Golf club made of a bulk-solidifying amorphous metal

• US 6,685,577 B1
• Filed: 10/28/1997
• Issued: 02/03/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/04/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Crucible Intellectual Property LLC
• Original Assignee: Liquidmetal Technologies
• Inventors: Johnson, William L., Peker, Atakan, Scruggs, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Graham, Mark S.
• Application Number:
  US08/963,131
• Time in Patent Office: 2,289 Days
• Field of Search: 473/345, 473/346, 473/348-350, 473/324
• US Class Current: 473/349
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2209/00 Characteristics of used materials
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/00 Golf clubs
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/005 Club sets
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/04 Heads
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0408 characterised by specific dimensions, e.g. thickness
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/0466 wood-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/047 iron-type
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 53/12 Metallic shafts
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 45/001 with Cu as the major constituent
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 45/02 with iron as the major constituent
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 45/04 with nickel or cobalt as the major constituent
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 45/10 with molybdenum, tungsten, niobium, tantalum, titanium, or zirconium or Hf as the major constituent

Abstract

A golf club is made of a club shaft and a club head. Either the club shaft or the club head is made at least in part of a bulk-solidifying amorphous metal. A preferred bulk-solidifying amorphous metal has a composition, in atomic percent, of from about 45 to about 67 percent total of zirconium plus titanium, from about 10 to about 35 percent beryllium, and from about 10 to about 38 percent total of copper plus nickel, plus incidental impurities, the total of the percentages being 100 atomic percent. The weights of the various club heads of a set, which have different volumes, may be established by varying the compositions and thence the densities of the bulk-solidifying amorphous alloys.

Claims

1. A golf club head made at least in part of a bulk-solidifying amorphous metal that may be cooled from the melt at a cooling rate of about 500°

C. per second or less, yet retain an amorphous structure, the golf club head being fabricated by casting the bulk-solidifying amorphous metal to shape in a mold.

2. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the golf club head is a driver club head.

3. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the golf club head is an iron club head.

4. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the golf club head is a putter club head.

5. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the club head has a club head face made of a bulk-solidifying amorphous metal.

6. The golf club head of claim 5, wherein the club head face has a thickness of less than about 2.5 millimeters.

7. The golf club head of claim 5, wherein the club head face has a thickness of from about 1.5 to about 2.0 millimeters.

8. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the bulk-solidifying amorphous metal has a composition, in atomic percent, of from about 45 to about 67 percent total of zirconium plus titanium, from about 10 to about 35 percent beryllium, and from about 10 to about 38 percent total of copper plus nickel, plus incidental impurities, the total of the percentages being 100 atomic percent.

9. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the bulk-solidifying amorphous metal has a composition, in atomic percent, of from about 25 to about 85 percent total of zirconium and hafnium, from about 5 to about 35 percent aluminum, and from about 5 to about 70 percent total of nickel, copper, iron, cobalt, and manganese, plus incidental impurities, the total of the percentages being 100 atomic percent.

10. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy exhibits substantially no plastic deformation when loaded to about 80 percent of its fracture strength.

11. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy has an elastic strain limit of at least about 1.5 percent strain.

12. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the bulk-solidifying amorphous alloy has a strength-to-density ratio of at least about 1×

10⁶ inches.

13. The golf club head of claim 1, wherein the amorphous metal has a strength-to-density ratio of at least about 1×

10⁶ inches, an elastic strain limit of more than about 1.5 percent, and a density of from about 5.0 to about 7.0 grams per cubic centimeter.

14. A golf club head,

wherein at least part of the club head is made of a bulk-solidifying amorphous metal that may be cooled from the melt at a cooling rate of about 500°

C. per second or less, yet retain an amorphous structure, and wherein the golf club head is fabricated by casting the bulk-solidifying amorphous metal to shape in a properly shaped permanent mold.

15. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the bulk-solidifying amorphous metal has a composition, in atomic percent, of from about 45 to about 67 percent total of zirconium plus titanium, from about 10 to about 35 percent beryllium, and from about 10 to about 38 percent total of copper plus nickel, plus incidental impurities, the total of the percentages being 100 atomic percent.

16. The golf club head of claim 14, wherein the bulk-solidifying amorphous metal has a composition, in atomic percent, of from about 25 to about 85 percent total of zirconium and hafnium, from about 5 to about 35 percent aluminum, and from about 5 to about 70 percent total of nickel, copper, iron, cobalt, and manganese, plus incidental impurities, the total of the percentages being 100 atomic percent.

17. A driver golf club head,

wherein at least part of the driver club head is made of a bulk-solidifying amorphous metal that may be cooled from the melt at a cooling rate of about 500°

C. per second or less, yet retain an amorphous structure, and wherein the golf club head is fabricated by casting the bulk-solidifying amorphous metal to shape in a properly shaped permanent mold.

18. The golf club head of claim 17, wherein the bulk-solidifying amorphous metal has a composition, in atomic percent, of from about 45 to about 67 percent total of zirconium plus titanium, from about 10 to about 35 percent beryllium, and from about 10 to about 38 percent total of copper plus nickel, plus incidental impurities, the total of the percentages being 100 atomic percent.

19. The golf club head of claim 17, wherein the bulk-solidifying amorphous metal has a composition, in atomic percent, of from about 25 to about 85 percent total of zirconium and hafnium, from about 5 to about 35 percent aluminum, and from about 5 to about 70 percent total of nickel, copper, iron, cobalt, and manganese, plus incidental impurities, the total of the percentages being 100 atomic percent.

20. A golf club head having at least a portion thereof cast to shape against a mold and made of a metal having a strength-to-density ratio of at least about 1×

10⁶ inches, an elastic strain limit of more than about 1.5 percent, and a density of from about 5.0 to about 7.0 grams per cubic centimeter.

21. The golf club head of claim 20, wherein the metal is a bulk-solidifying amorphous metal that may be cooled from the melt at a cooling rate of about 500°

C. per second or less, yet retain an amorphous structure.