Putter head

A putter head includes a first half member, a second half member, and an insert. The first half body includes a first metal, and has a face surface on a front face. The second half body includes a second metal, which is higher in specific gravity than the first metal, and is attached to the forward half body. The insert is disposed inside the first half body to be along the face surface and includes one selected from a group consisting of a synthetic resin and a rubber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a putter head, and particularly to a putter head which is superior in absorbability of shock produced when hitting a ball.

2. Description of the Related Art

For the purpose of absorbing shock occurring when a putter head hits a ball and improving feeling of hitting, JP-A-2001-190721 discloses that a putter head includes a resin material such as urethane resin on a face surface thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Since the resin material is exposed to the face surface in the putter head disclosed in JP-A-2001-190721, the resin material is damaged easily and has less durability.

The invention provides a putter head, which is superior in absorbability of shock occurring when hitting a ball and has good durability.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a putter head includes a first half body, a second half body, and an insert. The first half body includes a first metal, and has a face surface on a front face. The second half body includes a second metal, which is higher in specific gravity than the first metal, and is attached to the forward half body. The insert is disposed inside the first half body to be along the face surface and includes one selected from a group consisting of a synthetic resin and a rubber.

In the putter head, the insert, which disposed inside the first half body and includes one selected from the group consisting of the resin and the rubber, absorbs the shock occurring when hitting the ball.

Since, the insert is disposed along the face surface, the insert can absorb the shock easily.

The following configuration is preferable. The first half body defines a recess on a rear face thereof. The insert is disposed in the recess. The second half body presses the insert. With this configuration, since the insert is pressed against the first half body and closely contacted therewith, the shock produced in the first half body is securely transmitted to the insert, and sufficiently absorbed.

The following configuration may be adopted. The first half body extends in a toe-heel direction of the putter head. The second half body includes a first member and a second member. The first member continues from a toe side of the first half body to a heel side of the first half body and bulges toward rearward of the first half body. The second member protrudes from a center of the first half body in the toe-heel direction. One end of the second member continues to the first member. The first member and the second member are integrated with each other. A lid member is disposed at the other end of the second member and has a dimension so that the lid member is fitted to the recess. The first half body and the second half body are connected with each other so that the lid member presses the insert. With this configuration, the putter head has a large moment of inertia around the center of gravity, so that the sweet area of the putter head is wide. Also, the insert is sufficiently pressed against the first half body by the lid member.

In this case, the following configuration is preferable. The recess includes an entrance portion, an innermost portion, and a step portion. The entrance portion retreats from the rear face of the first half body. The innermost portion is formed behind the entrance portion and has smaller space than the entrance portion. The step surface is formed between the entrance portion and the innermost portion and is in parallel to the face surface. The insert is disposed in the innermost portion. The lid member is in contact with the step surface. Since the lid body is disposed in the innermost portion and contact with the step surface to press the insert, the insert is pressed and contracted at a predetermined ratio. Thereby, the shock absorption characteristic is securely achieved as designed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring toFIGS. 1 to 4, embodiments of the invention will be described below in detail.FIG. 1is an exploded perspective view of a putter head according to an embodiment of the present invention.FIG. 2is a perspective view of the putter head.FIG. 3is a bottom view of the putter head.FIG. 4is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV—IV inFIG. 3.

The putter head includes a forward half body10made of a low specific gravity metal material, a backward half body20made of a high specific gravity metal material, and an insert30made of rubber or a synthetic resin. The insert have hardness in a range of 20 (JISC) to 90 (JISC), preferably in a range of 30 (JISC) to 80 (JISC).

The forward half body10has a shape of almost rectangular parallelepiped extending in a toe-heel direction connecting a toe (left end inFIG. 2) and a heel (right end inFIG. 2). A sole face10sof the forward half body10has a circular arc shape in which a central part in the toe-heel direction slightly bulges toward the lower side. A front face of the front half body10is a face surface10afor hitting a ball.

