COMPOSITIONS FOR USE IN GOLF BALLS
A golf ball having at least a core and a layer disposed about the core is disclosed. The layer is formed from a composition having multiple reactive and/or non-reactive ingredients. At least one of these ingredients is a polyether polyahl formed from three or more diols and/or cyclic ethers, such as oxolane, oxirane, and a chiral cyclic ether.
1 . A golf ball comprising:
a core, the core having a diameter of 1 inch or greater;
a cover layer disposed about the core, the cover layer having a thickness of 0.005 inches to 0.1 inches and being formed from a composition comprising a polyether polyahl, wherein the polyether polyahl comprising —O(CH 2 ) 4 —, —O(CH 2 ) 2 —, and a branched oxyalkylene monomer unit; and
an optional intermediate layer disposed between the core and the cover layer.
2 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the core is a solid core having a compression of 40 to 100 or a coefficient of restitution of 0.7 or greater, and the cover layer has a flexural modulus of 1,000 psi to 100,000 psi or a Shore D hardness of 90 or less.
3 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has a coefficient of restitution of 0.7 or greater.
4 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the branched oxyalkylene monomer unit has a structure of:
where Y 1 to Y 4 are independently hydrogen or hydrocarbon moieties, at least one of which is an alkyl moiety having 1 to about 10 carbon atoms; and a, b, and x are independently zero or integers from 1 to about 10.
5 . The golf ball of claim 4 , wherein the branched oxyalkylene monomer unit is —OCH 2 CH(CH 3 )(CH 2 ) 2 —, —OCH(CH 3 )(CH 2 ) 3 —, —OCH(CH 3 )(CH 2 ) 2 —, —OCH 2 CH(CH 3 )CH 2 —, —OC(CH 3 ) 2 CH 2 —, —OCH(C 2 H 5 )CH 2 —, or —OCH(CH 3 )CH 2 —.
6 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the polyether polyahl is formed from oxolane having a molar fraction M 1 of 0.01 to 0.9, oxirane having a molar fraction M 2 of 0.005 to 0.6, and a chiral cyclic ether having a molar fraction M 3 of 0.005 to 0.8, M 1 +M 2 +M 3 ≦1.
7 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the polyether polyahl has a random or block copolyether backbone and primary or secondary hydroxyl or amine end groups, and is an α,β-dihydroxytelechelic copolyether, an α,β-diaminotelechelic copolyether, or an α-amino-β-hydroxytelechelic copolyether.
8 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the composition is an addition reaction product of the polyether polyahl, an isocyanate, and, optionally, one or more polyahls reactive to the isocyanate.
9 . The golf ball of claim 8 , wherein the addition reaction product is a polyurethane or polyurea having a soft segment formed from the polyether polyahl.
10 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the polyether polyahl is substantially saturated.
11 . A golf ball comprising:
a core; and
a layer disposed about the core, the layer being formed from a composition comprising a polyether polyahl, wherein the polyether polyahl comprises three or more different oxyalkylene monomer units that are independently substituted or unsubstituted.
12 . The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the core has a diameter of 1 inches or greater, a compression of 40 to 100, and a first coefficient of restitution of 0.7 or greater, the layer has a thickness of 0.001 inches to 0.125 inches, a flexural modulus of 1,000 psi to 100,000 psi, and a Shore D hardness of 90 or less.
13 . The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the golf ball further comprises a cover layer disposed about the layer.
14 . The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the polyether polyahl is free of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon radicals and aromatic hydrocarbon radicals.
15 . The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the polyether polyahl has a random or block copolyether backbone, and a structure of Z 1 -(OR 7 ) r —(OR 8 ) s —(OR 9 ) t -Z 2 , where R 7 , R 8 , and R 9 are different divalent radicals chosen from unsubstituted and substituted C 2-20 linear or branched alkylenes; Z 1 and Z 2 are the same or different monovalent radicals each comprising one or more active hydrogen moieties; r, s, and t are independent numbers each being 0.005 to 0.99, and r+s+t=1.
16 . The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein each of Z 1 and Z 2 independently comprises a primary hydroxyl group or a primary or secondary amine group.
17 . The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein R 7 is —(CH 2 ) 4 —, R 8 is —(CH 2 ) 2 —, and R 9 is —CH(CH 3 )(CH 2 ) 3 —, —CH 2 CH(CH 3 )CH 2 CH 2 —, —CH(C 2 H 5 )(CH 2 ) 3 —, —CH 2 CH(C 2 H 5 )CH 2 CH 2 —, —(CH 2 ) 3 —, —(CH 2 ) 5 —, —(CH 2 ) 6 —, —(CH 2 ) 7 —, —(CH 2 ) 8 —, or —(CH 2 ) 9 —.
18 . The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the polyether polyahl is formed from three or more different cyclic ethers, at least one of which is chosen from halogen-substituted cyclic ethers, and ethers, esters, urethanes, or ureas of hydroxyl- or amine-substituted cyclic ethers.
19 . The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the layer is a cover layer, and the golf ball further comprises an intermediate layer disposed between the core and the cover layer.