Multi-piece Golf Ball Layer Hardness and Thickness Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Golf balls designed for golfers with low head speeds often fail to achieve a balance between distance and feel, with existing multi-piece constructions either lacking in durability or providing an unsatisfactory kinesthetic sensation during impact.
Innovation Solution
A multi-piece solid golf ball with a core, envelope layer, and intermediate layer, optimized for hardness and thickness relationships, along with a cover, to achieve a soft and solid feel, reduced spin rate, and improved durability, using specific materials and layer configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a multi-piece construction is used to improve distance, then flight performance is enhanced, but the feel becomes hard and durability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The golf ball is divided into multiple layers (cover, intermediate layer, envelope layer, core) with each layer having specific hardness ranges. This segmentation allows optimization of distance performance through the core-envelope layer combination while the cover and intermediate layers are designed to provide soft feel and durability on repeated impacts.
Solution Approach 2:
Different layers are assigned different hardness properties: the core and envelope layer are optimized for distance with higher hardness, while the cover and intermediate layer are optimized for soft feel and durability with lower hardness (cover Shore D 30-50, intermediate layer Shore D 20-40). This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between distance and durability.
2Ease of operation
If the cover is made softer to improve feel, then kinesthetic sensation is enhanced, but distance performance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The golf ball structure separates the feel function (cover and intermediate layer) from the distance function (envelope layer and core). The cover is designed with Shore D hardness 30-50 for soft feel, while the envelope layer and core are designed with higher hardness to maintain distance performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The cover layer is locally optimized for soft feel with Shore D hardness 30-50, while the underlying envelope layer and core are optimized for distance with higher hardness. This local quality differentiation allows the cover to provide soft kinesthetic sensation without sacrificing the distance performance of the inner layers.
3Speed
If the intermediate layer is made thinner to reduce spin rate, then flight performance is improved, but manufacturing precision becomes more difficult to control
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate layer thickness is specifically controlled within the range of 0.5-1.5 mm, which is a narrow but manufacturable parameter range. This parameter specification balances the need for reduced spin rate with the practical constraints of manufacturing precision, allowing consistent production while achieving the desired performance.
Data Source
AI summary
In a golf ball having, in order, a core, an envelope layer, an intermediate layer and a cover, the following conditions are satisfied:(I) ball surface hardness>intermediate layer surface hardness>envelope layer surface hardness<core surface hardness,(II) (Shore D hardness at core surface−Shore D hardness at envelope layer surface)≥10,(III) (cover thickness−intermediate layer thickness)>0.05 mm,(IV) (intermediate layer thickness−envelope layer thickness)>0.05 mm, and(V) (Cs−C10)/(C10−Cc)>1.0 (where Cs denotes the JIS-C hardness at the core surface, C10 the JIS-C hardness at a position 10 mm from a center of the core, and Cc the JIS-C hardness at the core center).The ball provides an excellent flight performance when struck by the average golfer, a feel that is both soft and solid, and an excellent durability to repeated impact.