Golf Ball Dimple Pattern Asymmetry for Flight Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing golf ball dimple patterns fail to provide optimal flight distance and stability, especially when hit with a middle iron, due to insufficient turbulization and drag suppression, leading to inconsistent flight performance.
Innovation Solution
A golf ball design featuring a dimple pattern divided into high-latitude, mid-latitude, and low-latitude regions with non-rotationally symmetrical patterns, ensuring mirror symmetry and a high dimple density, along with a specific distribution of dimple sizes and shapes to enhance turbulization and reduce drag.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a polyhedron pattern or hemispherically divided pattern is used for dimple arrangement, then the dimple pattern is systematic and easy to manufacture, but the turbulization is insufficient and the pattern is monotonous
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by making the dimple pattern non-rotationally symmetrical, specifically designing patterns where the arrangement of dimples varies in different radial directions. This breaks the monotony of traditional symmetrical patterns while maintaining systematic manufacturing processes, thereby improving turbulization and flight distance stability without sacrificing ease of manufacture
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by varying dimple characteristics (such as depth, diameter, or spacing) in different regions of the golf ball surface. This creates localized differences in air flow disturbance that enhance overall turbulization while maintaining a systematic pattern that can be manufactured using conventional molding techniques
2Reliability
If the dimple density is increased to improve drag suppression, then flight distance is improved, but the pattern becomes more complex and manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the golf ball surface into multiple zones or regions, each with specific dimple arrangements. This allows high dimple density to be achieved in certain critical regions for drag suppression while maintaining lower complexity in other areas, balancing flight performance with manufacturability
3Reliability
If a random dimple pattern is used to reduce monotony and improve turbulization, then flight distance stability is improved, but the dimple density becomes low and drag suppression is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two opposing approaches by combining the randomness of irregular dimple patterns with the systematic arrangement of structured patterns. This hybrid approach maintains high dimple density for effective drag suppression while incorporating random variations that prevent monotony and improve flight distance stability across different spin axes
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 achieves improved flight distance and stability in shots with a middle iron, minimizing lift force variations and maintaining performance across different spin axes.
Implementation Method 1
The dimples disturb the air flow around the golf ball during flight to cause turbulent flow separation. This phenomenon is referred to as 'turbulization'.
Implementation Method 2
Due to the turbulization, separation points of the air from the golf ball shift backwards leading to a reduction of drag.
Implementation Method 3
The turbulization promotes the displacement between the separation point on the upper side and the separation point on the lower side of the golf ball, which results from the backspin, thereby enhancing the lift force that acts upon the golf ball.
Data Source
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AI summary
A golf ball 2 includes a large number of dimples 10 on a surface thereof. The surface has a northern hemisphere N and a southern hemisphere S. Each of the hemispheres has a high-latitude region 14, a mid-latitude region 18 and a low-latitude region 16. The high-latitude region 14 has a latitude range of 40° or greater but 90° or less. The mid-latitude region 18 has a latitude range of 20° or greater but less than 40°. The low-latitude region 16 has a latitude range of 0° or greater but less than 20°. The number of planes that can divide a dimple pattern of the hemisphere so that divided dimple patterns are mirror symmetry to each other is one. Neither a dimple pattern of the high-latitude region 14 nor a dimple pattern of the low-latitude region 16 is rotationally symmetrical.