Patents by Inventor Satoko Okabe

Satoko Okabe 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: 20130307182
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a golf ball excellent in kneading workability when preparing a core rubber composition containing (d) a carboxylic acid and/or a salt thereof. The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a golf ball comprising the steps of blending (a) a base rubber and at least (b) a carboxylic acid and/or a salt thereof to prepare a first masterbatch; blending (a) a base rubber and at least (c) a crosslinking initiator to prepare a second masterbatch; blending the first masterbatch and second masterbatch to form a core rubber composition; molding the core rubber composition into a spherical core; and forming one or more cover layers covering the spherical core.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2013
    Publication date: November 21, 2013
    Applicant: DUNLOP SPORTS CO. LTD.
    Inventors: Satoko OKABE, Masatoshi YOKOTA, Koichi FUJISAWA, Yusuke TANIGAWA
  • Publication number: 20130310196
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having a spherical core with an outer-hard inner-soft structure formed from a rubber composition excellent in kneading workability. Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball traveling a great flight distance on driver shots. 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 basic metal salt of a fatty acid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 16, 2013
    Publication date: November 21, 2013
    Applicant: DUNLOP SPORTS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Satoko OKABE
  • Patent number: 8574097
    Abstract: A golf ball 2 includes a spherical core 4, a mid layer 6 positioned outside the core 4, and a cover 8 positioned outside the mid layer 6. The core 4 includes a spherical center 10 and an envelope layer 12 positioned outside the center 10. The center 10 has a diameter of 1 mm or greater and 15 mm or less. The center 10 has a JIS-C hardness H1, at its central point, of 20 or greater and 50 or less. The difference (H4?H3) between the JIS-C hardness H4 of the core 4 at its surface and the JIS-C hardness H3 of the envelope layer 12 at its innermost portion is equal to or greater than 10. The cover 8 has a flexural modulus of 300 MPa or greater and 1000 MPa or less, and has a tensile modulus of 400 MPa or greater and 1500 MPa or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2013
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Hirotaka Nakamura, Keiji Ohama, Kazuhiko Isoagawa, Satoko Okabe
  • Patent number: 8501871
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having an excellent properties like flight distance and low temperature durability. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising: a core consisting of a center and one or more intermediate layers covering the center; and a cover covering the core, wherein at least one piece or one layer of said intermediate layers is formed from a highly elastic intermediate layer composition that contains (A) a highly elastic polyamide resin having a flexural modulus in a range from 700 MPa to 5,000 MPa; (B) a metal-neutralized product of ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymer and (C) a resin having a polar functional group in a specific way.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignee: Dunlop Sports Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Satoko Okabe, Keiji Ohama
  • Patent number: 8450397
    Abstract: The present invention provides a golf ball comprising a core and a cover covering the core, wherein the cover is formed from a cover composition containing a non-petroleum based polyester resin as a resin component (A) and a needle-like and/or fibrous filler (B). The present invention further provide a golf ball comprising a core and a cover covering the core, wherein the cover is formed from a cover composition containing, a non-petroleum based polyester resin (A-1), at least one petroleum based thermoplastic resin (A-2), and a compatibilizer (C) containing at least a (meth)acrylic resin (C-1) having a polar functional group and an olefin resin (C-2) having a polar functional group. According to the present invention, durability, abrasion resistance and repulsion of a golf ball can be improved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2013
    Assignee: Dunlop Sports Co. Ltd.
