Golf Club Shaft Composite Layer Weight Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional golf club shafts face challenges in enhancing head speed while maintaining strength and weight reduction, as weight reduction compromises the design's freedom and material usage, leading to suboptimal performance in flight distance.
Innovation Solution
A golf club shaft with a specific design featuring multiple carbon fiber reinforced layers, including straight, bias, and hoop layers, optimized for weight distribution and flexural rigidity, where the hoop layer's weight is strategically increased to enhance flexural strength and head speed, with a center of gravity ratio greater than 0.50 to improve swing ease and distance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If weight reduction is implemented in the shaft, then head speed is improved, but the using amount of material decreases which deteriorates the degree of freedom of design and makes it difficult to secure strength
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft employs carbon fiber reinforced layers including straight layers, bias layers, and hoop layers to create a composite structure that achieves both weight reduction and strength enhancement. The specific arrangement and orientation of these composite layers allow the shaft to be lightweight while maintaining sufficient strength
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft design applies different layer configurations and material properties to different regions of the shaft. The hoop layer is strategically positioned and sized (with weight ratio WF/WS ≥ 0.18) to provide localized reinforcement where needed, allowing weight reduction in other areas while maintaining overall strength
2Strength
If the hoop layer weight is increased to enhance flexural strength, then head speed is improved, but the overall shaft weight management becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The invention optimizes the weight ratio parameter of the hoop layer (WF/WS ≥ 0.18) to achieve the desired balance between flexural strength and overall shaft weight. This parameter optimization allows the shaft to meet strength requirements while maintaining weight control for head speed improvement
3Speed
If the shaft weight is reduced to below 42g, then head speed and flight distance are improved, but the material usage is limited which complicates the design optimization
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft is segmented into multiple functional layers (straight layers, bias layers, hoop layers) with specific weight ratios. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each layer's contribution to overall performance, simplifying the design process despite the lightweight constraint
Solution Approach 2:
By using composite carbon fiber layers with specific orientations and weight ratios, the design achieves optimal performance within the weight constraint without requiring complex alternative solutions
Data Source
AI summary
A golf club 2 includes a shaft 6 having a tip end Tp and a butt end Bt, a head 4 and a grip 8. The shaft 6 includes a plurality of carbon fiber reinforced layers. The layers include a straight layer, a bias layer and a hoop layer. When a weight of the hoop layer is defined as WF, and a shaft weight is defined as WS, WF/WS is 0.18 or greater. The shaft weight WS is 42 g or less. In the shaft 6, a point 200 mm distant from the butt end Bt is defined as P1, and a region between the point P1 and the butt end Bt is defined as a specific butt region Rb. A weight of the hoop layer in the specific butt region Rb is defined as WFb, and a shaft weight in the specific butt region Rb is defined as WSb.