Golf Club Head

Abstract

A golf club head includes a hosel section and a head main body. The head main body is composed of a face section, and an upper structural section and a lower structural section. The upper structural section and the lower structural section are provided on a back side of the face section. The upper structural section and the lower structural section are secured on the face section by welding, brazing, bonding, screwing, or the like. The upper structural section is configured so to be heavier than the lower structural section.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT

[0001] The present invention relates to a golf club head.

[0002] In a golf play, it is preferred to reduce missed shots especially the ones such as fat shots and topped shots during approach shots for general golf players regardless of their skill levels.

[0003] An approach shot is frequently made after a shot aimed at a green is slightly missed. A typical distance of the approach shot to a cup is often within about 50 yards. For this reason, a swing length of the approach shot is typically up to a half of a full shot, and it is necessary to slow down a head speed. On the other hand, for a distance of 60 yards or longer, when a general golf player chooses a club with an appropriate loft angle, the player can swing the club at a regular club head speed.

[0004] In addition, while 70% green in regulation is considered as an excellent level even for professional golfers, even 28% green in regulation (5 out of 18 holes) is considered as a decent level for average golfers. Therefore, in the golf play, the approach shots are frequent.

[0005] For the approach shots, many players prefer to use an approach wedge (with a loft angle of about 48.degree. to 54.degree.) or a sand wedge (with a loft angle of about 56.degree. to 60.degree.). Here, when a player chooses to use a wedge with a relatively large loft angle, the club head speed tends to be high. As a result, it is possible to attain a carry distance of about 100 yards by a full swing with the approach wedge, and a carry distance of about 80 yards with the sand wedge.

[0006] Since the approach wedge and the sand wedge have a heavy club head, when a ball is hit under an appropriate ball-hitting point of a club head including a top, the ball may excessively travel for a longer than expected carry distance. Such a phenomenon of the excessive carry can occur not only with the approach wedge and the sand wedge, but also with a so-called short iron such as the No. 8 iron or below.

[0007] Patent Reference has disclosed a conventional iron golf club head, which can prevent the excessive carry even in the full shot by filling floating metal powder in a club head main body. With such a golf club head, even when a distance to a cup is for example within 50 yards, it is possible to swing the full shot.

[0008] Patent Reference: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-130317

[0009] However, the above-described conventional golf club head has the club head main body filled with the floating metal powder, thereby easily causing unusual feeling upon swing. For this reason, with those golf clubs, it is difficult to sufficiently reduce the frequency of the missed shots such as the topped shots and the duff shots.

[0010] In view of the problems of the conventional golf club head as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a golf club head that can reduce an excessive carry even when a player makes a missed shot such as a topped shot or a near topped shot. It is also possible to reduce the missed shot such as the topped shot and the duff shot.

[0011] Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0012] In order to attain the objects described above, according to one aspect of the present invention, a golf club head includes a head main body and a shaft-connecting section. In the golf club head, a weight distribution between a weight of an upper head section W1 and a weight of a lower head section W2 is W1.gtoreq.W2 when the head main body is divided into two sections with a vertical plane or a horizontal plane passing through a center of a face of the gold club head in an up-and-down direction thereof, or a plane perpendicular to the face when the gold club head is placed in a reference state, in which the gold club head is placed on a horizontal surface while maintaining a specific lie angle and a specific loft angle thereof.

[0013] With the above-described configuration, since the weight of the lower head section of the golf club head is less than that of the upper head section, even in a case of missed shots such as topped shots, in which the lower head section having the light weight hits near an equator of a golf ball, it is possible to reduce a level of an excessive carry. Furthermore, once a player can feel reduction of the excessive carries due to the missed shots, the player may not hesitate to lift a sole of the club head from the ground when the player is in address position, so that the player recognizes to be able to just hit under an equator of the ball with a leading edge of the club head through down blow.

[0014] Accordingly, it is possible to improve the swing motion and reduce the missed shots such as the topped shots and the duff shots. Moreover, the center of gravity of the golf club head becomes high and the distance between a ball-hitting point and the center of gravity becomes longer.

