Patents by Inventor Nicholas M. Nardacci

Nicholas M. Nardacci has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20210038946
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to golf balls having improved aerodynamic performance due, at least in part, to the selection of the plan shapes of the dimples thereon. In particular, the present invention is directed to a golf ball that includes at least a portion of its dimples having a plan shape defined by a periodic cosine function mapped along a circular closed path. In addition, the present invention provides methods for designing dimples having a plan shape defined by a periodic cosine function mapped along a circular closed path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 26, 2020
    Publication date: February 11, 2021
    Applicant: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Nicholas M. Nardacci, Michael R. Madson
  • Patent number: 10912968
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10894189
    Abstract: Golf balls including at least one modified dimple group are disclosed. The modified dimple group comprises one or more modified dimples forming an axially symmetric pattern about a Correction Area Centroid located on an axis of symmetry at a latitude greater than 0°, where 0° represents the hemispherical pole and 90° represents the equator. The modified dimples can be altered, for example, by changing dimple coverage, dimple diameter, dimple depth, dimple edge angle, dimple volume, dimple cross-sectional shape, and/or dimple plan shape. Optionally, the dimples have a catenary cross-sectional shape and the modified dimples are altered by changing the shape factor and/or chord depth. Such modifications preferably produce a golf ball that flies more consistently regardless of orientation when struck than a corresponding golf ball without such modifications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2021
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Publication number: 20200406100
    Abstract: Systems and methods for identifying golf equipment. The system may include one or more performance tracking devices, such as an optical sensor system or a radar sensor system for tracking at least one of a golf club swing or a golf ball flight. The system also may include at least one processor and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform a set of operations. The operations include receiving current dynamic input for a golf shot from a golfer and current static input for the golfer. The operations also include executing a trained machine-learning model based on the received current dynamic input and current static input to generate predicted golf club properties and/or predicted golf ball properties for the golfer. The predicted golf club properties and/or predicted golf ball properties are displayed on a connected display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2020
    Publication date: December 31, 2020
    Applicant: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Chris Hixenbaugh, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Publication number: 20200398115
    Abstract: The present invention is a golf ball which comprises cat-witch dimples on the surface thereof. The cat-witch dimples have a cross-sectional shape defined by the superposition of a catenary curve function and a Witch of Agnesi curve function. The cat-witch dimples include a plurality of similarly shaped cat-witch dimples having at least two different dimple diameters.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2020
    Publication date: December 24, 2020
    Applicant: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Publication number: 20200360767
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 4, 2020
    Publication date: November 19, 2020
    Applicant: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Publication number: 20200353315
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2020
    Publication date: November 12, 2020
    Applicant: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Publication number: 20200338395
    Abstract: Golf balls including at least one modified dimple group are disclosed. The modified dimple group comprises one or more modified dimples forming an axially symmetric pattern about a Correction Area Centroid located on an axis of symmetry at a latitude greater than 0°, where 0° represents the hemispherical pole and 90° represents the equator. The modified dimples can be altered, for example, by changing dimple coverage, dimple diameter, dimple depth, dimple edge angle, dimple volume, dimple cross-sectional shape, and/or dimple plan shape. Optionally, the dimples have a catenary cross-sectional shape and the modified dimples are altered by changing the shape factor and/or chord depth. Such modifications preferably produce a golf ball that flies more consistently regardless of orientation when struck than a corresponding golf ball without such modifications.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2020
    Publication date: October 29, 2020
    Applicant: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10814176
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to golf balls having improved aerodynamic performance due, at least in part, to the selection of the plan shapes of the dimples thereon. In particular, the present invention is directed to a golf ball that includes at least a portion of its dimples having a plan shape defined by low frequency periodic functions along a closed simple path. In addition, the present invention provides methods for designing dimples having a plan shape defined by a low frequency periodic function along a closed simple path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10814175
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10814174
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10799765
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a golf ball having dimples with a cross-sectional profile comprising a conical top portion and a bottom portion. More particularly, the profiles of the present invention are defined by three independent parameters: dimple diameter (DD), edge angle (?EDGE), and saucer ratio (Sr). These parameters fully define the dimple shape and allow for greater flexibility in constructing a dimple profile versus conventional spherical dimples. The dimples optionally have a transition surface connecting the conical top portion to the land area of the golf ball and/or a transition surface connecting the conical top portion to the bottom portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10799759
    Abstract: Systems and methods for identifying golf equipment. The system may include one or more performance tracking devices, such as an optical sensor system or a radar sensor system for tracking at least one of a golf club swing or a golf ball flight. The system also may include at least one processor and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform a set of operations. The operations include receiving current dynamic input for a golf shot from a golfer and current static input for the golfer. The operations also include executing a trained machine-learning model based on the received current dynamic input and current static input to generate predicted golf club properties and/or predicted golf ball properties for the golfer. The predicted golf club properties and/or predicted golf ball properties are displayed on a connected display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: ACUSHNET COMPANY
    Inventors: Chris Hixenbaugh, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10786708
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a golf ball having a non-planar parting line on its spherical surface. At least a portion of the parting line comprises a series of main arcs connected by at least one intermediate arc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci, David P. Hunt
  • Publication number: 20200276479
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2020
    Publication date: September 3, 2020
    Applicant: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Publication number: 20200276480
    Abstract: The present invention relates to golf balls, specifically, to a golf ball with multifaceted dimples comprising two discrete geometries including a circular perimeter and a depression or protrusion based on a polyhedral prismatoid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2020
    Publication date: September 3, 2020
    Applicant: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Publication number: 20200276478
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to golf balls having improved aerodynamic performance due, at least in part, to the alteration of the dimple surfaces. In particular, the present invention relates to a golf ball that includes at least a portion of its dimples having circular perimeters and dimple profiles having a concentric groove or a non-concentric groove on the surface of the dimple. The golf ball dimples of the present invention provide golf ball surfaces having unique appearances, while maintaining ideal aerodynamic characteristics.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2020
    Publication date: September 3, 2020
    Applicant: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10758782
    Abstract: The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10758785
    Abstract: The present invention is a golf ball which comprises spherical-cosine dimples on the surface thereof. The spherical-cosine dimples have a cross-sectional shape defined by the superposition of a spherical function and a cosine function. Each of the spherical-cosine dimples preferably has a dimple diameter of 0.180 inches or greater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci
  • Patent number: 10758784
    Abstract: Golf ball comprising dimple(s) incorporating three or more linear channels having the same channel length L and same channel width CW; all linear channels extend radially outward from a centroid of the dimple toward a perimeter of the dimple without intersecting the dimple's centroid. Each linear channel may extend radially outward from a location on the dimple that is a distance Cd from the dimple's centroid, wherein Cd>0. Alternatively, at least one of the three or more linear channels has a different channel length L and/or a different channel width CW than at least one other linear channel. Dimple may have circular or non-circular plan shape; channels may not intersect each other; at least one linear channel may intersect the dimple's perimeter; and linear channels may be spaced by n separation angles ?S, wherein n is number of linear channels, which may be equal, or at least two differ.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Acushnet Company
    Inventors: Michael R. Madson, Nicholas M. Nardacci