Golf Club Shaft Uniform Strength Distribution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing golf club shafts face a challenge in achieving a balance between weight reduction and maintaining sufficient strength, particularly at different positions along the shaft, leading to uneven strength distribution and surplus weight, which affects the club's performance and carry distance.
Innovation Solution
A golf club shaft formed of fiber-reinforced resin layers with a specific configuration, including a bias layer, straight layer, and hoop layers, is designed to achieve uniform strength distribution by optimizing the orientation and placement of these layers, ensuring that the three-point bending strength meets reference values at various positions, thereby reducing surplus weight and enhancing weight reduction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the shaft is made long to increase club head speed and carry distance, then the club head speed and carry distance are improved, but the inertia moment of the club is increased making the club feel heavy during swing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the thickness of the shaft at different positions along its length. The shaft has a larger diameter at the club head end and a smaller diameter at the grip end, creating local variations in mass distribution. This allows the shaft to be long for speed while concentrating mass where it provides the most benefit for inertia, reducing the overall feeling of weight during swing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the shaft, specifically the diameter at different positions. By controlling the diameter to vary along the shaft length (larger at the head, smaller at the grip), the patent optimizes the mass distribution to reduce inertia moment while maintaining the necessary length for speed generation.
2Weight of moving object
If the weight of the club head is lightened to reduce inertia moment, then the club feels lighter during swing, but the impulse at impact is reduced and carry distance is not largely increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating mass at the club head end of the shaft where it is most needed for impact impulse, while keeping the grip end lighter. This creates an optimal mass distribution that maintains impact force without requiring the entire club head to be heavy, allowing the club to feel lighter during swing while maintaining impact performance.
3Weight of moving object
If the weight of the shaft is lightened to reduce inertia moment without changing club head weight, then the inertia moment is reduced and impact impulse is maintained, but the strength distribution becomes uneven with surplus weight at certain positions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by strategically placing thicker sections of the shaft at positions where strength is most needed (near the club head and at the grip), while using thinner sections in intermediate portions. This creates an optimal strength distribution that eliminates surplus weight at certain positions while ensuring adequate strength where required, achieving both weight reduction and uniform strength distribution.
4Strength
If the hoop layer is extended to full length to ensure bending strength, then the bending strength is improved, but the weight of the shaft is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the shaft into distinct functional sections with different thickness characteristics. The shaft has a first portion (club head end) with larger diameter for impact strength, a second portion (intermediate) with smaller diameter for weight reduction, and a third portion (grip end) with larger diameter for handling strength. This segmented approach allows the hoop layer to be positioned strategically rather than extending uniformly throughout, reducing weight while maintaining necessary strength.
Data Source
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AI summary
A golf club shaft which satisfies strength and is lightweight is provided by the present invention. This golf club shaft comprises one or more fiber-reinforced resin layers, and is characterized by satisfying the following relationship (1), wherein x [mm] is the displacement in a cantilever bending test, M [g] is the mass of the golf club shaft, and L [mm] is the length thereof, and by satisfying the following strength standard values [1]-[4]: M×(L/1168)<49.66 e-0.0015x (relationship 1); [1] the three-point bending strength at T-90 (the position 90 mm apart from the smaller-diameter end) is 800 N or higher; [2] the three-point bending strength at T-175 (the position 175 mm apart from the smaller-diameter end) is 400 N or higher; [3] the three-point bending strength at T-525 (the position 525 mm apart from the smaller-diameter end) is 400 N or higher; and [4] the three-point bending strength at B-175 (the position 175 mm apart from the larger-diameter end) is 400 N or higher.