JP5528293B2 - Fully vapor-deposited golf ball and method for producing fully vapor-deposited golf ball - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a structure of a golf ball, and more particularly to a golf ball in which a metal film is applied to the entire surface.

  In general, it is desirable to set a golf ball in a color that can be easily found on a fairway, rough, or the like, and currently it is set to white, a color, a metallic color (see Non-Patent Document 1, etc.), and the like. . Also, in patent documents and the like, a golf ball with a metal coating on the surface has been proposed.

  In the golf ball of Patent Document 1, a metal film of 1 μm to 1000 μm (preferably 8 μm to 500 μm) is formed on a metal film such as aluminum by using a vacuum deposition method, a CVD method, a sputtering method, an ion plating method, or the like. (Refer to the 18th and 53rd paragraphs), so that the optimum backspin amount can be realized. By performing such a metal film treatment, it is possible to obtain the merit that the trajectory and position of the golf ball can be visually recognized even from a distance due to the reflection of light in good weather.

JP 2005-224293 A

http://www.chromaxball.com/ (Refer to Chromax Ball October 4, 2010)

  However, when a golf ball is treated with a metal film, the method described in Patent Document 1 causes the following problems.

  That is, since the metal film described in Patent Document 1 is set to a relatively thick thickness of 1 μm to 1000 μm, the pulling performance and adhesion are deteriorated. May cause cracks and peeling.

  In addition, when a metal film is formed by vacuum deposition or the like, generally, a golf ball is placed on a jig to form a metal film, and a metal film is formed on a contact portion between the jig and the golf ball. Therefore, if it hits this part at the time of impact, there is a possibility of generating a crack from this part.

  Furthermore, when a metal film is applied to the surface of the cover, since the metal film is directly formed on the surface of urethane in Patent Document 1, the metal film is easily peeled off.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made paying attention to the above problems, and provides a golf ball in which the metal film is hardly peeled off due to the impact of the golf club when the metal film is formed on the golf ball to improve the visibility. For the purpose.

That is, the present invention provides a golf ball manufacturing method comprising a core, a cover that covers the surface of the core, and a metal film provided on the surface side of the cover, and the surface of the cover is activated. And a metal film having a thickness of 500 mm or more and 1000 mm or less (0.05 μm or more and 0.1 μm or less) on the surface of the cover. A step of forming, a step of transferring to the second jig so as to be held at a portion different from the portion that has been in contact with the first jig while being held by the first jig, and the second jig And a step of forming a protective layer on the surface of the golf ball transferred to the jig.

  In such an invention, as the step of forming the protective layer, the protective layer is formed by filling the portion that has been in contact with the first jig by heating the acrylic resin solvent.

According to the present invention, when a golf ball having a metal film is formed, the metal film is formed by being held by the first jig, and at that time, the portion that has been held by the first jig and cannot form the metal film Is formed and held by the second jig to form a protective layer, so that the portion can be filled.

Sectional view of golf ball in one embodiment of the present invention The figure which shows the 1st jig | tool (2nd jig | tool) which is a jig | tool in the same form. The figure which shows the manufacturing process of the golf ball in the same form

  Hereinafter, a golf ball 1 and a manufacturing method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A golf ball 1 according to this embodiment includes a core 2, a cover 3 that covers the surface of the core 2, and a metal film formed on the surface side of the cover 3. Specifically, the metal film is formed on the entire surface, and the thickness is set to 500 mm to 1000 mm (0.05 μm to 0.1 μm). Hereinafter, the structure of the golf ball 1 in the present embodiment will be described.

  First, the core 2 forms the innermost core of a sphere, and is composed of a single layer or a multilayer rubber material. When the core 2 is composed of a single layer, the high resilience synthetic rubber is mixed with a chemical agent so as to form a homogeneous structure as a whole. On the other hand, when the core 2 is composed of a multilayer core 2, A soft inner core is provided on the center side, and an outer core having high elasticity is provided on the outer layer. In addition, when forming this multi-layered core 2, it can also be comprised by the cores 2 of three layers, four layers, etc. The core 2 is formed of, for example, trans-polyisoprene rubber, high cis-butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber, ethylene-propylene-diene rubber, chloroprene rubber, acrylic rubber, natural rubber, silicon rubber, or the like. can do.

  The cover 3 covers the surface of the core 2 and is configured to be thin enough not to impair the elastic performance of the core 2. In this embodiment, the cover 3 is provided on the surface of the core 2, but an intermediate layer may be provided between the core 2 and the cover 3. As a material of the cover 3, for example, balata, ionomer resin, polyurethane-based thermoplastic elastomer, heat-expensive polyurethane, or the like can be used so as to have durability and softness. Then, the thermoplastic elastomer is mixed into these main ingredients as a compounding agent, and a pigment as a colorant is also mixed.

