Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
;. ~2~6~78
GOI,F BALL WIT~I FLUORESCENT COVEP~
The present invention rel~tes to golf balls and,
in particular, golf balls having a fluorescent appearance
rather ~han the traditional whi~e appearance.
For approximately the last 40-50 years golf balls
have been made by bonding a covex about a coreO The
cov~r can either be compression molded from two half
shell~ or it can be directly injection molded as a fluid
a~out ~he core. ~ntil a~out th~, mid 1960's mos~ gol~ - -
ball covers were made o~ a natural resin, nota~ly bala~a~-
Since the mid 60's a syntheti~ resin sold under the
~rademark IlSurlyni' by Eo I. Dupont has increasingly
assumed a grea~er posit;on as a golf ball cover material
and it has, today, the major share of the marke~O Covers
made o such materials are described in U~S. Pa~ent
lS Nos. 3,~54,290 and 3~8~9,281.
Various at~emp~s have been made ovex ~he years ~o
make o~e piece solid gol~ ballsO However~ no one has
succeeded in making a top grade one piece golf ball~
Top grade go~f ba~ls today axe made with a cover material
as mentioned hereinbefore molded a~ou~ a core~ wi~h the
core being ei~her a wound core ox a solid core, both
o~ which are ver~ well know~ in the artO
No matter what the construction OL the gol~ ball or
the composition o~ the cover~ it has been the practic2
in the art to apply a ~inish to the surface o~ the gol~
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ball cover. This is an elabora~e, expensive and highly
developed technology. A typical painting operation with
a Surlyn eovered golf ball involves sand blasting the
surface of the cover9 washing, drying and then the
successive steps of applying a primer, drying the primer
at about 100F9 applying a first whi~e coat, drying the
first coa~ at about 100 F~ applying a second white coat,
d~ying ~he second coa~ at about 100F, stamping a ~rademark -
2ad ~umbersg and then following with a clear finish coa~
and dr~ing it at about ~00F, Despi~e these many steps,
even the best of manufacturers have some wearing away o~
~he paint sur~ace~ especially a~ter ex~ensive use of ~he
ballO This is especially true with the Surlyn covered golf
balls~
The problem is particularly acute when the cover is
a different color from the paint ~yste~ as is the case wi~h
both balata and Surlyn covers when they are painted whiteO
Most manufac~urers at~empt ~o compensa~e for ~his colo~
difference by lncluding a white~ing agen~, usual~y titanium
20 dioxide, in ~he cover composi~ion. This impar~s a whi~e
appearance to the cover. However, this is quite a dull
white appearance and the di~ference bets~7een the surface color
and the cover; even where the cover contains titanium o~ide,
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is generally quite noticeable to the golfer as the pain~
wears away.
While they have generally f~llen out of favor today,
there was a time when red coated golf balls were manu-
facturered and sold9 particularly for play by "snow birds"~One of ~he reasons ~hat these were not generally accep~ed,
even though they could be very well seen as compared to a
~ite golf ball when played in sno~y or heavy frost con-
di~ions~ was that the paint would come off ~airly quickly
revealing the white cover~ This caused the balls t~ be
associated with poor quality, as a result o~ which sale of
them was never very greatO There have also been attempts
from time to time to market pastel coated go~f balls as
'tladies balls"~ These have, however, never achieved great
success and this is also believed to be a resul~ o~ ~he
appearance-durabillty pr~blem~
A~ the present time ~here is a craze sweeping ~he gol~
ball world with respect to golf balls covered with ~luorescent
paint~ These golf balls have been found by many t~ be
substantially more visible ~han the traditional whi~e golf
ballsO While some have predicted that ~hîs craze will go
the way of aluminum shafts, ~raphite sha~ts, floating golf
balls, steel centers and the like, others predict that
fluorescent golf balls will become a permanent and larOe
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share of the golf b~ll ma~ket.
