CA2079993C - Golf ball - Google Patents

Golf ball

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Publication number
CA2079993C
CA2079993C CA002079993A CA2079993A CA2079993C CA 2079993 C CA2079993 C CA 2079993C CA 002079993 A CA002079993 A CA 002079993A CA 2079993 A CA2079993 A CA 2079993A CA 2079993 C CA2079993 C CA 2079993C
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
slope
dimple
dimples
ball
configuration
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related
Application number
CA002079993A
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
CA2079993A1 (en
Inventor
Kengo Oka
Shinji Ohshima
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd
Original Assignee
Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd filed Critical Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd
Publication of CA2079993A1 publication Critical patent/CA2079993A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA2079993C publication Critical patent/CA2079993C/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/14Special surfaces
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/0004Surface depressions or protrusions
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/0004Surface depressions or protrusions
    • A63B37/0006Arrangement or layout of dimples
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/0004Surface depressions or protrusions
    • A63B37/0007Non-circular dimples
    • A63B37/0009Polygonal
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/0004Surface depressions or protrusions
    • A63B37/0012Dimple profile, i.e. cross-sectional view
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/0004Surface depressions or protrusions
    • A63B37/0018Specified number of dimples
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/0004Surface depressions or protrusions
    • A63B37/0021Occupation ratio, i.e. percentage surface occupied by dimples
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/0023Covers
    • A63B37/0024Materials other than ionomers or polyurethane
    • A63B37/0026Balata
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/005Cores
    • A63B37/0051Materials other than polybutadienes; Constructional details
    • A63B37/0052Liquid cores
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/007Characteristics of the ball as a whole
    • A63B37/0077Physical properties
    • A63B37/008Diameter
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63BAPPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B37/00Solid balls; Rigid hollow balls; Marbles
    • A63B37/0003Golf balls
    • A63B37/007Characteristics of the ball as a whole
    • A63B37/0077Physical properties
    • A63B37/0087Deflection or compression

Abstract

A golf ball dimple, formed on the spherical surface of a golf ball, is polygonal in its surface configuration and has a double slope in its sectional configuration. The gradient of one slope in the vicinity of an edge of the dimple is greater than that of the other slope in the vicinity of the bottom of the dimple so that the dimple has a plane having a large angle with respect to air flow at the periphery of the ball.

Description

GO~F BA~

The present invention relates to a golf ball and, more particularly, to a configuration of improved dimples to make the flow of air across the periphery of the ball turbulent during flight, whereby to improve the aerodynamic performance of the ball.
A golf ball normally has 280 to 540 dimples formed on its spherical surface, namely radially inward depressions from such surface. The role of the dimple is to reduce the pressure drag on the ball and improve its dynamic lift. More specifically, in order to lift the ball high in the air during flight, it is necessary to locate the separation point between the air and the upper surface of the ball to a point rearward with respect to the separation point between the air and the lower surface of the ball. In this way the air pressure above the ball can be made smaller than that below it. In order to accelerate the separation of the air above the ball from its upper surface, it is necessary to make the air current around the ball turbulent. In this sense, it can be said that a dimple that is capable of making the air flow in the periphery of the ball very turbulent is aerodynamically superior.
In view of this role of the dimples, there have been various proposals regarding the combination of dimples in various configurations formed on the surface of a golf ball to make the flow of the air at its periphery turbulent. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 48-19392 discloses pentagonal or hexagonal dimples in the surface configuration. According to examined Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-23184, a dimple has two different curvatures (double radius) in the sectional configuration thereof.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 64-8982, the dimples may comprise circular dimples and uncircular dimples.
The dimples of the above-described proposals do not have the effect of making the air flow at the periphery of the ball ,JI
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turbulent to a large extent. Thus, the flight distance of the golf balls having dimples according to these proposals have not been as good as desired.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a golf ball having a configuration of improved dimples designed to make the air flow at the periphery of the ball very turbulent, whereby to improve its flight distance.
In accomplishing these and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a golf ball having a plurality of dimples on a surface thereof characterized in that more than 40% of all dimples are each polygonal in shape and have a double slope in section, namely a first slope and second slope continuing radially inwardly from the first slope, the gradient of the first slope in the vicinity of a dimple edge being greater than that of the second slope in the vicinity of the bottom of the dimple.
The above-described "surface configuration" of the dimple means the configuration of the dimple viewed in the direction from a normal line of the spherical surface of the ball.
To explain this concept with the aid of a diagram, the figures of the drawings will first be listed.
Fig. 1 is an explanatory view for describing a double slope of a polygonal dimple according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a front view showing dimples according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the dimples according to the first embodiment;
Fig. 4 is a plan view showing a dimple (A) according to the first embodiment;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the dimple (A);
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the dimple (A);
Fig. 7 is a front view showing dimples according to a second embodiment;
Fig. 8 is a plan view showing the dimples according to the second embodiment;

