Patent Application
20060073912
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club head. In particular, the present invention relates to a combination of a body and a striking plate for a golf club head.
2. Description of Related Art
The striking plate 12 and the body 11 must be manufactured with high precision to avoid generation of gaps after bonding. Nevertheless, if the striking plate 12 and the body 11 are manufactured with a low-cost casting procedure, the precision tolerances of castings of the striking plate 12 and the body 11 are easily affected by temperature change. Troublesome CNC mechanical milling on the annular abutting section 16 and the shoulder 15 is required for precise engagement before bonding. The golf club head cannot be produced economically.
An object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head including a body and a striking plate that can be manufactured with a lower precision requirement.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head that can be manufactured with a simplified process.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head that can be manufactured at a low cost.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head with improved bonding quality.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head with lowered striking noise.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a golf club head comprises a body and a striking plate. The body includes a front side having a recessed portion. The striking plate includes a front side for striking golf balls and a rear side. At least one groove is defined in one of the front side of the body and the rear side of the striking plate. At least one plastic protrusion is formed on the other of the front side of the body and the rear side of the striking plate. When assembling the striking plate and the body, the plastic protrusion deforms under pressure to form an engaging portion that is engaged in the groove, thereby securely engaging the striking plate with the body.
The groove and the plastic protrusion are preferably slantingly V-shaped. Preferably, the protrusion includes a pointed section located in an opening of the groove when assembling the striking plate with the body.
In an embodiment, the groove is defined in the front side of the body and the plastic protrusion is formed on the rear side of the striking plate.
In another embodiment, the groove is defined in the rear side of the striking plate and the plastic protrusion is formed on the front side of the body. The body further includes a positioning groove and a positioning flange. The rear side of the striking plate includes a positioning flange that is engaged in the positioning groove of the body. The positioning flange of the striking plate is securely held in place by the positioning flange of the body.
An auxiliary plastic protrusion is formed on one of the front side of the body and the rear side of the striking plate. The auxiliary plastic protrusion is adjacent to and extends along an outer perimeter of one of the front side of the body and the rear side of the striking plate. The auxiliary plastic protrusion is deformable to form a gap-filling portion for filling gaps between the body and the striking plate. The auxiliary plastic protrusion is located on an outer side of the plastic protrusion. The plastic protrusion extends to an extent greater than the auxiliary plastic protrusion.
The plastic protrusion and the groove extend continuously or discontinuously.
The golf club head may be an iron club head, a wooden club head, or a putter.
In an embodiment, the striking plate is substantially U-shaped in section and bent to form an annular supporting wall to improve elastic deformability of the striking plate. In this case, the groove is defined in one of the front side of the body and a bottom face of the annular supporting wall, and wherein the plastic protrusion is formed on the other of the front side of the body and the bottom face of the annular supporting wall.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of this invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
Still referring to
The plastic protrusion 31 and the auxiliary plastic protrusion 32 are relatively small. Thus, the plastic protrusion 31 and the auxiliary plastic protrusion 32 plastically deform slightly under pressure. Before bonding, a pointed section 311 of the plastic protrusion 31 is located within an opening of the V-shaped groove 211 of the body 2, and a pointed section 321 of the auxiliary plastic protrusion 32 is located in an area of the engaging face 21 between the V-shaped groove 211 and the outer perimeter of the body 2.
During engagement, as illustrated in
Further, since the pointed section 321 of the auxiliary plastic protrusion 32 is located in the engaging face 21, the auxiliary plastic protrusion 32 deforms plastically, forming a gap-filling portion 32′ to assure that no gap exists in a bonding area between the striking plate 3 and the body 2.
After initial engagement, adhering, brazing, or welding can be carried out. Further, the protruded gap-filling portion 32′ can be removed by finishing, obtaining a golf club head. Thus, the tolerance precision requirement can be lowered, as the minimum requirement is to assure that the pointed section 311 of the plastic protrusion 31 is located within an opening of the V-shaped groove 211 of the body 2. The manufacturing process is simplified and the manufacturing cost is cut.
In this embodiment, the striking plate 3 is substantially U-shaped in section. Further, the striking plate 3 is bent to form an annular supporting wall 33 for improving the elastic deformability of the striking plate 3. Further, a plastic protrusion 31 and an auxiliary plastic protrusion 32 are formed on a bottom face of the annular supporting wall 33 for bonding with the V-shaped grooves 211 and the engaging face 21 of the body 2. Thus, the striking plate 3 can be reliably bonded with the body 2 by plastic deformation, simplifying the manufacturing procedure and cutting the manufacturing cost.
In assembly, the positioning flange 51 of the striking plate 5 is engaged with the positioning groove 41, with the positioning flange 43 securely holding the positioning flange 51. A pointed section 441 of the plastic protrusion 44 of the body 4 abuts against a wall delimiting the groove 53. Next, the pointed section 441 of the plastic protrusion 44 deforms plastically and forms an engaging portion 44′ that is securely engaged in the groove 53. The auxiliary plastic protrusion 45 plastically deforms and forms a gap-filling portion, which is similar to the first embodiment. Thus, the striking plate 5 can be reliably bonded with the body 4 by plastic deformation, simplifying the manufacturing procedure and cutting the manufacturing cost.
While the principles of this invention have been disclosed in connection with specific embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that these descriptions are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, and that any modification and variation without departing the spirit of the invention is intended to be covered by the scope of this invention defined only by the appended claims.
