Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser – Synthetic resins – Compositions to be polymerized by wave energy wherein said...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-06
2003-11-11
Berman, Susan W. (Department: 1711)
Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 ser
Synthetic resins
Compositions to be polymerized by wave energy wherein said...
C522S079000, C522S080000, C522S083000, C522S096000, C522S103000, C522S107000, C473S351000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06646021
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf ball printing ink which is capable of printing marks having superior impact resistance with higher productivity, to a golf ball bearing a mark printed with this ink, and to a method of manufacturing such a golf ball.
2. Description of the Related Art
Golf balls bear letters, patterns and symbols representing trade names, numbers, brand names and the like (hereinafter referred generally to as “mark(s)”) printed on surfaces thereof.
Golf balls are subject to heavy deformations due to hitting with golf clubs and, hence, repeated shots may cause the mark printed on a golf ball body to peel off the ball body, or to crack or chip off because the mark cannot follow such deformations of the golf ball. For this reason, demands exist for inks capable of printing highly impact-resistant marks that will not peel off or chip off when subjected to repeated shots with golf clubs.
In printing a mark on a spherical surface formed with a multiplicity of dimples such as a golf ball surface, a screen printing process is difficult and, accordingly, it is a common practice to employ a pad printing process wherein an ink filling an cavity of a printing plate is transferred onto a pad and the ink on the pad is transferred onto a golf ball body surface.
Examples of conventional inks for use in such a pad printing process include inks of the evaporation to dryness type which comprises a solution prepared by dissolving a solid resin in a solvent and which dries after printing due to evaporation of the solvent; and inks of the two-part reactive type comprising a base resin and a curing agent, which are mixed together before filling the cavity of a printing plate, the mixture in the cavity being then transferred to a ball body surface and allowed to cure on the ball body surface.
With such a two-part reactive type ink, it is required that the base resin and the curing agent be mixed together every printing one lot of balls because the curing reaction therebetween starts proceeding upon their mixing and results in an increase of the viscosity of the ink. In order to maintain the fluidity of the ink at such a degree as to allow the ink to fill the cavity of a printing plate until one lot printing has been completed, the ink composition should be adjusted so that it takes about half a day or one whole day for the curing reaction thereof to complete. This, however, means that a drying process to be performed between the completion of printing on a ball body surface and the subsequent application of the whole ball body surface with a clear paint also takes half a day or one whole day. During the period up to the completion of curing, balls thus printed need to be left stationary so as not to contact each other. This has been an obstacle in improving the productivity.
With respect to an evaporation to dryness type ink, the drying time thereof is equal to the evaporation time of the solvent and, hence, obstacles in improving the productivity can be reduced by selecting a suitable kind of solvent. However, marks printed with such evaporation to dryness type inks generally have inferior impact resistance. For this reason, a reinforcing agent is usually added to such an evaporation to dryness type ink to improve the impact resistance of resulting marks.
An ink containing reinforcing agents, however, has a shortened pot life and, hence, it is difficult to ensure pot life and impact resistance in a well-balanced manner.
In general, it takes several days for a printed mark to cure completely at ordinary temperature and, hence, it is a common practice to perform a clear paint applying process when the mark has dried to such a state that the ink forming the mark does not transfer to a hand touching the mark.
The clear paint used here is a paint comprising a film forming resin and a solvent dissolving the resin. Since the solvent in the clear paint is same as or analogous to the solvent used in the ink, the solvent of the clear paint may dissolve an uncured portion of a printed mark or penetrates into such an uncured portion to cause the mark to swell when the curing of the mark has not been fully completed. This results in the mark having an impaired appearance and a lower durability.
An ultraviolet-curing type ink is an ink that is capable of ensuring a sufficient pot life before printing while offering a rapid drying. However, such ultraviolet-curing type inks, in general, do not contain any organic solvent and hence have higher viscosity. For this reason, it is difficult for such an ultraviolet-curing type ink to transfer from a printing pad to a ball body surface without any chipping.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Gazette No. HEI 9-122271 discloses an ink which is suitable for pad printing process and capable of printing highly impact-resistant marks while taking advantages of the ultraviolet-curing type inks. The viscosity of the ink composition of this ink is a specified, and the Sward hardness of the film formed with the cured ink is also specified.
This ink, however, yields marks having inferior durability and hence is unsatisfactory as a golf ball printing ink.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball printing ink which is capable of printing a mark having a clear appearance and superior impact resistance with a shortened drying time required after the printing while ensuring a sufficient pot life, a golf ball bearing a mark printed with the ink, and a method of manufacturing the golf ball.
A golf ball printing ink according to one aspect of the invention comprises a solvent, a resin in a solid state at ordinary temperature, and an ultraviolet-curing type resin. A golf ball printing ink according to another aspect of the invention comprises a solvent, a curing agent, a reactive curing type resin which is curable through reaction with the resin, and an ultraviolet-curing type resin.
A method of manufacturing a golf ball of the present invention comprises the steps of printing a mark on a surface of a golf ball body with use of either of the inventive inks; irradiating the mark with ultraviolet ray after the printing; and applying a clear paint to the golf ball body after the ultraviolet ray irradiation.
A golf ball of the invention comprises a ball body, a mark printed on a surface of the ball body with use of either of the inventive ink, and a clear coating film covering a surface of the ball body and the mark.
The foregoing and other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the reading of the following detailed description.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention will now be described in detail.
A golf ball printing ink according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises a resin in a solid state at ordinary temperature (hereinafter referred to as “solid resin” simply), an ultraviolet-curing type resin, and a solvent.
Conventionally known resins used as vehicles in ink which is dryable by evaporation of the solvent therein can be used as the solid resin. Examples of the solid resins include cellulose derivatives such as nitrocellulose, acetylcellulose, ethylcellulose, and cellulose acetate butyrate; synthetic resins such as acrylic resin, alkyd resin, vinyl resin, and urethane resin; and rubbers such as chlorinated rubber. These resins can be dissolved in solvents to be described later and hence can be present in a liquid state in the ink.
The ultraviolet-curing type resin used in the present invention is three-dimensionally crosslinked by reactions initiated by radicals produced by irradiation of ultraviolet ray (in the wavelength range of 250 to 450 nm). The ultraviolet-curing type resin contains an ultraviolet-curing type polymer having unsaturated bonds (vinyl group or acryloyl group) causing radical polymerization. Preferably, the resin further contains a radical-polymerizable monomer. Such an ultraviolet-curing type resin becomes a cured state where the crosslinking reaction ha
Kikuchi Masaaki
Tanaka Hiroaki
Berman Susan W.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Limited
LandOfFree
Golf ball printing ink, golf ball bearing a mark printed... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Golf ball printing ink, golf ball bearing a mark printed..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Golf ball printing ink, golf ball bearing a mark printed... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3170743