    Inventor: Satoko Okabe
  • Patent number: 8450425
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball excellent in fluidity, adhesion of the paint film, and repulsion. Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball which is excellent in durability and low-temperature durability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2013
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Satoko Okabe, Takahiro Shigemitsu, Kazuhiko Isogawa, Tsutomu Hirau
  • Patent number: 8426523
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball excellent in fluidity, adhesion of the paint film, and repulsion. Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball which is excellent in durability and low-temperature durability. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising: a core and a cover covering the core, wherein the cover is formed from a cover composition that contains as a resin component, (A) a specific high melt viscosity ionomer resin being neutralized with at least two metal ions, and (B) a low melt viscosity ionomer resin being neutralized with at least two metal ions, in a ratio of (A) the high melt viscosity ionomer resin/(B) the low melt viscosity ionomer resin being 55 mass % to 99 mass %/45 mass % to 1 mass %.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventor: Satoko Okabe
  • Patent number: 8399564
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball providing a great distance. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising: a core consisting of a center and one or more intermediate layers covering the center; and a cover covering the core, wherein at least one of said intermediate layers is formed from a high fluidity intermediate layer composition that contains (A) a polyamide resin composition having a flexural modulus in a range from 500 MPa to 4,000 MPa and a melt flow rate (240° C., 2.16 kg) of 5.0 g/10 min or more, and (B) at least one member selected from the group consisting of an ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid binary copolymer, a metal-neutralized product of the binary copolymer, an ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid-(meth)acrylic acid ester ternary copolymer, and a metal-neutralized product of the ternary copolymer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventor: Satoko Okabe
  • Patent number: 8399563
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a golf ball excellent in the durability at the normal and low temperatures, flight distance, and shot feeling on the shots. Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball excellent in a direction stability on the shots. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising: a core consisting of at least one layer; and a cover covering the core and having a thickness ranging from 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm, wherein the cover is formed from a cover composition that contains as a resin component, (A) a highly elastic polyamide resin (B) a metal-neutralized product of binary copolymer and/or ternary copolymer, and (C) a resin having a polar functional group in a specific amount, and wherein the cover composition has a slab hardness ranging from 65 to 75 in Shore D hardness.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Isogawa, Tsutomu Hirau, Satoko Okabe
  • Patent number: 8372915
    Abstract: An objective of the present invention is to provide a golf ball striking a balance between the flight distance on the driver shots and the approach performance on the approach shots and having the excellent shot feeling and durability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2013
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Keiji Ohama, Satoko Okabe, Kazuya Kamino
  • Patent number: 8366568
    Abstract: A golf ball 2 includes a spherical core 4, a mid layer 6 positioned outside the core 4, and a cover 8 positioned outside the mid layer 6. The core 4 includes a spherical center 10 and an envelope layer 12 positioned outside the center 10. The center 10 has a diameter of 1 mm or greater and 15 mm or less. The center 10 has a JIS-C hardness H1, at its central point, of 20 or greater and 50 or less. The difference (H4?H3) between the JIS-C hardness H4 of the core 4 at its surface and the JIS-C hardness H3 of the envelope layer 12 at its innermost portion is equal to or greater than 10. The cover 8 has a flexural modulus of 300 MPa or greater and 1000 MPa or less, and has a tensile modulus of 400 MPa or greater and 1500 MPa or less.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Hirotaka Nakamura, Keiji Ohama, Kazuhiko Isoagawa, Satoko Okabe
  • Publication number: 20130012336
    Abstract: A golf ball 2 includes a spherical core 4, a mid layer 6 positioned outside the core 4, and a cover 8 positioned outside the mid layer 6. The core 4 includes a spherical center 10 and an envelope layer 12 positioned outside the center 10. The center 10 has a diameter of 1 mm or greater and 15 mm or less. The center 10 has a JIS-C hardness H1, at its central point, of 20 or greater and 50 or less. The difference (H4?H3) between the JIS-C hardness H4 of the core 4 at its surface and the JIS-C hardness H3 of the envelope layer 12 at its innermost portion is equal to or greater than 10. The cover 8 has a flexural modulus of 300 MPa or greater and 1000 MPa or less, and has a tensile modulus of 400 MPa or greater and 1500 MPa or less.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Publication date: January 10, 2013
    Inventors: Hirotaka NAKAMURA, Keiji OHAMA, Kazuhiko ISOAGAWA, Satoko OKABE
  • Patent number: 8349958
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a resin composition for the golf ball that suppresses the bleed out of the low molecular weight material component, as well as improves the fluidity and repulsion performance. The present invention provides a golf ball forming resin composition comprising as a resin component, (A) a high melt viscosity resin; (B) a low melt viscosity ionomer resin having a melt viscosity (190° C.) ranging from 1 Pa·s to 10 Pa·s measured by a brookfield viscometer, in a ratio of (A) the high melt viscosity resin/(B) the low melt viscosity ionomer resin being 55 mass % to 99 mass %/45 mass % to 1 mass %; and (C) a metal ion source capable of neutralizing carboxyl groups of (A) the high melt viscosity resin and (B) the low melt viscosity ionomer resin, in an amount of from 0.1 part to 10 parts with respect to 100 parts by mass of a sum of (A) the high melt viscosity resin and (B) the low melt viscosity ionomer resin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2013
