Aerodynamic surface geometry for a golf ball
AssigneeCallaway Golf Company
InventorSteven S. Ogg
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A golf ball approaching zero land area is disclosed herein. The golf ball has an innersphere with a plurality of lattice members. Each of the plurality of lattice members has an apex and the golf ball of the present invention conforms with the 1.68 inches requirement for USGA approved golf balls. The interconnected lattice members form a plurality of hexagons and pentagons in the preferred embodiment. The preferred embodiment has a parting line that alternates upward and downward along adjacent rows of hexagons.
Claims17
A golf ball comprising:
- an innersphere having a surface;
- a plurality of smooth portions on the surface of the innersphere;
- and
- a plurality of lattice members encompassing the plurality of smooth portions, each of the lattice members having a cross-sectional curvature comprising a first concave portion, a second concave portion and a convex portion disposed between the first concave portion and the second concave portion, the convex portion having an apex tangent to the curvature of the convex portion, each of the plurality of lattice members connected to at least one other lattice member to form a predetermined pattern of polygons about the plurality of smooth portions, each of the lattice members having an apex at a distance of from 0.005 inch to 0.010 inch from the bottom of the lattice member thereby defining an outersphere.
A golf ball comprising:
- an innersphere having a surface;
- a plurality of smooth portions on the surface of the innersphere;
- and
- a plurality of lattice members disposed on the innersphere surface, each of the lattice members having a cross-sectional curvature with an arc and an apex at the highest point of the arc of each of the lattice members that is tangent to the curvature of the arc, each of the plurality of lattice members connected to at least one other lattice member to form a plurality of interconnected polygons about each of the plurality of smooth portions;
- wherein the lattice members cover between 20% and 80% of the surface of the golf ball, and the plurality of smooth portions and the plurality of lattice members cover the entirety of the surface of the golf ball.
The golf ball according to claim 10 wherein the arc of each of the plurality of lattice members has an arc with a width less than 0.00001 inch.
The golf ball according to claim 10 wherein the plurality of polygons are either hexagons or pentagons.
A non-dimpled golf ball comprising:
- an innersphere having a diameter in the range of 1.60 to 1.76;
- a plurality of lattice members, each of the lattice members having an apex that has a distance from a bottom of each of the lattice members in a range of 0.005 to 0.010 inch;
- a plurality of smooth portions on the surface;
- and
- wherein the entire golf ball is composed of the plurality of lattice members and the plurality of smooth portions.
A golf ball comprising:
- a plurality of lattice members wherein an apex of at least one of the plurality of lattice members defines the greatest extent of the golf ball, wherein the volume of the outermost 0.002 inch of the golf ball is less than 0.00213 cubic inch.
A non-dimpled golf ball comprising:
- an innersphere having a diameter in the range of 1.60 to 1.76;
- a plurality of lattice members, each of the lattice members having an apex that has a distance from a bottom of each of the lattice members in a range of 0.005 to 0.010 inch;
- a plurality of smooth portions on the surface;
- and
- wherein the golf ball has a lift coefficient greater than 0.18 at a Reynolds number of 70,000 and 2000 rotations per minute, and a drag coefficient less than 0.232 at a Reynolds number of 180,000 and 3000 rotations per minute.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.