Improvements in and relating to Golf Balls.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Oct., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 18th July, 1891-Accepted, 12th Sept., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Golf Balls.
I, WILLIAM PARK, Junior, of The Links, Musselburgh, in the County of
Midlothian, Golf Club and Ball Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
my invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to improvements in golf balls, and has for its object
to manufacture the balls so that they shall go through the air or space easier or
with less friction than as heretofore made.
The improvements consist in forming the cross grooves on the outer surface of
golf balls all in an angular direction, instead of at right angles as heretofore, so as
to form diamond or lozenge shaped projections on the ball instead of square or
rectangular projections as heretofore, and so cause the air to glide easier off the
ball than at present, and so give less resistance to the motion of the ball through it.
This may be effected in various ways, by making the projections in the mould or
dies which finish the manufacture of the balls, to be cut in circular lines round the
ball from two opposite centres to cross cach other at an angle of sixty degrees, that
is the centres or axes of the two sets of circles cross each other at 60 degrees apart,
in one plane through the centre of the ball, so that when these dies stamp the ball
they will form grooves as at present, but with the projecting figure between them
of a diamond shape, most of the diamonds having their opposite angles of about
60 degrees and 120 degrees respectively, with a longer Gothic shaped diamond
towards the plane of the centres of the circles. A circumferential narrow parallel
zone or band round this centre plane might be made with true diamonds of regular
angles as described, by straight lines at said angles joining on to the ends of the
circular lines. Or otherwise these projections on the die and grooves in the ball
might be formed by dividing the surface into two, three, or more sections with the
lines on these drawn at such a parallel angle to each other on them as to form
diamond grooves as described, these coinciding and joining in straight lines up the
divisions or partings of the several sections into which the ball was so divided.
Dated the 21st October 1890.
W. R. M. THOMSON & Co.,
96, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Golf Balls.
I, WILLIAM PARK, Junior, of The Links, Musselburgh, in the County of
Midlothian, Golf Club and Ball Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
my invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement in writing, that
is to say :-
This invention has reference to improvements in golf balls, and has for its object
to manufacture the balls so that they shall go through the air or space easier or
with less friction than as heretofore made.
The improvements consist in forming the crossing grooves on the outer surface of
golf balls all in an angular direction, instead of at right angles as heretofore, so as
to form diamond or lozenge shaped projections on the ball instead of square or
rectangular projections as heretofore, and so cause the air to glide easier off the ball
than at present, and thus give less resistance to the motion of the ball through it,

page_text: and also allow them to be easier removed from the moulds in which they are com-
pressed. This may be effected in various ways, by making the projecting crossing
lines in the moulds or dies which form the grooves and compress the balls, to be
cut in circular angular crossing lines round the ball from two opposite, centres to
cross each other as at an angle of sixty degrees, that is, the centres or axes of the
two sets of circles cross each other at 60 degrees apart, or other less angle than a
right angle, in one plane through the centre of the ball, so that when these dies
stamp the ball they will form grooves as at present, but with the projecting figure
between them of a diamond shape, most of the diamonds having their opposite
angles of about 60 degrees and 120 degrees respectively, with a longer Gothic
shaped diamond towards the plane of the centres of the circles. A circumferential
narrow parallel zone or band round this centre plane might he made with true
diamonds of regular angles as described, by straight lines at said angles joining on
to the ends of the circular lines. Or otherwise these projections on the die and
grooves in the ball might be formed by dividing the surface into two, three, or
more sections with the lines on these drawn at such a parallel angle to each other
on them as to form diamond grooves as described, these coinciding and joining in
straight lines up the divisions or partings of the several sections into which the ball
was so divided.
And in order that the manner of performing or carrying my invention into
practice may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended an explanatory
sheet of drawings in which
Figures 1 and 2 represent views of two different ordinary forms of golf balls
showing two different ways of forming the usual square shaped projections and
grooves on them.
Figure 3 is a view of a golf ball showing the cross grooves as cut all over the
ball in the angular or diagonal directions to produce diamond figures or projections,
in accordance with one mode of carrying my improvements into practice.
Figure 4 is a view of a golf ball with the grooves cut similar to Figure 3 on a
broad band c² all round the centre, but with two circular ends or zones c, c, c¹, c¹,
cut diamond-ways the same as shown on the face of the band c². While
Figures 5 and 6 show two views of a golf ball, with the angular or diagonal
grooves and diamond figures formed on six circular zones, two polar ones c, c, c¹, c¹,
opposite to each other as in Figure 4, and four d, d, round the central circumference,
as shown particularly in Figure 6.
