Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
  • A63B43/00—Balls with special arrangements
  • A63B43/008—Balls with special arrangements with means for improving visibility, e.g. special markings or colours
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
  • A63B37/00—Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
  • A63B37/0003—Golf balls
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
  • A63B2225/00—Miscellaneous features of sport apparatus, devices or equipment
  • A63B2225/60—Apparatus used in water
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
  • A63B37/00—Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
  • A63B37/0003—Golf balls
  • A63B37/005—Cores
  • A63B37/0051—Materials other than polybutadienes; Constructional details
  • A63B37/0052—Liquid cores
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
  • A63B37/00—Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
  • A63B37/0003—Golf balls
  • A63B37/007—Characteristics of the ball as a whole
  • A63B37/0072—Characteristics of the ball as a whole with a specified number of layers
  • A63B37/0076—Multi-piece balls, i.e. having two or more intermediate layers
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
  • A63B37/00—Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
  • A63B37/0003—Golf balls
  • A63B37/007—Characteristics of the ball as a whole
  • A63B37/0077—Physical properties
  • A63B37/0084—Initial velocity
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
  • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
  • A63B43/00—Balls with special arrangements

Definitions

• golf balls come in two varieties, a three-piece ball and a
• imprints on the ball are made with
• imprints on the ball are made with water-activated
• the invention is thus used as an indicator of balls previously exposed to water to for
• Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a golfer hitting a golf ball into a water
• Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the ball of Figure 1 after immersion in water, showing a visual indicator that the ball has been immersed in water for an
• Figure 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of a two piece ball which provides a
• Figure 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of a three piece ball which provides a
• rubbery material such as balata rubber, polybutadiene blends or low shore hardness
• Figure 5 is a schematic diagram depicting diffusion of water into the ball when it
• Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation of an encapsulated dye particle
• Figure 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of another type two piece of golf ball;
• Figure 8 is a diagrammatic representation of dye pellets used in the subject
• Figure 9 is a perspective view of a golf ball with a water activated vanishing ink
• Figure 10 is a perspective view of a golf ball with a water activated ink
• controlled release technology is
• invention in one embodiment, involves the use of inks or dyes which are micro-
• micro-capsules which may vary in size from tens of microns to millimeters, can be
• a microencapsulant is a polymer coating used to enclose a liquid or solid
• Micro-encapsultants are generally in the range of tens
• Examples include
• microcapsules in drug delivery, vitalizing nutrients or proteins in time release cosmetic are microcapsules in drug delivery, vitalizing nutrients or proteins in time release cosmetic
• the polymer coating may consist of a broad range of potential polymeric
• the driving force for diffusion is mass transfer from the
• a second route to controlled release systems is the slow dissolution of an
• a third approach to the controlled release of a material is macro-encapsulation.
• the material is slowly released from a continuous polymer matrix, which
• molded shell 14 of an ionomer blend such as Surlyn, or a similar polymer resin As can
• a conformal overcoat polymer dispersion 16 contains encapsulated dye
• This overcoat is then covered with a final gloss coat 20 containing no dye
• the ball to prevent dye release in humid or moist environments.
• capsules first and will then take longer to diffuse to capsules in the bulk of the layer 56.
• microencapsulation coating including polymethyl methacrylate, polymethacrylic acid,
• polyacrylic acid polyacrylates, polvacrylamide, polyacryldextran, polyalkyl
• cyanoacrylate cellulose acetate, cellulos acetate butyrate, cellulos nitrate, methyl cellulose and other cellulose derivatives, nylon 6,10, nylon 6,6, nylon 6,
• polyterephthalamide and other polyamides polycaprolactones, polydimethylsiloxanes
• siloxanets aliphatic and aromatic polyesters, polyethylene oxide, polyethylene-vinyl acetate, pol glycolic acid, poly lactic acid and copolymers,
• polyvinyl alcohol polyvinylpyrollidone
• shellac polyvinylpyrollidone
• starch starch
• waxes such as paraffin
• the diffusivity of the polymer coating for the dye molecules increases, allowing
• polymers include nylons such as nylon 6,10 or nylon 6, polyacrylonitrile, polyethylene
• PET terephthalate
• More water permeable polymers which may be
• coefficients of the film include cellulose derivatives, polyacrylates, polyethylene oxides,
• Dyes that may be used should be water-soluble and may vary from a broad
• the dye should be compatible with the
• Some potential dyes for this application might include merocyanine
• dyes and pyridinium-N-phenoxide dyes examples may include Napthalene Orange G,
• the water-soluble dye Prior to water exposure, the water-soluble dye is enclosed by a rigid solid
• diffusion of the dye out of layer 56 can be modeled using basic mass transfer laws.
