Patent Grant
9687704
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a golf club head and, more particularly, to a method for manufacturing an integrally formed high-strength blade-type golf iron head with a thin blade.
2. Description of the Related Art
Golf club heads includes woods, irons, and putters. Early woods and irons are generally made of stainless steel or carbon steel to increase the performance of the golf club heads. New steel-type cast materials have been continuously developed in recent years and have been used to manufacture golf club heads. For example, steel type alloys containing cobalt, molybdenum, or titanium generally have a high strength (the tensile strength is higher than 250 ksi) suitable for manufacturing golf iron heads.
Golf iron heads include a cavity-back type and a blade type. A golf iron head of the cavity-back type is a design of a low center of gravity, because there are more centers of gravity distributed around the club face. Furthermore, the average distribution of the surrounding centers of gravity provides a larger sweet area, such that the tolerance of miss-hitting of a golf iron head of the cavity-back type is larger. Namely, even if the user fails to hit the center of the sweet area, the golf ball still can easily be pushed towards the target location, and the driving range is also better. Namely, the driving range is not significantly reduced by the deviation of hitting. By contrast, a blade-type golf iron head has a small, thin club face, such that the sense of feel of hitting transmitted to the hands via the club shaft will be more obvious. Whether the hit is in the sweet area or missed, it can clearly be transmitted to the hands of the user, such that the user can identify whether each hitting achieves the expected effect, providing assistance in adjustment and skill training for the user.
Thus, if the center of gravity of a blade-type golf iron head can be lowered, the blade-type golf iron head can possess the advantages of an increased sweet area and the sense of feel of hitting. With reference to
However, current blade-type golf iron heads are formed by forging or casting. Although casting has a cost lower than forging, current casting methods includes using a high frequency induction furnace to rapidly melt the cast materials in the atmosphere. Next, the slag and gases in the molten metal are removed by slagging and refinery steps. Static gravity pouring is then carried out. However, the cast materials for blade-type golf iron heads often include active metals (such as manganese, aluminum, silicon, cobalt, molybdenum, and titanium) that are apt to react with oxygen in the air. Thus, rigorous oxidation easily occurs during the procedures of smelting of the cast materials, increasing difficulties in melting and easily causing oxidative fire cracks due to reaction with air during pouring. As a result, appearance defects, such as sesame dot defects and black bean defects, are apt to be formed on the cast products of the blade-type golf iron heads. In worse situations, the reactive gas forms a large number of slag holes or blowholes in the cast products of the blade-type golf iron heads and, thus, adversely affects the tensile strength of the blade-type golf iron heads, limiting the thickness of the blades of the blade-type golf iron heads.
Namely, to assure that the blade of a blade-type golf iron head can meet the tensile strength standard so not to be damaged after the striking faceplate of the blade-type golf iron head has withstood cannon shots of predetermined strength and times without damage, the thickness of the blade of a current integrally formed blade-type golf iron head is still too thick (about 6.0 mm), which not only causes difficulties in lowering the center of gravity of the blade-type golf iron head but results in a heavier overall weight (about 260 g) of the blade-type golf iron head.
Furthermore, rigorous oxidation also reduces the flowability of the molten metal in the shell mold, leading to a reduced yield of the cast products of blade-type golf iron heads due to insufficient pouring or resulting in gaps in the cast products of the blade-type golf iron heads due to cold shut. The tensile strength of the cast products of the blade-type golf iron heads is also adversely affected.
Thus, improvement to conventional methods for manufacturing blade-type golf iron heads is desired.
An objective of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a high-strength blade-type golf iron head with a thin blade to reduce the chemical reaction of the cast material with air during smelting, increasing the tensile strength of the cast product to allow thinning of the blade of the blade-type golf iron head and to thereby lower the center of gravity of the blade-type golf iron head.
Another objective of the embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a high-strength blade-type golf iron head with a thin blade to increase the yield and quality of the cast products.
