Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Ball
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-02
2002-03-12
Sewell, Paul T. (Department: 1714)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Ball
C473S357000, C473S351000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06354965
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to golf balls, or portions thereof, having fluid-filled centers with a low water activity to inhibit or prevent weight loss through fluid loss, as well as methods of preparing the same.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional golf balls can be divided into several general classes: (a) solid golf balls having one or more layers, and (b) wound golf balls. Two-piece balls are constructed with a generally solid core and a cover and are generally the most popular with recreational golfers because they are very durable and provide maximum distance. Balls having a two-piece construction are commonly formed of a polymeric core encased by a cover. Typically, the core is formed from polybutadiene that is chemically crosslinked with zinc diacrylate and/or other similar crosslinking agents. These balls are generally easy to manufacture, but are regarded as having limited playing characteristics. Solid golf balls also include multi-layer golf balls having a solid core of one or more layers and/or a cover of one or more layers. These balls are regarded as having an extended range of playing characteristics.
Wound golf balls are generally preferred by many players due to their high spin and soft “feel” characteristics. Wound golf balls typically include a solid, hollow, or fluid-filled center, surrounded by a tensioned elastomeric material and a cover. Wound balls generally are more difficult and expensive to manufacture than solid two-piece balls.
Fluid-filled golf balls, which typically consist of a liquid surrounded by an encapsulating shell further surrounded by a wound layer and one or more cover layers, are often desired for their improved characteristics for short-game shots with irons and putters even though they tend to be more expensive to manufacture and to have a shorter lifespan. Fluid-filled golf balls typically include water to facilitate processing and manufacture, however, water and water-based liquids in golf balls can migrate out of the ball. The encapsulating shell may consist of materials that substantially inhibit the migration of the fluid, but in some cases may not. Various types of fluid-fillings for use in conventional golf balls are discussed in more detail below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,580 discloses a thread-wound golf ball having a liquid-filled center, rubber thread layer formed on the liquid-filled center, and a cover covering the thread layer. The liquid-filled center may be a conventional paste, such as a mixture of water, glycerin, clay, and barium sulfate, and has a diameter of 29.5 mm to 32 mm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,035 discloses a liquid-filled center golf ball having a spherical polymeric shell that contains a liquid mixture of water and a water soluble poly(ethylene oxide) polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,791 discloses a thread-wound golf ball having a liquid-filled center containing a paste with a viscosity of 15 to 70 poise at 23° C. measured by a type B viscometer. The paste may be prepared by formulating freezing-point depressants, such as glycerine, fillers for adjusting specific gravity, viscosity modifiers, etc., in water.
UK Patent Application No. 2,299,588 A discloses wound golf balls having a center of diameter A of 26 mm to 32 mm and a specific gravity D, where D meets the following relationship: 1.0≦D≦0.9446*A+0.0215*A
2
-0.00014*A
3
+14.12. The center may be solid or liquid-filled, but a liquid-filled center is preferred and the liquid may be selected from well-known liquids, for example, water and mixtures of water with barium sulfate, sodium sulfate, or ethylene glycol.
UK Patent Application No. 2,300,125 A discloses a thread-wound golf ball having a liquid-filled center, preferably water, with a specific gravity preferably of 1.0 to 2.0 and a diameter D of 26 mm to 32 mm. The golf ball meets the relationship (A*B)/D≦4.5, where A is the thickness of the rubber bag [shell] containing the liquid and B is the hardness of the bag measured on the JIS-A scale, and the hysteresis loss of the liquid-filled center is up to 7% when the liquid-filled center is deformed to 50% of its diameter D.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,365 discloses a thread-wound golf ball having a center of a rubber bag [shell] containing a liquid of, for example, 100 parts by weight water, 5 to 20 parts by weight of a freezing-point depressant, e.g., glycerin, ethylene glycol, etc., 50 to 100 parts by weight of a filler, e.g., barium sulfate, and 10 to 30 parts by weight of a viscosity modifier, e.g., clay. The golf ball is disclosed to have improved characteristics due to the moment of inertia at 23° C. is 75 to 80 gcm
2
and the rate of increase of the moment of inertia at −30° C. compared to that at 23° C. is within 2 percent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,512 discloses a thread-wound golf ball having center bag [shell] filled with a liquid. The liquid-filled center is prepared by pouring a liquid into a mold cooled with refrigeration medium, freezing the liquid to make a spherical core, or by pouring a liquid into a crosslinked rubber bag [shell] using a syringe and sealing a mark formed by the injection. This liquid-filled center is frozen and a thread wound in a stretched state around the liquid-filled center, which may be a conventional liquid such as water or paste with barium sulfate, clay, and glycerine dissolved in water. The rubber bag may be made from 10 to 80 weight percent 1,4-cis-polybutadiene and 90 to 20 weight percent natural rubber or cis-isoprene rubber; a metal salt of an unsaturated carboxylic acid; and a peroxide crosslinking agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,532 discloses a thread-wound golf ball having a solid or liquid-filled center. The liquid-filled center is a bag filled with water or paste obtained by adding barium sulfate and a minor amount of ethylene glycol to water. The center has a diameter of 24 mm to 33 mm, weighs less than 8 grams, and has a specific gravity of less than 0.9.
Publication WO 97/12648 discloses golf balls having a hollow, spherical shell of a polymeric material; a unitary, noncellular core that is a liquid when introduced to the core; and a spherical cover. The liquid may be a gel, such as gelatin, hydrogel, or water/methyl cellulose gel; a hot-melt, such as salt in water or oils or colloidal suspensions; or liquid, such as inorganic salt water solution, hydraulic oils.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,137 discloses a thread wound golf ball having a conventional liquid-filled center or solid center. The liquid-filled center liquid preferably is water with a specific gravity of at least 0.9 to 1.5 and may include 4 to 60 weight percent of a fine powder, such as barium sulfate, zinc oxide, or silica and preferably with a mean particle size of 0.02 to 100 &mgr;m to adjust the specific gravity to this range. U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,977 discloses a similar thread wound golf ball where the liquid has a specific gravity is 1.08 to 2.00 at 23° C. and a viscosity of 1 cPs to 10,000 cPs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,311 discloses a thread wound golf ball having a center bag [shell] filled with a liquid, thread rubber, and a cover. The center bag [shell] preferably has an inner diameter of 24.8 mm to 28.4 mm, a thickness of 1.5 mm to 3.0 mm, and an outer thickness of 29 mm to 33 mm. The bag [shell] is filled with 8 to 12 cm
3
of fluid, which can be selected from well-known liquids, such as water; mixtures of water with fine powder, such as barium sulfate, zinc white, and silica; and mixtures of water with sodium sulfate. The water should be at least 50 weight percent of the liquid in the center bag [shell] and have a specific gravity of 1.0 to 2.0.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,312 discloses a golf ball having a fluid mass at the center; a first, solid, non-wound mantle layer surrounding the fluid; a second, solid, non-wound mantle layer surrounding the first; and a cover. The fluid may be varied to impart a viscosity and specific gravity as desired to provide desired parameters, such as spin rate, spin decay, compression, and initial velocity.
Bulpett David A.
Harris Kevin M.
Jones Douglas E.
Wu Shenshen
Acushnet Company
Hunter, Jr. Alvin A.
Sewell Paul T.
Swidler Berlin Shereff & Friedman, LLP
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