Patents Examined by David Buttner
  • Patent number: 9533195
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball showing a low spin rate on driver shots. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising a spherical core and at least one cover layer covering the spherical core, wherein the spherical core is formed from a rubber composition containing (a) a base rubber, (b) an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms and/or a metal salt thereof as a co-crosslinking agent, (c) a crosslinking initiator and (d) a carboxylic acid having a heterocyclic ring and/or a salt thereof, provided that the rubber composition further contains (e) a metal compound in case of containing only (b) the ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms as the co-crosslinking agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: DUNLOP SPORTS CO. LTD.
    Inventors: Ryota Sakamine, Chiemi Mikura, Ayaka Shindo
  • Patent number: 9526949
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball traveling a great distance on driver shots. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising a constituting member formed from a rubber composition containing (a) a base rubber, (b) an ?, ?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms and/or a metal salt thereof as a co-crosslinking agent, and (c) an crosslinking initiator, wherein (b) the ?, ?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms and/or the metal salt thereof meets the following conditions (1) and (2) in a volume based distribution, when measuring a particle size thereof with a laser diffraction particle size analyzer; (1) a mode particle size is more than 10 ?m and 50 ?m or less, and (2) a volume ratio of particles having a particle size ranging from 6 ?m to 300 ?m is 60% or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: DUNLOP SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Chiemi Mikura, Sho Goji
  • Patent number: 9522304
    Abstract: Multi-piece golf balls having a solid core of at least one layer and cover of at least one layer are provided. At least one of the layers is formed from a thermoplastic polyamide composition, comprising a blend of polyamide, ethylene acid copolymer ionomer, fatty acid amide, and plasticizer. A polyamide having a transparent optical nature is preferably used in the composition. A fatty acid ester such as dipropylene glycol dibenzoate and propylene carbonate is preferably used as the plasticizer. The ball may contain an inner core and surrounding outer core layer. A rubber composition is preferably used to form the inner core and the polyamide-based composition is preferably used to form the outer core layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: David A. Bulpett, Michael J. Sullivan, Mark L. Binette, Robert Blink, Brian Comeau
  • Patent number: 9517386
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball traveling a great flight distance on driver shots.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: DUNLOP SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hidetaka Inoue, Toshiyuki Tarao, Kuniyasu Horiuchi, Kazumi Kodama, Keiichi Hattori, Kotaro Ryuo
  • Patent number: 9504878
    Abstract: Golf ball comprising a non-dissolvable layer having a spherical outer surface; and a dissolvable tie layer or dissolvable layer, dispersible in water heated to a heating temperature of about 80° C.-90° C. or greater, disposed concentrically about the spherical outer surface and being bonded with the first non-dissolvable layer at an interface there between. The dissolvable tie layer/dissolvable layer may be formed from a composition consisting of a 1-50 percent aqueous mono-valent high acid ionomer dispersion, or, from an ionomer resin composition. The ionomer of either composition has an acid level greater than 18%; has more than 45% of acid groups that are neutralized with a monovalent cation; and is formed from an acid copolymer having a starting melt index of greater than 180 g/10 min. @ 190° C. with a 2160 g load. The dissolvable tie layer/dissolvable layer may have a thickness of less than about 0.010 inches, and up to about 0.090 inches in some embodiments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Mark L. Binette, John D. Farrell
  • Patent number: 9505025
    Abstract: A golf ball comprising: a core; a casing layer surrounding the core; and a cover layer surrounding the casing layer and being formed from a cover composition that is produced by a reaction of a prepolymer and a chain extender, wherein the prepolymer is formed from the reaction product of: (i) an isocyanate comprising an allophanate (“ICA”) and having an average NCO functionality in the range of 1.9 to 2.8 and (ii) a polyol-containing component or an amine-containing component or a blend thereof; and wherein the chain-extender is selected from the group consisting of amine-terminated chain-extenders, hydroxyl-terminated chain-extenders, and mixtures thereof. The ICA may comprise a reaction product of hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), at least one monoalcohol, and a bismuth-containing catalyst. The ICA may have an average equivalent weight of from about 200 to about 350; and the prepolymer may have an average equivalent weight of from about 420 to about 840. The cover has a thickness of at least about 0.010 in.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2016
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Brian Comeau, Michael Michalewich, Shawn Ricci
  • Patent number: 9499661
    Abstract: The invention provides a process for producing a highly polymerized aromatic polycarbonate resin including a molecular weight-increasing step of reacting an aromatic polycarbonate prepolymer with an aliphatic diol compound represented by Formula (g2) in the presence of a transesterification catalyst to obtain a highly polymerized aromatic polycarbonate resin. In the formula, Ra and Rb each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a linear or branched alkyl group, a cycloalkyl group, an aryl group or an alkoxy group, or Ra and Rb may be bonded to each other to form a ring; R1 to R4 each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom or an alkyl group; and n represents an integer of 0 to 30.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI GAS CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Yoshinori Isahaya, Atsushi Hirashima, Hidefumi Harada, Maki Ito, Jun-ya Hayakawa, Takehiko Isobe, Taichi Tokutake, Yousuke Shinkai
