Method for preparing golf ball with indicia having metallic luster

1. A method for preparing a golf ball with surface indicia having metallic luster, comprising:

forming an adhesive indicia made of a thermoplastic resin on a golf ball surface by thermal transfer printing,

bonding a metal thin-film on a metal thin film-bearing film over the indicia under pressure or heat and pressure, and

then peeling off the film so as to leave a portion of the metal thin-film having the same shape as the indicia adhering to and laminated with the indicia.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive indicia contains a tacky substance.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal thin film-bearing film is a metallized film obtained by vacuum vapor depositing a thin film of metal onto a plastic film.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the metallized film is obtained by vacuum vapor depositing the thin film of metal onto the plastic film over an intervening colored layer made of a clear or translucent colored resin.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a coat is formed on the golf ball surface so as to cover the indicia having metallic luster.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the coat is formed with a two-part curable urethane coating.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive indicia has a thickness of 1 to 10 μm.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal thin-film has a thickness of 0.03 to 0.05 μm.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal thin film-bearing film comprises a transfer substrate, and the metal thin-film is formed on the transfer substrate by intervening a color layer made of a clear or translucent colored resin between the metal thin-film and the transfer substrate.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the color layer has a thickness of 1 to 10 μm.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal thin-film on a metal thin film-bearing film is bonded to the adhesive indicia under heat and pressure at 90 to 200° C.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the color of the adhesive indicia is black.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thermal transfer printing comprises:

using an adhesive indicia-forming material to form, in a peelable manner, an indicia layer containing the desired lettering and images by a silk screen printing on a plastic film,

thermally transferring the indicia layer to the surface of the golf ball,

then peeling the plastic film from the adhesive indicia that has been thermally transferred and formed on the golf ball surface.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the surface of the golf ball having the indicia is administered a physical or chemical surface treatment prior to forming the adhesive indicia.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the surface treatment is at least one kind selected from a group consisting of plasma treatment, corona discharge treatment, UV irradiation treatment, chlorine treatment, primer coating treatment, treatment that involves wiping the surface with an organic solvent, treatment involving the application of a silane coupling agent, honing treatment, and physical surface roughening treatment.