Highly neutralized polymer golf ball compositions including oxa acids and methods of making same

1. A golf ball comprising a core, an intermediate layer, and a cover, wherein the core has a hardness of 30 Shore D or greater, the intermediate layer has a first hardness, and the cover has a second hardness, wherein the ratio of the second hardness to first hardness is 0.7 or less, and wherein the cover is formed from a highly neutralized polymer composition comprising:

a reactive processing moiety comprising oxa acid, an oxa salt, an oxa ester, or combination thereof;

a thermoplastic resin component having an acid functionalized moiety comprising at least one acid group, ionic group, or combination thereof; and

a neutralizing component,

wherein greater than about 70 percent of the acid functionalized moiety is neutralized.

2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein at least about 90 percent or greater of the acid functionalized moiety is neutralized.

3. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the neutralizing component comprises an inorganic metal compound, an organic amine, or a combination thereof.

4. The golf ball of claim 3 , wherein the neutralizing component comprises magnesium oxide, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium carbonate, zinc oxide, zinc acetate, sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, lithium oxide, lithium hydroxide, or mixtures thereof.

5. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the reactive processing moiety is present in an amount of about 0.1 percent to about 50 percent by weight of the composition, wherein the thermoplastic resin component is present in an amount of about 50 percent to about 99 percent by weight of the composition, and wherein the neutralizing component is present in an amount of about 0.5 percent to about 10 percent by weight of the composition.

6. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the reactive processing moiety has the general formula:

wherein R is an organic moiety selected from the group consisting of moieties having the formula —[CH 2 —CH 2 —O] n —R′ and alkyl, carbocyclic, and heterocyclic groups, wherein R′ is an organic moiety selected from the group consisting of alkyl, carbocyclic, carboxylic acid, heterocyclic groups, and mixtures thereof, and wherein n is at least 1.

7. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the reactive processing moiety comprises 3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 7,7-dimethyl-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid ethyl ester, 3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid dodecyl ester, 2-phenyl-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 2-benzyl-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 2-methyl-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid, 3,6,9-trioxaheptanoic acid, 2-phenyl-3,6,9-trioxaheptanoic acid, 2-benzyl-3,6,9-trioxaheptanoic acid, 2-decyl-3,6,9-trioxaheptanoic acid, 3,6,9-trioxaundecanedioic acid, 3,6,9,12-tetraoxatridecanoic acid, 3,6,9,12,15-pentaoxahexadecanoic acid, 2-methyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid, 10,10-dimethyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid, 2-ethyl-3,6,9,12-tetraoxatridecanoic acid, 10-phenyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid, 3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid ethyl ester, 10,10-dimethyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid ethyl ester, 10,10-dimethyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid heptadecanyl ester, polyglycol diacid, and mixtures thereof.

8. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the oxa acid has an acid number of about 50 mg KOH/g or greater.

9. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the oxa acid has a viscosity of about 35 mPAS or greater at 20° C.

10. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the highly neutralized polymer composition has a melt flow index of about 0.5 grams per 10 minutes at 190° C. and a 2,100 gram load.

11. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic resin component comprises at least one of an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid random copolymer, an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate ternary copolymer, an olefin-unsaturated carboxylic acid-unsaturated carboxylate ternary copolymer at least partially neutralized with a metal ion, or mixtures thereof.

12. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic resin component comprises at least one of a polyolefin, olefin elastomer, urethane elastomer, polyester elastomer, styrene elastomer blended with a polyamide elastomer, polyurea elastomer, polyamide, polycarbonate, polyimide, polyacrylate, polysilicone, or mixtures thereof.

13. A golf ball comprising:

a core having a hardness of about 30 Shore D or greater;

an intermediate layer having a first hardness;

a cover having a second hardness of about 50 Shore D or greater, wherein the ratio of the second hardness to the first hardness is 0.7 or less, and wherein the cover is formed of a highly neutralized polymer composition comprising:

a reactive processing moiety comprising an oxa acid, an oxa salt, an oxa ester, or a combination thereof;

a thermoplastic resin component comprising at least one acid group, ionic group, or combination thereof; and

a neutralizing component.

14. The golf ball of claim 13 , wherein the reactive processing moiety is selected from the group consisting of comprises 3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 7,7-dimethyl-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid ethyl ester, 3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid dodecyl ester, 2-phenyl-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 2-benzyl-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 2-methyl-3,6-dioxaheptanoic acid, 3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid, 3,6,9-trioxaheptanoic acid, 2-phenyl-3,6,9-trioxaheptanoic acid, 2-benzyl-3,6,9-trioxaheptanoic acid, 2-decyl-3,6,9-trioxaheptanoic acid, 3,6,9-trioxaundecanedioic acid, 3,6,9,12-tetraoxatridecanoic acid, 3,6,9,12,15-pentaoxahexadecanoic acid, 2-methyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid, 10,10-dimethyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid, 2-ethyl-3,6,9,12-tetraoxatridecanoic acid, 10-phenyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid, 3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid ethyl ester, 10,10-dimethyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid ethyl ester, 10,10-dimethyl-3,6,9-trioxadecanoic acid heptadecanyl ester, polyglycol diacid, and mixtures thereof.

15. The golf ball of claim 13 , wherein the core has a diameter of about 1.55 inches or greater.

16. The golf ball of claim 13 , wherein the cover has a thickness of about 0.02 inches to about 0.07 inches.

17. A golf ball comprising:

a core having a hardness of about 30 Shore D or greater;

at least one intermediate layer having a first hardness;

a cover having a second hardness, wherein the ratio of the second hardness to the first hardness is about 0.7 or less, and wherein the cover is formed of a highly neutralized polymer composition comprising:

a reactive processing moiety comprising an oxa acid, an oxa salt, an oxa ester, or a combination thereof;

a thermoplastic resin component comprising at least one acid group, ionic group, or combination thereof; and

a neutralizing component.

18. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the ratio of the second hardness to the first hardness is about 0.45 or less.

19. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the reactive processing moiety is present in an amount of about 10 percent to about 30 percent by weight of the highly neutralized polymer composition, wherein the thermoplastic resin component is present in an amount of about 70 percent to about 90 percent by weight of the highly neutralized polymer composition, and wherein the neutralizing component is present in an amount of about 2 percent to about 6 percent by weight of the highly neutralized polymer composition.

20. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the thermoplastic resin component comprises at least one of a polyolefin, olefin elastomer, urethane elastomer, polyester elastomer, styrene elastomer blended with a polyamide elastomer, polyurea elastomer, polyamide, polycarbonate, polyimide, polyacrylate, polysilicone, or mixtures thereof.

21. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the neutralizing component comprises magnesium oxide, magnesium hydroxide, magnesium carbonate, zinc oxide, zinc acetate, sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, calcium oxide, calcium hydroxide, lithium oxide, lithium hydroxide, or mixtures thereof.

22. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the core comprises a center and an outer core layer.

23. The golf ball of claim 17 , wherein the highly neutralized polymer composition further comprises at least one density-adjusting filler.