Putter Head

This application is based upon and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-099883 filed on Jun. 20, 2024, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to a putter head.

A putter used in golf is a club used mainly for hitting a golf ball on a putting green to roll the golf ball to a cup and includes a shaft attached to a putter head. In recent years, it has been proposed to mount a face insert in a face surface of the putter head to improve a hitting sensation. See Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2012-095859.

The present disclosure provides a putter head capable of improving a rolling stability of a golf ball that has been hit.

A putter head of the present disclosure includes a head body and an insert mounted in the head body. The insert includes an insert body including a first material, and an elastic member including a second material. The elastic member is disposed in a recess formed upward from a lower end portion of the insert body. The first material has a specific gravity of 2.5 or more and 4.5 or less. The second material has a specific gravity of 0.7 or more and 1.3 or less. A front surface of the insert serves as a face surface.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same components are denoted by the same reference symbols, and duplicate descriptions thereof may be omitted.

is a perspective view illustrating, as an example, a putter headaccording to a present embodiment.is an exploded perspective view illustrating, as an example, the putter headaccording to the present embodiment.is a cross-sectional view illustrating, as an example, the putter headaccording to the present embodiment. In, an arrow dindicates a toe-heel direction (left-right direction), an arrow dindicates a top-sole direction (up-down direction), and an arrow dindicates a face-back direction (front-rear direction).

The top-sole direction is the vertical direction in a case in which the putter headrests on a horizontal plane at a reference lie angle and a reference loft angle. The top-sole direction is substantially perpendicular to the toe-heel direction and the face-back direction. Also, the toe-heel direction and the face-back direction are substantially perpendicular to each other.

The putter headillustrated inhas a head body, an insert, and a hosel.

The head bodyincludes, for example, a metal such as an aluminum alloy, a titanium alloy, a copper alloy, or stainless steel. A front surfaceof the head bodyis provided with a recessthat is recessed from the face side toward the back side. The front surfacecan be located, for example, around the recessas viewed in the face-back direction.

The insertis mounted in the head body, for example, via an adhesive layer. Specifically, the insertis disposed in the recessof the head body, for example, via an adhesive layer. The adhesive layer is preferably, but not limited to, an epoxy-based adhesive, a rubber-based adhesive, double-sided tape, or the like.

The recessand the insertare shaped horizontally long in the toe-heel direction serving as the longitudinal direction. The recessand the insertare, for example, trapezoidal as viewed in the face-back direction. That is, the inserthas a shorter length on the top side than on the sole side in the toe-heel direction. Moreover, the inserthas a substantially constant length in the top-sole direction across all positions in the toe-heel direction.

A front surfaceof the insertis a hitting surface for hitting a golf ball and may be referred to as a face surface. The front surfaceof the insertand the front surfaceof the head body, which is positioned around the recesscan be flush with each other. The front surfaceof the insertcan be disposed slightly inclined rather than perpendicular to the horizontal plane.

Note that the recessas a whole has a uniform depth, and the insertas a whole also has a uniform thickness. However, localized deep spots and thick sections, or conversely, localized shallow spots and thin sections may be incorporated.

The length of the insertin the top-sole direction is, for example, 16 mm or more and 30 mm or less and preferably 18 mm or more and 25 mm or less. The length of the insertin the toe-heel direction is, for example, 50 mm or more and 150 mm or less and preferably 70 mm or more and 100 mm or less. The length of the insertin the face-back direction is, for example, 2 mm or more and 10 mm or less and preferably 3 mm or more and 8 mm or less. Note that there may be a gap between a side surface of the insertand an inner side surface of the recessIn a case in which there is a gap, the width of the gap is, for example, 0.3 mm or more and 1.5 mm or less.