On the back face of the forward half body10, a recess11is formed in the neighbor of a middle part in the toe-heel direction. This recess11includes an entrance portion11a, an innermost portion11b, and a step surface11c. The innermost portion11bis concave from the innermost side of the entrance portion11a(the side of the face surface10a) toward the face surface10a. The step surface11cis formed in a boundary between the entrance portion11aand the innermost portion11b. The entrance portion11ais a notch extending in the toe-heel direction and opening to the back face and the bottom face of the forward half body10. The innermost portion11bis a groove being concave from the face surface10aside of the entrance portion11a. The innermost portion11bextends in the toe-heel direction. The innermost portion11bis slightly smaller than the entrance portion11a. The step surface11cresides all around the innermost portion11b.

Notch portions12are formed on both ends of the forward half body10in the toe-heel direction on the back surface thereof. The notch portions open to the sole face10s. Insertion holes13for bolts14are formed to communicate the face surface10aside of the notch portion12with the face surface10a. Each insertion hole13has a large diameter portion on the face surface10aside and a small diameter portion on the back face side, as with an insertion hole23adescribed later. A head portion of the bolt14is disposed in the large diameter portion of the insertion hole13.

A shaft insertion hole15is formed in an upper face of the forward half body10on the heel side.

The backward half body20includes an outer circumferential bar-like body21having a semi-circular arc shape, a central bar-like body22integrated with a central part of the outer circumferential bar-like body21in an extending direction, and a lid body23attached to a top end face of the central bar-like body22by a bolt24. A rear bottom face of the central bar-like body22constitutes a slant face20a(FIG. 4) with a gradient rising toward the aftermost end of the backward half body20.

Both end portions of the outer circumferential bar-like body21have a shape and dimension so that the both ends can be fitted into the notch portions12. Female screw holes (not shown) coaxial with the insertion hole13are formed on surfaces of the both ends of the outer circumferential bar-like body21, respectively. The both ends of the outer circumferential bar-like body21is fitted to the notch portions12and the bolts14are screwed into the screw holes, thereby the forward half body10and the backward half body20are connected.

The lid body23has dimension so that the lid body23can be fitted to the entrance portion11a. As shown inFIG. 4, the lid body23is fixed to the central bar-like body22by screwing a bolt24into the female screw hole22aprovided at the top end face of the central bar-like body22through the insertion hole23aprovided in the lid body23.

The insert30has longitudinal and transverse dimensions almost equivalent to the innermost portion11b, and has a thickness (dimension in forward and backward direction of the head) slightly larger than the depth of the innermost portion11b(e.g., by about 0.5 mm to 2 mm).

In assembling the putter head, after the insert30is inserted into the innermost portion11b, the backward half body20with the lid body23is assembled with the forward half body10, and then the bolts14are screwed. Thereby, both end faces21aof the outer circumferential bar-like body21are contacted with the innermost faces of the notch portions12, and the lid body23is contacted with the step surface11cwhile pressing the insert30. The insert30is closely contacted with all the inner periphery of the innermost portion11band the entire face of the lid body23.

When a shaft is attached to the putter head1, a putter is finished.

Since the insert30absorbs shock occurring when the putter hits a ball, the feeling of hitting is softened. The insert30is closely contacted with the forward half body10and the lid body23without gap. Also, a distance between the insert30and the face surface10is short (preferably, in a range of from 1 mm to 5 mm, more preferably, from 2 mm to 4 mm). Therefore, the shock is sufficiently absorbed.

In this embodiment, since the backward half body20having high specific gravity is formed in a circular arc, the sweet area of the putter head is wide, and less shock occurs when a golfer hits a ball out of the sweet spot.

Preferably, the forward half body10is made of aluminum, magnesium, titanium, or their alloy, with the specific gravity of from 2 to 5. It should be noted that the invention is not limited thereto.

Preferably, the backward half body20is made of stainless, copper alloy, tungsten alloy (e.g., W—Cu alloy, W—Ni alloy), with the specific gravity of 7 to 14.