Granted Patent B1

US 12,623,121 · App. 18/129,683 · Granted May 12, 2026

Inventors: Ben Raymond (Carlsbad, CA); Dana Ehyaei (San Diego, CA); Todd P. Beach (Carlsbad, CA); David Anderson (Palatine, IL); Balachandra Reddy Mettu (Carlsbad, CA); Joshua Dipert (Carlsbad, CA)

Assignee: Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.

A63B37/0078A63B37/0041A63B37/0061A63B37/0065A63B37/0084A63B37/0087A63B37/0074A63B37/0075A63B37/0076

Abstract

Claims (73)

1 . A golf ball having;

a core comprising a polybutadiene rubber, the core having a difference between a Shore D hardness measured at a center of the core and a Shore D hardness measured at a surface of the core of no greater than 2 Shore D units;

an innermost intermediate layer disposed directly over the core, the innermost intermediate layer comprising a bimodal ionomer neutralized to at least 90% with magnesium cations and having a thickness of from 0.04 to 0.06 inches and a Shore D hardness of from 45 to 50;

a center intermediate layer disposed over the innermost intermediate layer, the center intermediate layer comprising thermoplastic polyurethane and having a thickness of from 0.03 to 0.05 inches and a Shore D hardness of from 50 to 55;

an outer intermediate layer disposed over the center intermediate layer, the outer intermediate layer comprising a modified unimodal ionomer and having a thickness of from 0.03 to 0.07 inches and a Shore D hardness of from 55 to 60;

an outer cover layer disposed over the outer intermediate layer, the outer cover layer comprising thermoset polyurethane having a thickness of 0.022 inches and a Shore D hardness of 58, the outer cover layer having a dimple pattern comprising 375 dual-radius dimples, each dimple adjacent to a parting line having a depth of at least 0.155 mm, and wherein a dimple pattern of a southern hemisphere of the golf ball is rotated by 30 degrees relative to a dimple pattern of a northern hemisphere of the golf ball;

a contact time measured using an impact speed of 143 ft/s (CT 143 ) of greater than or equal to 400 microseconds;

a coefficient of restitution measured using an impact speed of 143 ft/s (COR 143 ) of greater than or equal to 0.720;

an initial velocity (IV) of greater than or equal to 255 ft/sec, calculated by an equation; and

a relative ratio, RR 80/127 or RR 80/125 or RR 80/123 each greater than or equal to 1.01, where:

RR 80/127 =(TDC 80 /HS 80 )/(TDC 127 /HS 127 ),wherein TDC 80 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 80 mph, TDC 127 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed at 127 mph, HS 80 is the clubhead speed at 80 mph, and HS 127 is the clubhead speed at 127 mph;

RR 80/125 =(TDC 80 /HS 80 )/(TDC 125 /HS 125 ), wherein TDC 125 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 125 mph, and HS 125 is the clubhead speed at 125 mph;

RR 80/123 =(TDC 80 /HS 80 )/(TDC 123 /HS 123 ), wherein TDC 123 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed at 123 mph, and HS 123 is the clubhead speed at 123 mph; or

a relative ratio, RR 90/127 or RR 90/125 or RR 90/123 each greater than or equal to 1.03, where:

RR 90/127 =(TDC 90 /HS 90 )/(TDC 127 /HS 127 ) wherein TDC 90 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 90 mph, HS 90 is the clubhead speed at 90 mph;

RR 90/125 =(TDC 90 /HS 90 )/(TDC 125 /HS 125 );

RR 90/123 =(TDC 90 /HS 90 )/(TDC 123 /HS 123 ).

2 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein:

the CT 143 is greater than or equal to 550 microseconds;

the COR 143 is greater than or equal to 0.780; and

the relative ratio, RR 80/127 or RR 80/125 or RR 80/123 are each greater than or equal to 1.03.

3 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein:

the CT 143 is greater than or equal to 650 microseconds;

the COR 143 is greater than or equal to 0.840;

the relative ratio, RR 80/127 or RR 80/125 or RR 80/123 are each greater than or equal to 1.05.

4 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has;

a compression of less than or equal to 114 PGA;

the core has;

i) a compression of less than about 50 PGA; and

ii) a COR 125 of greater than or equal to 0.700; and

one or more intermediate layers having a COR 125 of greater than about 0.810.

5 . A golf ball having;

a core comprising a polybutadiene rubber, the core having a difference between a Shore D hardness measured at a center of the core and a Shore D hardness measured at a surface of the core of no greater than 2 Shore D units;

an innermost intermediate layer disposed directly over the core, the innermost intermediate layer comprising a bimodal ionomer neutralized to at least 90% with magnesium cations and having a thickness of from 0.04 to 0.06 inches and a Shore D hardness of from 45 to 50;

a center intermediate layer disposed over the innermost intermediate layer, the center intermediate layer comprising thermoplastic polyurethane and having a thickness of from 0.03 to 0.05 inches and a Shore D hardness of from 50 to 55;

an outer intermediate layer disposed over the center intermediate layer, the outer intermediate layer comprising a modified unimodal ionomer and having a thickness of from 0.03 to 0.07 inches and a Shore D hardness of from 55 to 60;

