Golf Ball Core Hardness Gradient Using Benzoquinone Rubber
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current golf ball compositions face challenges in achieving desirable spin, feel, and distance properties while maintaining core resilience and durability, particularly due to the high cost and processing difficulties of organosulfur compounds and limited construction options for achieving steep hardness gradients.
Innovation Solution
A dual- or multi-layer golf ball core is formed using a rubber composition that includes a base rubber and benzoquinone, with a positive hardness gradient of 5 Shore C units or greater, allowing for a harder outer core surface while maintaining a softer center, enabling the use of softer inner cover materials for improved spin and feel characteristics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If organosulfur compounds are used to increase core resilience, then the golf ball achieves higher COR, but the manufacturing cost increases and processing difficulties arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the chemical composition parameters by substituting organosulfur compounds with benzoquinone-containing rubber compositions. This parameter change maintains the resilience-enhancing effect while eliminating the processing difficulties and high cost associated with organosulfur compounds, as benzoquinone is a more economical and easier-to-process alternative that achieves similar mechanical property improvements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a cost-effective rubber composition formulation using benzoquinone as a replacement for expensive organosulfur compounds. The benzoquinone-containing composition provides the necessary performance at lower material cost, making the manufacturing process more economically viable without sacrificing core resilience.
2Ease of operation
If a steep hardness gradient is achieved in the core, then the golf ball achieves low driver spin and desirable iron spin, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a hardness gradient within the core structure, where the outer region has different hardness properties than the inner region. The benzoquinone-containing rubber composition is formulated to produce this gradient, with the outer core layer achieving higher hardness (60-90 Shore C) than the center, thereby optimizing spin characteristics for different club types without requiring complex multi-layer constructions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite material formulation by combining base rubber with benzoquinone and other additives to create a multi-phase rubber composition. This composite approach enables the formation of a hardness gradient within a single core layer, achieving the desired local property variations through material composition rather than structural complexity.
3Ease of operation
If the outer core surface hardness is increased, then the golf ball achieves low driver spin, but the overall core compression decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes parameter changes by adjusting the benzoquinone concentration and curing conditions to achieve the desired hardness gradient. By controlling the outer core surface hardness (60-90 Shore C) while maintaining appropriate center hardness (40-70 Shore C), the formulation optimizes the balance between driver spin control and overall core compression, ensuring both parameters fall within desirable ranges for golf ball performance.
Data Source
AI summary
Golf balls comprising a core and a cover are disclosed. The core is a dual- or multi-layer core, wherein at least one layer is formed from a rubber composition comprising a base rubber and a benzoquinone. The core layer formed from such rubber composition has a positive hardness gradient such that the difference between the layer's outer surface hardness and inner surface hardness is 5 Shore C units or greater.