-Fig. 9 is a plan view showing dimple (E) according to the second embodiment;
Fig. 10 is a sectional view showing the dimple (E);
Fig. 11 is a front view showing dimples according to a third embodiment;
Fig. 12 is a plan view showing the dimples according to the third embodiment;
Fig. 13 is a plan view showing a dimple (C) according to the third embodiment of the present invention;
Fig. 14 is a sectional view showing the dimple (C);
Fig. 15 is a perspective view showing the dimple (C);
Fig. 16 is a front view showing dimples according to a fourth embodiment;
Fig. 17 is a plan view showing the dimples according to the fourth embodiment;
Fig. 18 is a plan view showing a dimple (B) according to the fourth embodiment;
Fig. 19 is a sectional view showing the dimple (C);
Fig. 20 is a perspective view showing the dimple (B);
Fig. 21 is a front view showing dimples according to a fifth embodiment;
Fig. 22 is a plan view showing the dimples according to the fifth embodiment;
Fig. 23 is a front view showing dimples according to a sixth embodiment;
Fig. 24 is a plan view showing dimples according to a sixth embodiment;
Fig. 25 is a plan view showing a dimple (D) according to the sixth embodiment;
Fig. 26 is a sectional view showing the dimple (D);
Fig. 27 is a perspective view showing the dimple (D);
Fig. 28 is a front view showing the dimples according to a first comparison example;
Fig. 29 is a plan view showing the dimples according to the first comparison example;
Fig. 30 is a front view showing dimples according to a second comparison example;

...

Fig. 31 is a plan view showing the dimples according to the second comparison example;
Fig. 32 is a front view showing dimples according to a third comparison example; and Fig. 33 is a plan view showing the dimples according to the third comparison example.
The above reference to "double slope" means that, as shown by a solid line in Fig. 1, the sectional configuration of the dimple in the range from a dimple edge (a) to the center (b) of the dimple is composed of two straight lines (c) and (d), the gradients of which are different from each other.
The straight line (c) near the dimple edge (a) is referred to as the first slope and the straight line (d) near the dimple bottom is referred to as the second slope.
In a limited range of the dimple volume, the configuration of the double slope of the dimple is set to satisfy the following three conditions to increase the effect of sweeping air away from the periphery of the ball.
Firstly, referring to Fig. 1, suppose that the gradient of the first slope (c) is ~1 and the gradient of the second slope (d) is ~2, ~1 > ~2.
Secondly, suppose that the horizontal length between a vertex (a) of a polygonal dimple and the center (b) thereof is Ll; and the horizontal length between the intersection (e) of the first slope (c) with the second slope (d) and the center (b) of the regular pentagon is L2; L2/L1 2 0.6.
Thirdly, suppose the distance between the imaginary spherical surface of the golf ball and the deepest point of the dimple is Fl; the vertical length between the imaginary spherical surface of the golf ball and the intersection (e) of the first slope (c) with the second slope (d) is F2; and the radius of the ball is R, the following equation is established:
{F2-R+(R2-Ll2) 1/2 } / { Fl-R+(RZ-Ll2) 1/2 ~ 2 0 6 The sides of each polygonal dimple are curved, because the surface of the ball is curved, and hence the surface configuration of the dimple is not polygonal in the strict ,.

