Golf balls having sighting aid and methods of making same

Abstract

Sighting aids for golf balls that allow a golfer to sight a direction in which to hit or putt a golf ball and a method of producing the same and golf balls having sighting aids that have a certain degree of wrap determined by a sighting equation and surface coverage determined by a surface coverage equation.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A golf ball having a sighting aid discontinuously extending at least partially around a perimeter of the golf ball, wherein the sighting aid comprises a first sighting aid comprising a plurality of characters according to Equation 1: 
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     Wrap 
                     = 
                     
                       
                         
                           N 
                           * 
                           W 
                         
                         C 
                       
                       * 
                       1 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                     
                   
                 
                 
                   
                     ( 
                     1 
                     ) 
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
       
       wherein N is the number of characters in the plurality, W is the cell width, and C=circumference of the golf ball. 
     
     
         2 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the characters in the plurality comprise alphanumeric characters, punctuation, national characters, special characters, math symbols, emojis, Greek alphabet letters, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein Wrap ranges about 10 percent and 100 percent. 
     
     
         4 . The golf ball of  claim 3 , wherein Wrap is about 40 percent to about 60 percent. 
     
     
         5 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the first sighting aid has a surface coverage according to Equation 2: 
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     SC 
                     = 
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             H 
                             SA 
                           
                           * 
                           N 
                           * 
                           W 
                         
                         A 
                       
                       * 
                       1 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                     
                   
                 
                 
                   
                     ( 
                     2 
                     ) 
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
       
       where H SA  is the height of the first sighting aid and A is the surface area of the golf ball. 
     
     
         6 . The golf ball of  claim 5 , wherein SC is about 0.5 percent to about 25 percent. 
     
     
         7 . The golf ball of  claim 6 , wherein SC is about 1 percent to about 4 percent. 
     
     
         8 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the sighting aid further comprises a second sighting aid, and wherein the first and second sighting aids have a predetermined amount of discontinuity therebetween. 
     
     
         9 . A golf ball having a sighting aid comprising a plurality of characters and extending at least partially around a perimeter of the golf ball according to Equation 1: 
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     Wrap 
                     = 
                     
                       
                         
                           N 
                           * 
                           W 
                         
                         C 
                       
                       * 
                       1 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                     
                   
                 
                 
                   
                     ( 
                     1 
                     ) 
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
       
       wherein N is the number of characters in the plurality, W is the cell width, and C=circumference of the golf ball, wherein a first portion of N comprises blank characters. 
     
     
         10 . The golf ball of  claim 9 , wherein Wrap ranges about 10 percent and 100 percent. 
     
     
         11 . The golf ball of  claim 9 , wherein the sighting aid has a surface coverage according to Equation 2: 
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     SC 
                     = 
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             H 
                             SA 
                           
                           * 
                           N 
                           * 
                           W 
                         
                         A 
                       
                       * 
                       1 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                     
                   
                 
                 
                   
                     ( 
                     2 
                     ) 
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
       
       where H SA  is the height of the sighting aid and A is the surface area of the golf ball. 
     
     
         12 . The golf ball of  claim 11 , wherein SC is about 0.5 percent to about 25 percent. 
     
     
         13 . The golf ball of  claim 9 , wherein a second portion of N comprises alphanumeric characters, punctuation, national characters, special characters, math symbols, emojis, Greek alphabet letters, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The golf ball of  claim 9 , comprising an inner subassembly and an outer layer disposed on the inner subassembly, wherein the sighting aid is applied to the outer layer. 
     
     
         15 . The golf ball of  claim 9 , comprising an inner subassembly and an outer layer disposed on the inner subassembly, wherein the outer layer is clear, and wherein the sighting aid is applied to the inner subassembly. 
     
     
         16 . A golf ball comprising:
 an inner subassembly;   an outer layer disposed on the inner subassembly; and   a sighting aid applied to one of the inner subassembly or outer layer, wherein the sighting aid comprises a plurality of characters and discontinuously extends at least partially around a perimeter of the golf ball according to Equation 1:   
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     Wrap 
                     = 
                     
                       
                         
                           N 
                           * 
                           W 
                         
                         C 
                       
                       * 
                       1 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                     
                   
                 
                 
                   
                     ( 
                     1 
                     ) 
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
       
       wherein N is the number of characters in the plurality, W is the cell width, and C=circumference of the golf ball, and wherein the sighting aid has a surface coverage according to Equation 2: 
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     SC 
                     = 
                     
                       
                         
                           
                             H 
                             SA 
                           
                           * 
                           N 
                           * 
                           W 
                         
                         A 
                       
                       * 
                       1 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                       ⁢ 
                       0 
                     
                   
                 
                 
                   
                     ( 
                     2 
                     ) 
                   
                 
               
             
           
         
       
       where H SA  is the height of the sighting aid and A is the surface area of the golf ball. 
     
     
         17 . The golf ball of  claim 16 , wherein a first portion of N comprises blank characters, and wherein a second portion of N comprises alphanumeric characters, punctuation, national characters, special characters, math symbols, emojis, Greek alphabet letters, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The golf ball of  claim 16 , wherein SC is about 0.5 percent to about 25 percent. 
     
     
         19 . The golf ball of  claim 16 , wherein Wrap ranges about 10 percent and 100 percent. 
     
     
         20 . The golf ball of  claim 16 , further comprising a marking orthogonal to the sighting aid that is representative of the plurality of characters in the sighting aid.