Minimal surface golf ball components

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10695617-B1
Application number	US-201816226755-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 20, 2018
Priority date	Dec 20, 2018
Publication date	Jun 30, 2020
Grant date	Jun 30, 2020

Abstract

The present invention provides a novel golf ball construction including a layer having a design based on a minimal surface. The layer is defined by an envelope shape having an outer boundary and an inner boundary, and consists of a minimal surface and an interstitial space, the minimal surface and interstitial space being bounded by the envelope shape. The minimal surface is a single continuous surface which does not intersect itself and has zero mean curvature.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A golf ball comprising a core, an intermediate layer, and a dimpled outer cover layer, wherein:
the intermediate layer has an outer boundary and an inner boundary and consists of a triply periodic minimal surface and an interstitial space, the minimal surface and the interstitial space extending from the inner boundary to the outer boundary, and
the minimal surface is a single continuous surface which does not intersect itself and has zero mean curvature.

2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the interstitial space is filled with a composition that extends beyond the outer boundary of the intermediate layer such that the intermediate layer is surrounded by a layer formed from the composition.

3. The golf ball of claim 2 , wherein the layer formed from the composition of the interstitial space is the dimpled outer cover layer.

4. The golf ball of claim 3 , wherein the composition filling the interstitial space and forming the dimpled outer cover layer is a polyurethane composition.

5. The golf ball of claim 3 , wherein the composition filling the interstitial space and forming the dimpled outer cover layer is an ionomer composition.

6. The golf ball of claim 2 , wherein the layer formed from the composition of the interstitial space is an additional intermediate layer.

7. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the interstitial space is filled with a composition, and wherein the composition of the interstitial space is bounded by the outer boundary of the intermediate layer.

8. The golf ball of claim 7 , wherein the composition is a foamed solid composition.

9. The golf ball of claim 7 , wherein the composition is an unfoamed solid composition.

10. The golf ball of claim 7 , wherein the composition is a liquid.

11. The golf ball of claim 10 , wherein the core is a liquid core formed from the liquid composition of the interstitial space extending beyond the inner boundary of the intermediate layer.

12. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the interstitial space is hollow.

13. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the minimal surface has a constant thickness.

14. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the outer boundary of the intermediate layer has a shape defined by the outer surface of a first three-dimensional shape selected from the group consisting of spheres, cubes, octahedrons, cuboctahedrons, dodecahedrons, tetrahedrons, and icosahedrons, and the inner boundary of the intermediate layer is has a shape defined by the outer surface of a second three-dimensional shape selected from the group consisting of spheres, cubes, octahedrons, cuboctahedrons, dodecahedrons, tetrahedrons, and icosahedrons.

15. The golf ball of claim 14 , wherein the first three-dimensional shape is the same shape as the second three-dimensional shape.

16. The golf ball of claim 14 , wherein the first three-dimensional shape is a different shape than the second three-dimensional shape.

17. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the outer boundary of the intermediate layer has a shape defined by the outer surface of a first sphere, and the inner boundary of the intermediate layer has a shape defined by the outer surface of a second sphere.

18. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the first sphere has a diameter of from 0.50 inches to 1.67 inches, and the second sphere has a diameter of from 0.25 inches to 1.63 inches.

19. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the outer boundary of the intermediate layer has a shape defined by the outer surface of a first cube, and the inner boundary of the intermediate layer has a shape defined by the outer surface of a second cube.

20. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the outer boundary of the intermediate layer has a shape defined by the outer surface of a sphere, and the inner boundary of the intermediate layer has a shape defined by the outer surface of a cube.

21. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the volume of the minimal surface (V M ) to the volume of the intermediate layer (V E ) is less than 1.

22. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the volume of the minimal surface (V M ) to the volume of the intermediate layer (V E ) is less than 0.50.

23. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the volume of the minimal surface (V M ) to the volume of the intermediate layer (V E ) is less than 0.25.

24. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the surface area of the minimal surface (A M ) to the average surface area of the intermediate layer (A E ), where A E is calculated as the average of the surface area of the outer boundary of the intermediate layer and the inner boundary of the intermediate layer, is less than 1.

25. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the surface area of the minimal surface (A M ) to the average surface area of the intermediate layer (A E ), where A E is calculated as the average of the surface area of the outer boundary of the intermediate layer and the inner boundary of the intermediate layer, is greater than 2.

26. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the surface area of the minimal surface (A M ) to the average surface area of the intermediate layer (A E ), where A E is calculated as the average of the surface area of the outer boundary of the intermediate layer and the inner boundary of the intermediate layer, is greater than 4.

27. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the core is hollow.

Assignees

• Acushnet Co
• Achushnet Company

Inventors

• Madson Michael R

Classifications

• A63B37/0038 Primary

  Intermediate layers, e.g. inner cover, outer core, mantle · CPC title

• A63B37/0056

  Hollow; Gas-filled · CPC title

• A63B37/0052

  Liquid cores · CPC title

• A63B37/004

  Physical properties · CPC title

• A63B37/0076

  Multi-piece balls, i.e. having two or more intermediate layers · CPC title