207999~

sense. However, according to the present invention, such a surface configuration is regarded as approximately polygonal and is called a polygonal dimple.
As described above, a dimple according to the present invention is polygonal in its surface configuration and has the double slope. The polygonal configuration has the function of making the air flow turbulent. The double-slope configuration allows the gradient of the first slope to be larger than that of the single-slope configuration conventionally adopted, as shown by the broken line (g) of Fig. 1, supposing that the dimple volume of the double slope configuration is equal to that of the single-slope configuration. That is, a plane (surface of the first slope) having a great angle with respect to the air flow can be formed in continuity with the dimple edge. The double-slope configuration thus has the effect of sweeping air away from the periphery of the ball. That is, the air at the periphery of the ball is made turbulent by the polygonal configuration of the dimple and is swept away from the ball by the double-slope configuration. The polygonal and doubly sloped featuresthus increase the aerodynamic characteristic of the ball.
According to a golf ball of the present invention, it has dimples of the above-described configuration at more than 40%
of all the dimples, giving the ball an improved flight performance and hence a long flight distance. Experimentals have indicated that a golf ball having polygonal and doubly sloped dimples at less than 40% of all the dimples formed on the surface thereof does not have a sufficiently improved flight performance.
A first embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 6. In this first embodiment, the ball has regular pentagonal dimples that have a double slope. More specifically, as shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, the golf ball has 332 regular pentagonal dimples (A) in its surface configuration that are doubly sloped in sectional configuration. The specification of the dimple (A) is shown in Table 1.

~,' -- 2079g93 L1, L2, F1, F2, 1, and 2 in Table 1 show the length of each portion described previously with reference to Fig. 1.
That is, as shown in Fig. 5, L1 is the horizontal length between the vertex (a) of a regular polygon and the center (b) thereof. L2 is the horizontal length between the intersection (e) of the first slope (c) with the second slope (d) and the center (b) of the regular pentagon. F1 is the depth between the imaginary spherical surface of the ball and the deepest point of the dimple. F2 is the vertical length between the imaginary spherical surface of the ball and the intersection (e) of the first slope (c) with the second slope (d).

Table 1 Specification of dimple of embodiments and comparison examples 15 dimple surface section L1 L2 F1 F2 rl r2 A reg-pen d-slope 2.001.48 0.280.23 - -B reg-hex d-slope 1.901.39 0.290.23 C reg-pen s-slope 2.00 - 0.24 D reg-hex s-slope 1.90 - 0.24 E circular d-radius 1.85 - 0.19 - 14.0 3.0 In the Table 1, Ll, L2, F1, F2, rl, and r2 are shown in millimetres; the surface configuration is abbreviated as surface; the sectional configuration is abbreviated as section; a regular pentagon is abbreviated as reg-pen; a regular hexagon is abbreviated as reg-hex; the double slope is abbreviated as d-slope: a single slope is abbreviated as s-slope; and a double radius is abbreviated as d-radius.

