Golf Ball Core with Hardened Grooves for Spin Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Golf balls face a challenge in increasing distance traveled while maintaining sufficient deflection and reducing spin rate without lowering rebound, as harder cores or covers either reduce deflection or increase spin.
Innovation Solution
A golf ball design featuring a core made of polybutadiene rubber with surface grooves or holes filled with harder polybutadiene rubber, which suppresses twisting and reduces spin rate while maintaining deflection, achieved by varying the surface hardness of the core and groove/hole areas.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the core or cover is made harder to reduce spin rate, then spin rate is reduced, but ball deflection is reduced which lowers rebound and initial velocity
Solution Approach 1:
The core surface is divided into different hardness zones: the groove portions are made harder than the core body to suppress twist and reduce spin rate, while the core body maintains sufficient deflection for good rebound. This local differentiation of material properties allows simultaneous optimization of spin control and energy transfer.
Solution Approach 2:
The core is segmented into multiple functional regions (core body and groove portions) with different hardness characteristics. The grooves are filled with harder material to create distinct zones that perform different functions: the softer core body provides deflection while the harder groove portions control spin.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the core is given a two-layer structure or recessed areas to suppress twist, then twist suppression is improved, but it is not easy to maintain good deflection simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the entire core harder to suppress twist, only the groove portions on the core surface are made harder while the core body remains softer. This localized hardness distribution provides twist suppression where needed (at the surface) while preserving deflection in the core body.
Solution Approach 2:
The core uses a composite structure combining two polybutadiene rubbers with different hardness levels. The core body uses a softer rubber for deflection, while the groove portions use a harder rubber for twist suppression, creating a composite material system with optimized properties.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively increases the distance traveled by the golf ball by reducing spin rate without compromising rebound, particularly on driver shots.
Implementation Method 1
the core has a core body made of a first polybutadiene rubber and having a surface with a plurality of grooves or holes thereon, which grooves or holes are filled with a second polybutadiene rubber of a differing composition from the first polybutadiene rubber, and wherein the polybutadiene rubber-filled groove portions or hole portions have a higher surface hardness than the core body
Data Source
AI summary
A golf ball is provided which suppresses twisting due to external forces while maintaining sufficient deflection at the time of impact, reduces the spin rate without lowering ball rebound, and is thus able to effectively increase the distance traveled by the ball, particularly on shots with a driver. In the golf ball, which includes a core and a cover, the core has a core body made of a first polybutadiene rubber and having a surface with a plurality of groves or holes thereon, which grooves or holes are filled with a second polybutadiene rubber of a differing composition from the first polybutadiene rubber. The polybutadiene rubber-filled groove portions or hole portions have a higher surface hardness than the core body.