Golf ball comprising saturated polyurethanes and methods of making the same

1. A golf ball comprising at least one light stable cover layer formed from a composition comprising at least one castable reactive polyurethane liquid material formed from a saturated polyurethane prepolymer and a saturated curing agent, wherein the saturated polyurethane prepolymer is formed from the reaction product of a saturated diisocyanate and a dimerate polyester polyol.

2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the saturated diisocyanate is selected from the group consisting of ethylene diisocyanate; propylene-1,2-diisocyanate; tetramethylene diisocyanate; tetramethylene-1,4-diisocyanate; 1,6-hexamethylene-diisocyanate; octamethylene diisocyanate; decamethylene diisocyanate; 2,2,4-trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate; 2,4,4-trimethylhexamethylene diisocyanate; dodecane-1,12-diisocyanate; dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate; cyclobutane-1,3-diisocyanate; cyclohexane -1,2-diisocyanate; cyclohexane-1,3-diisocyanate; cyclohexane-1,4-diisocyanate; methyl-cyclohexylene diisocyanate; 2,4-methylcyclohexane diisocyanate; 2,6-methylcyclohexane diisocyanate; 4,4′-dicyclohexyl diisocyanate; 2,4-dicyclohexyl diisocyanate; 1,3,5-cyclohexane triisocyanate; isocyanatomethylcyclohexane isocyanate; 1-isocyanato-3,3,5-trimethyl-5-isocyanatomethylcyclohexane; isocyanatoethylcyclohexane isocyanate; bis(isocyanatomethyl)-cyclohexane diisocyanate; 4,4′-bis(isocyanatomethyl)dicyclohexane; 2,4′-bis(isocyanatomethyl) dicyclohexane; isophoronediisocyanate; triisocyanate of HDI; triisocyanate of 2,2,4-methyl-1,6-hexane diisocyanate; 4,4′-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate; 2,4-hexahydrotoluene diisocyanate; 2,6-hexahydrotoluene diisocyanate; trimerized isocyanurate of any polyisocyanate; dimerized uretdione of any polyisocyanate; modified polyisocyanate; and mixtures thereof.

3. The golf ball of claim 2 , wherein the saturated diisocyanate is selected from the group consisting of isophoronediisocyanate, 4,4′-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate, 1,6-hexamethylene diisocyanate, or a combination thereof.

4. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the saturated curing agent is selected from the group consisting of hydroxy-terminated curing agents, amine-terminated curing agents, and mixtures thereof.

5. The golf ball of claim 4 , wherein the hydroxy-terminated curing agents are selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol; diethylene glycol; polyethylene glycol; propylene glycol; 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol; 2,-methyl-1,4-butanediol; dipropylene glycol; polypropylene glycol; 1,2-butanediol; 1,3-butanediol; 1,4-butanediol; 2,3-butanediol; 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-butanediol; trimethylolpropane; cyclohexyldimethylol; triisopropanolamine; tetra-(2-hydroxypropyl)-ethylene diamine; diethylene glycol di-(aminopropyl ether; 1,5-pentanediol; 1,6-hexanediol; 1,3-bis-(2-hydroxyethoxy) cyclohexane 1,4-cyclohexyldimethylol; 1,3-bis-[2-(2-hydroxyethoxy) ethoxy]cyclohexane; 1,3-bis-{2-[2-(2-hydroxyethoxy) ethoxy]ethoxy}cyclohexane; trimethylolpropane; polytetramethylene ether glycol; and mixtures thereof.

6. The golf ball of claim 5 , wherein the polytetramethylene ether glycol has a molecular weight from about 250 to about 3900.

7. The golf ball of claim 4 , wherein the amine-terminated curing agents are selected from the group consisting of ethylene diamine; hexamethylene diamine; 1-methyl-2,6-cyclohexyl diamine; tetrahydroxypropylene ethylene diamine; 2,2,4- and 2,4,4-trimethyl-1,6-hexanediamine; 4,4′-bis-(sec-butylamino) -dicyclohexylmethane; 1,4-bis-(sec-butylamino)-cyclohexane; 1,2-bis-(sec -butylamino)-cyclohexane; derivatives of 4,4′-bis-(sec-butylamino) -dicyclohexylmethane; 4,4′-dicyclohexylmethane diamine; 1,4-cyclohexane-bis -(methylamine); 1,3-cyclohexane-bis-(methylamine); diethylene glycol di-(aminopropyl) ether; 2-methylpentamethylene-diamine; diaminocyclohexane; diethylene triamine; triethylene tetramine; tetraethylene pentamine; propylene diamine; 1,3-diaminopropane; dimethylamino propylamine; diethylamino propylamine; imido-bis-propylamine; monoethanolamine, diethanolamine; triethanolamine; monoisopropanolamine, diisopropanolamine; isophoronediamine; and mixtures thereof.

8. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the material further comprises a catalyst selected from the group consisting of a bismuth catalyst, an oleic acid, triethylenediamine, di-butyltin dilaurate, acetic acid, and mixtures thereof.

9. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the cover layer has a difference in yellowness index of about 12 or less after 5 days of ultraviolet light exposure.

10. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the cover layer has a difference in b chroma dimension of about 6 or less after 5 days of ultraviolet light exposure.

11. A golf ball comprising:

a core;

a layer disposed about the core forming a center; and

a cover cast onto the center, wherein the cover comprises a saturated castable reactive liquid polyurethane material comprising a saturated diisocyanate, a dimerate polyester polyol, and at least one of a saturated hydroxy-terminated curing agent, a saturated amine-terminated curing agent, or a mixture thereof.

12. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the layer comprises a saturated polyurethane composition.

13. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the cover has a thickness of about 0.02 inches to about 0.35 inches.

14. The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the layer thickness of the is about 0.02 inches or greater.

15. A golf ball comprising a core, an inner cover layer, and an outer cover layer, wherein the outer cover layer comprises a composition comprising a saturated polyurethane prepolymer formed from the reaction product of a saturated isocyanate and a saturated dimerate polyester polyol and a curing agent, wherein the outer cover layer has a difference in yellowness index of about 12 or less after 5 days of ultraviolet light exposure.

16. The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein the outer cover layer has a difference in yellowness index of about 2 or less after 5 days of ultraviolet light exposure.

17. The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein the curing agent is a saturated hydroxy-terminated curing agent.

18. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the saturated hydroxy-terminated curing agent is selected from the group consisting of ethylene glycol; diethylene glycol; polyethylene glycol; propylene glycol; 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol; 2,-methyl-1,4-butanediol; dipropylene glycol; polypropylene glycol; 1,2-butanediol; 1,3-butanediol; 1,4-butanediol; 2,3-butanediol; 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-butanediol; trimethylolpropane; cyclohexyldimethylol; triisopropanolamine; tetra -(2-hydroxypropyl)-ethylene diamine; diethylene glycol di-(aminopropyl)ether; 1,5-pentanediol; 1,6-hexanediol; 1,3-bis-(2-hydroxyethoxy)cyclohexane; 1,4-cyclohexyldimethylol; 1,3-bis-[2-(2-hydroxyethoxy) ethoxy]cyclohexane; 1,3-bis-{2-[2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethoxy}cyclohexane; trimethylolpropane; polytetramethylene ether glycol; and mixtures thereof.