Dimple pattern on golf balls
AssigneeAcushnet Company
InventorDouglas C. Winfield
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Golf balls are disclosed having novel dimple patterns determined by polyhedrons and intersecting great circles that connect points on the polyhedral segments. A method of packing dimples according to positions of the polyhedron and the intersecting great circles is also disclosed. For each disclosed dimple pattern, dimples of varying size are positioned along the edges of a polyhedron and then dimples of varying size are positioned where great circles that connect points on the edges of the polyhedral segments intersect. Any remaining space on the golf ball surface is filled with dimples. This results in a golf ball having a dimple pattern that has some uniformity but also some variance.
Claims6
A golf ball comprising an outer surface having a plurality of dimples wherein positioning of the plurality of dimples is based upon a number of intersecting great circles that connect a number of points on a number of edges of a pattern of a polyhedron wherein sides of the polyhedron are comprised of dimples having at least three different dimple diameters with the diameters progressively increasing toward the center of the sides.
The golf ball of 1, wherein each of the number of intersecting great circles is determined by the equation:
- θ=tan−1[sin(θ1)sin(θ2)sin(φ1−φ2)]/[cos(θ1)sin(θ2)(sin(φ−φ2)−sin(θ1)cos(θ2)sin(φ−φ1)].
A method of packing dimples that vary in size on an outer surface of a golf ball, comprising the steps of:
- (a) orienting a polyhedron, which is not a geodesic nine-frequency icosahedron, where the polyhedron has a number of polyhedral segment, and each polyhedral segment has a number of vertices and a number points along a number of edges;
- (b) positioning a dimple on the outer surface at or near each of the number of vertices and at each of the number of points along the number of edges;
- and
- (c) centering at least one dimple at each point where a number of great circles that connect the number of points on the number of edges intersect.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.