Golf equipment formed from castable formulation with unconventionally low hardness and increased shear resistance
View Patent ↗Golf equipment including compositions including castable formulations that have low material hardness and increased shear resistance. The compositions may be used in any layer of a golf ball including cores, intermediate layers, and covers and result in high spin rates.
1. A golf ball comprising:
a core;
an inner cover layer disposed about the core; and
an outer cover layer disposed about the inner cover layer, wherein the outer cover layer has a hardness of about 30 Shore D to about 60 Shore D and is formed from a castable material comprising:
a prepolymer formed from the reaction product of at least one isocyanate and polytetramethylene ether glycol, wherein the NCO content of the prepolymer ranges from about 5 percent to about 7 percent; and
a polyether diol having a molecular weight of about 400 to about 2500 and having the following structure:
wherein n is the chain length from 2 to 30;
wherein the castable material has a hardness of about 8 Shore D to about 16 Shore D.
2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the composition comprises a ratio of prepolymer to polyether diol of about 1:0.95.
3. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the material hardness is about 10 Shore D to about 14 Shore D.
4. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has a COR of about 0.810 or greater at 125 ft/s.
5. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the prepolymer has an NCO content of about 6 percent to about 6.5 percent.
6. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the difference between the flexural moduli of the inner cover layer and outer cover layer is about 5,000 psi or less.
7. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the polyether diol has a chain length n of about 7 to about 27.
8. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the polyether diol has a molecular weight of about 650 to about 2000.
9. A golf ball comprising:
a core; and
a cover having a hardness of about 40 Shore D to about 55 Shore D, wherein the cover is formed from a castable material comprising:
a prepolymer formed from the reaction product of at least one isocyanate-containing component and at least one isocyanate-reactive component; and
a polyether diol having a molecular weight of about 400 to about 2500 and having the following structure:
wherein n is the chain length from 2 to 30;
wherein the castable material has a hardness of about 8 Shore D to about 16 Shore D.
10. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the golf ball has a COR of about 0.810 or greater at 125 ft/s.
11. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the prepolymer comprises a reaction product of di phenyl methane diisocyanate and polytetramethylene ether glycol.
12. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the golf ball has an 8-iron spin rate of about 10,000 rpm or greater.
13. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the castable material comprises a ratio of prepolymer to polyether diol of about 1:0.95.
14. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the polyether diol has a chain length n of about 7 to about 27.
15. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the castable material has a hardness of about 8 Shore D to about 14 Shore D.
16. A golf ball comprising:
a core;
a cover; and
an intermediate layer disposed between the core and the cover,
wherein the cover has a hardness of about 40 Shore D to about 55 Shore D and is formed from a castable material comprising:
a prepolymer formed from at least one aromatic diisocyanate and at least one polyol, wherein the NCO content of the prepolymer ranges from about 5 percent to about 7 percent; and
a polyether diol having the following structure:
wherein n is the chain length from 2 to 30;
wherein the castable material has a hardness of about 8 Shore D to about 16 Shore D.
17. The golf ball of claim 16 , wherein the flexural modulus of the intermediate layer is about 2,000 psi to about 200,000 psi.
18. The golf ball of claim 16 , wherein the golf ball has a driver spin rate of about 5,000 rpm or greater.
19. The golf ball of claim 16 , wherein the polyether diol has a molecular weight of about 650 to about 2000.
20. The golf ball of claim 16 , wherein the polyether diol has a chain length n of about 7 to about 27.