Golf ball manufacturing method
AssigneeBridgestone Sports Co., Ltd.
InventorsTsuyoshi Nakajima, Takashi Ohira, Takuma Nakagawa
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of manufacturing golf balls having a highly transparent cover includes, prior to formation of the cover, a preformed body fabricating step wherein a fluorescent material that emits light when exposed to ultraviolet radiation is included in or coated onto the preformed body. In this way, a preformed body which matches a cover to be formed can be easily and reliably identified from among a plurality of types of preformed bodies stored at a temporary storage place. This manufacturing method enables golf balls of excellent visibility and stylishness to be efficiently produced.
Claims12
A method of manufacturing a golf ball having a core, a cover and, optionally, one or more intermediate layer between the core and the cover, which cover is formed of a transparent or translucent material or a material obtained by blending a colorant in a transparent or translucent material, the method comprising the steps of:
- fabricating a preformed body which is a core or a sphere comprising a core over which one or more intermediate layer has been formed;
- transferring the preformed body to a temporary storage place;
- selecting a preformed body matching a cover to be formed from among a plurality of preformed bodies stored at the temporary storage place;
- transferring the selected preformed body to a cover-forming step;
- forming a cover over the preformed body transferred from the temporary storage place;
- in the preformed body fabricating step, including in or coating onto the preformed body a fluorescent material that fluoresces when exposed to ultraviolet radiation;
- and
- in the preformed body selecting step, exposing the preformed bodies stored at the temporary storage place to ultraviolet radiation so as to generate a fluorescent color, and identifying by the color a preformed body matching the cover to be formed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.