Method of golf ball manufacture employing ultrasonic welding, and resulting golf ball and golf ball components and/or layers
AssigneesMasion de Golf, Qingdao Sm Parker Golf Co., Ltd
InventorsHyun Jin Kim, Ki Jung Kim
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A golf ball a core, one or more intermediate layers, and one or more cover layers. The core may comprise an inner portion and an outer portion. One or more layers of the golf ball may be formed by the application of ultrasonic welding on two half shells to form. One or more of the layers may be formed by a number of different chemical compositions, and may have varying thicknesses, hardnesses, coefficients of restitution, and PGA compression. The golf ball itself may have varying coefficient of restitution and PGA compression, depending on the layers.
Claims20
A method of producing a golf ball, the golf ball comprising a core, at least one intermediate layer, and at least one cover layer, the method comprising forming at least one of the at least one intermediate layer and the at least one cover layer by fusing half shells by ultrasonic welding, and compression molding the fused half shells to provide dimples on the at least one cover layer, wherein the core comprises:
- an unsaturated polymer having a Mooney viscosity (ML1+4(100° C.)) of from about 20 to about 80 and selected from the group consisting of 1,2-polybutadiene, cis-1,4-polybutadiene, trans-1,4-polybutadiene, cis-polyisoprene, trans-polyisoprene, polychloroprene, polybutylene, styrene-butadiene rubber, styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer and partially and fully hydrogenated equivalents, styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymer and partially and fully hydrogenated equivalents, nitrile rubber, silicone rubber, and polyurethane, and combinations thereof;
- and a cross-linking agent that is present in an amount of from about 0.05 to about 5 parts by weight of the cross-linking agent per 100 parts by weight of the unsaturated polymer;
- wherein the core has a coefficient of restitution (COR) greater than or equal to 0.800, and a PGA compression of less than 80.
A method of producing a golf ball, the golf ball comprising a core, at least one intermediate layer, and at least one cover layer, the method comprising forming at least one of the at least one intermediate layer and the at least one cover layer by fusing half shells by ultrasonic welding, and compression molding the fused half shells to provide dimples on the at least one cover layer, wherein the core comprises:
- an unsaturated polymer having a Mooney viscosity (ML1+4(100° C.)) of from about 20 to about 80 and selected from the group consisting of 1.2-polybutadiene, cis-1,4-polybutadiene, trans-1,4-polybutadiene, cis-polyisoprene, trans-polyisoprene, polychloroprene, polybutylene, styrene-butadiene rubber, styrene-butadiene-styrene block copolymer and partially and fully hydrogenated equivalents, styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymer and partially and fully hydrogenated equivalents, nitrile rubber, silicone rubber, and polyurethane, and combinations thereof;
- and a cross-linking agent that is present in an amount of from about 0.05 to about 5 parts by weight of the cross-linking agent per 100 parts by weight of the unsaturated polymer;
- wherein the core has a coefficient of restitution (COR) greater than or equal to 0.800, and a PGA compression of less than 80,
- wherein the at least one intermediate layer comprises:
- a polyalkenamer having from about 50 to about 99 of its double bonds in the trans-configuration, a molecular weight from about 10,000 to about 300,000, and a degree of crystallization from about 5 to about 70;
- and a cross-linking agent that is present in an amount of from about 0.05 to about 5 parts by weight of the cross-linking agent per 100 parts by weight of the polyalkenamer.
A method of producing a golf ball, the golf ball comprising a core, at least one intermediate layer, and at least one cover layer, the method comprising forming the at least one intermediate layer or the at least one cover layer by fusing half shells by ultrasonic welding, providing dimples on the at least one cover layer, wherein the at least one intermediate layer comprises:
- a polyalkenamer having from about 50 to about 99 of its double bonds in the trans-configuration, a molecular weight from about 10,000 to about 300,000, and a degree of crystallization from about 5 to about 70;
- a cross-linking agent that is present in an amount of from about 0.05 to about 5 parts by weight of the cross-linking agent per 100 parts by weight of the polyalkenamer;
- wherein a coefficient of restitution (COR) of the golf ball is greater than 0.800, and a PGA compression of the golf ball is less than 90.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.