The inserthas an insert bodyand an elastic member. The insert bodyis provided with a recessformed upward from a lower end portion. The recessis open on the sole side, the toe side, and the heel side of the putter head, but not on the top side. In other words, the insert bodyhas a cantilever structure in which the top side serves as a fixed end and the sole side serves as a free end. The length of the recessin the face-back direction is, for example, 10% or more and 50% or less and preferably 25% or more and 45% or less of the length of the insertin the face-back direction.

The elastic memberis disposed in the recessof the insert body. On the toe side, a side surface of the elastic memberis, for example, flush with a side surface of the insert body. Moreover, on the heel side, a side surface of the elastic memberis, for example, flush with a side surface of the insert body. Furthermore, on the sole side, a lower surface of the elastic memberis, for example, flush with a lower surface of the insert body.

The insert bodyincludes a first material, and the elastic memberincludes a second material. The first material has a specific gravity of 2.5 or more and 4.5 or less, and the second material has a specific gravity of 0.7 or more and 1.3 or less. The first material includes at least one selected from the group consisting of aluminum, titanium, and metal alloy. Moreover, the second material includes at least one selected from the group consisting of silicone, a polymer, and resin. The recessof the insert bodycan be easily

formed, for example, by cutting a raw plate of the insertincluding the first material. Moreover, the elastic membercan be disposed by preparing the second material thicker than a width of the recessand putting the second material into the recessFor example, if the width of the recessis 2 mm, the elastic membercan be disposed by putting the second material with a thickness of about 2.2 mm or more and 2.4 mm or less into the recessIn this way, the recessand the elastic membercan adhere to each other without a gap.

The insert bodymay be colored by surface treatment. Coloring the insert bodycan improve the design. For example, in a case in which the insert bodyincludes aluminum, an alumite treatment can be applied as the surface treatment. In this case, an aluminum oxide coating is formed on the surface of the insert bodyso that the corrosion resistance and the wear resistance of the insert bodycan be improved.

The hoselis connected to the head body. The hoselincludes a shaft insertion portionand a connection portion. The shaft is inserted into the shaft insertion portion, and the connection portionconnects the shaft insertion portionand the head body.

The shaft insertion portionis a substantially bottomed-cylindrical member and engages with the shaft. A shaft insertion hole, into which a tip portion of the shaft is inserted, is formed at the shaft insertion portion. The shaft insertion hole is provided so as to be offset from the connection portiontoward the front surfaceof the head body. Titanium, titanium alloys, aluminum alloys, stainless steel, or the like can be used as the material of the hosel, for example.

The putter headmay have one or more weight adjustment partsat a sole. In the illustrated example, the putter headhas two weight adjustment partsat the sole. The weight adjustment partscan be attached to or detached from the soleof the head body, for example, by being screwed or unscrewed. Note that the putter headmay be without the weight adjustment parts.

The weight adjustment partsare, for example, a metal. Examples of the metal include titanium, titanium alloys, stainless steel, aluminum, aluminum alloys, iron-based metals, magnesium, magnesium alloys, tungsten alloys, and the like. The centroid position of the putter headcan be adjusted by attaching and detaching the weight adjustment partsto and from the head body.

are explanatory diagrams of experiments for checking the spin directions caused by putter heads.pertains to a putter head according to a comparative example, andpertains to the putter head. In both, the front surfaces of the inserts of the putter heads were disposed parallel to the horizontal plane, and the golf balls were dropped vertically on the front surfaces of the inserts from above to check the rotations of the golf balls which were bounced on the front surfaces of the inserts and moved in the directions indicated by the arrows. Note that the putter head according to the comparative example has a structure without the recessand the elastic memberof the putter head.

As shown in, with the putter head according to the comparative example, the golf ball bounced on the front surface of the insert hardly rotated. In contrast to this, as shown in, with the putter head, the golf ball bounced on the front surfaceof the insertrotated forward. That is, the topspin was imparted.

The reason that this result was obtained is considered as follows: when the golf ball hits the front surfaceof the insert, a portion of the insert body, which is positioned closer to the face side from the recessslightly flexes toward the back side and then returns to the face side so that the topspin is easily imparted.

