Method and apparatus for applying a topcoat to a golf ball surface
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsDavid A. Goodwin, Derek A. Fitchett
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A topcoat is applied to a surface of a golf ball using a carrier fluid comprising nitrogen gas or nitrogen-enriched air. The carrier fluid typically has air enriched to about 90-99.5% nitrogen. A mixture of carrier fluid and coating material may be sprayed onto the exterior of the golf ball. Nitrogen-enriched air delivery provides a number of benefits over compressed air delivery, such as reduced coating thickness, reduced variance in the coating thickness and average thickness, reduced pooling in dimple center, edge ratio closer to 1.0, faster cure times, reduced viscosity, less material usage, reduced material flow rate, reduced atomization air pressure, and decreased drying time.
Claims14
A method of applying a polyurethane topcoat to a surface of a golf ball having dimples comprising:
- combining a polyurethane coating material and a carrier fluid of nitrogen or nitrogen-enriched air to form a mixture;
- and
- applying the mixture onto the surface of the golf ball;
- wherein the thickness of the coating on the exterior surface of the golf ball is from about 10 to about 15 μm;
- and
- wherein an average edge ratio of the topcoat is about 1.0.
A method of applying a polyurethane topcoat to an exterior surface of a golf ball having dimples comprising:
- combining a polyurethane coating material and a carrier fluid containing air enriched to about 90-99.5% nitrogen by volume to form a mixture;
- heating the mixture to a temperature of from about 100 to about 170° F. (38 to 76.6° C.);
- and
- spraying the mixture onto the exterior surface of the golf ball to form a coating having a thickness from about 10 to about 15 μm;
- wherein an average edge ratio of the topcoat is about 1.0.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.