Referring to the ordinary way of forming the square grooves and projections
shown in Figure 1 these are formed by circular lines a, on the model ball (from
which the mould is formed) cut in a lathe, with a diamond pointed tool, the ball
rotating on the axis indicated by the dotted line 1-1 of the ball, the circular
lines a, a, being equidistant round the circumference from the equatorial line a¹, a¹,
towards the polar axes 1, 1, the circles however get smaller and smaller towards
the poles 1, 1, where a small circular zone is generally formed at 1', 1', instead of
squares or rectangles, the squares being formed by dividing the zone circum-
ferential line into the same size divisions, as the lines a, a, by the lines b, b, cut in
nearly straight lines towards the axes 1, 1, forming perfect squares round nearly
the equatorial line a' a' and rectangles towards the polar circle 1' 1'. But to make
squares nearly over the whole surface as shown in Figure 2, the surface is divided
into larger zones at the poles indicated by the double circular lines c, c, c¹, c', with
other four circular zones round the circumference indicated by the double lines d, d,
similar to the polar zones c, c. The cross lines b, b, in this case are formed by
circles across the circumference of each circular zone c, c, and d, d, at right angles
to the lines a, a, by turning the ball in the lathe on an axis 2, 2, at right angles to
the axis 1, 1, which form the circular lines a, a, and thus form squares on all the
six circular segmental zones c, c, and d, d, of the ball in the ordinary manner,
except at the eight small corners e which form approximate squares, according to
the manner the lines a, b, are carried across them.

page_text: Referring to Figure 3, the improvements of my invention consist in forming the
cross grooves a, a, and b, b, in angular or diagonal directions, to form the pro-
jections of a diamond or lozenge shape over the whole surface, in contradistinction
to crossing the grooves at right angles and forming squares as in Figures 1 and 2.
This is effected by taking the model metal pattern ball that goes. to make the
mould and cutting the grooves in a lathe to first form the angled groove lines a a
equidistant apart on the axis indicated by the dotted lines 1, 1', and then turn the
ball in the lathe to rotate on the axis indicated by the dotted lines 2, 2', at sixty
degrees, or some acute angle less than ninety degrees between 1 and 2, and 11, 21,
leaving the angles between 1 and 21, and 2 and 1', at 120 degrees or some obtuse.
angle greater than ninety degrees, and cutting the groove circles bb so as to form
the diamond or lozenge shaped projections Figure 3, nearly over the whole surface
of the ball. Or this may be done as shown in Figure 4 by dividing off two large
polar zones on the metal pattern ball by the circular lines, c, and c c and forming
the diamond figures only over the band c² round the whole circumference on the
polar axes 1, 1, and 2, 2', as described in reference to Figure 3; and then turning
the pattern ball to form the whole circumferential zones cc and c¹ c' with
grooves a, a, and bb the same as formed over the central band part 2 on double
axes at the angles as described, which will thus form the whole surface of the
pattern ball into diamond or lozenge shaped figures and projections. Figure 5
shows a mode of making the whole surface of the pattern ball in this improved
manner of diamond or lozenge shaped figures, analogous to that shown in squares
in Figure 2, with two end circular polar zones c and c¹ as shown in Figure 6 and
with the band part e², e², divided into four circular zones as d, d, but having the
surfaces of these cut, substantially the same as described, in reference to the band
part, c, in Figure 4, the eight diagonal parts e, e, between these circular zones
being also formed into approximately diamond or lozenge shaped figures by
continuing the lines a, a, and b, b, across each other on the surfaces of these
corner parts e e as shown particularly in Figure 6, which is an elevation taken at
right angles to Figure 5 with the ball turned a quarter round in the plane of the
dotted line 3-3.
The metal pattern ball being thus formed in any of the ways shown in Figures 3
to 6 is then used to cast the mould round it, which leaves projecting lines in the
hollow mould equivalent to the grooves a, a, and b, b, crossing each other diagonal
ways, to form diamond or lozenge shaped figures, so that if the mould is made to
divide in two parts, as at the equatorial line a', a', of the hall, as shown in
Figures 1 and 6, the compressed finished ball of gutta percha or rubber compounds
would come out of the mould easier than when formed as in Figures 1 and 2.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First The forming of cross grooves on the outer surface of golf balls in an
angular or diagonal direction, so as to produce diamond or lozenge shaped figures
or projections on the ball, substantially as set forth.
Second. The herein described method of forming angular or diagonal cross
grooves and producing diamond or lozenge shaped figures or projections on the
outer surface of golf balls, substantially as set forth.
W. R. M. THOMSON & Co.,
96, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Agents.