[0015] Accordingly, the club head can easily rotate downward (in a direction that a clubface stands) upon hitting the ball, and with a gear effect caused by the spin, it is possible to apply strong back spins to the ball.

[0016] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is also possible to configure so as to attain the weight distribution W1.gtoreq.W2 for weights including respective parts of the hosel section as a shaft-connecting section that is divided into the two sections with the planes.

[0017] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is also possible to provide a corner section of the face at a heel-side lower portion of the face. With the configuration, there is no hosel section on the heel-side lower part of the face. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent a so-called shank shot.

[0018] According to one aspect of the present invention, on at least one edge section of the toe side and the heel side of the face, there may be also provided a cushion part. With the cushion part, it is possible to reduce the missed shots caused by hitting the golf ball at the edge section to carry the golf ball in an oblique direction.

[0019] According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the level of the excessive carry even in the case of the missed shots such as the topped shot, and to reduce the missed shots such as the topped shots.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] FIGS. 1(A), 1(B), and 1(C) are schematic views showing a golf club head viewed from a toe side thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] FIGS. 2(A), 2(B), and 2(C) are schematic views showing a golf club head viewed from a toe side thereof according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] FIG. 3 is a front view showing a golf club head according to further another embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] FIG. 4 is a side view of the golf club head shown in FIG. 3 viewed from a toe side thereof;

[0024] FIG. 5 is a top view of the golf club head shown in FIG. 3;

[0025] FIG. 6 is a backside view of the golf club head shown in FIG. 3; and

[0026] FIG. 7 is a front view of a golf club head according to a still further embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0027] Referring now to the accompanying drawings, a golf club head according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below. Here, it should be noted that the golf club head of the present invention is not limited to the one described below, and can be modified, altered, and changed as necessary within the scope of the present invention.

[0028] FIGS. 1(A), 1(B), and 1(C) are schematic views showing a golf club head 1 viewed from a toe side thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 1(A), 1(B), and 1(C), the iron-type (including wedge) golf club head 1 includes a hosel section 10 and a club head main body 11. The club head main body 11 is composed of a clubface section 12, an upper structural section 13 and a lower structural section 14 provided on a back side thereof. The upper structural section 13 and the lower structural section 14 are secured on the face section 12 by welding, brazing, bonding, or screwing, or by other method, or integrally molded therewith.

[0029] In the embodiment, the upper structural section 13 is made so as to be heavier than the lower structural section 14. The upper structural section 13 and the lower structural section 14 may be made of a metal material as well as a resin material or the like. The lower structural section 14 can have a hollow structure. The hosel section 10 and the clubface section 12 are made, for example, of a metal material. The golf club head 1 is muscle back type, but also can be a cavity type.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 1(A), the golf club head 1 is divided into two sections with a plane A perpendicular to a face 12a that goes through a center of the face 12a in a up-and-down direction while being in a reference state where the golf club head 1 is placed on a horizontal surface H while maintaining a specific lie angle and a specific loft angle thereof. When a weight of the upper club head section 13A (hatched area) is W1 and a weight of the lower head section 14A (white-out area) is W2, the golf club head 1 satisfies the relation W1>W2. The center of the face 12a in the up-and-down direction can be set as, for example, a position in middle between the uppermost end and lowermost end of the face 12a, or in a middle position between a heel-side end and a toe-side end in a score line forming region in the up-and-down direction, or the like.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 1(B), the golf club head 1 is divided into two sections with a vertical plane B that goes through a center of the face 12a in the up-and-down direction, when the golf club head 1 is in a reference state where the golf club head 1 is placed on a horizontal surface while maintaining a specific lie angle and a specific loft angle thereof. When the weight of the upper head section 13A (hatched area) is W1 and the weight of the lower head section 14A (white-out area) is W2, the golf club head 1 satisfies the relation W1>W2. Under the condition of dividing into the two sections like this, a part of the lower structural section 14 forms a part of the upper head section 13A.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 1(C), when the golf club head 1 is divided into two sections with a horizontal plane C that goes through a center of the face 12a in a up-and-down direction while being in a reference state where the golf club head 1 is placed on a horizontal surface H while maintaining a specific lie angle and a specific loft angle thereof. When the weight of the upper head section 13A (hatched area) is W1 and the weight of the lower head section 14A (white-out area) is W2, the golf club head 1 satisfies the relation W1.gtoreq.W2. Under the condition of dividing into two sections like this, a part of the upper structural section 13 forms a part of the lower head section 14A. It should be noted that the weights of the upper structural section 13 and the lower structural section 14 are set so as to secure W1.gtoreq.W2. With the condition of dividing into the two sections shown in FIG. 1(C), the weight of the upper head section 13A is to be lighter, so that it is more difficult to satisfy W1.gtoreq.W2 than other dividing conditions.