,, ~

207999~

The configuration of the double slope df the dimple (A) satisfies the following three conditions:
Firstly, L2/L1 2 0.6; secondly, {F2-R+(R2-L12)1/2}/{F1-R+(R2-L12)1/2} 2 0.6, where R is the radius of ball; and thirdly, ~1 > ~2. The third condition is automatically satisfied if the first and second conditions are satisfied. In the dimple (A), the gradient of the first slope (c) is greater than that of the second slope (d) to improve the effect of sweeping air away from the periphery of the ball.
A second embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to Figs. 7 through 10. The golf ball of the second embodiment has two kinds of dimples, namely, regular pentagonal dimples in the surface configuration that are doubly sloped in sectional configuration, and dimples that are circular in their surface configuration and have a double radius.
That is, the golf ball has 152 dimples (A) similar to those of the first embodiment and 180 dimples (E) that are circular in their surface configuration and have a double radius as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, thus having 332 dimples in total. The specification of the dimple (E) is shown in Table 1.
L1 in Table 1 shows the radius of the circular dimple (E) as shown in Fig. 10; rl shows the curvature of the curved surface of the bottom portion of the dimple (E); and r2 shows the curvature of the curved surface in the vicinity of the edge (a) of the dimple (E).
In the dimple (E), the curvature r2 is smaller than the curvature rl. That is, the curved surface near the dimple edge (a) forms a large angle (gradient) with respect to the flow of air at the periphery of the ball, so as to improve the aerodynamic characteristic of the ball.
A third embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to Figs. 11 through 15. The golf ball of the third embodiment has regular pentagonal and doubly sloped dimples and regular pentagonal and singly sloped dimples.
That is, the ball has 152 dimples (A) similar to the first and second embodiments and 180 dimples (C) pentagonal in their surface configuration and having a single slope, as shown in Figs. 13 through 15, thus having 332 dimples in total.
The single slope configuration is sectionally straight in the line (f) connecting an edge (a) thereof and its center (b) with each other, as shown in Fig. 14. The specification of the dimple (C) is shown in the above Table 1.
A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figs. 16 to 20. A golf ball according to the fourth embodiment has regular hexagonal and doubly sloped dimples. That is, as shown in Figs. 18 through 20, the ball has 332 regular hexagonal dimples (B) in surface configuration that are doubly sloped in sectional configuration. The specification of the dimple (A) is shown in the above Table 1. The dimple (B) satisfies the above-described three conditions similarly to the dimple (A). That is, the gradient of the first slope (c) is greater than that of the second slope (d) to obtain the effect of sweeping air away from the periphery of the ball.
A fifth embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to Figs. 21 and 22. The golf ball of the fifth embodiment has two kinds of dimples, namely, 152 dimples (B) that are regular hexagonal in surface configuration and doubly sloped in sectional configuration similarly to the fourth embodiment and 180 dimples (E) that are circular insurface configuration and have a double radius similarly to the second embodiment, thus having 332 dimples in total.
A sixth embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to Figs. 23 through 27. The golf ball according to the sixth embodiment has dimples that are regular hexagonal in surface configuration and doubly sloped in sectional configuration and dimples that are regular hexagonal in surface configuration and singly sloped in sectional configuration. That is, the ball has 152 dimples (B) that are regular hexagonal in the surface configuration and doubly sloped in sectional configuration, similarly to the fourth and - - 207g-993 fifth embodiments, and 180 dimples (D) that are regular hexagonal in surface configuration and singly sloped (shown by (f) in Fig. 26) as shown in Figs. 25, 26, and 27, thus having 332 dimples in total. The specification of the dimple (D) is shown in Table 1.
Golf balls of the first through third comparison examples were prepared to examine the effect of the dimple (A) through the dimple (E) of the first through sixth embodiment.
Figs. 28 and 29 show a golf ball of the first comparison example. This ball has 332 dimples (E) that are circular in surface configuration and have a double radius similarly to the dimples of the second and fifth embodiments.
Figs. 30 and 31 show a golf ball of the second comparison example. This ball has 332 dimples (C) that are regular pentagonal in surface configuration and singly sloped in sectional configuration similarly to the dimples of the third embodiment.
Figs. 32 and 33 show a golf ball of the third comparison example. This ball has 332 dimples (D) that are regular hexagonal in surface configuration and singly sloped in sectional configuration similarly to the dimples of the sixth embodiment.
The balls of the first through sixth embodiments and those of the first through third comparison examples were all thread-wound and had a balata cover and a liquid center, respectively. They had the same construction and composition.
The outer diameters thereof were all 42.70 + 0.03mm and the compressions thereof were all 95 + 2. Every ball had an icosahedral arrangement, which has been widely adopted as a dimple-arranging pattern, and 332 dimples.
The experimental results of the first through sixth embodiments and those of the first through third comparison examples are described below. Using a swing robot manufactured by "True Temper Corp.", the balls of the first through sixth embodiments and those of the first through third comparison examples were shot by a driver (W1) at a head speed of 45 m/sec to measure the flight distance of each golf ball.

The spin was 3500 + 300 rpm and the ball-shooting angle was 10 + 0.5. The balls were kept at 23 + 1C in an oven until they were shot. The wind blew at a speed of 1.1 to 2.8 m/sec from the right. Table 2 shows the average of the test results of 20 balls used for each of the first through sixth embodiments and the first through third comparison examples.

Table 2 Dimples of embodiments and comparison examples and test result of flight distance test result of flight distance 0 dimple carry run totaltra~ectory (yard)(yard) (yard)height(DEG) lE A(reg.pen.)(d.sl.) 332 227.4 12.5 239.9 13.3 2E A(reg.pen.)(d.sl.) 152 222.5 12.9 235.4 12.7 B(c.)(d-r-) 180 3E A(reg.pen.)(d.sl.) 152 223.0 13.5 236.5 13.0 C(reg.pen.)(s.sl.) 180 4E B(reg.hex.)(d.sl.) 332 226.9 12.4 239.3 13.2 5E B(reg.hex)(d.sl.) 152 222.013.1 235.112.5 E(c.)(d-r-) 180 6E B(reg.hex.)(d.sl.) 152 222.2 13.6 235.8 13.1 D(reg.hex.)(s.sl.) 180 1C E(c.)(d-r-) 332 216.313.2 229.512.2 2C C(reg.pen.)(s.sl.) 332 218.2 14.7 232.9 11.9 3C D(reg.pen.)(s.sl.) 332 218.5 14.5 233.0 12.2 In Table 2, embodiment is abbreviated as E, lE is first embodiment, 2E is second embodiment, 3E is third embodiment, 4E is fourth embodiment, 5E is fifth embodiment and 6E is sixth embodiment; comparison example is abbreviated as C, lC
is first comparison, 2C is second comparison and 3C is third comparison; regular pentagonal is abbreviated as (reg.pen.);
double slope is abbreviated as (d.sl.); circular is abbreviated as (c.); single slope is abbreviated as (s.sl.);
regular hexagonal is abbreviated as (reg.hex.); and double radius is abbreviated as (d.r.). Further, in Table 2, carry ~ ~.