an outer cover layer disposed over the outer intermediate layer, the outer cover layer comprising thermoset polyurethane having a thickness of 0.022 inches and a Shore D hardness of 58, the outer cover layer having a dimple pattern comprising 375 dual-radius dimples, each dimple adjacent to a parting line having a depth of at least 0.155 mm, and wherein a dimple pattern of a southern hemisphere of the golf ball is rotated by 30 degrees relative to a dimple pattern of a northern hemisphere of the golf ball;

a contact time measured using an impact speed of 143 ft/s (CT 143 ) of greater than or equal to 400 microseconds;

a coefficient of restitution measured using an impact speed of 143 ft/s (COR 143 ) of greater than about 0.780;

a relative ratio, RR 80/127 or RR 80/125 or RR 80/123 each greater than or equal to 1.01, where:

RR 80/127 =(TDC 80 /HS 80 )/(TDC 127 /HS 127 ),wherein TDC 80 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 80 mph, TDC 127 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 127 mph, HS 80 is the clubhead speed of 80 mph, and HS 127 is the clubhead speed of 127 mph;

RR 80/125 =(TDC 80 /HS 80 )/(TDC 125 /HS 125 ), wherein TDC 125 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 125 mph, and HS 125 is the clubhead speed of 125 mph;

RR 80/123 =(TDC 80 /HS 80 )/(TDC 123 /HS 123 ), wherein TDC 123 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 123 mph, and HS 123 is the clubhead speed of 123 mph; or

a relative ratio, RR 90/127 or RR 90/125 or RR 90/123 each greater than or equal to 1.03, where:

RR 90/127 =(TDC 90 /HS 90 )/(TDC 127 /HS 127 ) wherein TDC 90 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 90 mph, and HS 90 is the clubhead speed of 90 mph;

RR 90/125 =(TDC 90 /HS 90 )/(TDC 125 /HS 125 );

RR 90/123 =(TDC 90 /HS 90 )/(TDC 123 /HS 123 ).

6 . The golf ball of claim 5 , wherein:

the CT 143 is greater than or equal to 550 microseconds;

the COR 143 is greater than or equal to 0.780; and

the relative ratio, RR 80/127 or RR 80/125 or RR 80/123 each greater than or equal to 1.03.

7 . The golf ball of claim 5 , wherein:

the CT 143 is greater than or equal to 650 microseconds;

the COR 143 is greater than or equal to 0.840; and

the relative ratio, RR 80/127 or RR 80/125 or RR 80/123 each greater than or equal to 1.05.

8 . The golf ball of claim 5 , wherein the golf ball has;

a compression of less than or equal to 114 PGA;

the core has;

i) a compression of less than about 50 PGA; and

ii) a COR 125 of greater than or equal to 0.700; and

one or more intermediate layers having a COR 125 of greater than about 0.810.

9 . A golf ball having;

a core comprising a polybutadiene rubber, the core having a difference between a Shore D hardness measured at a center of the core and a Shore D hardness measured at a surface of the core of no greater than 2 Shore D units;

an innermost intermediate layer disposed directly over the core, the innermost intermediate layer comprising a bimodal ionomer neutralized to at least 90% with magnesium cations and having a thickness of from 0.04 to 0.06 inches and a Shore D hardness of from 45 to 50;

a center intermediate layer disposed over the innermost intermediate layer, the center intermediate layer comprising thermoplastic polyurethane and having a thickness of from 0.03 to 0.05 inches and a Shore D hardness of from 50 to 55;

an outer intermediate layer disposed over the center intermediate layer, the outer intermediate layer comprising a modified unimodal ionomer and having a thickness of from 0.03 to 0.07 inches and a Shore D hardness of from 55 to 60;

an outer cover layer disposed over the outer intermediate layer, the outer cover layer comprising thermoset polyurethane having a thickness of 0.022 inches and a Shore D hardness of 58, the outer cover layer having a dimple pattern comprising 375 dual-radius dimples, each dimple adjacent to a parting line having a depth of at least 0.155 mm, and wherein a dimple pattern of a southern hemisphere of the golf ball is rotated by 30 degrees relative to a dimple pattern of a northern hemisphere of the golf ball;

a contact time measured using an impact speed of 143 ft/s (CT 143 ) of greater than or equal to 400 microseconds;

a coefficient of restitution measured using at an impact speed of 143 ft/s (COR 143 ) of greater than or equal to 0.790; and

a relative ratio, RR 80/127 or RR 80/125 or RR 80/123 each greater than or equal to 1.02, where:

RR 80/127 =(TDC 80 /HS 80 )/(TDC 127 /HS 127 ),wherein TDC 80 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 80 mph, TDC 127 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed at 127 mph, HS 80 is the clubhead speed of 80 mph, and HS 127 is the clubhead speed of 127 mph;

RR 80/125 =(TDC 80 /HS 80 )/(TDC 125 /HS 125 ), wherein TDC 125 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed of 125 mph, and HS 125 is the clubhead speed of 125 mph;

RR 80/123 =(TDC 80 /HS 80 )/(TDC 123 /HS 123 ), wherein TDC 123 is the total distance calculated using a clubhead speed at 123 mph, and HS 1 s is the clubhead speed of 123 mph.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (36)