[0033] FIGS. 2(A), 2(B), and 2(C) are schematic views showing a golf club head 1A according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the golf club head 1A, the head main body 11 is composed of the clubface section 12 and the upper structural section 13 and the lower structural section 15 provided on the backside thereof. Here, the upper structural section 13 is configured to have the same weight as the lower structural section 15.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 2(A), when the golf club head 1 is divided into two sections with a plane A perpendicular to a face 12a that goes through a center of the face 12a in a up-and-down direction while being in a reference state where the golf club head 1 is placed on a horizontal surface H while maintaining a specific lie angle and a specific loft angle thereof. When a weight of the upper head section 13A (hatched area) is W1 and a weight of the lower head section 14A (white-out area) is W2, the golf club head 1 satisfies the relation W1=W2.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 2(B), when the golf club head 1 is divided into two sections with a vertical plane B that goes through a center of the face 12a in a up-and-down direction while being in a reference state where the golf club head 1 is placed on a horizontal surface H while maintaining a specific lie angle and a specific loft angle thereof. When the weight of the upper head section 13A (hatched area) is W1 and the weight of the lower head section 14A (white-out area) is W2, the golf club head 1 satisfies the relation W1>W2. Under the condition of dividing into two sections like this, a part of the lower structural section 15 forms a part of the upper head section 13A.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 2(C), when the golf club head 1 is divided into two sections with a horizontal plane C that goes through a center of the face 12a in a up-and-down direction while being in a reference state where the golf club head 1 is placed on a horizontal surface H while maintaining a specific lie angle and a specific loft angle thereof. When the weight of the upper head section 13A (hatched area) is W1 and the weight of the lower head section 14A (white-out area) is W2, the golf club head 1 cannot satisfy the relation W1.gtoreq.W2. The golf club head 1A is configured to satisfy the weight relation W1.gtoreq.W2 based on FIGS. 2(A) and 2(B), the golf club head 1A is also included in the scope of the present invention.

[0037] FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6 show a golf club head according to another embodiment of the present invention. The golf club head 1B integrally includes a weight part, which is equivalent to the upper structural section 13 and the lower structural section 14, on the back side of the face section 12, has a region that corresponds to the upper head section 13A and the lower head section 14A (indicated with the same reference numerals 13A and 14A), and has the weight distribution W1.gtoreq.W2. Here, FIG. 4 also shows a golf ball.

[0038] In those golf club heads 1, 1A, and 1B, since the weight of the lower head section 14A (15A) is set as W1, the weight of the upper head section 13A, or lower, even in case of missed shots such as topped shots, the lower head section 14A (15A), which has light weight, hits a golf ball 2 at an equator of the ball 2, and it is possible to reduce the level of the excessive carry.

[0039] In addition, once a player realizes the reduction of the excessive carry due to the missed shots, the player may feel less hesitation about lifting the sole of the club head from the ground when the player is in address position, and the player may realize the player just needs to hit the leading edge under the equator of the ball by descending blow shot, so that it is possible to improve the swing and also reduce missed shots such as topped shots and duff shots. Furthermore, since the center of gravity is high and the distance between the ball-hitting point and the center of gravity is made longer, the club head can easily rotate downward (in a direction that the clubface stands) upon hitting a ball, and thereby it is possible to give strong back spins on the ball by a gear effect.