The present invention fulfills the above objectives by providing a method for manufacturing a high-strength blade-type golf iron head with a thin blade. The method includes placing a shell mold onto a rotary table. The shell mold includes a crucible portion and a cavity portion in communication with the crucible portion. The rotary table is coupled to a rotating shaft rotatable about a rotating axis. At least one metal ingot is placed into the crucible portion of the shell mold and is heated to melt into molten metal in a vacuum environment. The rotating shaft is driven to rotate the rotary table, causing the molten metal to flow into the cavity portion of the shell mold. The rotating shaft is slowly stopped, and the shell mold is removed after pouring. The shell mold is destroyed after the molten metal cools and solidifies, obtaining a casting having a cast product portion. The cast product portion is separated from the casting to obtain at least one blade-type golf iron head having the blade with a minimum thickness of 3.5-5.0 mm. The weight of the blade-type golf iron head is reduced by 0.9-2.5%, and the center of gravity of the blade-type golf iron head is lowered by 0.2-0.75 mm.
In an example, the at least one metal ingot includes a metal ingot of a high-strength steel alloy, and the metal ingot has a composition identical to a composition of a high-strength blade-type golf iron head to be produced.
In another example, the at least one metal ingot includes a plurality of metal ingots, and a composition of the molten metal of the plurality of metal ingots is identical to a composition of a high-strength blade-type golf iron head to be produced.
The method can further include forming the shell mold. Forming the shell mold includes preparing a wax blank including a crucible blank and a casting blank. The crucible blank includes a first connecting portion on an outer periphery of the crucible blank. The casting blank includes a second connecting portion. The first connecting portion and the second connecting portion are integrally connected to each other. An enveloping layer is formed on an outer surface of the wax blank. The wax blank and the enveloping layer are heated to melt the wax out. The dewaxed enveloping layer is sintered at a high temperature to form the shell mold including the crucible portion and the cavity portion integral with the crucible portion.
The shell mold can include a surface layer of a fire-resistant material including zirconium silicate, yttrium oxide, stabilized zirconium oxide, or aluminum oxide.
In an example, the shell mold includes a back layer of a material including a mullite compound containing 45-60 wt % of aluminum oxide and 55-40 wt % of silicon oxide.
In another example, the shell mold includes a back layer of a material including a silicon oxide compound containing more than 95% of silicon oxide.
Thus, the method for manufacturing a high-strength blade-type golf iron head with a thin blade according to the present invention can reduce the chemical reaction of the cast material with air during smelting, increasing the tensile strength of the cast product to allow thinning of the blade of the blade-type golf iron head to thereby lower the center of gravity of the blade-type golf iron head while increasing the yield and quality of the cast products.
The present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments of this invention described in connection with the drawings.
The illustrative embodiments may best be described by reference to the accompanying drawings where:
All figures are drawn for ease of explanation of the basic teachings of the present invention only; the extensions of the figures with respect to number, position, relationship, and dimensions of the parts to form the preferred embodiments will be explained or will be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood. Further, the exact dimensions and dimensional proportions to conform to specific force, weight, strength, and similar requirements will likewise be within the skill of the art after the following teachings of the present invention have been read and understood.
Specifically, the vacuum furnace 1 includes a chamber 11. A gas guiding tube 12 is mounted to the vacuum furnace 1 and intercommunicates with the chamber 11. A vacuum controller (not shown) can be operated to control the vacuum degree in the chamber 11 by drawing gas out of the chamber 11 via the gas guiding tube 12 according to set values. Furthermore, the vacuum furnace 1 can include an opening 13 permitting a user to place an object into the chamber 11 or retrieve the object out of the chamber 11, and a cover 14 can be provided to control opening and closing of the opening 13.
With reference to
Furthermore, a portion of the rotating shaft 2 in the chamber 11 includes a body 21 and a stop portion 22. Cross sections of the body 21 perpendicular to the rotating axis are different from cross sections of the stop portion 22 perpendicular to the rotating axis, forming an abutment portion 23 at an intersection between the body 21 and the stop portion 22. The rotary table 3 is coupled to the stop portion 22 and abuts the abutment portion 23 such that the rotary table 3 synchronously rotates with the rotating shaft 2. In this embodiment, the cross sections of the body 21 perpendicular to the rotating axis are circular. The stop portion 22 is located on an end of the rotating shaft 2, and the cross sections of the stop portion 22 perpendicular to the rotating axis are non-circular, allowing the rotary table 3 to couple with the stop portion 22 and to abut the abutment portion 23.
