Patent Grant
7029402
The present disclosure relates to the subject matter contained in Japanese Patent Application No.2002-52833 filed on Feb. 28, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster by which assembling of a golf club so as to correspond to various golf club heads different in shaft diameter is made easy so that a golf club shaft approved by a golfer and a golf club head approved by the golfer can be combined with each other in accordance with the affinities of the golfer; a golf club shaft using the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster; and a golf club using the golf club shaft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Golf club shafts are roughly classified into shafts made of metal and shafts made of fiber reinforced resin (FRP). On the other hand, golf club heads to be attached to these shafts include heads made of wood (persimmon), heads made of metal, heads made of FRP, and composite heads of these materials. Such a golf club head is generally attached to such a golf club shaft through a bonding agent made of synthetic resin so as to be assembled into a golf club.
In recent years, increase of the dimensions of golf club heads, reduction of the weight of golf club shafts and increase of the length of golf club shafts are required of golf clubs. Particularly, high shock resistance in the shaft tip portion is required of the golf clubs. In addition, suitable combination of a golf club shaft with a golf club head in accordance with the diversification of golfers' affinities is desired, and assembling of a golf club matching with a wide variety of golf club heads different in shaft diameter is required.
Under the circumferences, the invention is to satisfy the requests in the related art, that is, to attain the following object.
That is, it is an object of the invention to provide a golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster by which assembling of a golf club so as to correspond to various golf club heads different in shaft diameter is made easy so that a golf club shaft approved by a golfer and a golf club head approved by the golfer can be combined with each other in accordance with the affinities of the golfer; a golf club shaft using the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster; and a golf club using the golf club shaft.
To attain the foregoing object, the invention provides a golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster, a golf club shaft and a golf club as follows.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster attached to a tip portion of a golf club shaft, for adjusting a diameter of the shaft tip portion, the adjuster including a cylindrical tubular body made of a fiber reinforced resin. The body defines a slit in a lengthwise direction thereof to separate the body.
According to a second aspect of the invention, an inner diameter of the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster is smaller than an outer diameter of the shaft tip portion.
According to a third aspect of the invention, fibers included in the body are oriented in the lengthwise direction in a range of ±10° .
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a resin material of the fiber reinforced resin is selected from the group consisting of epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin and acrylic resin.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, a fiber material of the fiber reinforced resin is selected from the group consisting of glass fiber and carbon fiber.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the body has 20 mm–80 mm in length, 0.1 mm–0.5 mm in thickness, and 7.5 mm–10.0 mm in inner diameter.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided golf club shaft including an end portion, and a golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster including a cylindrical tubular body made of a fiber reinforced resin. The body defines a slit in a lengthwise direction thereof to separate the body. The golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster is attached to the end portion.
According to a eighth aspect of the invention, there is provided a golf club including a golf club head, and a golf club shaft. The golf club shaft includes an end portion, and a golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster including a cylindrical tubular body made of a fiber reinforced resin. The body defines a slit in a lengthwise direction thereof to separate the body. The golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster is attached to the end portion. The golf club shaft is inserted into a shaft insertion hole of the golf club head.
According to a ninth aspect of the invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the elastic modulus of fibers of the fiber reinforced resin is not larger than 30 ton.
The golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster according to the first aspect is formed into a cylindrical tubular body out of fiber reinforced resin, while a slit is provided to separate the tip diameter adjuster lengthwise. Accordingly, the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster can be attached to the tip portion of the golf club shaft so as to adjust the tip diameter of the golf club shaft desirably. Thus, the golf club shaft can be combined with a golf club head desirably in accordance with the diversification of golfers' affinities so as to be assembled into a golf club matching with a wide variety of golf club heads different in shaft diameter.
In addition, the slit is open when the tip diameter adjuster has been attached to the golf club shaft. Thus, there occurs an effect of constriction caused by the restoring force of the slit so that the tip diameter adjuster can be prevented from moving out of place at the time of working or the like. Further, since the slit portion is slightly open when the tip diameter adjuster has been attached to the golf club shaft, it can be confirmed that the tip diameter adjuster is in tight contact with the shaft tip.
The golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster according to the second aspect is formed so that the inner diameter thereof is smaller than the outer diameter of the shaft tip portion in the configuration defined in the first aspect. Accordingly, the slit is expanded when the tip diameter adjuster has been attached to the shaft. Thus, the shaft tip portion is constricted by the restoring force of the slit so as to show a good adhesive property.
In the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster according to the third aspect, fibers included in the tip diameter adjuster are oriented lengthwise in a range of ±10° in the configuration defined in the first or second aspect. Accordingly, it is easy to form the tip diameter adjuster into a cylindrical shape, and it is easy to make the slit in the orientation direction.
A golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster according to the invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
The golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster 10 defines a slit 5 to separate the tip diameter adjuster 10 along with a lengthwise direction thereof as shown in
In addition, it is preferable that the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster 10 is formed so that the inner diameter thereof is smaller than the outer diameter of the tip portion of the shaft. Specifically, it is preferable that the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster 10 is formed so that the inner diameter thereof is smaller by 0.05 mm–0.1 mm than the outer diameter of the tip portion of the shaft. As a result, the slit 5 is open when the tip diameter adjuster is attached to the shaft. Thus, there occurs an effect of constriction caused by the restoring force of the slit 5 so that the tip diameter adjuster 10 can be prevented from moving out of place during working. Further, since the slit 5 is slightly open when the tip diameter adjuster 10 is attached to the shaft, the tip diameter adjuster 10 is in tight contact with the shaft tip.
