Thread wound golf ball

Abstract: A present invention provides a thread wound golf ball having an improved flight performance, which comprises a solid center, a thread layer and an outer cover. The solid center is formed from a rubber component with a crosslinked structure which contains an oily substance. The impact resilience of the solid center is 90 cm or more.

Description: The present invention relates to a thread wound golf ball. More particularly, it relates to a thread wound golf ball having an improved flight performance. A thread wound golf ball comprising a center, a thread rubber layer and an outer cover has excellent control properties and shot feel. Although the thread wound golf ball is often used by a golfer (particularly, senior golfers), it's flight distance is inferior in comparison with a two piece golf ball and an improvement is thus required. The center of thread wound golf balls is generally classified into two types. One is a solid center which is formed from a vulcanized rubber of high-cis polybutadiene, and the other is a liquid center wherein a solution or water paste is encapsulated in a hollow rubber center. It is known that the flight performance of golf balls is significantly influenced by the properties of the center. A golf ball having a conventional solid center is liable to cause excessive spin easily and is inferior in flight distance on being hit with an iron club. On the other hand, a golf ball having a liquid center suppresses the spin formation and is superior in flight distance on being hit with an iron club. However, in the case of being hit with a wooden club, the ball is liable to fly like a drop ball, which results in poor flight distance. Accordingly, each of the centers imparts both advantages and disadvantages in the flight performance of golf balls and does not satisfy the flight performance required for the golf balls. Furthermore, the production process of golf balls with a liquid centre is complicated. Also, there is a safety problem for example, when the ball is cut, a liquid is sprayed at high speed which may hit the eyes, which may result in injury to the eye balls. Various attempts have hitherto been made in order to solve the problem [e.g. Japanese Patent Kokai Nos. 60-168471 and 60-72573 (enlargement of the diameter of a solid center), No. 62-181070 (a solid fragment is encapsulated in a liquid center to decrease spin formation), No. 60-165966 (a water-containing polymer is used for the liquid center to enhance safety), etc.]. However, they are also insufficient and further improvements of thread wound golf balls are required. US-A-4 321 183 discloses a solid center for a thread wound golf ball with a thread rubber layer and an outer cover. The solid center formed from rubber which is not cross-linked may have an impact resilience of 90 cm or more. We have found that, by using a specified solid rubber having a crosslinked structure and containing a specified oily substance as the center for a thread wound golf ball, the spin formation is suppressed at a suitable initial velocity and the hitting angle is increased, which results in a good balance between the ball being hit with a wooden or an iron club. The main object of the present invention is to provide a thread wound golf ball having an improved flight performance. According to the present invention, there is provided a thread wound golf ball comprising a solid center, a thread rubber layer and an outer cover, wherein the solid center has an impact resilience of 90 cm or more characterized by comprising a rubber component having a crosslinked structure which contains an oily substance, wherein the rubber component containing the oily substance is polybutadiene rubber or natural rubber with naphthenic oil or aromatic oil, ethylenepropylenediene monomer with paraffin oil; polynorbornene rubber with naphthenic oil, aromatic oil, plasticizer, alkylbenzene or paraffinic oil; or urethane rubber with plasticizer or factice. In the thread wound golf ball of the present invention, there is no safety problem with a liquid center because the center is solid. The rubber for the solid center may be any of the following rubbers which can be vulcanized with sulfur or peroxide, polybutadiene rubber (BR), natural rubber (NR), ethylenepropylene-diene monomer (EPDM) or polynorbornene rubber. Urethane-type thermoplastic rubber can be also used. In all cases, it is preferred that the rubber is superior in compatibility with the below-mentioned oily substance and can contain a large amount of the oily substance, and that it has a suitable impact resilience when crosslinked in the condition that the oily substance is uniformly dispersed in the rubber. The oily substance is one which has fluidity or which exhibits a semisolid state at room temperature and which contains little volatility. Particularly preferred is an oily substance which is superior in compatibility with the above rubber and is uniformly admixed in a rubber without any remarkable deterioration of the impact resilience of the rubber, or which can impart a suitable impact resilience to a rubber on mixing with a rubber having a low impact resilience. Examples of the oily substance are as follows. (i) Petroleum oil which is often used as an extending oil for the rubber and is classified into the following according to the content of aromatic, naphthenic or paraffinic carbons; (i) Paraffinic oil containing at least 50 % of paraffin chains (ii) Naphthenic oil containing 30 to 45 % of naphthene ring carbons (iii) Aromatic oil containing at least 35 % of aromatic carbons (2) Plasticizers, such as phthalate polyester (e.g. dibutyl phthalate (DBP), dioctyl phthalate (DOP), etc.), adipate polyester (e.g. dioctyl adipate (DOA), etc.), sebacate polyester (e.g. dioctyl sebacate (DOS), etc.), phosphate polyester (e.g. tricresyl phosphate (TCP), etc) and the like; (3) Factice which is obtained by vulcanizing a vegetable oil with sulfur or sulfur chloride (e.g. semi-translucent factice, black factice, brown factice, etc.); (4) Alkylbenzenes, such as l-dodecyl-4-hexyl-benzene, l-dodecyl-3-hexylbenzene, 1,3,5-mesitylene, 1,2,3-hemimellitene, etc.; These oily substances are used alone or in combination thereof. The combination of the oily substance with the base rubber is decided by taking the compatibility of the oily substance with the rubber into consideration. Suitable combinations are polybutadiene rubber or natural rubber with naphthenic oil or aromatic oil; EPDM with paraffin oil; polynorbornene rubber with napthenic oil, aromatic oil, plasticizer, alkylbenzene, paraffinic oil; urethane rubber with plasticizer or factice. The amount of the oily substance formulated is preferably from 30 to 500 parts by weight, more preferably 50 to 400 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the rubber. When the amount is smaller than 30 parts by weight, no improvement is obtained. When the amount is larger than 500 parts by weight, sometimes, an oil can not be admixed in the rubber according to the combination. A filler as a specific gravity modifier (e.g. barium sulfate, etc.), a reinforcer (e.g. water-containing silicic acid, carbon black, etc.), a processing aid as a tackifier, an antioxidant etc. can be added to the solid center of the present invention, in addition to the base rubber and oily substance. In the case of sulfur vulcanization, sulfur, zinc oxide, stearic acid, vulcanization accelerator and zinc stearate are added as vulcanizing chemicals. In the case of peroxide vulcanization, peroxide (e.g. dicumyl peroxide, l,l-di-t-butylperoxy-3,3,5-trimethylolcyclohexane, etc.), activator (e.g. zinc stearate, etc.), zinc oxide and co-crosslinking agent (e.g. zinc acrylate, zinc methacrylate, N,N'-m-phenylenedimaleimide, etc.) are added in a suitable amount to form a vulcanizable rubber composition. In the present invention, the rubber composition thus obtained is molded (vulcanized) in a mold by compression molding or injection molding to give a rubber center having a predetermined dimension. The outer diameter of the rubber center thus obtained is 23 to 34 mm, preferably 26 to 32 mm. When the outer diameter is smaller than 23 mm, the spin formation becomes large and the launch angle becomes small, whereby, the flight distance is not improved. On the other hand, when the outer diameter is larger than 34 mm, the thread rubber layer becomes too thin and, therefore, a predetermined hardness can not be provided to the ball. It is necessary that the rubber center thus obtained is provided with a suitable impact resilience by mainly using a combination of the rubber/oily substance, as described above. The impact resilience is represented by a rebound height of the rubber center, measured by dropping it on a rigid surface such as concrete block from a height of 254 cm (100 inches) at 23°C. The impact resilience is preferably 90 cm or more. If the impact resilience is less than 90 cm, the resulting golf ball has low initial velocity and poor flying distance. A thread rubber for a golf ball is wound around the rubber center to form a thread wound center comprising a center and a thread rubber layer, which is then covered with an outer cover material containing an ionomer resin or balata (transpolyisoprene) as a main component and molded in a mold provided with a dimple pattern. When the cover material containing balata as a main component is used, it is further vulcanized, pre-treated and finished with paint to obtain a desired golf ball. As described above, according to the present invention, a thread wound golf ball having improved flight performances can be obtained by formulating an oily substance in a solid rubber center. EXAMPLES The following Examples further illustrate the present invention in detail but are not to be construed as limiting the scope thereof. Examples 1 to 6 and Comparative Examples 1 to 3 A formulation shown in Table 1 was subjected to compression molding (vulcanization) at 155°C for 20 minutes to make a rubber center having a diameter of about 28.4 mm. The weight of the resulting rubber center was 18.2 to 18.4 g. Then, a thread wound golf ball with an ionomer cover was made by a conventional method, using the rubber center. The flight performances of the resulting golf ball was evaluated by a conventional method. The results are shown in Table 2. Examples 7 to 10 and Comparative Examples 4 to 6 A formulation shown in Table 3 was subjected to compression molding (vulcanization) at 155°C for 20 minutes to make a rubber center having a diameter of about 28.4 mm. The weight of the resulting rubber center was 17 g. Then, a thread wound golf ball with a balata cover was made by a conventional method, using the rubber center. The flight performances of the resulting golf ball was evaluated by a conventional method. The results are shown in Table 4. As is apparent from the above results, the flying distance was extremely improved mainly by high hitting angle and low spin in a golf ball having an ionomer cover or balata cover. Further, professional golfers were asked to hit the golf balls and their evaluations were asked. As a result, the golf balls of Examples 1 to 10 had excellent hit feeling and control properties.