With reference to
With reference to
The crucible portion 41 is substantially cup-shaped and defines a receiving space 411 adapted for receiving metal ingots to be heated to melt. A first connecting tube 412 is provided on an outer periphery of the crucible portion 41 and is in communication with the receiving space 411. The cavity portion 42 is used to form a blade-type golf iron head. However, the outline of the cavity portion 42 is not limited. The cavity portion 42 includes at least one cavity 421 having a shape corresponding to a shape of the blade-type golf iron head to be cast. The cavity portion 42 further includes a second connecting tube 422 in communication with the at least one cavity 421. The crucible portion 41 and the cavity portion 42 are connected to each other by the first connecting tube 412 and the second connecting tube 422. Thus, the receiving space 411 is in communication with the at least one cavity 421.
With reference to
With reference to
In view of the above, the method for manufacturing a high-strength blade-type golf iron head with a thin blade according to the present invention can be implemented and includes the following steps.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
After pouring, the rotating shaft 2 is slowly stopped, and the shell mold 4 is removed from the rotary table 3. After the molten metal N cools and solidifies, the shell mold 4 is destroyed to obtain a casting having a cast product portion. The cast product portion is separated from the casting (such as by cutting the cast product portion from the casting with a cutter or by vibration to break the cast product portion from the casting) to obtain at least one blade-type golf iron head. After withstanding 3000 cannon shots at a speed of 50 m/s, the undamaged minimum thickness of the blade of the blade-type golf iron head is 3.5-5.0 mm. The weight reduced ratio and lowered value of the location of the center of gravity of each blade-type golf iron head are shown in Table 1.
As can be seen from Table 1, the weight of each blade-type golf iron head formed by the method according to the present invention is reduced by about 0.9-2.5%, and the center of gravity of each blade-type golf iron head is lowered by about 0.2-0.75 mm.
Thus, the method for manufacturing a high-strength blade-type golf iron head with a thin blade according to the present invention can be produced in a nearly vacuum environment to reduce the chemical reaction of the cast material with air during smelting, such that the metal ingot P can easily and more evenly melt to avoid oxidative fire crack resulting from reaction with air while the molten metal N is flowing from the crucible portion 41 of the shell mold 4 into the cavity portion 42. Thus, appearance defects, such as sesame dot defects and black bean defects, are less likely to be formed on the cast product of the blade-type golf iron head. Furthermore, casting defects of slag holes or blowholes formed by the reactive gas are less likely to be generated, increasing the tensile strength of the cast product of the blade-type golf iron head.
Furthermore, reduced chemical reaction between the molten metal N and air also increases the flowability of the molten metal N in the shell mold 4. Furthermore, the molten metal N is reliably poured into the cavity 421 of the shell mold 4 by using the centrifugal force before the molten metal N re-solidifies, which not only avoids a waste of the cast material due to solidification of a portion of the molten metal N in the crucible portion 41 but assures that the cavity portion 42 can be filled with the molten metal N after the molten metal N has flown into the cavity portion 42. The yield of the cast products of the blade-type golf iron heads can be increased, and the possibility of formation of gaps in the cast products of the blade-type golf iron heads due to cold shut is reduced. Thus, the tensile strength of the cast products of the blade-type golf iron heads is increased.
Thus, the method according to the present invention can produce a high-strength blade-type golf iron head and, thus, allows thinning of the blade of the high-strength blade-type golf iron head, such that the center of gravity of the high-strength blade-type golf iron head can be lowered to provide a larger sweet area while providing a good sense of feel of hitting as well as having excellent hitting performance such as a high restitution coefficient.
With reference to
In view of the foregoing, the method for manufacturing a high-strength blade-type golf iron head with a thin blade according to the present invention can reduce the chemical reaction of the cast material with air during smelting, increasing the tensile strength of the cast product and allowing thinning of the blade of the blade-type golf iron head. Thus, the center of gravity of the blade-type golf iron head can be lowered to improve the hitting performance. Furthermore, the method for manufacturing a high-strength blade-type golf iron head with a thin blade according to the present invention can increase the yield and the quality of the cast products.
Thus since the invention disclosed herein may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or general characteristics thereof, some of which forms have been indicated, the embodiments described herein are to be considered in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is to be indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.
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