The dimensions of the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster 10 is not limited particularly, but can be selected suitably in accordance with applications. The tip diameter adjuster 10 is preferably 20 mm–80 mm in length, 0.1 mm–0.5 mm (more preferably 0.2 mm–0.4 mm) in thickness, and 7.5 mm–10.0 mm in inner diameter.
For use in an iron club, the tip diameter adjuster 10 has preferably 20 mm–40 mm in length and 9 mm–10 mm in inner diameter.
For use in a wood club such as a driver, the tip diameter adjuster 10 has preferably 40 mm–70 mm in length and 7.5 mm–9 mm in inner diameter.
The resin material composing fiber reinforced resin of the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster 10 is not limited particularly. Examples of such a resin material include epoxy resin, unsaturated polyester resin and acrylic resin. When the tip diameter adjuster 10 is attached to a shaft made of fiber reinforced resin (FRP), it is preferable to use the same resin as the fiber reinforced resin used for the golf club shaft in order to improve the adhesive property.
As the fiber material composing the fiber reinforced resin, it is preferable to use glass fiber, carbon fiber, or mixture fiber of glass fiber and carbon fiber. Incidentally, metal fiber such as titanium, boron fiber, amorphous fiber, organic fiber, and the like may be blended suitably in accordance with necessity.
It is preferable that the elastic modulus of the carbon fiber is not very high. When the elastic modulus is too high, the carbon fiber itself is so hard that the workability may deteriorate. The elastic modulus of the carbon fiber is preferably not higher than 30 ton.
It is preferable that fibers included in the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster 10 are oriented in the lengthwise direction thereof in a range of ±10°, particularly in a range of ±0°.
When the orientation direction of the fibers is in the lengthwise direction (longitudinal direction) thereof, it is easy to form the tip diameter adjuster 10 into a cylindrical shape while it is easy to make the slit 5 in the orientation direction.
The golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster according to the invention can be manufactured by winding a UD prepreg sheet around a mandrel (iron core), cutting the sheet into predetermined dimensions and slitting the sheet in its lengthwise direction. Consequently, there is no fear that a mold release agent is mixed into the tip diameter adjuster as in injection molding. It is, therefore, possible to prevent the adhesive force from being lowered.
As for the method for attaching the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster to the club shaft, a bonding agent is applied to the tip portion of the shaft 1, and the cylindrical tip diameter adjuster 10 is inserted and the boding agent is hardened sufficiently, as shown in
There is no particular limit on the golf club shaft to which the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster according to the invention will be attached. The golf club shaft may be either a metal shaft or a fiber reinforced resin (FRP) shaft.
In addition, the golf club shaft with the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster according to the invention being attached to its tip portion can be combined with a desired golf club head in accordance with the diversification of golfers' affinities. Thus, it is possible to assemble a golf club matching with a wide variety of golf club heads different in shaft diameter.
Further, when the golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster 10 according to the invention is attached as shown in
The golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster according to the invention has been described above specifically. However, the invention is not limited to the embodiment. Various modifications may be applied to the invention without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.
An example and comparative examples will be shown below to describe the invention in more detail. However, the invention is not limited to the following example at all.
A UD prepreg sheet (trade name: TR350E125S (made by Mitsubishi Rayon Co., Ltd.) including carbon fiber having an elastic modulus of 24 ton) was wound around a mandrel and hardened. The sheet was then cut into a cylindrical tubular body 65 mm in length, 8.5 mm in inner diameter and 0.2 mm in thickness, and a slit was made in the cylindrical tubular body in the lengthwise direction thereof. Thus, a shaft tip diameter adjuster as shown in
A bonding agent was applied to the tip portion of a golf club shaft (tip diameter 8.6 mm) made of carbon fiber reinforced resin so that this tip diameter adjuster was fixedly bonded to the shaft. Thus, the tip diameter of the shaft became 9.0 mm (Example 1).
The golf club shaft to which the cylindrical tubular body had not been attached was used as Comparative Example 1.
<Izod Impact Test>
Shaft samples having 50–60 mm long were made up out of the golf club shafts according to Example 1 and Comparative Example 1. As shown in
From the result of Table 1, it was confirmed that when the tip diameter adjuster according to the invention was attached, the Izod impact strength was improved by about 10% is comparison with that in Comparative Example 1.
<Durability Test>
Next, a wood type golf club head made of metal was attached to the golf club shaft according to Example 1 by use of an epoxy-based bonding agent, and a durability test was performed thereon with a Miyamae swing robot (head speed 45 m/s).
As Comparative Example 2, a cylindrical tubular body made of polyamide resin containing no fiber and having the same in dimensions as those of Example 1 was prepared and attached to a golf club head in the same manner, and a durability test was performed thereon in the same manner.
In Example 1, 500 blows were given to each of the toe side and the heel side from the center (each of positions 20 mm distant from the center respectively) of the hitting surface (face) of the golf club head in the Miyamae swing robot durability test. Even the 500 blows caused no peeling of the bonding layer and hence caused no turn of the golf club head. Thus, there was no problem.
On the other hand, in Comparative Example 2, 200 blows given in the Miyamae swing robot durability test caused peeling of the bonding layer and hence caused a turn of the golf club head.
As described above, according to the invention, a golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster is attached to a tip portion of a golf club shaft so that the golf club shaft can be combined with a desired golf club head suitably in accordance with the diversification of golfers' affinities. Thus, it is possible to assemble a desired golf club matching with a wide variety of golf club heads different in shaft diameter.
In addition, according to the invention, a golf club shaft tip diameter adjuster is attached to a tip portion of a golf club shaft so that the strength of the shaft tip portion can be enhanced. Thus, the impact strength is improved.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| P2002-052833 | Feb 2002 | JP | national |
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