Claims
- 1. A machine for preparing a wound golf ball core comprising:
- (a) a winding station for winding thread about a golf ball center and forming a wound golf ball core, wherein said winding station comprises:
- (i) a cooling means for keeping said golf ball center frozen prior to winding; and
- (ii) a winding means for winding thread onto said golf ball center, thereby forming said wound golf ball core; and
- (b) a mechanical arm for moving said golf ball center from said cooling means to said winding means, said mechanical arm having gripping means for holding the exterior of said golf ball center and also having tying means for tying the thread onto said golf ball center and tying off the thread on said wound golf ball core, wherein said tying means comprises a collet and a plurality of fingers attached to said collet.
- 2. A machine for producing a wound golf ball core comprising:
- (a) an outer table;
- (b) a plurality of cooling means mounted on said outer table, said cooling means maintaining golf ball centers in a frozen state;
- (c) a plurality of winding means mounted on said outer table, one winding means per cooling means, said winding means for winding thread onto a center thereby producing a wound core;
- (d) an inner table in abutment with said outer table,; and
- (e) a mechanical arm mounted on said inner table and able to service each and every cooling means and winding means, said mechanical arm having tying means for tying thread onto said centers, tying off the thread, and severing said wound core from said thread, said mechanical arm also having gripping means for holding the exterior of said center and core.
- 3. The machine of claim 2 wherein said cooling means is a cooling tower.
- 4. The machine of claim 3 wherein said means for manipulating is a mechanical hand.
- 5. A machine for producing a wound golf ball core comprising:
- (a) an outer table;
- (b) cooling means mounted on said outer table, said cooling means maintaining golf ball centers in a frozen state;
- (c) a plurality of winding means mounted on said outer table, said winding means for winding thread onto a center thereby producing a wound core;
- (d) an inner table in abutment with said outer table,; and
- (e) a mechanical arm mounted on said inner table and able to service each and every cooling means and winding means said mechanical arm having tying means for tying thread onto said centers, tying off the thread, and severing said wound core from said thread, said mechanical arm also having gripping means for holding the exterior of said center and core.
- 6. The machine of claim 5 wherein said cooling means is a cooling tower.
- 7. The machine of claim 6 wherein said means for manipulating is a mechanical hand.
- 8. A machine for preparing a wound golf ball core comprising:
- (a) a winding station for winding thread about a frozen center and forming a wound golf ball core; and
- (b) a mechanical arm for manipulating and tying the thread onto said frozen center and for manipulating and tying off the thread on said wound golf ball core thereby preparing a wound golf ball core, wherein said tying means comprises a collet and a plurality of fingers attached to said collet.
- 9. The machine of claim 1 wherein said winding station comprises:
- a) a cooling means for keeping a golf ball center frozen prior to winding; and
- b) a winding means for winding thread onto a golf ball center thereby forming a wound golf ball core, said mechanical arm moving a frozen center from said cooling means to said winding means.
- 10. The machine of claim 9 wherein said cooling means is a cooling tower comprising an inner well for storing said frozen center and an outer well which surrounds said inner well, the area defined between said inner well and said outer well being used for a cooling medium.
- 11. The machine of claim 8 wherein said cooling means is a cooling tower.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 053,948, filed May 26, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,910 dated July 11, 1989
This invention relates to golf balls and more particularly to an apparatus and method for automatically preparing a wound golf ball core.
Golf balls are generally made by molding a cover about a core which is either solid or wound. Wound cores are prepared by winding an elastic thread about a frozen center. The frozen center is made from a solid rubber ball or a hollow rubber shell containing liquid which is frozen to form a small hard sphere. The thread is generally made from an elastic material.
Presently, all wound cores are prepared in a manual operation in which an individual operator ties the bitter end of a thread supply onto a frozen center and places the frozen center into a winding machine. The machine then winds the thread around the center to a predetermined thickness. The operator then cuts the thread, ties the thread onto the wound core, attaches the bitter end of the thread supply to a new center and loads the new center into the winding machine to start the process over again. This is a repetitive process.
A machine and method for automatically preparing a wound golf ball core has now been discovered. The present invention eliminates the need for an operator to supply frozen centers to individual winding machines, tying the thread onto the center removing the finished wound cores from the winding machine and tying the thread onto the wound core.
Broadly, the present invention obtains a frozen center from a storage container, secures the bitter end of a thread supply to the center, places the center into a winding machine and removes a finished wound core from the winding machine to start the process again.
More specifically, the present invention has a mechanical arm servicing a plurality of winding stations. Each winding station has a cooling tower, a winding machine and a wound core exit chute. The cooling tower holds frozen centers and maintains the centers in their frozen state. The winding machine has a thread supply and a means for winding the thread about the center which includes a means to maintain tension on the thread during winding operations. The exit chute is used to deposit the finished wound cores and to conduct the finished wound cores to a finished wound core storage bin.
The mechanical arm is equipped with a mechanical hand which performs the various tying operations of the thread on the center and core and which, in general, manipulates the center and core.
More specifically, a signal is sent from the winding station to the mechanical arm once the core has reached its predetermined size. At this point, the winding machine has ceased winding. After the signal has been received by the arm, the arm moves to that winding station and the hand removes the wound core from the winding machine. The hand then proceeds to tie and cut the thread so that the wound core is no longer attached to the thread supply while simultaneously maintaining control of the bitter end of the thread supply. Next, the wound core is deposited into the exit chute and the arm moves the hand to the cooling tower where the hand obtains a new frozen center to which it secures the bitter end of the thread. Then, the new center is placed into the winding machine. The thread tension is reduced by about 50% and the winding operation is started. Just after the winding operation is started, the tension on the thread comes back on to full force. Preferably the tension comes back on about 2 to about 4 seconds after winding starts again.
Also, preferably, the center is held in the cooling tower until the hand removes it from the tower. This insures that the center stays frozen.
Also, preferably, a heat source is used to sever the wound core from the thread supply. This prevents pulling of the thread which is generally accompanied with a knife-like severing operation.
Preferably, the tying operation on both the center and the core are not accomplished by the same repetitive steps performed by the hand in each case. More specifically, for tying the thread onto the finished core, the hand is equipped with fingers that pick up the thread and hold the thread out, away from the core. The hand makes a few turns with the thread out, away from the core such that the thread is wound onto the fingers. Next, the thread is wound about the core itself. Finally, the fingers release the thread which they held, causing the thread held by the fingers to overlap the thread already wrapped around the core. Due to the elastic nature of the thread and this overlapping arrangement of the thread on the core, the thread is secured to the core. The thread is secured to the center by winding the thread about the center, dropping the winding machine's head wheel down onto the center which forces the center onto the winding machine's endless belt, and then dropping the thread off of the fingers while simultaneously starting the winding operations.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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53948 |
May 1987 |
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Patent Grant
5007594
