Improved golf ball cover compositions containing high levels of fatty acid salts
First Claim
1. A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, wherein the cover consists essentially of 100 parts by weight of at least one ionomer resin and from above 25 to about 100 parts by weight of fatty acid salt, wherein said ionomer resin is the reaction product of an olefin having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms and an unsaturated monocarboyxlic acid having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to improved cover compositions for golf ball construction. In this regard, it has been found that if high levels (i.e. greater than 10 pph resin) of fatty acid salts (i.e. metal stearates, metal oleates, metal palmitates, metal pelargonates, metal laurates, etc.) are added to various ionomer resin formulations utilized in golf ball cover construction, the covers produced thereby exhibit similar or improved coefficient of restitution (C.O.R.) values combined with similar or reduced hardness (i.e. an increase in softness) properties. Moreover, since the fatty acid salts are significantly cheaper than the ionomer resins and the discovery that fatty acid salts can be added at relatively high levels without detracting, and many instances enhancing the physical properties of the overall formulations, the addition of high levels of the fatty acid salts presents significant cost savings in the production of golf balls.
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27 Claims
- 1. A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, wherein the cover consists essentially of 100 parts by weight of at least one ionomer resin and from above 25 to about 100 parts by weight of fatty acid salt, wherein said ionomer resin is the reaction product of an olefin having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms and an unsaturated monocarboyxlic acid having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms.
- 9. A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, wherein the cover consists essentially of 100 parts by weight of at least one ionomer resin and from about 25 to about 75 parts by weight of a fatty acid salt, wherein said ionomer resin is the reaction product of an olefin having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms and an unsaturated monocarboxylic acid having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms.
- 17. A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, wherein the cover consists essentially of 100 parts by weight of one or more ionomer resins and from about 50 parts by weight of a fatty acid salt, wherein said ionomer resin is the reaction product of an olefin having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms and an unsaturated monocarboxylic acid having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms.
- 24. In a golf ball cover composition consisting essentially of at least one ionomer resin, the improvement comprising the addition of from about 25 to about 100 parts by weight resin of a fatty acid salt, wherein said ionomer resin is the reaction product of an olefin having from 2 to 8 carbon atoms and an unsaturated monocarboxylic acid having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms.
Specification