Golf club head and method of fabricating striking plate

Abstract

A golf club head including a head body and a striking plate is provided. The head body has an opening. The striking plate having a striking surface includes a plate body and at least a low-elastic-modulus region. The plate body disposed at the opening has a first surface exposed to the outside. The low-elastic-modulus region disposed in the plate body has a second surface exposed to the outside. The striking surface is composed of the first surface and the second surface. The elastic modulus of the low-elastic-modulus region is smaller than that of the plate body. A method of fabricating a striking plate is also provided.

1 . A golf club head, comprising:
 a head body, having an opening; and   a striking plate, having a striking surface, comprising:
 a plate body, disposed at the opening and having a first surface exposed to the outside; and 
 at least a low-elastic-modulus region, disposed in the plate body, comprising a second surface exposed to the outside, wherein the first surface of the plate body and the second surface of the low-elastic-modulus region together form the striking surface of the striking plate, and the elastic modulus of the low-elastic-modulus region is smaller than that of the plate body. 
   
   
   
       2 . The golf club head according to  claim 1 , wherein the elastic modulus of the plate body is greater than or equal to 100 GPa. 
   
   
       3 . The golf club head according to  claim 1 , wherein the absolute difference between the elastic modulus of the low-elastic-modulus region and that of the plate body is greater than or equal to 10 GPa. 
   
   
       4 . The golf club head according to  claim 1 , wherein the depth of the low-elastic-modulus region is smaller than or equal to 2 mm. 
   
   
       5 . The golf club head according to  claim 1 , wherein the plate body and the low-elastic-modulus region comprise different materials. 
   
   
       6 . The golf club head according to  claim 5 , wherein the plate body comprises titanium alloy. 
   
   
       7 . The golf club head according to  claim 5 , wherein the low-elastic-modulus region comprises a β-type titanium alloy. 
   
   
       8 . The golf club head according to  claim 7 , wherein the low-elastic-modulus region comprises a Ti-15V-3Al-3Cr-3Sn titanium alloy composed of 76% titanium, 15% vanadium, 3% aluminium, 3% chrome and 3% tin in weight percentage composition. 
   
   
       9 . The golf club head according to  claim 1 , wherein the plate body comprises at least a cavity exposed to the outside, and the depth of the cavity is smaller than the thickness of the plate body, and the cavity is filled with the low-elastic-modulus region. 
   
   
       10 . The golf club head according to  claim 9 , wherein an extension surface of the first surface over the cavity is coplanar with the second surface. 
   
   
       11 . The golf club head according to  claim 9 , wherein the depth of the cavity is smaller than or equal to 2 mm. 
   
   
       12 . The golf club head according to  claim 9 , wherein the cavity has a regular shape. 
   
   
       13 . The golf club head according to  claim 12 , wherein the cavity has a circular, elliptical or polygonal shape. 
   
   
       14 . The golf club head according to  claim 9 , wherein the cavity has an irregular shape. 
   
   
       15 . A method of fabricating a striking plate, applicable to a golf club head, comprising:
 providing a plate body having at least a cavity and a first surface, wherein the depth of the cavity is smaller than the thickness of the plate body;   disposing a low-elastic-modulus material into the cavity;   heating and melting the low-elastic-modulus material in the cavity; and   annealing the low-elastic-modulus material in the cavity to form a low-elastic-modulus region, wherein the low-elastic-modulus region has a second surface exposed to the outside, and the first surface of the plate body and the second surface of the low-elastic-modulus region together form a striking surface, and the elastic modulus of the low-elastic-modulus region is smaller than that of the plate body.   
   
   
       16 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 15 , wherein heating and melting the low-elastic-modulus material in the cavity comprises irradiating the low-elastic-modulus material with a high-energy laser beam. 
   
   
       17 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 15 , wherein heating and melting the low-elastic-modulus material in the cavity comprises irradiating the low-elastic-modulus material with an electron beam. 
   
   
       18 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 15 , further comprising performing a surface treatment process on the striking surface of the striking surface after the low-elastic-modulus region is formed so that an extension surface of the first surface of the plate body over the cavity is coplanar with the second surface of the low-elastic-modulus region. 
   
   
       19 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 18 , wherein the surface treatment process comprises a grinding process. 
   
   
       20 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 18 , wherein the surface treatment process comprises a polishing process. 
   
   
       21 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 15 , wherein the plate body and the low-elastic-modulus region comprise different materials. 
   
   
       22 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 21 , wherein the plate body comprises a titanium alloy. 
   
   
       23 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 21 , wherein the low-elastic-modulus region comprises a β-type titanium alloy. 
   
   
       24 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 23 , wherein the low-elastic-modulus region comprises a Ti-15V-3Al-3Cr-3Sn titanium alloy composed of 76% titanium, 15% vanadium, 3% aluminium, 3% chrome and 3% tin in weight percentage composition. 
   
   
       25 . A method of fabricating a striking plate, applicable to a golf club head, comprising:
 providing a plate body having a first surface;   disposing a low-elastic-modulus material on at least a part of the first surface;   heating and melting the low-elastic-modulus material so that at lease a part of the low-elastic-modulus material penetrates into the plate body; and   annealing the low-elastic-modulus material to form at least a low-elastic-modulus region, wherein the low-elastic-modulus region has a second surface exposed to the outside, and the first surface of the plate body and the second surface of the low-elastic-modulus region together form a striking surface, and the elastic modulus of the low-elastic-modulus region is smaller than that of the plate body.   
   
   
       26 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 25 , wherein heating and melting the low-elastic-modulus material comprises irradiating the low-elastic-modulus material with a high-energy laser beam. 
   
   
       27 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 25 , wherein heating and melting the low-elastic-modulus material comprises irradiating the low-elastic-modulus material with an electron beam. 
   
   
       28 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 25 , further comprising performing a surface treatment process on the striking surface after the low-elastic-modulus region is formed so that an extension surface of the first surface of the plate body over the low-elastic-modulus region is coplanar with the second surface of the low-elastic-modulus region. 
   
   
       29 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 28 , wherein the surface treatment process comprises a grinding process. 
   
   
       30 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 28 , wherein the surface treatment process comprises a polishing process. 
   
   
       31 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 25 , wherein the plate body and the low-elastic-modulus region comprise different materials. 
   
   
       32 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 31 , wherein the plate body comprises a titanium alloy. 
   
   
       33 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 31 , wherein the low-elastic-modulus region comprises a β-type titanium alloy. 
   
   
       34 . The method of fabricating a striking plate according to  claim 33 , wherein the low-elastic-modulus region comprises a Ti-15V-3Al-3Cr-3Sn titanium alloy composed of 76% titanium, 15% vanadium, 3% aluminium, 3% chrome and 3% tin in weight percentage composition.