Claims
- 1. A mold for making a golf ball comprising:
a mold body defining a molding cavity within the body adapted for retaining a golf ball core positioned therein; at least one material flow inlet defined in the mold body; at least one material flow channel also defined in the mold body and providing fluid communication between the molding cavity and the material flow inlet; and at least a portion of the material flow channel having a plurality of bends and at least one branching intersection, adapted to promote turbulence in a liquid flowing therethrough.
- 2. The mold of claim 1, wherein the portion of the material flow channel having a plurality of bends is at least 10% of the total flow channel length.
- 3. The mold of claim 2, wherein the portion of the material flow channel having a plurality of bends is about 15% to about 35% of the total flow channel length.
- 4. The mold of claim 3, wherein the portion of the material flow channel having a plurality of bends is about 20% to about 30% of the total flow channel length.
- 5. The mold of claim 1, wherein the molding cavity defines a plurality of raised regions along a surface of the molding cavity that are adapted to form dimples in a cover layer of a golf ball formed therein.
- 6. The mold of claim 1, wherein the mold further comprises a plurality of selectively moveable pins positioned to extend into the molding cavity.
- 7. The mold of claim 6, wherein the plurality of pins are retractable so as not to extend into the molding cavity.
- 8. The mold of claim 6, wherein at least one of the pins defines a venting channel extending from an end of the pin that may be extended into the molding cavity.
- 9. The mold of claim 8, wherein at least one of the pins includes a tip component disposed proximate the end of the pin and which allows gases to enter the venting channel but prevents liquid from entering the venting channel.
- 10. A method of making a golf ball comprising the steps of:
providing a molding assembly including a mold defining a molding cavity adapted to receive a golf ball core and a material flow channel providing fluid communication between the molding cavity and a source of flowable molding material, the material flow channel having at least one turbulence-promoting fan gate; obtaining a golf ball core; positioning the core within the molding cavity; introducing an effective amount of the flowable molding material through the material flow channel and into the molding cavity thereby causing the flowable molding material to pass through the turbulence-promoting fan gate; and forming a layer of the molding material about the core.
- 11. The method of making a golf ball of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises supporting the core in the molding cavity on a plurality of selectively retractable pins that extend into the molding cavity.
- 12. The method of making a golf ball of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises venting gases from the molding cavity through at least one of the pins.
- 13. The method of making a golf ball of claim 12, wherein the method further comprises providing a vacuum to promote removal of the gases through at least one of the pins.
- 14. The method of making a golf ball of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises retracting the plurality of pins from the molding cavity after the molding material has been introduced therein.
- 15. The method of making a golf ball of claim 10 wherein the molding material includes a plurality of components that react to form a polymeric material.
- 16. The method of making a golf ball of claim 15 wherein the molding material forms a thermoset plastic.
- 17. The method of making a golf ball of claim 15 wherein the molding material is a polyurethane.
- 18. A golf ball comprising:
a core; at least one layer surrounding the core, the layer having been formed from a reaction injected molded material; and the layer having a thickness of about 0.015 inches to about 0.050 inches.
- 19. The golf ball of claim 18, wherein the reaction injection molded material is a polyurethane.
- 20. The golf ball of claim 18, wherein the layer is a cover.
- 21. The golf ball of claim 20, wherein the cut resistance of the cover is less than 1.5.
- 22. The golf ball of claim 18, wherein the layer is an interior layer.
- 23. A mold for making a golf ball comprising:
a mold body defining a material flow channel; the material flow channel having at least one turbulence-promoting portion; the turbulence-promoting portion extending for at least 10% of the total length of the material flow channel; the turbulence-promoting portion having at least one branching intersection and at least one converging portion; and the branching intersection extending in at least two diverging directions, each diverging direction having a wall forcing a material to flow in a transverse manner to be received by one of the converging portions.
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This is a continuation-in-part application from U.S. application Ser. No. 09/690,487 filed on Oct. 17, 2000, which is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/040,798 filed on Mar. 18, 1998.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09812878 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
Child |
10390296 |
Mar 2003 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09040798 |
Mar 1998 |
US |
Child |
09690487 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09690487 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Child |
09812878 |
Mar 2001 |
US |