Thin Urethane Golf Ball Cover via Segmented Injection Molding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for manufacturing golf balls with soft urethane resin covers struggle to produce high-quality, thin covers due to issues with resin filling and mold design, leading to inconsistent spin rates and distances in professional and skilled amateur golfers.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a vertically separating two-part injection mold with optimized gate placement and support pins to ensure uniform resin distribution around a spherical insert, allowing for the formation of a thin, high-quality urethane resin cover that balances spin rates on full shots and short games.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a thin urethane resin cover is molded using conventional injection molds, then the golf ball achieves excellent spin properties in the short game and longer distance, but the resin is unable to properly and uniformly fill the mold cavity or the spherical insert shifts off-center
Solution Approach 1:
The injection mold is divided into a fixed mold and a movable mold with multiple independent cavities. Each cavity can be independently filled with resin, allowing for uniform distribution and preventing off-center shifting of the spherical insert. The segmentation of the mold structure enables consistent thin cover formation across multiple golf balls simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention optimizes injection parameters including resin viscosity, injection pressure, and temperature control to ensure proper filling of thin mold cavities. By adjusting these parameters, the resin can uniformly fill the thin-walled cavities without causing the spherical insert to shift, achieving both manufacturing precision and reliability.
2Ease of operation
If the urethane resin cover is made softer to improve short game spin properties, then spin performance increases, but the spin rate on full shots increases resulting in poor distance
Solution Approach 1:
The golf ball is designed with a multi-layer structure where different regions have different material properties. The cover uses soft urethane resin for short game spin, while the intermediate layer uses harder material to control full shot spin rate. This local differentiation of material properties allows the ball to excel in both short game and full shot performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses composite material construction with a soft urethane resin cover combined with a harder intermediate layer. This composite structure enables the cover to provide excellent spin properties in the short game while the intermediate layer maintains appropriate spin rates on full shots, achieving both performance requirements simultaneously.
3Device complexity
If conventional injection mold designs are used for thin cover formation, then device complexity remains low, but manufacturing precision and productivity decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The injection mold is segmented into fixed and movable halves with multiple cavities, allowing for precise control of thin cover formation. This segmentation enables the resin to be injected uniformly around the spherical insert, achieving consistent cover thickness and high manufacturing precision while maintaining reasonable device complexity.
4Productivity
If the urethane resin cover thickness is reduced to improve aerodynamics and distance, then flight performance improves, but the cover becomes too thin to provide adequate protection and durability
Solution Approach 1:
The soft urethane resin cover is combined with a harder intermediate layer to create a composite structure. The thin cover provides aerodynamic benefits and excellent spin properties, while the intermediate layer provides structural support and durability, ensuring the cover maintains adequate protection despite reduced thickness.
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 method effectively produces golf balls with a thin, high-quality urethane resin cover, achieving a balance between distance and spin performance, enhancing golf ball productivity and playability.
Implementation Method 1
injection molding the cover over a spherical insert consisting of the core encased by the intermediate layer with a vertically separating two-part injection mold
Implementation Method 2
three or more support pins for supporting the spherical insert within the spherical cavity
Data Source
AI summary
A method for manufacturing a golf ball having a core, an intermediate layer and a cover that is formed of a resin material composed primarily of a polyurethane resin and has a thickness of 0.1 mm to 0.7 mm by injection molding the cover using a vertically separating two-part injection mold having specific gate and support pin configurations. This method enables a relatively soft urethane resin cover that is thin and of high quality to be formed, and has a good golf ball productivity.