Claims: A thread wound golf ball comprising a solid center, a thread rubber layer and an outer cover, wherein the solid center has an impact resilience of 90 cm or more characterized by comprising a rubber component having a crosslinked structure which contains an oily substance, wherein the rubber component containing the oily substance is polybutadiene rubber or natural rubber with naphthenic oil or aromatic oil, ethylenepropylenediene monomer with paraffin oil; polynorbornene rubber with naphthenic oil, aromatic oil, plasticizer, alkylbenzene or paraffinic oil; or urethane rubber with plasticizer or factice. A thread wound golf ball as claimed in claim 1 wherein the amount of the oily substance is from 30 to 500 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of a rubber. A thread wound golf ball as claimed in claim 1 wherein the amount of the oily substance is from 50 to 400 parts by weight, based on 100 parts by weight of the rubber. A thread wound golf ball as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rubber component consists of polynorbornene rubber and the oily substance is an alkylbenzene oil. A thread wound golf ball as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the outer dimension of the rubber center is 23 to 34 mm. A thread wound golf ball as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the outer dimension of the rubber center is 26 to 32 mm.

Inventors: EBISUNO TADAHIRO, HAMADA AKIHIKO, HORIUCHI KUNIYASU, KATO AKIRA, MORIYAMA KEIJI, EBISUNO, TADAHIRO, HAMADA, AKIHIKO, HORIUCHI, KUNIYASU, KATO, AKIRA, MORIYAMA, KEIJI
Applicants: SUMITOMO RUBBER IND, SUMITOMO RUBBER INDUSTRIES LIMITED
Application year: 1993
Main classification: A63B37
IPC codes: A63B37