Three-cover-layer golf ball having transparent or plasticized polyamide intermediate layer

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9669265-B2
Application number	US-201414487225-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 16, 2014
Priority date	Mar 13, 2009
Publication date	Jun 6, 2017
Grant date	Jun 6, 2017

Abstract

A golf ball includes a core and a three-layer cover disposed adjacent the core. The three-layer cover includes an inner cover, an intermediate cover, and an outer cover. The inner cover includes a non-ionomeric E/Y copolymer where E is an olefin and Y is a carboxylic acid. The inner cover has a hardness of about 45 to 68 Shore D. The outer cover includes a castable thermoset polyurethane and has a hardness of about 40 to 62 Shore D. The intermediate cover layer, disposed between the inner and outer cover layers, is formed from a polyamide composition, where the polyamide composition includes a transparent polyamide having a light transmission of about 50% or greater.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A golf ball comprising:
a core; and
a cover disposed adjacent the core, the cover comprising:
a non-ionomeric inner cover layer comprising an E/Y copolymer where E is an olefin and Y is a carboxylic acid, the inner cover being disposed about the core and having a hardness of 45 Shore D to 68 Shore D;
a castable thermoset polyurethane outer cover layer having a hardness between 40 Shore D and 62 Shore D; and
an intermediate cover layer disposed between the inner and outer cover layers, the intermediate layer comprising a polyamide composition;

wherein the polyamide composition comprises a transparent polyamide having a light transmission of about 50% or greater and has a ratio of Charpy notched impact-resistance measured at 23° C. and measured at −30° C. of at least about 2.0.

2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the transparent polyamide comprises a transparent polyether-amide block copolymer.

3. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the transparent polyamide has an amorphous, quasi-amorphous, semicrystalline, or microcrystalline structure.

4. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the transparent polyamide has a glass transition temperature in the range of about 75° C. to about 160° C.

5. The golf ball of claim 4 , wherein the transparent polyamide has a glass transition temperature in the range of about 80° C. to about 95° C.

6. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the Charpy notched impact-resistance is about 50 kJ/m 2 or greater when measured at 23° C.

7. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the transparent polyamide has a light transmission of about 80% or greater.

8. The golf ball of claim 7 , wherein the light transmission is about 90% or greater.

9. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate layer hardness is greater than the inner cover layer hardness.

10. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the intermediate layer hardness is greater than the inner cover layer hardness by at least 5 Shore D.

11. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate layer hardness is greater than the outer cover layer hardness.

12. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the intermediate layer hardness is greater than the outer cover layer hardness by at least 5 Shore D.

13. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the core comprises a center and at least one outer core layer.

14. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the non-ionomeric inner cover layer further comprises a polyester/polycarbonate blend, a polyester resin, an acetal resin, a polyamide resin, a polyetheramide resin, a polyester resin, a polyester elastomer, a liquid crystalline polyester, a polyester/polyamide blend, a poly(arylene ether)/polyester resin, or a polyimide.

15. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the olefin is ethylene and the carboxylic acid is acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, crotonic acid, maleic acid, fumaric acid, itaconic acid, or a combination thereof.

16. A golf ball comprising:
a core; and
a cover disposed adjacent the core, the cover comprising:
a non-ionomeric inner cover layer comprising an E/Y copolymer where E is an olefin and Y is a carboxylic acid, the inner cover being disposed about the core and having a hardness of 45 Shore D to 68 Shore D;
a castable thermoset polyurethane outer cover layer having a hardness between 40 Shore D and 62 Shore D; and
an intermediate cover layer disposed between the inner and outer cover layers, the intermediate layer comprising a polyamide composition;

wherein the polyamide composition comprises a transparent polyamide having a light transmission of about 50% or greater, and about 1% by weight to about 60% by weight of an acid anhydride-modified polyolefin.

Assignees

• Acushnet Co

Inventors

• Sullivan Michael J
• Bulpett David A
• Blink Robert
• Binette Mark L
• Comeau Brian

Classifications

• A63B37/0092

  Hardness distribution amongst different ball layers · CPC title

• A63B37/0062

  Hardness · CPC title

• A63B37/0043

  Hardness · CPC title

• A63B37/0031

  Hardness · CPC title

• A63B37/0027

  Polyurea · CPC title