System and method of whitening used golf balls via artificial light
An artificial light whitening treatment for golf balls is disclosed herein. The whitening treatment can be used for golf balls recovered from water hazards, in one aspect. The whitening treatment can be an artificial light treatment comprised of a xenon arc lamp, in one example. The treatment can be configured to whiten golf balls while avoiding using known synthetic chemical based whitening techniques or solutions.
1 . A method of whitening a used golf ball, the method comprising:
applying an artificial light treatment to the golf ball at an irradiance range for a treatment period such that the golf ball is whitened.
2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has been recovered from being at least partially submerged in a water hazard.
3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has a cover formed from ionomer, polyurethane, polyurea, or a hybrid of polyurethane-polyurea.
4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein the golf ball comprises at least one paint layer disposed on the cover.
5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the treatment period is at least one hour and no greater than 80 hours.
6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the artificial light treatment comprises at least one of: a xenon arc lamp, a carbon arc lamp, a mercury arc lamp, a mercury-xenon arc lamp, an incandescent lamp, or a light emitting diode (LED).
7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the artificial light treatment comprises a xenon arc lamp.
8 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein a light filter is applied to the xenon arc lamp.
9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the artificial light treatment is configured to emit light within a wavelength range that includes at least a subset of wavelengths between 300 nanometers-2,500 nanometers.
10 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the artificial light treatment is applied in an enclosed chamber.
11 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the golf ball is whitened from an initial state to a final state, such that an L*-axis value of the CIELAB color space increases by at least 1 unit.
12 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the golf ball is whitened from an initial state to a final state, such that a b*-axis value of the CIELAB color space shifts closer to a b*-axis value of 0 by at least 1 unit.
13 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the golf ball is whitened from an initial state to a final state such that a ΔE* value of the CIELAB color space shows a color shift of at least 2 units.
14 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the irradiance range is at least 0.68 W/m 2 /nm-1.10 W/m 2 /nm at 340 nanometers.
15 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the method lacks any synthetic whitening fluids.
16 . A method of whitening a used golf ball recovered from a water hazard, the method comprising:
applying an artificial light treatment to the golf ball at an irradiance range for a treatment period such that the golf ball is whitened,
wherein the irradiance range is at least 0.50 W/m 2 /nm at 340 nanometers, and the treatment period is at least one hour and no greater than 80 hours;
wherein the golf ball has a cover formed from ionomer, polyurethane, polyurea, or hybrid of polyurethane-polyurea; and
the golf ball is whitened from an initial state to a final state, such that a ΔE* value of the CIELAB color space shows a color shift of at least 2 units.
17 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein the artificial light treatment comprises a xenon arc lamp, and the method lacks any synthetic whitening fluids.
18 . A method of whitening a used golf ball recovered from a water hazard, the method comprising:
applying an artificial light treatment to the golf ball at an irradiance for a treatment period such that the golf ball is whitened, wherein the artificial light treatment comprises a xenon arc lamp,
wherein the irradiance is at least 0.68 W/m 2 /nm-1.10 W/m 2 /nm at 340 nanometers, and the treatment period is at least one hour; and
the golf ball is whitened from an initial state to a final state, such that a ΔE* value of the CIELAB color space shows a color shift of at least 2 units.