Back to results
US 7,582,025 B2Granted
Thermoplastic core having a negative hardness gradient formed from a plasticizer-based gradient-initiating solution
AssigneeAcushnet Company
InventorsMichael J. Sullivan, David A. Bulpett, Brian Comeau
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A golf ball comprising a thermoplastic core, the core having an outer diameter of 1.51 inches to 1.59 inches and having an outer surface and a geometric center, each having a hardness; an outer cover layer; and an inner cover layer disposed between the core and the outer cover layer; wherein the thermoplastic core has been chemically modified by esterification or saponification such that the hardness of the outer surface is less than the hardness of the geometric center to define a negative hardness gradient of 5 Shore C or greater.
Claims10
A golf ball comprising:
- a core consisting essentially of a thermoplastic material, the core having an outer diameter of 1.51 inches to 1.59 inches and having an outer surface and a geometric center, each having a hardness;
- an outer cover layer;
- and
- an inner cover layer disposed between the core and the outer cover layer;
- wherein the thermoplastic core has been chemically modified by esterification or saponification such that the hardness of the outer surface is less than the hardness of the geometric center to define a negative hardness gradient of 5 Shore C or greater;
- and
- wherein the thermoplastic material comprises an ionomer, a highly-neutralized ionomer, a thermoplastic polyurethane, a thermoplastic polyurea, a styrene block copolymer, a polyester amide, polyester ether, a polyethylene acrylic acid copolymer or terpolymer, or a polyethylene methacrylic acid copolymer or terpolymer.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.