Lightweight Golf Club Shaft Structure for Flex and Torque Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Lightweight golf club shafts compromise flexural rigidity, making them unsuitable for athlete-type golfers who require both reduced weight and high performance.
Innovation Solution
A golf club shaft composed of multiple fiber-reinforced resin layers with specific hoop layers and orientations to enhance flexural and torsional rigidity while maintaining a lightweight design, including a tapered structure and varying hoop layer thicknesses to improve crushing strength.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the shaft weight is reduced to improve flight distance, then the weight decreases, but the flexural rigidity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft employs a composite structure with multiple fiber-reinforced resin layers, including carbon fiber and glass fiber layers, to achieve high strength-to-weight ratio. This allows the shaft to maintain flexural rigidity while being lightweight (50g or less), resolving the contradiction between weight reduction and strength maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft features localized reinforcement through hoop layers with different orientations and positions. Specifically, hoop layers are strategically placed at specific axial positions to enhance flexural rigidity where needed, while other regions maintain lighter construction. This local quality approach allows weight reduction overall while preserving necessary rigidity in critical areas.
2Weight of moving object
If the shaft is made lightweight to improve flight distance, then the weight decreases, but the shaft feels unsuitable for athlete-type golfers
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft incorporates hoop layers with specific orientations (including ±45° and 90°) at strategically positioned locations to provide localized stiffness enhancement. This creates a shaft that feels substantial and responsive in the hands of athlete-type golfers while maintaining overall lightweight construction, thus improving ease of operation without sacrificing weight benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The combination of different fiber materials (carbon fiber, glass fiber) and resin systems creates a composite structure that provides both lightweight properties and the tactile feedback athlete-type golfers expect. The composite construction allows fine-tuning of the shaft's mechanical properties to match the preferences of high-performance players.
3Ease of operation
If the shaft torque is increased to improve feeling for athlete-type golfers, then the shaft torque increases, but the material usage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft uses hoop layers with specific orientations (±45° for torsional resistance, 90° for radial strength) positioned at specific axial locations to enhance shaft torque where needed. This localized approach to torsional reinforcement increases shaft torque for better athlete-type golfer feeling while minimizing material usage by avoiding uniform thickening throughout the entire shaft length.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite material system allows efficient torsional load bearing with minimal material. The fiber reinforcement provides high torsional stiffness per unit mass, enabling the shaft to achieve desirable torque characteristics (4.0°-6.5°) without excessive material consumption, thus improving ease of operation without proportionally increasing material usage.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The shaft provides a good feeling and improved swing performance for athlete-type golfers by maintaining rigidity and strength, allowing for increased head speed and reduced material usage.
Implementation Method 1
A golf club shaft according to one aspect is formed by a plurality of fiber reinforced resin layers
Data Source
AI summary
A shaft has a weight of 50 g or less. A forward flex is 110 mm or less. A backward flex is 100 mm or less. A shaft torque is 4.0° to 6.5°. The shaft includes a first hoop layer, a second hoop layer longer than the first hoop layer, and a third hoop layer longer than the second hoop layer. An outer diameter at a position 550 mm apart from a tip end is D5. An outer diameter at a position 950 mm apart from the tip end is D9. A crushing strength at the position 550 mm apart from the tip end is F5. A crushing strength at the position 950 mm apart from the tip end is F9. F5/D5 is 1.5 or greater and 2.5 or less. F9/D9 is 1.0 or greater and 2.0 or less. A difference (F5−F9) is 4 kgf or less.