GOLF BALLS

Abstract: A golf ball (11) whose surface bears a series of regularly arranged areas of contrasting appearance. The areas of contrasting appearance may be coloured dots (13) in some or all of the indentations (12) in the golf ball surface.

Description: Golf Balls The present invention relates to a golf ball. In order to strike a golf ball with accuracy and with consistency, it is necessary for a player to possess an ability to judge depths in the field of vision with great precision. This stereoscopic acuity enables the player not only to determine the distance to the ball and to relate this to the position of the golf club head, but also to take into account the dimensions of the ball itself so that the club head is brought into contact with the desired point on the ball . As is well known, if the club head strikes the wrong part of the ball, the shot will be undercut, topped, sliced or pulled. The fact that golf balls are of a contrasting colour to grass (or sand) clearly helps with stereopsis, however, it would be desirable to improve this still further. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a golf ball whose position can be judged more easily and more accurately. According to the invention, there is provided a golf ball comprising a spherical ball with a plurality of indentations in its surface, the indentations being arranged in a pattern, the surface also having a plurality of areas of a contrasting appearance, the areas of contrasting appearance being arranged symmetrically. The areas of contrasting appearance, in their symmetrical arrangement, enable a player to make more precise judgements of the position of the ball and enable visualisation of a club face striking the ball to be achieved more accurately and with greater consistency. Another important factor is the ability of a player's visual system to filter and process information; this is related to contrast sensitivity. The contrasting areas on the ball can serve to enhance a player's contrast sensitivity. Preferably at least 30% of the indentations (or dimples) in the golf ball surface include an area of contrasting appearance. More preferably, at least 50% or at least 75% of the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance. In one embodiment, all the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance. It should however be understood that when the areas of contrasting appearance are located in the indentations, the indentations themselves must be arranged in such a way that the areas of contrasting appearance remain symmetrically arranged. Thus, the areas of contrasting appearance may be located in the indentations, in the spaces between the indentations or straddling the spaces and the indentations. The areas of contrasting appearance may be in any suitable form, including a spot or the shape of an asterisk. Preferably, the areas of contrasting appearance cover at least 10% of the surface area of the ball. More preferably, the areas cover from 10% to 50% of the surface areas of the ball, for example from 20% to 30%. Conveniently, the area of contrasting appearance is a spot in the centre of the respective indentations. Preferably the contrasting appearance is a black dot in the centre of each respective indentation. In a preferred embodiment the area of contrasting appearance is a black dot in the centre of each respective indentation, however, other colours may be employed. The invention may be applied to any golf ball construction, such as one-piece, two-piece or three- piece and is applicable to all materials, such as balata, elastomer or Surlyn. The invention may also be applied to a golf ball having any arrangement of dimples, provided that the areas of contrasting appearance are symmetrical. In this context, the term "symmetrical" means that the contrasting areas are arranged in a regular pattern around the ball surface so that the arrangement does not differ in appearance when the orientation of the ball is altered. It has been found that with such an arrangement of contrasting areas, the curvature of the surface of the ball is made more evident, and the position (in depth) of the widest part of the ball is highlighted. In other words if one looks at the notional north pole of the ball, the position of the equator along the axis can be more readily identified. The contrasting spots or dots can be applied or formed in any convenient manner provided that they exhibit the necessary durability to allow the spots or dots to remain visible even after several hundred shots. The invention may be carried into practice in various ways, and some embodiments will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: - Figures 1 to 5 show various embodiments in accordance with the invention. In all the embodiments, a golf ball 11 has regular indentations 12. They vary in the pattern of markings. In Figure 1, all the indentations are coloured. In Figure 2, a large proportion of the indentations are coloured. In Figure 3, about half the indentations are coloured. In Figure 4, about half the indentations include a coloured spot 13, though of course, a greater or smaller proportion of the indentations could include spots. In Figure 5, the spaces 4 between the indentations have asterisk-shaped marks 15. It will be appreciated that the asterisk-shaped marks could be used in the embodiments of Figures 1 to 4 either in addition to or instead of the marks shown. Also, the asterisk-shaped marks in Figure 5 could be replaced by the spots of Figure 4. In an alternative embodiment (not shown) the asterisk-shaped marks could be substantially larger in size, perhaps an order of magnitude larger, and therefore significantly smaller in number. In all the embodiments illustrated, it is intended that the coloured indentations, the spots and the asterisk-shaped marks should be arranged symmetrically (as defined above) about the surface of the ball.

Claims: Claims : 1. A golf ball comprising a spherical ball with a plurality of indentations in its surface, the indentations being arranged in a pattern, the surface also having a plurality of areas of a contrasting appearance, the areas of contrasting appearance being arranged symmetrically. 2. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 1, in which the areas of contrasting appearance are located on the surface of the ball between the indentations. 3. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 1, in which the areas of contrasting appearance are located in the indentations . 4. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 3 , in which at least 30% of the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance. 5. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 3, in which at least 50% of the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance. 6. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 3, in which at least 75% of the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance. 7. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 3, in which all the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance. 8. A golf ball as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which each area of contrasting appearance is in the shape of an asterisk or a spot. 9. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 8, in which the areas of contrasting appearance cover at least 10% of the surface area of the ball. 10. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 8, in which the areas of contrasting appearance cover from 20% to 30% of the surface area of the ball . 11. A golf ball as claimed in any of Claims 3 to 10, in which each area of contrasting appearance is a spot in the centre of the respective indentations. 12. A golf ball as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the contrasting appearance is due to a difference in colour or shade. 13. A golf ball as claimed in any of Claims 3 to 12, in which the area of contrasting appearance is a black dot in the centre of each respective indentation. 1 . A golf ball constructed and arranged substantially as herein specifically described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings .

Inventors: MORLEY JULIAN ERIC CHRISTIAN, MORLEY, JULIAN, ERIC, CHRISTIAN
Applicants: MORLEY JULIAN ERIC CHRISTIAN, REYNOLDS DOUGLAS, MORLEY, JULIAN, ERIC, CHRISTIAN, REYNOLDS, DOUGLAS
Application year: 1998
Main classification: A63B43
IPC codes: A63B37, A63B43, A63B69