Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Ball
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-14
2001-04-17
Gerrity, Stephen F. (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Ball
C473S371000, C473S374000, C473S351000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06217464
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to golf balls and, more particularly, to a golf ball having a low spin rate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The majority of commercially available golf balls are advertised as having high spin rates since such spin rates are desirable for the better golfer. A high spin rate in a golf ball indicates that the ball rotates very rapidly about its axis when struck by the skilled player. The advantage of the high spin rate is that the ball can be made to produce a reverse or back spin so that the ball stops very quickly when hit into a green on an approach shot.
While high spin rates are desirable for the professional or better golfer, most amateur golfers are not capable of hitting a ball in a manner to produce controlled spin on the ball. More importantly, most amateur golfers have a swing which is either an inside-out or outside-in swing that produces side spin on the ball. Side spin causes the ball to move laterally off a desired target line, i.e., in either a hook or slice direction. For such amateur golfers, a better golf ball would be a ball with a reduced or even zero spin rate so that the ball travels in essentially a straight line from the club face without the detrimental side spin. A ball which eliminates most of the spin will travel a further distance in a desired direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,304 describes a low spin golf ball in which the spin rate is reduced by using the combination of a soft core and a hard outer cover. In addition, that patent suggests that spin rate can be further reduced by decreasing the weight of a softened polybutadiene core while maintaining core size and by increasing the thickness of the cover. The golf ball in the '304 patent may also be made larger than the standard 1.680 inch golf ball to provide a further reduced spin rate. While these designs are successful in reducing the spin rate of golf balls, many golfers object to a golf ball which has a very hard feel such as occurs when using a very hard cover on a golf ball. When struck with an iron club, such golf balls tend to induce vibrations into the club which are undesirable even to the unskilled golfer. Furthermore, while the use of a ball which is slightly oversized, such as, for example, the Top Flite Magna™ sold by Spalding & Evenflo Companies, Inc., many golfers are opposed to using an oversized ball and would prefer to have a ball which is the same size as those played by professional golfers. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a ball which has the same general feel and size characteristics of the ball used by professional golfers while at the same time having the advantage of a very low or zero spin rate to compensate for side spin often induced by the amateur golfer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A golf ball in accordance with the present invention for reducing spin rate is manufactured with a thin layer of a dry lubricant on the outer surface of the outer cover of the ball. The lubricant is preferably a fluoropolymer or similar low friction materials. The golf ball may be constructed with an inner solid core formed of a polybutadiene elastomeric material and an outer cover formed of a thermal plastic resin such as ionomer resin to create a conventional two-piece golf ball. The lubricant may be sprayed or vacuum deposited on the outer cover or the ball may be dipped into fluoropolymer solution and then dried. The thickness of the lubricant coating may be in the range from 1×10
−6
to 10.0 mils (thousandths of an inch). When a ball constructed in accordance with this arrangement is struck by a club, the ball will tend to slip or slide with respect to the club face so that the spin normally imparted to the ball by striking with a club is substantially reduced.
A further reduction in spin can be achieved by establishing a layer of lubricant between the core and cover of a golf ball so as to allow the cover to “slip” with respect to the core. The use of a lubricant between the outer cover and inner core may be extended to golf balls in which there is an inner cover interposed between the core and the outer cover such as, for example, in the Top Flite™ golf balls sold under the tradename Strata™. This double cover arrangement in a golf ball provides for a further opportunity to isolate the outer cover from the inner core using a lubricant interface. In particular, the inner core can be covered by a lubricant prior to compression molding the inner cover over the core and then a second layer of lubricant can be placed over the inner cover prior to molding the outer cover over the ball. In this respect, there is now two lubricant layers which provides for greater opportunity for the outer cover to rotate with respect to the inner core in response to being struck by a golf club. Moreover, any spin imparted to the outer cover will be quickly absorbed by the inner cover and inner core to either stop or reduce the overall spin rate of the golf ball and minimize any tendency of the ball to have a spin rate which would cause the ball to fly off line. It will be recognized that the invention may also be applied to conventional three-piece balls, i.e., balls which have an inner wound core and an outer cover of either a natural or synthetic polymeric composition.
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Aryanpour Mitra
Beusse James H.
Gerrity Stephen F.
Holland & Knight LLP
Maire David G.
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