Golf Ball Layers Formed of Polyurethane-Based and Polyurea-Based Compositions Incorporating Block Copolymers
A golf ball including a core and a cover, wherein cover is formed from a composition comprising the reaction product of a prepolymer including a soft-segment comprising an amine-terminated polyether and a hard segment including a uretdione of hexamethylene diisocyanate; and an amine-terminated curing agent; wherein the amine-terminated polyether has the structure: where x and z have a combined value of 3.6-8 and y is 9-50, R is an alkyl group having 1-20 carbons, a phenyl group, a cyclic group, or mixtures thereof, R 1 is —(CH 2 ) a —, where a is 1-10, a phenylene group, a cyclic group, or a mixture thereof, and R 3 is hydrogen, a methyl group, or a mixture thereof.
1 . A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, wherein cover is cast from a composition comprising the reaction product of:
a prepolymer comprising the reaction product of a soft-segment comprising an amine-terminated polyether and a hard segment comprising a mixture of at least a first and second isocyanate; and
an amine-terminated curing agent;
wherein the amine-terminated polyether has the structure:
where x and z have a combined value of 3.6-8 and y is 9-50, R is an alkyl group having 1-20 carbons, a phenyl group, a cyclic group, or mixtures thereof, R 1 is —(CH 2 ) a —, where a is 1-10, a phenylene group, a cyclic group, or a mixture thereof, and R 3 is hydrogen, a methyl group, or a mixture thereof; and
wherein the first isocyanate comprises a isocyanurate trimer of hexamethylene diisocyanate and the second isocyanate comprises a uretdione dimer of hexamethylene diisocyanate.
2 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein R 1 is —(CH 2 ) 4 —.
3 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein R 3 is hydrogen or methyl.
4 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the amine-terminated polyether has a molecular weight of 1000 to 4000.
5 . The golf ball of claim 4 , wherein the amine-terminated polyether has a molecular weight of 1500 to 2500.
6 . The golf ball of claim 5 , wherein the amine-terminated polyether has a molecular weight of 2000.
7 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the first and second isocyanates have a number of unreacted NCO groups of 14% or less.
8 . The golf ball of claim 7 , wherein the number of unreacted NCO groups is 5% to 11%.
9 . The golf ball of claim 8 , wherein the number of unreacted NCO groups is 6% to 9.5%.
10 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the hard segment further comprises a triisocyanate of hexamethylene diisocyanate.
11 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the amine-terminated curing agent comprises 3,5-diethyltoluene-2,4-diamine and 3,5-diethyltoluene-2,6-diamine.
12 . The golf ball of claim 11 , wherein the amine-terminated curing agent further comprises polytetramethyleneoxide-di-p-aminobenzoate.
13 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the core comprises an inner core layer and an outer core layer.
14 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the golf ball comprises an intermediate layer disposed between the core and the cover layer, the intermediate layer comprising an ionomer and an ethylene-butene copolymer produced using a single-site catalyst.
15 . A golf ball comprising a core and a cover, wherein cover is cast from a composition comprising the reaction product of:
a prepolymer comprising the reaction product of a soft-segment comprising an amine-terminated polyether and a hard segment consisting essentially of a uretdione of hexamethylene diisocyanate; and
an amine-terminated curing agent;
wherein the amine-terminated polyether has the structure:
where x and z have a combined value of 3.6-8 and y is 9-50, R is an alkyl group having 1-20 carbons, a phenyl group, a cyclic group, or mixtures thereof, R 1 is —(CH 2 ) a —, where a is 1-10, a phenylene group, a cyclic group, or a mixture thereof, and R 3 is hydrogen, a methyl group, or a mixture thereof.
16 . The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein the golf ball comprises an intermediate layer disposed between the core and the cover.
17 . The golf ball of claim 15 , wherein the core comprises an inner core layer and an outer core layer.
18 . A golf ball comprising a core, an intermediate layer, and a cover, wherein cover is cast from a composition comprising the reaction product of:
a prepolymer comprising the reaction product of a soft-segment comprising an amine-terminated polyether and a hard segment consists essentially of a isocyanurate trimer of hexamethylene diisocyanate and a uretdione dimer of hexamethylene diisocyanate; and
an amine-terminated curing agent;
wherein the amine-terminated polyether has the structure:
where x and z have a combined value of 3.6-8 and y is 9-50, R is an alkyl group having 1-20 carbons, a phenyl group, a cyclic group, or mixtures thereof, R 1 is —(CH 2 ) 4 —, and R 3 is hydrogen or methyl.
19 . The golf ball of claim 18 , wherein the core comprises an inner core layer and an outer core layer.
20 . The golf ball of claim 18 , wherein the inner cover layer comprises a thermoplastic material.