Abstract: The invention includes a golf ball having a center, a hoop-stress layer of high tensile elastic modulus material wrapped or wound about the core, at least one layer of a resilient elastomeric material, and a cover of at least one layer. The center in the golf ball can be a fluid with an encapsulating shell or a solid. A binding material can be used in conjunction with the hoop-stress layer to facilitate positioning of the hoop-stress layer around the center for easier manufacturing.

Abstract: The present invention describes a golf ball with a center, at least one wound layer, optionally, at least one intermediate layer, and at least one cover layer. The center is at least about 1 inch in diameter and includes polybutadiene, natural rubber, polyisoprene, styrene-butadiene, or styrene-propylene-diene rubber. The at least one wound layer includes one or more of polyether urea, polyester urea, polyester block copolymers, polyethylene, polyamide, polyketon, poly (p-phenylene terephthalamide), or polyisoprene. The at least one intermediate layer includes polybutadiene, natural rubber, polyisoprene, styrene-butadiene, or styrene-propylene-diene rubber. The at least one cover layer includes a thermoplastic resin or a thermoset material. This unique construction gives the ball characteristics both of a wound and a solid construction.

Abstract: The invention includes a golf ball having a core, a hoop-stress layer of high tensile elastic modulus material wrapped or wound about the core, at least one outermost layer of a thermoset material having a thickness of greater than about 0.065 inches. A binding material can be used in conjunction with the hoop-stress layer to facilitate positioning of the hoop-stress layer around the core for easier manufacturing.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to an improved golf ball and a method of winding that includes measuring and controlling thread stress directly, rather than maintaining and controlling the level of tension on the threads. The golf ball includes a center, a wound layer that surrounds the center to form a wound core, and a cover that surrounds the wound core. The wound layer is formed of at least one thread, and the wound layer includes a plurality of radially extending sections, each section has a thread stress. The stress within each section is substantially constant, but at least two radially extending sections have different stresses. The method for winding thread onto a golf ball center to form a wound core comprises the steps of measuring a stress within a portion of the thread; winding the thread about the golf ball center while applying a force on the thread to form a plurality of portions with predetermined thicknesses and varying the stress between the portions.

Abstract: A wound golf ball comprising a center, a cover, and at least one wound layer disposed between the center and the cover, wherein the at least one wound layer is formed of a tensioned elastomeric thread having at least one ply, wound about the center with a tension of less than about 700 g, and wherein the center has a first deformation value, formed by applying a load to the center within the range from an initial load of 10 kg to a final load of 130 kg, and the golf ball has a second deformation value, formed by applying a load to the golf ball within the range from an initial load of 10 kg to a final load of 130 kg, such that a difference between the second deformation and the first deformation is less than 0.4 mm.

Abstract: In a thread-wound golf ball including a center ball, a thread layer, and a cover, the thread layer is formed of rubber thread and resin thread mixedly wound around the center ball. The resin thread wound around the center ball together with the rubber thread is preferably formed of a resin (such as polyester resin or polyurethane resin) which has relatively high resilience and is softer than rubber thread undergone extension crystallization.

Abstract: The present invention provides a thread wound golf ball having long flight distance, and high spin amount and excellent controllability when hitting by a short iron club, while keeping the characteristics inherent to the conventional thread wound golf ball, i.e. good shot feel. The present invention related to a thread wound golf ball comprising (a) a solid center composed of an inner center and a center outer layer formed on the inner center, (b) a thread rubber layer formed on the solid center, and (c) a cover covering the thread rubber layer, wherein the inner center has a diameter of 29 to 35 mm and a center hardness in JIS-C hardness of 30 to 70, the center outer layer has a JIS-C hardness of 70 to 90, the solid center has a diameter of 30 to 38 mm, and the cover is formed from thermoplastic resin having a Shore D hardness of 40 to 60.

Abstract: This invention relates to methods of using cationic ionomers in the composition of inner layers of golf balls. Further, this invention relates to golf balls comprising one or more inner layers and which incorporate polyurethane or polyurea ionomers. The golf ball with inner layers comprising cationic ionomers has improved ball feel and initial velocity through the addition of an alkylating agent such as t-butyl chloride to introduce ionic interactions in the polyurethane or polyurea and thereby produce cationic type ionomers.

Abstract: The present invention is directed towards a golf ball which comprises a center, at least one cover layer, and at least one layer of windings between the center and the cover. Preferably, the thread of the present invention is comprises of at least about 10 individual strands that are each about 0.01 inches in diameter. Most preferably, the thread is a solvent spun polyether urea thread manufactured by combining over 25 strands with diameters of less than about 0.002 inches. Because of the smaller thread dimension, the thread of the present invention is capable of being wound more densely than the typical thread. The elastic modulus of this thread is greater than about 20 ksi when wound about a center. The maximum elongation of the thread is greater than about 8%. The smaller cross-sectional area of the thread and higher elastic modulus of the thread also enable production of golf balls with less total thread volume.

Abstract: The invention relates to a golf ball having a substantially spherical inner core, a layer of high tensile elastic modulus fibers wound about the inner core, and a molded layer of a polymeric material surrounding the wound layer. The high tensile elastic modulus fibers have a tensile elastic modulus of at least 10,000 kpsi. The invention also relates to a method of making a golf ball and includes providing an inner core, winding a high tensile elastic modulus fiber on the inner core to create a wound layer, and molding an outer layer of polymeric material about the wound layer. The inner core may be made of resilient materials or a center wound with a low modulus fiber and provided with an initial tension.

Abstract: In a wound golf ball comprising a wound core (3) having thread rubber wound on a center (1) to form a thread rubber layer (2) thereon and a cover (4) around the wound core, the thread rubber layer (2) consists of an inner lamina (2a) of lightly wound thread rubber, an intermediate lamina (2b) of tightly wound read rubber, and an outer lamina (2c) of lightly wound thread rubber. The inner lamina occupies 10-35% of the tread rubber volume, the intermediate lamina 35-70% of the tread rubber volume and the outer lamina is 45% of the tread rubber volume. The inner and outer lamina have an elongation which is at least 40% lower than the elongation of the intermediate lamina.