  • Patent number: 9498681
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball comprising a core formed from a rubber composition containing (d) a carboxylic acid and/or a salt thereof and traveling a great flight distance on driver shots. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising a spherical core and at least one cover layer covering the spherical core, wherein the spherical core is formed from a rubber composition containing (a) a base rubber, (b) an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms and/or a metal salt thereof as a co-crosslinking agent, (c) a crosslinking initiator, (d) a carboxylic acid and/or a salt thereof and two or more kinds of (e) organic sulfur compounds, provided that the rubber composition further contains (f) a metal compound in case of containing only (b) the ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms as the co-crosslinking agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: DUNLOP SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Satoko Okabe, Masatoshi Yokota, Koichi Fujisawa, Yusuke Tanigawa
  • Patent number: 9493606
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the field of tailored di-, tri- and multi-block as well as gradient polyesters/polycarbonates copolymers prepared by introducing monomers simultaneously in the reaction medium in the presence of an organometallic, metal salt or organic catalyst.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignees: Total Research & Technology Feluy, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
    Inventors: Marion Helou, Sophie Guillaume, Jean-François Carpentier, Martine Slawinski, William Guerin
  • Patent number: 9493650
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball traveling a great flight distance on driver shots and a golf ball resin composition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: DUNLOP SPORTS CO. LTD.
    Inventors: Hidetaka Inoue, Toshiyuki Tarao, Kuniyasu Horiuchi, Kazumi Kodama, Keiichi Hattori, Kotaro Ryuo
  • Patent number: 9486673
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having a low spin rate on driver shots and excellent in flight distance performance. The present invention provides a golf ball having a spherical core and at least one cover layer covering the spherical core, wherein the spherical core is formed from a rubber composition containing (a) a base rubber, (b) an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms and/or a metal salt thereof as a co-crosslinking agent, (c) a crosslinking initiator, and (d) a salt of a carboxylic acid, provided that the rubber composition further contains (e) a metal compound in the case of containing only (b) the ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms as the co-crosslinking agent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Assignee: DUNLOP SPORTS CO. LTD.
    Inventors: Chiemi Mikura, Kazuhisa Fushihara, Mikio Yamada, Shun Kurihara, Ayaka Shindo
  • Patent number: 9474942
    Abstract: Use of highly phase separated thermoplastic polyether ester elastomers for injection molded golf ball core layers is disclosed herein. The thermoplastic polyether ester elastomer comprises a polytetramethylene glycol (PTMO), a cycloaliphatic diol, and dimethyl terephthalate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: Callaway Golf Company
    Inventor: Shane Parnell
  • Patent number: 9458353
    Abstract: A film layer comprising a high-chi (?) block copolymer for self-assembly and a surface active polymer (SAP) was prepared on a substrate surface that was neutral wetting to the domains of the self-assembled block copolymer. The block copolymer comprises at least one polycarbonate block and at least one other block (e.g., a styrene-based block). The SAP comprises a hydrophobic fluorinated first repeat unit and a non-fluorinated second repeat unit bearing at least one pendent OH group present as an alcohol or acid (e.g., carboxylic acid). The film layer, whose top surface has contact with an atmosphere, self-assembles to form a lamellar or cylindrical domain pattern having perpendicular orientation with respect to the underlying surface. Other morphologies (e.g., islands and holes of height 1.0Lo) were obtained with films lacking the SAP. The SAP is preferentially miscible with, and lowers the surface energy of, the domain comprising the polycarbonate block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Joy Cheng, Anindarupa Chunder, Daniel P. Sanders, Melia Tjio, Ankit Vora
  • Patent number: 9457232
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are heterogeneous golf ball compositions comprising a thermoplastic matrix and discrete particles of crosslinked polymer dispersed within the matrix.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: David A. Bulpett, Michael J. Sullivan, Mark L. Binette, Brian Comeau, Robert Blink
  • Patent number: 9457234
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball showing a great flight distance on driver shots. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising a spherical core and at least one cover layer covering the spherical core, wherein the spherical core is formed from a rubber composition containing (a) base rubber, (b) an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms and/or a metal salt thereof as a co-crosslinking agent, (c) a crosslinking initiator and at least one compound of (d) thiobenzoic acids and/or salts thereof, provided that the rubber composition further contains (e) a metal compound in case of containing only (b) the ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid having 3 to 8 carbon atoms as the co-crosslinking agent, and the spherical core has a hardness difference (Hs?Ho) between a surface hardness (Hs) and a center hardness (Ho) thereof of 25 or more in JIS-C hardness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: DUNLOP SPORTS CO. LTD.
