Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd May 1895
Complete Specification Left, 29th July 1895-Accepted, 31st Aug 1895
We, ALEXANDRE DE PONT and SILVIUS DE PONT, of The Synthetic Ivory
Company, Lune Mills, Lancaster, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturers, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
1
This invention relates to the manufacture of golf balls and is intended to provide
golt balls which will be much less liable to become hacked or marked during play
than those at present in use and which in consequence of such hacking in a short
time become unfit for use
Hitherto golf balls have been chiefly made of solid gutta percha which while in
many respects is well suited for the purpose is not of sufficiently fibrous or tough a
nature as to re ist being indented or hacked when struck by the clubs
We find that by covering the ball with a suitably hardened unpervious coveting
its properties are much improved and our invention consists essentially of a golf
ball formed of a sphere of hard material such as gutta percha hard rubber or othei
suitable composition with a covering or shell of cellulose cocoanut fibre leather
artificial leather or other similar material treated to render them hard dense and
impervious to moisture
In carrying out the invention we prepare the ball in the usual way from gutta
percha hard rubber or a composition of material pressed into a hard spherical
form At present we prefer to employ a composition of suitable density and
elasticity
Over the hard sphere so prepared we apply a coating or covering of a prepared
fibrous material such as cellulose leather artificial leather or cocoanut fibre
present we prefer to employ leather
At
The leather is treated to render it dense and impervious with castor oil varnish
collodion and alum or other suitable material and if found desirable with pressure
Cocoanut fibre may be treated in a somewhat similar manner with or without the
addition of boracic acid and a cellulose covering is fist pulped and then mixed
with these or similar materials for the same purpose
The covering is formed to the desired shape and is made to adhere to the hard
sphere by me ins of an agglutinant consisting either of albumen or a mixture of
copal mastic or other similar guns The covering is then tightly compressed when
in position on the hard sphere so that it firmly adheres to the inner core of the
ball over its entire surface
The material covering the balls (except when pulped like cellulose) may in
addition to being agglutinated be sewn together and the edges then compressed to
leave no unevenness on the surface
This shell or coating will give the balls almost entire protection against or
immunity from being hacked whilst not impairing their elasticity and they will
consequently remain in a hit state for play for a considerably longer time than such
as have been heretofore in use
Dated this 2nd day of Mar 1905
WM P THOMPSON & Co,
6, Bank Street, Manchester, Patent Agents.

page_text: Improvements in Balls for Golf
We, ALEXANDRE DE PONT and SILVIUS DE PONT, of The Synthetic Ivory
Company, Lune Mills, Lancaster, in the County of Lancaster Manufacturers, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
This invention relates to the manufacture of golf balls and is intended to provide
balls for the game of golf which will be much less liable to become hacked or
marked during play than those at present in use which in consequence of such
hacking are in a short time rendered unfit for use
Hitherto golf balls have been chiefly made of solid gutta percha which is in many
respects well suited for the purpose but is not of sufficiently fibrous or tough a
nature to resist being indented or hacked when struck by the clubs
We find that by covering the ball with a suitably haidened impervious covering
its properties are much improved and our invention consists essentially of a golf
ball formed of a sphere of hard material such as gutta percha hard rubber or
other suitable composition such as that described in our Application No 3653 of 1895
with a covering or shell of cellulose cocoanut fibre leather artificial leather
or other similar material treated to ender such hard dense and impervious to
moisture
It will be fully descr bed with reference to the accompanying drawings n which
Fig is an elevation of the ball and
Fig 2, a sectional elevation of same"
At
We prepare the inner pait A. of the ball in the usual way from gutta percha
hard rubber or a composition of material pressed into a hard spherical form
present we prefer to employ a conposition of suitable density and elasticity,
manufactured in accordance with the Specification of our application for Patent
No 3653 of 1895
Over the hard sphere A so prepared we apply a coating or covering B of a
prepared fibious material such as cellulose leather artificial leather or cocoanut fibre
At present we prefer to employ leather
The covering A is preferably formned or complessed to a cup shape corresponding
with the size of the hard sphere A to be covered and is made to adhere thereto by
means of a suitable agglutinant or cement, consisting either of albumen or a
mixture of copa' mastic or other similar gums Ihe covering B is then tightly
compressed under any desired pressure when in position on the hard sphere A so
that it firmly adheres to the inner core of the ball over its entire surface
We prefer to use leather as the covering and this may be compressed to shape
and applied to the sphere A whilst in a dump state and when dry is afterwards
treated to render it more dense and impervious to moisture This treatment
consists in first saturating it with castor oil or other oil and allowing it to dry then
steeping in a solution of alum and when dry coating with collodion varnish or
other suitable varnish The covering B may if desi ed be so treated before being
shaped or applied to the sphere A and afterwards varnished but we at present
prefer the method described
Where a coating of cocoanut fibre or other fibrous material is applied it is
preferably first treated with similar substances to fill up the interstices of the
fabric before being applied to the sphere A and afterwards it may be treated
with borax to bleach or whiten the fibres and then with collodion or other
varnish
In preparing a covering from cellulose it is first pulped and then mixed with
albumen or gum mastic or both and compressed to the desired shape to fit over the

page_text: sphere A and after being applied thereto may be coated with collodion or other
varnish
The covering B of the balls (except where prepared from pulped cellulose) may
in addition to being attached to the sphere A by gums or cement be sewn together
at the edges 6 then compressed to leave no unevenness on the surface
This shell or coating will give the balls almost entire protection against or
immunity from being hacked whilst not impairing their elasticity and they will
consequently remain in a fit state for play for a considerably longer time than such
as have been heretofore in use
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim 16
-
1 A golf ball constructed with a solid interior sphere of rubber, gutta percha
or a suitable hard composition and a covering of leather fibrous material or
cellulose prepared therefor substantially as described
2 A golf ball comprising an inner hard sphere and a tough outer covering
substantially as herein described and shown
Dated this 27th day of Jul, 1805
WM P THOMPSON & Co,
Manchester, Liverpool, and London, Patent Agents
WM P THOMPSON & Co,
Manchester, Liverpool, and London, Patent Agents