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Takahiro Shigemitsu, Satoko Okabe
  • Patent number: 8314172
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a golf ball excellent in the durability at the normal and low temperatures, flight distance, direction stability and shot feeling on the shots. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising: a core consisting of a center having a diameter of 35 mm or less and a surrounding layer covering the center; at least one intermediate layer covering the core, said intermediate layer having a thickness ranging from 0.5 mm to 1.2 mm and a density of 1.10 g/cm3 or more; and a cover covering the intermediate layer and having a thickness ranging from 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm, wherein the cover is formed of a cover composition that has a slab hardness ranging from 65 to 75 in Shore D hardness and contains as a resin component; (A) a polyamide resin composition having a flexural modulus in a range from 700 MPa to 4,000 MPa and a melt flow rate (240° C., 2.16 kg) of 5.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2012
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventors: Tsutomu Hirau, Kazuhiko Isogawa, Satoko Okabe
  • Publication number: 20120252604
    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: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2012
    Publication date: October 4, 2012
    Inventors: Satoko OKABE, Takahiro Sajima, Yoshiko Matsuyama
  • Publication number: 20120214613
    Abstract: The present invention is directed to a golf ball having a center, an envelope layer, an intermediate layer and a cover, wherein the intermediate layer has a thickness less than 1.2 mm, the envelope layer has a hardness Hs of 60 or more, the intermediate layer has a hardness Hm from 40 to 60, and the cover has a hardness Hc less than 40 in Shore D hardness, and the hardness Hs, Hm and Hc satisfy a following mathematical expression: Hs>Hm>Hc, and the intermediate layer composition has a flexural modulus from 150 MPa to 450 MPa, a maximum loss factor (tan ?) between ?20° C. and 0° C. of 0.08 or less, a rebound resilience of 55% or more.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 21, 2012
    Publication date: August 23, 2012
    Inventors: Satoko OKABE, Kazuya Kamino
  • Publication number: 20120172152
    Abstract: A golf ball 2 includes a core 4, a mid layer 6, and a cover 8. The difference between: a hardness H(5.0) at a point located at a distance of 5 mm from the central point of the core 4; and a hardness Ho at the central point is 6.0 or greater. The difference between: a hardness H(12.5) at a point located at a distance of 12.5 mm from the central point; and the hardness H(5.0) is 4.0 or less. The difference between a hardness Hs at the surface of the core 4 and the hardness H(12.5) is 10.0 or greater. The difference between the hardness Hs and the hardness Ho is 22.0 or greater. In the core 4, there is no zone in which a hardness decreases from the central point to the surface. A hardness H3 of the cover 8 is greater than a hardness H2 of the mid layer 6. The cover 8 is formed from a resin composition containing a polyamide copolymer including a polymerized fatty acid (a-1), sebacic acid and/or azelaic acid (a-2), and a polyamine component (a-3).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2011
    Publication date: July 5, 2012
    Inventors: Satoko OKABE, Kazuhiko Isogawa, Hirotaka Nakamura
  • Patent number: 8188186
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having excellent durability and flight distance. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising: a core consisting of a center and one or more intermediate layers covering the center; and a cover covering the core, wherein, at least one piece or one layer of said intermediate layers is formed from a highly elastic intermediate layer composition that contains a highly elastic resin (A) having a flexural modulus in a range from 700 MPa to 5000 MPa and an ionomer resin (B) having a flexural modulus in a range from 150 MPa to 1000 MPa in an amount ratio ((A)/(B)) of the highly elastic resin (A) to the ionomer resin (B) being (20 mass % to 80 mass %)/(80 mass % to 20 mass %) (the total is 100 mass %).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventor: Satoko Okabe
  • Publication number: 20120094783
    Abstract: The present invention provides a golf ball having a center and at least one intermediate layer covering the center and a cover, wherein at least one of the intermediate layer is formed from a composition comprising, as a resin component, (A) a polyamide copolymer containing (a-1) a polymerized fatty acid, (a-2) sebacic acid and/or azelaic acid, (a-3) a polyamine component as an essential component, and (B) at least one member selected from (b-1) a binary copolymer composed of an olefin and an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid, (b-2) a metal ion-neutralized product of a binary copolymer composed of an olefin and an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid, (b-3) a ternary copolymer composed of an olefin, an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid and an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid ester, and (b-4) a metal ion-neutralized product of a ternary copolymer composed of an olefin, an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid and an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid ester.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2011
    Publication date: April 19, 2012
    Inventor: Satoko OKABE
  • Patent number: 8063145
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball which is superior in durability to a golf ball having an ionomer resin cover which has conventionally been used. Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball using a non-petroleum based material. The golf ball of the present invention comprises a core and a cover covering the core, wherein at least either the core or the cover includes, as a resin component, a polyester resin containing a non-petroleum based material as a constitutional component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: SRI Sports Limited
    Inventor: Satoko Okabe