Golf balls having metal-containing plasticized thermoplastic inner cores and thermoset outer cores
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A golf ball, comprising:
- i) an inner core layer comprising a thermoplastic composition, the inner core having an outer surface hardness (Hinner core surface) and a center hardness (Hinner core center), the Hinner core surface being greater than the Hinner core center to provide a positive hardness gradient, the thermoplastic composition comprising;
a) an acid copolymer of ethylene and an α
,β
-unsaturated carboxylic acid, optionally including a softening monomer selected from the group consisting of alkyl acrylates and methacrylates;
b) a plasticizer;
c) a cation source present in an amount sufficient to neutralize from about 0 to about 100% of all acid groups present in the composition; and
d) a metal material; and
ii) an outer core layer comprising a thermoset composition, the outer core layer being disposed about the inner core layer and having an outer surface hardness (Houter surface of OC) and a midpoint hardness (Hmidpoint of OC), the Houter surface of OC being greater than the Hmidpoint of OC to provide a positive hardness gradient,wherein the center hardness of the inner core (Hinner core center) is in the range of about 10 Shore C to about 70 Shore C and the outer surface hardness of the outer core layer (Houter surface of OC) is in the range of about 20 Shore C to about 95 Shore C to provide a positive hardness gradient across the core assembly, and wherein the inner core layer has a specific gravity in the range of about 1.60 to about 6.25 and the outer core layer has a specific gravity in the range of about 0.60 to about 4.10 g/cc; and
iii) a cover having at least one layer disposed about the outer core layer.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Multi-piece golf balls containing a dual-layered core structure are provided. The core structure includes a small, heavy inner core (center) having a relatively high specific gravity, and a surrounding outer core layer. The layers of the core structure may have different hardness gradients. The center of the core comprises a metal material such as copper, steel, brass, tungsten, titanium, aluminum, and alloys thereof preferably dispersed in a thermoplastic polymeric matrix. Different plasticizer such as fatty acid esters may be used. The outer core layer is preferably formed from a thermoset composition such as polybutadiene. The resulting ball has high resiliency and good spin.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A golf ball, comprising:
-
i) an inner core layer comprising a thermoplastic composition, the inner core having an outer surface hardness (Hinner core surface) and a center hardness (Hinner core center), the Hinner core surface being greater than the Hinner core center to provide a positive hardness gradient, the thermoplastic composition comprising; a) an acid copolymer of ethylene and an α
,β
-unsaturated carboxylic acid, optionally including a softening monomer selected from the group consisting of alkyl acrylates and methacrylates;b) a plasticizer; c) a cation source present in an amount sufficient to neutralize from about 0 to about 100% of all acid groups present in the composition; and d) a metal material; and ii) an outer core layer comprising a thermoset composition, the outer core layer being disposed about the inner core layer and having an outer surface hardness (Houter surface of OC) and a midpoint hardness (Hmidpoint of OC), the Houter surface of OC being greater than the Hmidpoint of OC to provide a positive hardness gradient, wherein the center hardness of the inner core (Hinner core center) is in the range of about 10 Shore C to about 70 Shore C and the outer surface hardness of the outer core layer (Houter surface of OC) is in the range of about 20 Shore C to about 95 Shore C to provide a positive hardness gradient across the core assembly, and wherein the inner core layer has a specific gravity in the range of about 1.60 to about 6.25 and the outer core layer has a specific gravity in the range of about 0.60 to about 4.10 g/cc; and iii) a cover having at least one layer disposed about the outer core layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification