Golf ball covers comprising modulus adjusting fillers

• US 6,832,963 B2
• Filed: 12/12/2002
• Issued: 12/21/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Acushnet Company (FILA Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Sullivan, Michael J., DeSimas, Antonio U., Ladd, Derek A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vidovich, Gregory
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUNTER, ALVIN A
• Application Number:
  US10/317,904
• Publication Number:
  US 20030092509A1
• Time in Patent Office: 740 Days
• Field of Search: 473/351-378
• US Class Current: 473/374
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 37/0003 Golf balls
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 37/0045 Thickness
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 37/0049 Flexural modulus; Bending stiffness
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 37/02 Special cores balls with finger holes A63B37/0001, golf ball cores A63B37/005

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a golf ball with a core and a polymeric layer reinforced with fillers. Such layer can be the cover, a portion of the cover, an intermediate layer, a portion of the intermediate layer, or any layer in the golf ball. The fillers are selected to provide efficient increases in flexural modulus as a function of weight percentage of filler in the polymeric layer. A preferred filler is barium sulfate.

Claims

1. A golf ball comprising a core encased by an outer layer wherein the outer layer comprises a non-ionomeric thermoplastic copolymer of ethylene and a carboxylic acid having a flexural modulus from about 500 psi to about 30,000 psi and at least about 30% by weight of a filler, wherein the filler provides at least about 50% increase in the flexural modulus of the outer layer over the same material excluding the filler and wherein the acid level ranges from about 7% to about 11%.

2. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer layer comprises at least about 50% by weight of the filler and wherein the filler provides at least about 90% increase in flexural modulus.

3. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the outer layer comprises at least about 80% by weight of the filler and wherein the filler provides at least about 600% increase in flexural modulus.

4. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the carboxylic acid comprises methacrylic acid, acrylic acid or maleic acid.

5. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the flexual modulus of the outer layer is between about 19,000 and 120,000 psi.

6. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the flexual modulus of the outer layer is between about 30,000 and 100,000 psi.

7. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the filler comprises barium sulfate.

8. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the outer layer ranges from about 0.005 inch to about 0.03 inch.

9. The golf ball of claim 8, wherein the thickness of the outer layer is about 0.015 to 0.03 inch.

10. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the ball further comprises a cover layer and the outer layer is disposed between the core and the cover layer.

11. The golf ball of claim 1, wherein the filler increases the rotational moment of inertia of the ball.

12. A golf ball comprising a core encased by an outer cover layer wherein the outer cover layer comprises a non-ionomeric thermoplastic matrix copolymer of ethylene and a carboxylic acid comprising methacrylic acid, acrylic acid or maleic acid, the material having a flexural modulus from about 500 psi to about 30,000 psi and at least about 50% by weight a filler, wherein the filler provides at least about 90% increase in the flexural modulus of the thermoplaslic matrix from the same material in an unfilled state and wherein the acid level ranges from about 3% to about 25%.

13. The golf ball of claim 12, wherein the outer cover layer comprises at least about 80% by weight of the filler and wherein the filler provides at least about 600% increase in flexural modulus in the unfilled thermoplastic matrix.

14. The golf ball of claim 12, wherein the filler comprises barium sulfate.

15. The golf ball of claim 12, wherein the thickness of the outer layer ranges from about 0.005 inch to about 0.030 inch.