used to manufacture a golf club head, even if the press forming time is increased, the mechanical properties of the manufactured golf club head can be maintained; that is, the alloy of the present invention has good thermal stability.

[0044] In summary, the alloy for manufacturing a golf club head of the present invention can achieve the effect of having good thermal stability through the composition ratio of the above-mentioned metals, and can achieve the effect of having good strength in the manufactured golf club head. In addition, the golf club head of the present invention can achieve the effect of having good strength by manufacturing it with the alloy of the present invention. In addition, the manufacturing method of the golf club head of the present invention can achieve the effect of having good strength in the manufactured golf club head by using the alloy of the present invention to manufacture the striking panel and heat treating the striking panel after forming it.

[0045] Although the present invention has been disclosed using the above-mentioned preferred embodiments, they are not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to the above-mentioned embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. These changes and modifications still fall within the technical scope protected by the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall include all changes within the meaning and equivalent scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An alloy for making a golf club head, characterized in that: include: The composition comprises, by weight percentage, 8-9% aluminum, 3.5-4.5% vanadium, 0.75-1.25% molybdenum, 0.1-0.3% iron, 0.2-0.6% silicon, 1.25% or less and not 0% tantalum, and the balance amount of titanium.

2. The alloy for manufacturing a golf club head according to claim 1, wherein: The alloy for making a golf club head includes tantalum in an amount of ≤1% by weight.

3. The alloy for manufacturing a golf club head according to claim 1, wherein: The alloy for making a golf club head includes tantalum in an amount of ≤0.2% by weight.

4. The alloy for manufacturing a golf club head according to claim 1, wherein: The alloy used to make the golf club head includes 0.2% silicon by weight.

5. The alloy for manufacturing a golf club head according to claim 1, wherein: The alloy used to make the golf club head includes 0.2% iron by weight.

6. A golf club head, characterized in that: Made of the alloy for manufacturing a golf club head according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A method for manufacturing a golf club head, characterized in that: include: Making a striking face plate using the alloy for manufacturing a golf club head as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5; After the striking panel is formed, the striking panel is heat treated at 400 to 600° C. for 0.5 to 2 hours.

8. A golf club head, characterized in that: The golf club head is manufactured by the method for manufacturing the golf club head according to claim 7.

9. The golf club head according to claim 8, wherein: The golf club head has a tensile strength of 180-200 ksi and a yield strength of 165-190 ksi.

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