One of the circumstances that ma~ prevent these
fluorescent colored yolf balls fro,~ becoming a permanent
share of the market is the old pro~lem of pain~ wear. As
with the sno~,7 bird and ladies golf balls, the fluorescent
covered golf balls are having a substantial problem with
paint wear and the balls on the market today are showing
quite poor appearance-durability~ Not only do the paints
wear away to show the cover color, but they also have a
substantial tendency to chip off revealing large portions
of the cover.
- The applicant has now discovered that the
appearance-durability problem of fluorescent covered golf
balls can be overcome by incorporating the fluorescent
material directly into the cover composition. This is not
a simple replacement of the titanium dioxide for white golf
balls with a fluorescent coloring agent for fluorescent
golf balls. Quite the contrary, the applicant has found that
fluorescent material incorporated in the cover of the golf
ball can be used as the finished cover of th~ golf ball.
The final surface of the golf ball is clear coated as
in the past; however, no opaque coating is app3ied as has
been done with gol~ ba31s, including colored golf balls,
since the '20's.
According to another aspect of the present
invention there is provided a method of making golf balls
which includes the steps of forming a solid core, forming
a cover composition by admixing a resin and a fluorescent
material, molding the cover composition about the solid
core, and applying a clear coating to the outside surface
of the cover without previously applying any opaque coating
thereto.
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The present invention is especially advan-.ageous
where the golf ball cover ma~eri~l is clear, e.~, most
Surlyn resins. While a wound golf ball can be used ~ith
a clear cover for "special effects" it is preferred that
the co~e be a one-piece solid. It is also pre~erred that
the core be essentially white in colorO Where a white core
is used wi~h a clear cover~ the stamping can be pu~ direct-
ly on the core and can be seen through ~e coverO This
i3 true even where a fluoresce~t ma~erial is used to ~olor
~he gol~ ball cover material. Th~s is of ve~y grea~ ad-
vantage since it ensures a long lasting and~ indeed~
relatively permanent retention of the trademark and
identification number and any other markings put on the
ballO This also overcomes o~e o~ the more di~icult prob-
lems of high quali~y golf ~all manufacture, poor stamping.
It advantageously permits the use of a low quali~y ~oll
f~r the stamping since the foil is not required to have
durability charac~eristicsO
While ~he golf ball with the fluorescen~ material
2Q therein is a very good looking golf ball~ the gloss can
be made e~en greater by the application o one or more clear~
or essentially clear, top coatsO The top coat should be
of suff~ient clarity so that the covered material can be
seen therebeneath. If the top coat is opaque, the primary
7~3
advan~ages of ~he present invention canno-~ be oh~ained~
The 1uorescent ma~erials useful in the pr~sent
invention are commercially availa~le ~luorescent pigments
and dyes. They are describ2d in U.S. Paten~ Nos. 2,809,954,
2,938,873, 2,851,424 or 3J412,0360 A good commercial source
for these products is Day~lo Color Corpora~ionO The ~mount
of fluorescen~ material ~o be used is largely a matter o~
choice depending on ~he brigh~ness desired, ~owever, i~
is preferred that the amount of ~luorescent dye ~e from
about 0.01% to about 0O407O by weight of the cover compo-
sition and the a~ount o~ fluorescent pioment be from a~out
0.5~ to abo~t 6% by weight of the cover compositionO
Because of the rela~ively unsta~1-e nature o 1uoresce~t
pigments and dyes~ and especially because o~ ~he outside
-15 use to which golf balls are pUt9 it ~S pre~erred that a
U.V. s~abilizer be added to the cover composltion, I*
either the fluorescen~ material or the cover material comes
with su~ficen~ U,V s~abi~lzer, it ;s obviously not bene-
~icial ~o add moreO However, whether present in the cover
materials or added ~hereto, it is preferred tha~ a UDV~
stabilizer be present in the amount of from about Ool~
~o abou~ 3.0% by welght of the cover, more preferably f~om
abou~ 0.5% to about 2~0./~o
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Where i~ is desired that the trademark and
number be put on the surface of the golf ball cover rather
than on the core, a fluorescent pigment can be used rather
than a fluorescent dye. This will give a translucent
fluorescent cover. ~lowever, as in the situation where the
fluorescent dye is used, no opaque finish is applied to the
surface of the golf ball; if any coating is used, it is an
essentially clear coating.
