Golf club head and method of fabricating the same

Abstract

A golf club head or metal wood includes a body and a faceplate. The body has a face adapted to hit a ball. The faceplate has a sweet spot and a softened region. The softened region is formed around the sweet spot in the faceplate by a heat treatment technique. The treatment technique applies a high-frequency current to induce eddy currents in the faceplate and locally heat the faceplate to form the softened region in the faceplate. This, the golf club head will have a higher coefficient of restitution (COR), and the strength of the faceplate is retained to hit the ball successfully and powerfully.

1 . A golf club head comprising: 
 a body having a shank, a hosel and a face, the shank formed on the body and the hosel defined at the shank of the body and adapted to connect to a shaft of a golf club; the face formed on the body and adapted to hit a golf ball; and    a faceplate with a sweet spot and a softened region, the softened region formed around the sweet spot in the faceplate;    wherein the softened region is softer than the sweet spot.    
   
   
       2 . The golf club head as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein a hardness difference between the softened region and the sweet spot is from is from 20 to 22 H R C.  
   
   
       3 . The golf club head as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the faceplate is made out of maraging steel.  
   
   
       4 . The golf club head as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the faceplate is made out of titanium alloy.  
   
   
       5 . The golf club head as claimed in  claim 2 , wherein the faceplate is made out of stainless steel.  
   
   
       6 . A method for processing the faceplate as claimed in  claim 1 , and the method comprising: 
 selecting a high strength material to fabricate the faceplate;    locating a copper tubing over the region of the faceplate to be softened;    applying a high-frequency current to the copper tubing to heat the region of the faceplate to be softened; and    removing the copper tubing from the heated region of the faceplate.    
   
   
       7 . The method for processing the faceplate as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein a frequency of the high-frequency current is 50 to 2000 Hz.  
   
   
       8 . The method for processing the faceplate as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein a power of the high-frequency current is 10 to 150 kilowatts (kW).  
   
   
       9 . The method for processing the faceplate as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein an acting time that the high-frequency current is applied is 0.5 to 10 seconds.  
   
   
       10 . The method for processing the faceplate as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein an outer diameter of the copper tubing is 3 to 8 millimeters (mm).  
   
   
       11 . The method for processing the faceplate as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein a distance between the copper tubing and the faceplate during processing is 1.5 to 3 mm.