Method and system for analyzing durability of golf ball
AssigneeAcushnet Company
InventorsPaul Furze, Leonidas Amarant
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method, technique, and/or system for determining the durability of a golf ball, and more particularly the durability of a cover of a golf ball is disclosed herein. The present disclosure provides an objective technique for scoring or rating the durability of golf balls such that a uniform scoring methodology can be used. The present disclosure uses imaging techniques and image processing techniques to analyze damage to a golf ball surface.
Claims20
A method of determining durability of a golf ball having an outer surface with a plurality of dimples, the method comprising:
- (i) applying a damaging treatment to the golf ball to mar at least a portion of the outer surface of the golf ball;
- (ii) scanning the outer surface of the golf ball via an imager to acquire at least one first initial image of the golf ball;
- (iii) applying a high-pass filter function via a computing system to the at least one first initial image to generate at least one first filtered image;
- and
- (iv) determining the durability of the golf ball via the computing system based on an extent of marring in the at least one first filtered image.
A method of determining durability of a golf ball having an outer surface with a plurality of dimples, the method comprising:
- (i) obtaining a first image of the outer surface of the golf ball via an imager;
- (ii) applying a damaging treatment to the golf ball sufficient to mar the outer surface of the golf ball;
- (iii) obtaining a second image of the outer surface of the golf ball via the imager;
- (iv) generating at least one difference image based on a comparison between the first image and the second image via a computing system;
- and
- (v) determining the durability of the golf ball via the computing system based on the at least one difference image.
A method of determining durability of a golf ball having an outer surface with a plurality of dimples, the method comprising:
- (i) applying a damaging treatment to the golf ball to mar at least a portion of the outer surface of the golf ball;
- (ii) scanning the outer surface of the golf ball via an imager to acquire at least one first initial image of the golf ball;
- (iii) applying a high-pass filter function via a computing system to the at least one first initial image to generate at least one first filtered image, wherein the high-pass filter function is configured to:
- attenuate signals associated with a first subset of surface height deviations due to dimples and curvature of golf ball;
- and
- pass through signals associated with a second subset of surface height deviations due to marring from the damaging treatment;
- (iv) determining durability of the golf ball via the computing system based on an extent of marring in the at least one first filtered image;
- and
- (v) assigning a durability grade via the computing system based on the durability of the golf ball.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.