Patents Assigned to SRI Sports Limited
  • Patent number: 9399156
    Abstract: A hollow golf club head includes a sole, a crown, a skirt, and a striking face. The golf club includes a junction interconnecting the sole, crown, and skirt to the striking face, the junction including at least one stiffening member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: SRI SPORTS LIMITED
    Inventors: Robert J. Horacek, Nathaniel J. Radcliffe, John J. Rae, Michael J. Wallans, Sam G. Lacey
  • Patent number: 9283441
    Abstract: A golf ball 2 includes a spherical core 4 and a cover 6 covering the core 4. The cover 6 includes an inner cover 8 and an outer cover 10 positioned outside the inner cover 8. The core 4 is obtained by a rubber composition being crosslinked. The rubber composition includes a base rubber (a), a co-crosslinking agent (b), a crosslinking initiator (c), and a carboxylate (d). The co-crosslinking agent (b) is: (b1) an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms; or (b2) a metal salt of an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms. The amount of the carboxylate (d) is equal to or greater than 1 parts by weight but less than 40 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the base rubber (a). A hardness of an innermost layer of the cover is greater than a surface hardness of the core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: SRI SPORTS LIMITED
    Inventors: Takahiro Sajima, Hirotaka Nakamura
  • Patent number: 9216330
    Abstract: A computer program is disclosed for reconfiguring a property-adjustable golf club. The program receives data input corresponding to a current configuration of an adjustable feature of the golf club, and data input corresponding to trajectory adjustment information. Based on the data input, reconfiguration information is generated, and outputted, that corresponds to one of a plurality of configurations of the adjustable feature of the golf club.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2015
    Assignee: SRI SPORTS LIMITED
    Inventors: Christopher J. Beck, Casey Casburn, John J. Rae, Aram Salehi
  • Patent number: 9162116
    Abstract: A golf club head has a striking face with a plurality of scorelines including a first scoreline and a second scoreline adjacent thereto. The striking face also has a plurality of auxiliary grooves each spaced from the scorelines. In a first imaginary vertical plane, a first path is formed by a first intersection between the first imaginary vertical plane and the striking face, and the auxiliary grooves have a first concentration no less than 0.17 measured between the first and second scorelines. A second imaginary vertical plane is horizontally spaced from the first imaginary plane. A second path is formed in the second imaginary vertical plane by a second intersection between the second imaginary vertical plane and the striking face. The auxiliary grooves in the second imaginary vertical plane have a second concentration that is different from the first concentration measured between the first and second scorelines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2015
    Assignee: SRI SPORTS LIMITED
    Inventors: Scott A. Carlyle, Sharon J. Park, Brian D. Schielke
  • Patent number: 9144713
    Abstract: A golf ball 2 includes a core 4, a mid layer 6, and a cover 8. The core 4 includes a center 10 and an envelope layer 12. The ratio of the volume Ve of the core 4 to the volume of a phantom sphere of the golf ball 2 is equal to greater than 76%. The ratio (Co/Ce) of an amount of compressive deformation Co of the center 10 to an amount of compressive deformation Ce of the core 4 is greater than 2.0 but less than 3.0. The ratio (Vo/Ve) of the volume Vo of the center 10 to the volume Ve of the core 4 is equal to or greater than 0.01 but equal to or less than 0.13.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2015
    Assignee: SRI SPORTS LIMITED
    Inventors: Takahiro Sajima, Yoshiko Matsuyama
  • Patent number: 9056231
    Abstract: A golf club head according to one or more aspects of the present invention may include a strike face, a rear wall behind the strike face, and a perimeter-weighting element at least partially surrounding the rear wall. The club head may further include a preload spacer associated with the rear wall and a resilient component associated with the perimeter-weighting element. The preload spacer engages the resilient component to provide positive reinforcement of the coupling between the resilient component and the perimeter-weighting element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: SRI SPORTS LIMITED
    Inventor: Michael J. Wallans
  • Patent number: 9039543
    Abstract: A head 1 is provided with a head body h1 and an adherend s1. The adherend s1 has a cast resin 53 formed by casting, a metal part 51, and a vibration absorber 55. The cast resin 53 has a formed surface formed by the metal part 51. The cast resin 53 further may have a formed surface formed by the vibration absorber 55. A base material of the cast resin 53 is an epoxy resin, for example. The cast resin 53 may have a cutting surface PL1. The cutting surface PL1 may be a joint surface of the adherend to the head body h1. Preferably, a loss tangent tan ? of the vibration absorber 55 is 0.07 or greater and 0.25 or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2015
    Assignee: SRI SPORTS LIMITED
    Inventor: Naruhiro Mizutani
  • Patent number: 9010177
