Mold for golf balls
AssigneeSumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.
InventorTakahiro SAJIMA
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mold for a golf ball can include a pair of mold halves. Each mold half can have a cavity face including a plurality of pimples. The cavity face can have a low-latitude zone and a high-latitude zone. The low-latitude zone can include a low-latitude base surface having an inner diameter larger than that of a phantom sphere of a cavity. The high-latitude zone can include a high-latitude base surface having an inner diameter equal to that of the phantom sphere. Each pimple can protrude from the low-latitude base surface or the high-latitude base surface. A pimple that intersects an equator plane of the phantom sphere or is proximal to the equator plane can protrude partially or entirely from the low-latitude base surface.
Claims15
A mold for golf balls, the mold comprising:
- a pair of mold halves configured to be mated with each other thereby forming a cavity having a spherical shape, wherein
- each of the mold halves has a cavity face including a plurality of pimples,
- the cavity face has a low-latitude zone and a high-latitude zone,
- the low-latitude zone includes a low-latitude base surface having an inner diameter larger than an inner diameter of a phantom sphere of the cavity,
- the high-latitude zone includes a high-latitude base surface having an inner diameter equal to the inner diameter of the phantom sphere,
- each of the pimples protrudes from the low-latitude base surface or the high-latitude base surface, and
- a pimple, of the plurality of pimples, that intersects an equator plane of the phantom sphere or is proximal to the equator plane protrudes partially or entirely from the low-latitude base surface.
A golf ball production method comprising:
- placing a material into a mold including a pair of mold halves configured to be mated with each other thereby forming a cavity having a spherical shape, wherein each of the mold halves has a cavity face including a plurality of pimples, the cavity face has a low-latitude zone and a high-latitude zone, the low-latitude zone includes a low-latitude base surface having an inner diameter larger than an inner diameter of a phantom sphere of the cavity, the high-latitude zone includes a high-latitude base surface having an inner diameter equal to the inner diameter of the phantom sphere, each of the pimples protrudes from the low-latitude base surface or the high-latitude base surface, and a pimple that intersects an equator plane of the phantom sphere or is proximal to the equator plane protrudes partially or entirely from the low-latitude base surface;
- pressurizing the material in the mold to obtain a golf ball intermediate product having a shape that is an inverted shape of the cavity face;
- and
- cutting a vicinity of an equator of the golf ball intermediate product.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.