Golf ball with resin inner core and specified inner core and cover layer hardness
AssigneeNIKE, Inc.
InventorsYasushi Ichikawa, Arthur Molinari, Chien-Hsin Chou, Chen-Tai Liu, Jun Ichinose
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A high performance golf ball includes a resin inner core, a rubber outer core, and a cover. The resin inner core is made of a blend of highly neutralized polymers and a low flexural modulus ionomer, and may include a blend of different highly neutralized polymers. The inner core and cover layer each has a specified hardness with a hardness relationship. The cover is a single layer ionomer cover, and may be made from a blend of different grades of the ionomer. The ball as a whole has properties to maximize performance and aesthetic properties, such as backspin off the irons, feel, and sound.
Claims17
A golf ball comprising:
- an inner core layer, wherein the inner core layer comprises a first highly neutralized polymer with a first flexural modulus, a second highly neutralized polymer with a second flexural modulus, and a low flexural modulus ionomer, and wherein the inner core layer has a diameter between about 24 mm and about 30 mm;
- an outer core layer, wherein the outer core layer surrounds and encompasses the inner core layer, and wherein the outer core layer comprises a rubber composition;
- and
- a cover layer, wherein the cover layer surrounds and encompasses the outer core layer,
- wherein the first highly neutralized polymer is about 20 to 60 parts by weight of the inner core layer,
- wherein a ratio of the second flexural modulus to the first flexural modulus is less than about 2,
- wherein the low flexural modulus ionomer has a flexural modulus of less than about 8,000 psi,
- wherein the low flexural modulus ionomer is from about 1 to about 50 parts by weight of the inner core layer,
- wherein the golf ball has a ball compression ranging from about 3.0 mm to about 4.0 mm when measured with an initial load of 10 kg and a final load of 130 kg,
- wherein the inner core layer has a first surface hardness and the outer core has a second surface hardness, and wherein the first surface hardness is greater than the second surface hardness,
- wherein the second surface hardness is less than about 50 Shore D, and
- wherein the cover layer has a third surface hardness, wherein the third surface hardness is less than about 68 Shore D.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.