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; 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 at least one isocyanate 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 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, and wherein the golf ball has a half-wedge spin rate of about 7,000 rpm or greater and a COR of about 0.800 or greater at 125 ft/s.
2. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the COR of the golf ball is about 0.810 or greater at 125 ft/s.
3. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the prepolymer comprises a reaction product of diphenyl methane diisocyanate and polytetramethylene ether glycol.
4. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has an 8-iron spin rate of about 10,000 rpm or greater.
5. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the castable material comprises a ratio or prepolymer to polyether diol of about 1:0.95.
6. The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has a driver spin rate of about 4000 rpm or greater.
7. The golf ball of claim 6 , wherein the driver spin rate is about 5000 rpm or greater.
8. The golf ball of claim 7 , wherein the driver spin rate is about 5200 rpm or greater.
9. A golf ball comprising:
a core; and
a cover having a hardness of about 30 Shore D to about 60 Shore D, wherein the cover is formed from a castable material comprising:
a prepolymer formed from at least one isocyanate 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 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 20 Shore D, and wherein the golf ball has a half-wedge spin rate of about 7,000 rpm or greater and a COR of about 0.800 or greater at 125 ft/s.
10. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the composition comprises a ratio of prepolymer to polyether diol of about 1:0.95.
11. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the material hardness is about 8 Shore D to about 12 Shore D, and wherein the COR is about 0.810 or greater at 125 ft/s.
12. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the prepolymer has an NCO content of about 6 percent to about 6.5 percent.
13. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the at least one polyol comprises polytetramethylene ether glycol.
14. The golf ball of claim 9 , wherein the prepolymer comprises a reaction product of diphenylmethane diisocyanate and polytetramethylene ether glycol.
15. A golf ball comprising:
a core; and
a cover having a hardness of about 30 Shore D to about 60 Shore D, wherein the cover is formed from a castable material comprising:
a prepolymer formed from at least one isocyanate 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 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 12 Shore D, and wherein the golf ball has at least one of a half-wedge spin rate of about 7,000 rpm or greater, a driver spin rate of about 4000 rpm or greater, and an 8-iron spin rate of about 10,000 rpm or greater and a COR of about 0.800 or greater at 125 ft/s.
16. The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein the golf ball has a spin rate of about 5,000 rpm or greater when struck with a driver.
17. The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein the castable material hardness is about 10 Shore D to about 12 Shore D.
18. The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein the golf ball has a half-wedge spin rate of about 7,000 rpm or greater, a driver spin rate of about 4000 rpm or greater, and an 8-iron spin rate of about 10,000 rpm or greater.
19. The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein the prepolymer comprises a reaction product of diphenylmethane diisocyanate and polytetramethylene ether glycol.
20. The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein the at least one polyol comprises polytetramethylene ether glycol.