    Inventors: Chiemi Mikura, Ryota Sakamine, Ayaka Shindo
  • Patent number: 9453127
    Abstract: This thermoplastic resin composition (D) contains a polycarbonate resin (A), a polyester resin (B) which comprises diol structural units and dicarboxylic acid structural units in which the ratio of diol structural units having a cyclic acetal skeleton to all diol structural units is 20 to 60 mol %, and a polyester resin (C) other than the polyester resin (B), wherein the ratio of the polycarbonate resin (A) to the total of the polycarbonate resin (A), the polyester resin (B) and the polyester resin (C) is 15 to 98 wt %, the ratio of the polyester resin (B) is 1 to 80 wt %, and the ratio of the polyester resin (C) is 1 to 60 wt %; further provided is a sheet using said thermoplastic resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2016
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI GAS CHEMICAL COMPANY, INC.
    Inventors: Atsuko Iwasaki, Kazunobu Sato
  • Patent number: 9440117
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball which shows a high spin rate on approach shots and an excellent stain resistance. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising a golf ball body and a paint film formed on a surface of the golf ball body, wherein a base resin constituting the paint film is a polyurethane obtained by a reaction between a polyol composition and a polyisocyanate composition, the polyol composition contains a urethane polyol including a polyether diol having a number average molecular weight from 800 to 3000 as a constituent component, the paint film has a 10% elastic modulus of 100 kgf/cm2 or less, and the 10% elastic modulus (kgf/cm2) (Y) of the paint film and a molar ratio (NCO/OH) (X) of NCO of the polyisocyanate composition to OH of the polyol composition satisfy a following equation (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: DUNLOP SPORTS CO. LTD.
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Tarao, Kuniyasu Horiuchi
  • Patent number: 9433827
    Abstract: Golf equipment including compositions including castable formulations that have low material hardness and increased shear resistance. The compositions may be used in any layer of a golf ball including cores, intermediate layers, and covers and result in high spin rates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Shawn Ricci, Christopher Cavallaro
  • Patent number: 9427628
    Abstract: The invention relates to golf ball formulations formed from blends of linear and branched polybutadienes catalyzed with neodymium that have improved properties and processing characteristics. Golf ball components may be formed from the blends to provide high coefficient of restitution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2016
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael J. Sullivan, David A. Bulpett, Brian Comeau, Derek A. Ladd
  • Patent number: 9415270
    Abstract: Multi-piece golf balls having a core made of a polybutadiene rubber blend are provided. The golf ball contains a multi-layered core. The inner core is formed from a blend containing a non-metallocene catalyzed polybutadiene rubber and metallocene-catalyzed polybutadiene rubber. The surrounding outer core layer is made of a non-metallocene-catalyzed polybutadiene rubber. Catalysts such as neodymium, nickel, and cobalt based catalysts may be used to make the non-metallocene catalyzed rubber. Catalysts such as ferrocene, cobaltocene, nickelocene, titanocene dichloride, zirconocene dichloride, and samraocene based catalysts may be used to make the metallocene-catalyzed rubber. The multi-layered core is surrounded by a cover having at least one layer. The resulting ball has high resiliency and a soft compression feel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: David A. Bulpett, Derek A. Ladd, Michael J. Sullivan, Brian Comeau