When putting with a putter including the putter head, as described above, the insert bodyflexes slightly toward the back side upon hitting a golf ball and then returns to the face side. This imparts topspin more easily, enhancing the rolling of the golf ball and improving the rolling stability of the golf ball.

Moreover, since the recessis open on the sole side, the toe side, and the heel side of the putter head, a flexure amount of the portion of the insert body, which is positioned closer to the face side from the recessupon hitting the golf ball can be increased compared with the case in which the recessis open neither on the toe side nor the heel side. Therefore, the topspin is more easily imparted compared with the case in which the recessis open neither on the toe side nor the heel side. This can further enhance the rolling of the golf ball and further improve the rolling stability of the golf ball.

Furthermore, in a case in which the insert bodyof the insertis trapezoidal as viewed in the face-back direction, the top side of the cantilever structure of the insert body, which serves as the fixed end, becomes shorter so that the free end side is more easily flexed. That is, when the golf ball is hit, the flexure amount of the portion of the insert body, which is positioned closer to the face side from the recesscan be increased. Therefore, the topspin is more easily imparted compared with the case in which the insert bodyis rectangular or the like as viewed in the face-back direction. This can further enhance the rolling of the golf ball and further improve the rolling stability of the golf ball.

Moreover, in the putter head, since the elastic memberincluding the second material with a lower specific gravity than that of the first material is disposed in the recessa hitting sound and a hitting sensation upon hitting a golf ball can be adjusted.

is a partial enlarged view of the front surfaceof the insert. As illustrated in, the insertpreferably has groovesthat are recessed from the front surfaceEach of the groovesmay include, for example, a first grooveand a second groove. Each of the groovesmay include only the first groove.

A plurality of first groovesextend in the toe-heel direction. The plurality of first groovescan be arranged, for example, at substantially equal intervals in the top-sole direction. The first groovesare, for example, parallel to each other.

The lengths of the first groovesin the toe-heel direction may be the same or different. The widths of the first groovesin the transverse direction are, for example, 0.7 mm or more and 0.9 mm or less. The maximum depth of the first groovesfrom the front surfaceis preferably within 30% of the thickness of the portion of the insert body, which is positioned closer to the face side from the recess

One or more second groovesare located between adjacent first grooves of the first grooves. The widths of the second groovesare narrower than the widths of the first grooves. The maximum depth of the second groovesfrom the front surfaceis shallower than the maximum depth of the first groovesfrom the front surfaceThe second groovesmay include a plurality of grooves having different widths and/or different maximum depths. The widths of the second groovesin the transverse direction are, for example, 0.001 mm or more and 0.003 mm or less. The maximum depth of the second groovesfrom the front surfacemay be, for example, about 5% of the maximum depth of the first grooves.

The second groovesmay or may not be connected to the first grooves. Alternatively, some of the second groovesmay be connected to the first grooves, and some of the second groovesmay not be connected to the first grooves. For example, the second groovesmay be arranged to extend obliquely with respect to the first grooves, but the second groovesmay be arranged to be parallel or perpendicular to the first grooves. Alternatively, some of the second groovesmay be arranged to extend obliquely with respect to the first grooves, and some of the second groovesmay be arranged to be parallel or perpendicular to the first grooves. The second groovesare not limited to the form of a straight line, but may be bent or curved. The second groovesmay have a network pattern.

The first groovesand the second groovescan be formed, for example, by laser processing. Laser processing can form fine grooves with narrow widths and narrow pitches.

The putter headwith the second groovesimproves a frictional force between the front surfaceand the golf ball upon hitting the golf ball. This reduces the slip of the golf ball, and the topspin is more easily imparted.

According to the disclosed technique, it is possible to provide a putter head capable of improving the rolling stability of a golf ball that has been hit.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above in detail, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Various modifications and substitutions can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of claims.