Alloys or metallic compositions – Ferrous – Boron containing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-29
2001-09-11
Jenkins, Daniel J. (Department: 1742)
Alloys or metallic compositions
Ferrous
Boron containing
C148S330000, C075S231000, C075S244000, C075S246000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06287514
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a sinter and a casting applicable to a part having fine surface irregularities such as a gear, a milling head, a golf club head or a golf club shaft. More particularly, the invention relates to a sinter or a casting comprising a glassy alloy capable of being formed into a non-crystalline bulk-shaped product having a high hardness.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some kinds of multi-element alloy have a property of not crystallizing when a composition is quenched from a molten state, and transferring to a vitreous solid via a supercooled liquid state having a certain temperature range. A non-crystalline alloy falling under this category is known as a glassy alloy. Conventionally known amorphous alloys include an Fe—P—C-system non-crystalline alloy manufactured for the first time in the 1960s, an (Fe, Co, Ni)—P—B-system and an (Fe, Co, Ni)—Si—B-system non-crystalline alloys manufactured in the 1970s, and an (Fe, Co, Ni)—M(Zr, Hf, Nb)-system non-crystalline alloy and an (Fe, Co, Ni)—M(Zr, Hf, Nb)—B-system non-crystalline alloy manufactured in the 1980s. These alloys, having magnetism, were expected to be applied as non-crystalline magnetic materials.
Since any of the conventional amorphous alloys has a tight temperature range in the supercooled liquid state, a non-crystalline product cannot be formed unless it is quenched at a high cooling rate on a level of 10
5
° C./s by the application of a method known as the single roll process. The product manufactured by quenching by the single roll process took a shape of a thin strip having a thickness of up to about 50 &mgr;m, and a bulk-shaped non-crystalline solid was unavailable. When a bulk-shaped formed product is to be obtained from this thin strip, a sinter is obtained by crushing the thin strip resulting from the application of the liquid quenching process, and sintering the crushed strip under pressure in a sealed space. The sinter produced from the conventional amorphous alloy is porous and brittle, and is not applicable as a part subjected to stress such as a gear, a milling head, a golf club head or a golf club shaft.
Glassy alloys known as having a relatively wide temperature range in the supercooled liquid state, and giving a non-crystalline solid through slower cooling include Ln—Al—TM, Mg—Ln—TM, ZR—Ln—TM (where, Ln is a rare-earth element, and TM is a transition metal)-based alloys developed during the period of 1988 through 1991. Non-crystalline solids having a thickness of several mm available from these glassy alloys have special compositions in all cases and contain rare-earth elements, resulting in a high cost, and no sufficient study is made regarding applications.
The head portion of a wood-type golf club is usually manufactured with a metal such as stainless steel, an aluminum alloy or a titanium alloy as a material, and the resultant metal wood forms the main current in the market. As compared with the conventional persimmon wood, the metal would provide an advantage of a very high degree of freedom in designing the head.
In an iton-type golf club also iron (soft iron), stainless steel, carbon, titanium alloy and various other materials are used for the head.
In a putter-type golf club as well, iron (soft iron), stainless steel, titanium alloy, duralumin and various other materials are applicable.
For the shaft for a golf club, the carbon shaft excellent in lightness and easiness to handle forms the main current in place of the conventional steel shaft. The carbon shaft have advantage of a high degree of freedom in design, and various kinds of shaft are now commercially available, including those for frail women and for professional golfers.
For a wood-type golf club having a head made of stainless steel, it is believed that only a head having a relatively large thickness and a small volume (up to about 220 cc) is manufacturable because of a strength not so-high of the material and a high specific gravity.
An aluminum alloy used for a golf clubhead is generally believed manufacturable into a large head because of a high specific gravity, but inferior to a stainless steel or titanium alloy head in yardage.
A titanium alloy, which is suitable as a material for a golf club because of a high strength and an excellent repellent force, must be fabricated in a vacuum or in an inert gas and the yield is low, resulting in a very high unit cost of a head.
For the iron-type golf club, the head made of soft iron has defects of a relatively large specific gravity and easy susceptibility to flaws.
A stainless steel head, which is excellent in durability, does not permit adjustment if the lie angle or the loft angle, and is kept at arm's length by senior golfers.
A head made of a titanium alloy is defective in that fabrication requires much time and labor, leading to a very high unit cost as described above.
As compared with the above-mentioned metal heads, a carbon head is far more susceptible to flaws and handling must be careful.
A putter-type golf club should preferably be provided simultaneously with appropriate bounce and weight, but a material satisfying these requirements has not as yet been existent.
A carbon shaft for a golf club has generally a configuration in which it comprises an inner layer obtained by aligning carbon fiber groups in a direction, impregnating the same with a thermosetting synthetic resin and forming the same into a tubular shape, and an outer layer available by aligning fine line or filament-shaped alloy groups in a direction, impregnating the same with a thermosetting synthetic resin, and forming the same. The alloy used for the outer layer has an important effect on properties of the carbon shaft. In order to manufacture a shaft light in weight, it is necessary to make the alloy of the outer layer finer, but this results in a lower strength. In order to increase strength, it suffices to use larger alloy lines, but this leads to a larger weight.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
During search for a high-hardness material having excellent properties as parts having surface fine irregularities such as a gear, a milling head, a golf clubhead and a golf club shaft, the present inventors found that a certain glassy alloy had a relatively wide temperature range in the supercooled state, was capable of being manufactured into a bulk-shaped non-crystalline solid product, and gave a very high-hardness non-crystalline solid product. Further, possibility was found to manufacture a high-hardness parts having fine surface irregularities by sintering powder of this glassy alloy at a sintering temperature near the crystallization temperature or casting the same in a mold, thus arriving at development of the present invention. The present invention was developed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has an object to provide a high-hardness sinter or casting having fine surface irregularities manufactured from a glassy alloy permitting formation of a high-hardness bulk-shaped non-crystalline form.
The sinter or casting of the present invention comprises a high-hardness glassy alloy containing at least Fe and at least a metalloid element and having a temperature interval &Dgr;Tx=Tx−Tg (where, Tx is a crystallization temperature and Tg is a glass transition temperature) of at least 20° C.
The glassy alloy (metal-metalloid-based glassy alloy) has a value of &Dgr;Tx of at least 35° C. and contains Fe as a metal element. The above-mentioned metal-metalloid-based glassy alloy contains at least one metal element selected from the group consisting of Al, Ga, In and Sn, and at least one metalloid element selected from the group consisting of P, C, B, Ge and Si.
In the present invention, the metal-metalloid-based glassy alloy has a composition in atomic %: from 1 to 10% Al, from 0.5 to 4% Ga, from 0 to 15% P, from 2 to 7% C, from 2 to 10% B, and the balance Fe. Or, the above-mentioned metal-metalloid-based glassy alloy has a composition in at once %: from 1 to 10% Al, from 0.5 to 4% Ga, from 0 to 15% P, from 2 t
Inoue Akihisa
Makino Akihiro
Mizushima Takao
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Jenkins Daniel J.
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