[0040] In the golf club heads 1, 1A, and 1B, the hosel section 10 is provided to extend from the heel side of the upper head section 13A, but the hosel section 10 can be configured to extend a region that includes the upper head section 13A and includes a part of the lower head section 14A (15A). In addition, in the configuration like this, it is possible to provide a corner section of the face 12a on the heel-side lower part of the face 12a. In the configuration having such the corner section, since there is no hosel section 10 on the heel-side lower part of the face 12a, so-called shank hardly occurs.

[0041] Here, it is also possible to configure to satisfy the weight distribution W1.gtoreq.W2 including weights of respective parts of the hosel section 10 divided by the planes A, B, and C. In case the hosel section 10 is provided to extend from the upper club head section 13A as in the golf club heads 1, 1A, and 1B, it is easier to satisfy the relation W1.gtoreq.W2.

[0042] Furthermore, in case of the golf club heads 1, 1A, and 1B, in a reference state where the club head is placed on a horizontal plane keeping specific lie angle and loft angle, the highest position of the face 12a is set lower than the height of a golf ball (e.g. preferably in range of 3 to 3.5 cm). Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, in the golf club head 1B, the height h1 of the toe side where the face 12a is highest is 3.5 cm, and the face height from the heel side to the center is configured to gradually increase from 2.5 cm to 3.5 cm, and the face height from the center to the toe side is configured to gradually increase from 3 cm to 3.5 cm. In addition, in the golf club head 1B, the width w of the face 12a is set about 8 cm, and the height h2 of the hosel section 10 is set as about 4 cm.

[0043] When the height of the face 12a is set low, it is possible to guide the player to lift the sole of the club head from the ground when the player is in address position, and it is possible to reduce missed shots such as duff shots. In addition, it is also possible to reduce resistance of turf even in case of a shot from the rough.

[0044] In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, it is also possible to provide a cushion part 12b on an edge section of the heel-side lower part of the face 12a. Similarly, it is also possible to provide a cushion part 12c on a toe-side edge section of the face 12a. The width of the cushion part 12b and 12c is set as, for example, about 7 mm. With the cushion parts 12b and 12c, it is possible to reduce missed shots due to golf ball's hitting on the edge sections and traveling in an oblique direction. The cushion parts 12b and 12c may be made of a material having a shock-absorbing property such as rubber or resin, and may be secured by bonding or screwing. Alternatively, it is also possible to make a hole on the face 12a, and press a protrusion formed on a back side of the cushion part 12b or 12c into the hall to secure it therein.

[0045] The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-156216 filed on Jul. 12, 2012, is incorporated in the application by reference.

[0046] While the invention has been explained with reference to the specific embodiments of the invention, the explanation is illustrative and the invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A golf club head comprising: a head main body; and a shaft-connecting section, wherein said head main body is divided into an upper head section and an lower head section with at least one of a vertical plane passing through a center of a face of the golf club head in an up-and-down direction, a horizontal plane passing through the center of the face of the golf club head in the up-and-down direction, and a plane perpendicular to the face when the golf club head is placed on a horizontal surface in a reference state while maintaining a specific lie angle and a specific loft angle of the golf club head, and said head main body has a weight distribution of W1.gtoreq.W2 when W1 is a weight of the upper head section and W2 is a weight of the lower head section.

2. The golf club head according to claim 1, wherein said shaft-connecting section includes a hosel section constituting a part of the upper head section and the lower head section so that the head main body has the weight distribution of W1.gtoreq.W2.

3. The golf club head according to claim 1, further comprising a corner section on a heel-side lower portion of the face.

4. The golf club head according to claim 1, further comprising a cushion part on at least one edge section of the face on a toe side or a heel side thereof.