    Abstract: On the basis of a surface shape appearing at a predetermined point moment by moment during rotation of a golf ball having numerous dimples on its surface, a data constellation regarding a parameter dependent on a surface shape of the golf ball is calculated. A preferable parameter is a distance between an axis of the rotation and the surface of the golf ball. Another preferable parameter is a volume of space between a surface of a phantom sphere and the surface of the golf ball. Fourier transformation is performed on the data constellation to obtain a transformed data constellation. On the basis of a peak value and an order of a maximum peak of the transformed data constellation, an aerodynamic characteristic of the golf ball is determined. The peak value and the order of the maximum peak are calculated for each of PH rotation and POP rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Hyoungchol Kim, Kaname Yamada, Masahide Onuki
  • Patent number: 9011270
    Abstract: An iron type golf club head includes a head main body, a toe-side weight member made of a metal material having specific gravity ?2 larger than that of the head main body and disposed on a toe-side of the head main body, and a heel-side weight member made of a metal material having specific gravity ?3 larger than that of the head main body and disposed on a heel-side of the head main body. The head main body includes a face main portion having a face to hit a golf ball, and a tubular hosel portion provided continuously on a heel-side of the face main portion and having a shaft inserting hole. A distance from the center of gravity Gt of the toe-side weight member to the center of gravity Gh of the heel-side weight member ranges from 50 to 120 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventor: Takashi Nakano
  • Patent number: 9005050
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball that decrease the spin rate on the driver shots while suppressing the decrease in the spin rate on the approach shots in a golf ball having a urethane cover. The present invention provides a golf ball having a core consisting of a center and at least one intermediate layer covering the center, and a cover covering the core, wherein the cover contains polyurethane, and has a slab hardness of 85 or less in JIS A hardness, the core has a surface hardness of 60 or more in Shore D hardness, the intermediate layer has a thickness ranging from 0.5 mm to 2.0 mm, and a resin component constituting the intermediate layer has a hardness from 62 to 68 in Shore D hardness, a flexural modulus from 300 MPa to 500 MPa, and a maximum storage modulus E? between ?30° C. to 0° C. ranging from 1,000 MPa to 2,000 MPa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventor: Satoko Okabe
  • Patent number: 8992339
    Abstract: A golf club head 1 comprising a hollow head body 1b and a gravity center adjuster 14 fixed to the head body 1b and comprising a first weight member 15 and a second weight member 16 having a lower specific gravity than the first weight member 15, wherein the first and second weight members are provided in the head body 1b so that the locations thereof are exchangeable with each other, and a depth GL of the center of gravity which is a distance from the head's center of gravity G to a sweet spot SS of a face 2 can be changed by location exchange between the first and second weight members 15 and 16 without substantially changing a distance GK of the center of gravity which is the shortest distance from an axial center line of a shaft-inserting hole 7a to the head's center of gravity G.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventor: Kiyofumi Matsunaga
  • Patent number: 8986138
    Abstract: A golf ball 2 has a core 4, an inner cover 6 positioned outside this core 4 and an outer cover 8 positioned outside the inner cover 6. The core 4 has a spherical center 10 and a mid layer 12 positioned outside this center 10. The center 10 is formed by crosslinking a rubber composition. The mid layer 12 is formed by crosslinking a rubber composition. The inner cover 6 is made of a thermoplastic resin composition. The outer cover 8 is made of a thermoplastic resin composition. The center 10 has a diameter of 1 mm or greater and 15 mm or less. The center 10 has a central point having JIS-C hardness H1 of 20 or greater and 50 or less. A difference (H4?H3) between a hardness H4 of a surface of the core and a hardness H3 of an innermost part of the mid layer is equal to or greater than 10. A hardness H5 of the inner cover is smaller than a hardness H6 of the outer cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Hirotaka Nakamura, Keiji Ohama, Kazuhiko Isogawa
  • Patent number: 8986135
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a novel technology to improve the resilience of the ionomer resin while keeping the material strength of the ionomer resin. That is, the object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball excellent in the durability and resilience in a golf ball using an ionomer resin. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising a core having a center and at least one intermediate layer disposed around the center, and a cover disposed around the core, wherein at least one of the center, the intermediate layer, and the cover is formed from an ionomer resin composition which comprises 100 parts by mass of (A) an ionomer resin of a ternary copolymer composed of ethylene, ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms and ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid ester, and from 0.05 part to 10 parts by mass of (B) a metal salt of an unsaturated carboxylic acid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventor: Takahiro Shigemitsu
  • Patent number: 8979666
    Abstract: In a shaft 6, a shaft full length is defined as Ls, and a distance between a tip end of the shaft and a center of gravity G of the shaft is defined as Lg. Lg/Ls is 0.52 or greater and 0.65 or less. A shaft weight is equal to or less than 52 g. Preferably, the shaft 6 has butt partial layers a5 and a6. When a point separated by 250 mm from a butt end Bt is defined as P2; a range from the point P2 to the butt end Bt is defined as a specific butt range; the total weight of the butt partial layers a5 and a6 existing in the specific butt range is Wa gram; and a weight of the shaft in the specific butt range is defined as Wb gram, Wa/Wb is preferably equal to or greater than 0.4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Hiroshi Hasegawa, Takashi Nakano, Yasushi Sugimoto