is the distance from the shot point to the drop point; total is the distance from the shot point to the stop point; run is the difference between total and carry; and the trajectory height is the angle of elevation formed between a horizontal line and the straight line connecting the ball-hitting point with the highest point of the trajectory.
As shown in Table 2, the balls of the first and fourth embodiments having dimples of only double-slope configuration had the longest carry. The balls of the second, third, fifth, and sixth embodiments having 152 dimples (46% of all dimples) of the double-slope configuration had the second longest carry. The balls of the first to third comparison examples on which dimple of double-slope configuration were not formed had the shortest carry. The test results indicate that the double-slope configuration causes a golf ball to have a favorable aerodynamic characteristic.
The advantage of the double-slope configuration is that, as described previously, a plane having a large angle with respect to the flow of air at the periphery of the ball is formed in the vicinity of an edge of a polygonal dimple.
The greater the angle of the plane, namely, the greater the gradient of the plane is, the greater is the effect of sweeping air away from the periphery of the ball. In view of the fact that the diameter and volume of the dimple are limited to a certain range, the gradient in the vicinity of the dimple edge cannot be made large in the case of the single-slope configuration, while this gradient can be made larger in the case of the double-slope configuration.
The characteristic configuration of a dimple according to the present invention is that it is polygonal in its surface configuration, but the dimple of a regular polygonal configuration is more favorable than that of a general polygonal configuration. This is because a regular polygonal dimple has the effect of sweeping air away from the ball equally in every spin direction of the ball.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, the dimple is polygonal in its surface configuration and has a double slope in its sectional configuration. Therefore, this dimple has the effect of sweeping air away from the periphery of the ball and making the air flow very turbulent, thus improving the aerodynamic characteristic of the ball. A ball according to the present invention has dimples of the above-described configuration at more than 40% of all the dimples.
Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom.

Claims (5)

1. A golf ball having a plurality of dimples on a surface thereof characterized in that more than 40% of all dimples are each polygonal in shape and have a double slope in section, namely a first slope and second slope continuing radially inwardly from the first slope, the gradient of the first slope in the vicinity of a dimple edge being greater than that of the second slope in the vicinity of the bottom of the dimple.
2. A golf ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein said polygonal configuration is a regular polygonal configuration.
3. A golf ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein said polygonal configuration is a regular pentagonal or regular hexagonal configuration.
4. A golf ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein a ratio L1, which is a horizontal length between a vertex of said dimple and the center thereof, to L2, which is a horizontal length between an intersection of the first slope with the second slope and the center of the dimple, is L2/L1 0.6.
5. A golf ball as claimed in claim 4, wherein the following equation is satisfied, wherein F1 is a distance between an imaginary spherical surface of the ball and a deepest point of the dimple, F2 is a vertical length between said imaginary spherical surface and the intersection of the first slope with the second slope and R is the radius of the golf ball, the equation being {F2-R+(R2-L12)1/2}/{F1-R+(R2-L12)1/2} 0.6.
CA002079993A 1991-10-08 1992-10-06 Golf ball Expired - Fee Related CA2079993C (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP3260355A JP2986259B2 (en) 1991-10-08 1991-10-08 Golf ball and golf ball dimple
JP3-260355 1991-10-08

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CA2079993A1 CA2079993A1 (en) 1993-04-09
CA2079993C true CA2079993C (en) 1996-07-16

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US (1) US5338039A (en)
EP (1) EP0536725B1 (en)
JP (1) JP2986259B2 (en)
KR (1) KR960004335B1 (en)
AU (1) AU647316B2 (en)
CA (1) CA2079993C (en)
DE (1) DE69219983T2 (en)

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DE69219983D1 (en) 1997-07-03
CA2079993A1 (en) 1993-04-09

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