DIMPLE PATTERNS FOR GOLF BALLS

• US 20130065709A1
• Filed: 11/02/2012
• Published: 03/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Madson, Michael R., Nardacci, Nicholas M.
• Granted Patent: US 10,124,212 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 473/383
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 37/0006 Arrangement or layout of dimples
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 37/0007 Non-circular dimples
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 37/0018 Specified number of dimples
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 45/00 Apparatus or methods for manufacturing balls working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29

Abstract

The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.

Claims

1. A golf ball having an outer surface comprising a real parting line, a plurality of false parting lines, and a plurality of dimples, wherein the dimples are arranged in multiple copies of two irregular domains formed from a midpoint to midpoint method based on a cube and covering the outer surface in a uniform pattern, wherein the irregular domains are defined by non-straight segments, and wherein one of the non-straight segments of each of the multiple copies of the irregular domains forms a portion of either the real parting line or one of the plurality of false parting lines.

2. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the golf ball comprises 336 dimples.

3. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the golf ball comprises 360 dimples.

4. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the golf ball comprises 384 dimples.

5. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the golf ball comprises 390 dimples.

6. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the golf ball comprises 320 dimples.

7. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the golf ball comprises 302 dimples.

8. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the golf ball comprises 432 dimples.

9. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer surface of the golf ball comprises 342 dimples.

10. A method for arranging a plurality of dimples on a golf ball surface, the method comprising:

generating a first and a second irregular domain based on a cube using a midpoint to midpoint method comprising;

providing a single face of the cube, the face comprising a first edge connected to a second edge at a vertex;

connecting the midpoint of the first edge with the midpoint of the second edge with a non-straight segment;

rotating copies of the segment about the center of the face such that the segment and the copies fully surround the center and form the first irregular domain bounded by the segment and the copies; and

rotating subsequent copies of the segment about the vertex such that the segment and the subsequent copies fully surround the vertex and form the second irregular domain bounded by the segment and the subsequent copies;

mapping the first and second irregular domains onto a sphere;

packing the first and second irregular domains with dimples; and

tessellating the first and second domains to cover the sphere in a uniform pattern.

11. A golf ball having an outer surface comprising a plurality of dimples, wherein the dimples are arranged by the method of claim 10.

12. The golf ball of claim 11, wherein the segment, copies thereof, and subsequent copies thereof, form a real parting line and three false parting lines of the golf ball when the first and second domains are tessellated over the surface of the ball.