  • Patent number: 8979668
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a putter-type golf club head with a face on a front side to hit a golf ball comprising a head main portion provided with a concave portion on a side of the face, and a face insert made of elastic material attached to the concave portion of the head main portion, the face insert having a three-layer structure comprising of a first layer disposed at the front, a third layer disposed at the rear, and a second layer disposed between the first layer and the third layer, each of the first layer, the second layer, and the third layer having a hardness of h1, h2, and h3 and a rebound resilience of r1, r2, and r3, and the first layer, the second layer, and the third layer satisfying the following relations: h2<h1<=h3, r1>r2, and r1>r3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventor: Takashi Nakamura
  • Patent number: 8974319
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball which travels a great distance on the driver shots and stops quickly on the green on the approach shots. The present invention is directed to a golf ball material having a shear loss modulus G? of 2.11×107 Pa or less, and a ratio (E?/G?) of a tensile loss modulus E? to the shear loss modulus G? of 1.78 or more, when measuring the shear loss modulus G? in a shear mode and the tensile loss modulus E? in a tensile mode at conditions of a temperature of 0° C., oscillation frequency of 10 Hz using a dynamic viscoelasticity measuring apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi Shiga, Toshiyuki Tarao, Keiji Ohama
  • Patent number: 8968115
    Abstract: A method for surface treating a golf club head, includes: (a) forming a depression unit in the golf club head, the depression unit being indented inwardly from an outer surface of the golf club head, the outer surface being divided into a working area and a non-working area, the depression unit being formed in the working area; (b) filling the depression unit with a shielding material and covering the non-working area with a covering material; and (c) sandblasting the golf club head after step (b) and removing subsequently the shielding material from the depression unit and the covering material from the non-working area so as to form the working area into sandblasted and non-sandblasted regions that differ in gloss intensity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Sharon J. Park, Daniel J. Stone, Chih-Lung Liu, Chin-Chun Tseng, Jiann-Hsing Chuang
  • Patent number: 8956252
    Abstract: A golf ball 2 includes a spherical core 4 and a cover 6 positioned outside the core 4. The golf ball 2 further has dimples 8 on a surface thereof. The core 4 is obtained by crosslinking a rubber composition. The difference between a hardness H(5.0) at a point that is located at a distance of 5 mm from the central point of the core 4, and a hardness Ho at the central point is equal to or greater than 6.0. The difference between a hardness H(12.5) at a point that is located at a distance of 12.5 mm from the central point, and the hardness H(5.0) is equal to or less than 4.0. The difference between a hardness Hs at the surface of the core 4 and the hardness H(12.5) is equal to or greater than 10.0. The difference between the hardness Hs and the hardness Ho is equal to or greater than 22.0. There is no zone in which a hardness decreases from the central point to the surface. The rubber composition of the core 4 includes 2-naphthalenethiol. A cross-sectional shape of each dimple 8 is a wave-like curve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Hirotaka Nakamura, Kazuhiko Isogawa, Seiichiro Endo, Hyoungchol Kim
  • Patent number: 8951142
    Abstract: A golf club according to one or more aspects of the present invention may have a mass less than 300 g, a length greater than about 45 inches, a swing weight between D0 and D6, a head weighing less than about 200 g, a club-head volume of at least about 360 cm3, a grip weighing less than about 50 g, and a shaft having a tip end, a butt end, and a shaft balance point located no more than 24 inches from the butt end. The shaft may have a torsional displacement angle greater than about 5.5° and a mass less than about 50 g. A coordinate system having x-, y-, and z-axes may have its origin at the center of gravity of the club head. The golf club head may have a moment of inertia of at least about 4500 g·cm2 about the z-axis and a moment of inertia of at least about 3000 g·cm2 about the y-axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Dustin J. Brekke, Jeff D. Brunski, Matthew R. Daraskavich, Samuel G. Lacey, Nathaniel J. Radcliffe, Brian D. Schielke
  • Patent number: 8951147
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having an improved controllability and shot feeling while maintaining a flight distance on driver shots. The present invention provides a golf ball having a core, an intermediate layer disposed around the core, and a cover disposed around the intermediate layer, wherein the core has a center and an envelope layer disposed around the center, and has a specific hardness distribution, and the intermediate layer is formed from an intermediate layer composition comprising, as a resin component, (A) a modified polyester elastomer and (B) a binary ionomer resin, and having a flexural modulus ranging from 150 MPa to 450 MPa, a maximum loss factor (tan ?) between ?20° C. and 0° C. of 0.08 or less, a repulsive modulus of 55% or more, and a slab hardness ranging from 60 to 90 in JIS-hardness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2015
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Satoko Okabe, Takahiro Sajima, Yoshiko Matsuyama