Golf Ball Mold Retractable Pins for Gas Venting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional molds and molding systems face difficulties in quickly ventilating large volumes of trapped air and gases, leading to potential surface defects and inefficiencies in producing golf balls with thermoplastic polyurethane covers.
Innovation Solution
The development of golf ball molds with retractable pins featuring primary, secondary, and tertiary vent sections, which facilitate rapid gas removal through an elliptical air reservoir, ensuring efficient ventilation and improved mold performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional molds are used for molding thermoplastic polyurethane covers, then the molding process can be completed, but large volumes of trapped air and gases cannot be quickly ventilated, leading to surface defects
Solution Approach 1:
The venting system is segmented into multiple hierarchical levels: primary vents at the base of the cavity, secondary vents in the mold inserts, and tertiary vents in the retractable pins. This segmentation creates multiple parallel pathways for gas evacuation, significantly increasing the overall gas removal speed while maintaining effective venting across the entire mold cavity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from traditional single-plane venting to a three-dimensional venting architecture. The retractable pins with multi-level vents (primary, secondary, tertiary) create vertical and radial venting pathways throughout the mold cavity volume, allowing gases to escape from multiple spatial dimensions simultaneously rather than along a single flat surface.
2Manufacturing precision
If conventional venting systems are used, then the mold structure remains simple, but surface defects occur due to trapped gases
Solution Approach 1:
The venting system employs a nested structure where tertiary vents within retractable pins are contained within secondary vent channels, which are themselves nested within primary vent pathways at the cavity base. This nested arrangement integrates multiple venting functions into a compact hierarchical system that maximizes gas removal capability while minimizing the additional space and structural complexity required.
Solution Approach 2:
The retractable pins provide dynamic adaptability to the venting system. During the molding cycle, the pins can be retracted to expose tertiary vents for active gas evacuation, then returned to their original positions after molding. This dynamic mechanism allows the mold structure to transform from a static simple design to an actively adaptive complex system only when needed for venting.
3Productivity
If fast gas removal is implemented, then surface defects are reduced, but the venting system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple venting functions into an integrated system where primary, secondary, and tertiary vents work together as a unified gas evacuation network. The retractable pins combine positioning, support, and multi-level venting functions in single components, reducing the total number of separate parts while achieving enhanced gas removal speed through their coordinated operation.
Data Source
AI summary
Golf ball molds and methods for molding golf balls, particularly golf balls having thermoplastic polyurethane covers, are provided. The molds and methods are particularly suitable for manufacturing covers for golf balls. Multi-piece golf balls having inner cores, outer cores, inner covers, and intermediate layers can be made. Retractable pins are used for holding the golf ball within the mold, wherein each retractable pin has a primary vent section, secondary vent section, and tertiary vent section for removing air and other gasses from the interior spherical cavity of the mold.