It is also possible to obtain special effects
by adding other coloring materials. For example, a white
opacifying agent such as titanium dioxide or calcium carbonate
can be used to make the cover essentially opaque. This can
be used to hide the threads of a wound golf ball. Again
in this case, howe~er, it is preferred that any coating be
limited to a clear coating.
These and other advantages of the present
invention may be understood from the ~ollowing examples:
`
EXAMPLE 1
A solid core was used for the golf ball. The
solid core was white in appearance and was the core from
the commercially available PINNACLE golf ball. The cover
composition was prepared by admixing 99.96% by weight Surlyn
and 0.04% by weight Dayglo Fluorescent Dye Saturn Yellow.
The cover composition was formed into gol~ ball
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mab/ ~
1206178
¦ half shells in the s~and~d m~nner in an inj~ctlon
molding machine. At ~e same tim~, the gulf b~ll core
was stamped wlth a trademark and a number. Thereafter
the golf ball hal~ shells were compression molded about
the core. Tne flash line from the compression molding
was removed by bufing, It was noted that substantially
less care was required in ~he buffing operation than that
usually required with titanium dloxi~e p~gmented golf
ball covers, The buffed golf ball was then clear coated
in the standard manner,
The result~ng golf ball had a very pleasing fluorescent
appearance with a high degree of gloss. The trademark was
clearly visible through the cover, In extended hitting
tests, the golf ball was found to have substantially better
appearance-durability than commercially available fluores-
cent colored golf ballsO At the end of 200 hits equivalent
to 200 yard drives, the appearance was almost the same as
the initial appearance and the trademark was still fully
~ intact and clearly visible.
ij 20 rEXAMPLE 2
Example 1 is repeated with the sam2 cover composition
on a wound coreO In this case, however, the trademark is
applied to the surface of the golf ball cover before the
clear coat is applied~ A golf ball with the windings
~5 visible is obtained.
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E~MPLE 3
Ex~mple 1 is again repea~ed except tha~ in this case
a clear coat is not employed~ A comparable golf ball but
with somewhat less gloss is o~tained.
S EXAMPLE 4
Example 1 is repeaked except that in ~he place of
the Dayglo Sa~ur~ Yellow, the Lemon Yellow rom the
Lawter Chemical Co. of Skokie, Illinois is used~ Com
parable results are obtainedD
EXAMPLE 5
Example 1 is repeated excep~ that ~he amountof
Dayglo Saturn Yellow is increased to 0~40%O A compara~le
golIC ball is obtained but the high level of dye makes
the ball somewhat less bright and so less visible,
EXAMPLE 6
Example 1 is repea~ed except that the amoun~ o
Dayglo Saturn Yellow is reduced ~o 0~01%o A comparable
golf ball is obtained excep~ tha~ it does not have the
fullness of the color of th~ golf ball of Example 1.
EXAMP~E 7
~ xample 1 is repeated except that a fluorescent
p;gment is used rather than a 1uorescent dye and the
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trademaric is applied to the surface of the golf ball
cover before the clear coat is applied. The ~luorescent
pigmenk is Dayglo Saturn Yellow A-17-N and is used in
the amount of 2~0% by weight. The resulting golf bal1
has a vPxy pleasing fluorescent appearance but without
the clear cover of the gsl~ ball o~ Example 1. A ~rans-
lucent cover is ob~alned~
I~ will be unders~ood that the claims are in~end d
~o cover all changes and modifications o the pre~erred
embodiment of the invention herein chosen for the purpose
of illustration which do not constitute departures from
the sp;rit and scope of the inven~ion.
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