• dM 47TDK ⁇ C RoRi dt (Ro-Ri) where dM/dt is the rate of transfer of dye with time, D is the diffusivity of the dye in
• K is the solubility of the dye in the layer
• C is the concentration
• Ri is the inner diameter of the capsule.
• nylon could range from ten to one hundred hours, depending on the relative solubility
• the diffusion times can be tailored using various polymers or
• microcapsules may be done using a number of technologies.
• polyurethane coatings may be formed using interfacial polymerization, using
• the particles may be stored under a desicator, and dried under a vacuum with
• the polymer medium for the overcoat can be a traditional gloss coating
• Preferred materials may include polyurethanes, polymethyl methacrylate,
• the conditions of dispersion may be at temperatures
• the overcoating can be dip coated or spraycoated onto the ball and cured.
• a second gloss coating containing no particles may then be applied to the ball.
• the golf ball can be a two piece golf ball consisting of a
• This coating will consist of a soluble nylon, polyester, PET or other barrier coating
• the dye used is a common water soluble dye, Nile Blue.
• This dye is a crystalline material at room temperature and is available as a granular
• the overcoat layer should be
• a second layer of gloss coating such as
• the thickness of the gloss coating should be approximately 100 microns
• the resulting ball would thus contain a water-soluble dye encapsulated in thin
• the time for permeation may be increased by
• water-soluble polymer such as polyethylene oxide or poly acrylic acid
• the prepolymer could be, for
• a water soluble polyacrylamide resin with a temperature activated initiator for example, a water soluble polyacrylamide resin with a temperature activated initiator
• incompatible organic solvent such as toluene with an emulsifying agent such as
• diffusion through a barrier gloss coat could range from 10 to 100 hours
• a colorless compound called a color former is used.
• Color formers are converted to strong dyes when exposed to a developer.
• developer is a slightly acidic clay or resin which absorbs or dissolves the color former
• the developer would be mixed in the gloss resin along with
• microcapsule using interfacial polymerization.
• the color former which is organic and non-water
• droplets become microparticles for the carbonless copy paper industry and is well
• a gloss resin can often be formulated to contain a commercially available gloss resin
• the water diffusion process will involve the solubuilization of the water soluble
• the water then acts as a carrier of the developer and delivers it via
• the diffusion rates are dependent on the thickness of a
• the intensity or effectiveness of the system may be improved by putting
• This invention involves
• Spinning or air flow may be used to dry the first coat and ensure a uniform
• the thickness of the second coat should be fairly well controlled to ensure the
• a golf ball has thus been described which contains dye particles which are
• dye 60 may be incorporated into the ionomer ball cover of a two piece golf
• ball 62 as a solid particle or as an encapsulated dye.
• the ball has a core 64 and a
• Dyes which exist as solid, crystalline dye particles that are 10 to 40 microns in diameter. If such dyes can be compounded with
• the dye particles should main
• gloss coating 68 is the primary barrier to water, and as water permeates the gloss
• the dye encapsulant used would have to be chosen to withstand
• the dye or ink as the case may be
• pellets 70 can be provided in pelletized form as illustrated by pellets 70 for ease of manufacture.
• the dye can be compounded with polybutadiene or an ionomer resin
• the dye is compounded with
• some embodiments include a noticeable change in that hue or color
• golf ball such as to specific markings on the ball.
• golf balls have been marked with a wide variety of marking
• water-activated inks are used to effectuate a change in appearance to the golf ball in one of two ways: (i) a
• colors may be adapted to suit
• oxidation-reduction chemistry can be used to generate

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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Citations (10)

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• 1999
  • 1999-12-16 US US09/465,277 patent/US6358160B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2000
  • 2000-12-13 AT AT00984314T patent/ATE357278T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2000-12-13 WO PCT/US2000/033788 patent/WO2001043833A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 2000-12-13 CA CA002394566A patent/CA2394566C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2000-12-13 JP JP2001544960A patent/JP2003516833A/ja active Pending
  • 2000-12-13 DE DE60034060T patent/DE60034060T2/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-12-13 AU AU20954/01A patent/AU783047B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2000-12-13 ES ES00984314T patent/ES2284549T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2000-12-13 EP EP00984314A patent/EP1237632B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 2001
  • 2001-11-30 US US09/998,098 patent/US6623382B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2003
  • 2003-09-23 US US10/669,103 patent/US6878076B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2005
  • 2005-04-12 US US11/104,869 patent/US20050202901A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2006
  • 2006-02-10 US US11/352,139 patent/US20060194647A1/en not_active Abandoned

Patent Citations (11)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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