GB2330314A

GB2330314A - Golf ball with coloured areas

Info

Publication number: GB2330314A
Application number: GB9721940A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Julian Morley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-10-16
Filing date: 1997-10-16
Publication date: 1999-04-21
Anticipated expiration: 2017-10-16
Also published as: AU9452598A; WO1999020356A1; JP2001520100A; GB2330314B; EP1023112A1; GB9721940D0

Abstract

A golf ball 11 with dimples has areas of contrasting appearance/marks 12 arranged symmetrically over its surface. The marks may be black dots 13 centred in the dimples, spots covering the dimples (figs 1-3), or asterisks on the lands between the dimples (fig 5) and every dimple may have such a mark. The marks aid a golfer in judging the position of the ball when addressing it, highlighting the curvature of the ball.

Description

Golf Balls The present invention relates to a golf ball.

In order to strike a golf ball with accuracy and with consistency, it is necessary for a player to possess an ability to judge depths in the field of vision with great precision. This stereoscopic acuity enables the player not only to determine the distance to the ball and to relate this to the position of the golf club head, but also to take into account the dimensions of the ball itself so that the club head is brought into contact with the desired point on the ball. As is well known, if the club head strikes the wrong part of the ball, the shot will be, undercut, topped, sliced or pulled.

The fact that golf balls are of a contrasting colour to grass (or sand) clearly helps with stereopsis, however, it would be desirable to improve this still further. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a golf ball whose position can be judged more easily and more accurately.

According to the invention, there is provided a golf ball comprising a spherical ball with a plurality of indentations in its surface, the indentations being arranged in a pattern, the surface also having a plurality of areas of a contrasting appearance, the areas of contrasting appearance being arranged symmetrically.

The areas of contrasting appearance, in their symmetrical arrangement, enable a player to make more precise judgements of the position of the ball and enable visualisation of a club face striking the ball to be achieved more accurately and with greater consistency.

Another important factor is the ability of a player's visual system to filter and process information; this is related to contrast sensitivity. The contrasting areas on the ball can serve to enhance a player' contrast sensitivity.

Preferably at least 30% of the indentations (o dimples) in the golf ball surface include an area oi contrasting appearance. More preferably, at least 50% o at least 75% of the indentations include an area oi contrasting appearance. In one embodiment, all thf indentations include an area of contrasting appearance.

The areas of contrasting appearance may be locatec in the indentations, in the spaces between the indentations or straddling the spaces and the indentations. The areas of contrasting appearance may bf in any suitable form, including a spot or the shape of a asterisk. Preferably, the areas of contrastinc appearance cover at least 10% of the surface area of thf ball. More preferably, the areas cover from 10% to 50 < of the surface areas of the ball, for example from 20% tc 30%.

Conveniently, the area of contrasting appearance 1 a spot in the centre of the respective indentations.

Preferably the contrasting appearance is a black dot i the centre of each respective indentation. In c preferred embodiment the area of contrasting appearance is a black dot in the centre of each respective indentation, however, other colours may be employed.

The invention may be applied to any golf balm construction, such as one-piece, two-piece or three-piece and is applicable to all materials, such as balata, elastomer or Surlyn. The invention may also be appliec to a golf ball having any arrangement of dimples, provided that the areas of contrasting appearance are symmetrical. In this context, the term "symmetrical' means that the contrasting areas are arranged in regular pattern around the ball surface so that the arrangement does not differ in appearance when the orientation of the ball is altered.

It has been found that with such an arrangement oi contrasting areas, the curvature of the surface of thf ball is made more evident, and the position (in depth) oi the widest part of the ball is highlighted. In other words if one looks at the notional north pole of the ball, the position of the equator along the axis can bf more readily identified.

The contrasting spots or dots can be applied o formed in any convenient manner provided that the exhibit the necessary durability to allow the spots o dots to remain visible even after several hundrec shots.

The invention may be carried into practice ir various ways, and some embodiments will now be describec by way of example with reference to the accompanyin drawings, in which: Figures 1 to 5 show various embodiments ir accordance with the invention.

In all the embodiments, a golf ball 11 has regula indentations 12. They vary in the pattern of markings In Figure 1, all the indentations are coloured. Ir Figure 2, a large proportion of the indentations are coloured. In Figure 3, about half the indentations arf coloured. In Figure 4, about half the indentation include a coloured spot 13, though of course, a great or smaller proportion of the indentations could include spots.

In Figure 5, the spaces 4 between the indentations have asterisk-shaped marks 15. It will be appreciate that the asterisk-shaped marks could be used in the embodiments of Figures 1 to 4 either in addition to ou instead of the marks shown. Also, the asterisk-shape( marks in Figure 5 could be replaced by the spots of Figure 4.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown) the asterisk-shaped marks could be substantially larger in size, perhaps an order of magnitude larger, and therefore significantly smaller in number.

Claims

Claims: 1. A golf ball comprising a spherical ball with a plurality of indentations in its surface, the indentations being arranged in a pattern, the surface also having a plurality of areas of a contrasting appearance, the areas of contrasting appearance being arranged symmetrically.
2. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 1, in which the areas of contrasting appearance are located on the surface of the ball between the indentations.
3. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 1, in which the areas of contrasting appearance are located in the indentations.
4. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 3, in which at least 30% of the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance.
5. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 3, in which at least 50% of the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance.
6. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 3, in which at least 75 of the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance.
7. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 3, in which all the indentations include an area of contrasting appearance.
8. A golf ball as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which each area of contrasting appearance is in the shape of an asterisk or a spot.
9. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 8, in which the areas of contrasting appearance cover at least 10% of the surface area of the ball.
10. A golf ball as claimed in Claim 8, in which the areas of contrasting appearance cover from 20E to 30% of the surface area of the ball.
11. A golf ball as claimed in any of Claims 3 to 10, in which each area of contrasting appearance is a spot in the centre of the respective indentations.
12. A golf ball as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the contrasting appearance is due to a difference in colour or shade.
13. A golf ball as claimed in any of Claims 3 to 12, in which the area of contrasting appearance is a black dot in the centre of each respective indentation.
14. A golf ball constructed and arranged substantially as herein specifically described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.