Golf balls having electronically - detectable inserts

Abstract

Golf ball with a central cavity ( 6, 23 ) having an RFID/electronic tag ( 4, 24 ) located therein. The tag is immersed in a medium ( 5 ) which, in response to striking of the ball, flows around the tag to damp transitional movement and vibration. For retro-fit of an already-manufactured standard ball, entry of aqueous liquid into the cavity ( 6 ) is from a borehole-opening ( 3 ) which is centered within a dimple of the outer cover ( 1 ) of the ball and sealed ( 8 ), following introduction of a gelling agent ( 9 ). After the central cavity ( 22 ) is filled with a liquid medium ( 23 ), it is closed by a plastics plug ( 25 ). The tag ( 42 ) of a used/damaged ball ( 39 ) can be retrieved and recycled by an automated machine ( 30 ) that cuts a circumferential slit ( 40 ) through the cover and then impacts blades of a chisel ( 38 ) split the ball in two to reveal the tag.

1 . A golf ball of a kind having an electronically-detectable insert, wherein the insert is located in a cavity within the body of the ball immersed in a medium which in response to striking of the ball flows as a liquid round the insert within the cavity. 
     
     
         2 . A golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the medium in which the insert is immersed is an aqueous liquid. 
     
     
         3 . A golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the medium in which the insert is immersed comprises a thixotropic gel. 
     
     
         4 . A golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the cavity is located centrally of the ball. 
     
     
         5 . A golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the cavity in all its dimensions is at least twenty per cent larger than corresponding dimensions of the insert. 
     
     
         6 . A golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the cavity in all its dimensions is at least thirty-three per cent larger than corresponding dimensions of the insert. 
     
     
         7 . A golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein entry into the cavity extends radially into the ball from a sealed opening through an outer surface of the ball. 
     
     
         8 . A golf ball according to  claim 7  wherein the outer surface of the ball is dimpled and the sealed opening is centred within a dimple of the outer surface. 
     
     
         9 . A golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the electronically-detectable insert is one of a magnet, a ferrite rod and a device involving at least one resonant circuit. 
     
     
         10 . A golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the electronically-detectable insert is an RFID tag. 
     
     
         11 . A method of manufacturing a golf ball of a kind having an electronically-detectable insert, comprising the steps of forming a cavity within a core of the golf ball, and entering the insert in the cavity immersed in a medium which in response to striking of the ball flows as a liquid round the insert within the cavity. 
     
     
         12 . A method according to  claim 11 , wherein the cavity is filled with a liquid medium via a feed passageway that opens into the cavity, the electronically-detectable insert is entered in the cavity through the feed passageway to be immersed in the liquid medium within the cavity, and plugging the feed passageway. 
     
     
         13 . A method according to  claim 12 , wherein following entry of the electronically-detectable insert into the cavity, a gelling agent is added to the liquid medium within the cavity to create a gel within at least part of the cavity. 
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 11 , wherein the medium in which the insert is immersed is an aqueous liquid. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 11 , wherein the medium in which the insert is immersed comprises a thixotropic gel. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 11 , wherein the cavity is located centrally of the ball. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 11 , wherein the electronically-detectable insert is one of a magnet, a ferrite rod and a device that involves at least one resonant circuits. 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 11 , wherein the electronically-detectable insert is an RFID tag. 
     
     
         19 . A method for the recovery of an insert from a golf ball of a kind having an outer cover and an electronically-detectable insert within a core of the ball, comprising the steps of cutting a circumferential slit in the ball, the slit having a depth that extends through the outer cover of the ball and partly into the core, locating chisel blades in the slit parallel to one another on opposites sides of a centre of the ball, impacting the chisel blades to split the core in two, and removing the insert from the split core for re-use. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 19 , wherein the electronically-detectable insert is an RFD tag.