  The metal film 4 provided on the outside of the cover 3 is made of thin aluminum or the like, and is formed by, for example, a vacuum deposition method, a CVD method, a sputtering method, an ion plating method, or the like. By the way, when the metal coating 4 is formed, if the thickness is very thin, there is a possibility that the cover 3 as a base will be exposed. On the other hand, if the thickness is very thick, the metal coating 4 is impacted. 4 may be dented or chipped. Therefore, as a result of trial and error, the thickness is set to be about 500 mm to 1000 mm (preferably 600 mm to 800 mm). In this way, it is possible to maintain the metallic luster without causing dents or chips at the time of impact.

  The protective layer formed on the surface of the metal coating 4 has a single layer or a multilayer structure. In this embodiment, the first protective layer 5 that is colored with metallic luster and the first protective layer 5 that covers the first protective layer 5 are used. Two protective layers 6 are provided. The first protective layer 5 is formed, for example, by spraying an acrylic resin solvent containing a pigment, and the second protective layer 6 is formed by applying a transparent urethane two-component curable resin liquid. Form. Of these protective layers, the first protective layer 5 is about 5 μm, and the second protective layer 6 is about 10 μm to 15 μm.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the golf ball 1 configured as described above will be described.

  First, when manufacturing the golf ball 1 having this metal coating, the golf ball 1 covered with the cover 3 is prepared and held by the first jig 71. As shown in FIG. 2, the first jig 71 is configured to raise the plurality of needle-like bodies 8 to hold the golf ball 1 by point contact, and holds the golf ball 1. In this state, it can be carried into and out of the vacuum deposition chamber.

  The golf ball 1 is held by this jig and placed in a vacuum vapor deposition chamber, and first the surface is activated. In the activation process, for example, as an ion bombardment process, an activation gas is sealed in a vacuum deposition chamber to generate plasma discharge. As a result, impurities attached to the surface of the golf ball 1 can be removed, and the surface of the cover 3 can be activated to improve the adhesion of aluminum plating.

  And in the state which activated the surface of the cover 3 in this way, it supplies with electricity to the filament which melted aluminum, it is made to heat at high temperature, and aluminum is evaporated. Then, a thin aluminum metal film 4 can be formed on the surface of the cover 3. At this time, the deposition process is performed by adjusting the deposition time so that the film thickness becomes 500 to 1000 mm.

  Next, the golf ball 1 is taken out from the vacuum deposition chamber while being held by the jig, and this time, an acrylic resin solvent containing a pigment as a protective layer is sprayed by the spindle. When this spraying is performed, a spraying process is performed so that the thickness is about 5 μm.

  Then, it is dried for about 20 minutes while being placed on the first jig 71, and transferred to the second jig 72 (see FIG. 3) having the needle-like body 81 standing in the same manner. At this time, the portion 9 that has been in contact with the first jig 71 becomes an upper position that is not held by the needle-like body 81 of the second jig 72 when the part 9 is transferred to the second jig 72. The protruding portion 9 can be filled.

  Next, after transferring the golf ball 1 to the second jig 72 in this way, a clear coat is applied so that the thickness becomes 10 μm to 25 μm as a whole. And it puts in a heating chamber in this state, and heats for 2 to 3 hours in the range of about 50 to 70 degreeC. Then, the acrylic resin solvent containing the pigment is uniformly melted and dried. At that time, the pigment and the acrylic resin solvent flow into the non-deposition portion 9 held by the first jig 71 to fill the hole. Can do.

As described above, according to the embodiment, the golf ball 1 including the core 2, the cover 3 covering the surface of the core 2, and the metal coating 4 provided on the surface side of the cover 3 is manufactured. In the method, the step of activating the surface of the cover 3 and holding the activated golf ball 1 with a first jig 71 that makes point contact, the thickness of the surface of the cover 3 is 500 mm or more and 1000 mm or less. The step of forming the metal coating 4 (0.05 μm or more and 0.1 μm or less) and a portion different from the portion 9 that has been in contact with the first jig 71 while being held by the first jig 71. Since the step of transferring to the second jig 72 so as to be held and the step of forming the protective layers 5 and 6 on the surface of the golf ball 1 transferred to the second jig 72 are provided. Metal film 4 could not be formed The portion 9 is exposed, and the protective layers 5 and 6 can be formed on the portion 9.

Further, since the acrylic resin solvent is heated as the step of forming the protective layers 5 and 6, the acrylic resin solvent can be poured to fill the hole.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can implement in a various aspect.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, after the metal was vapor-deposited with the first jig 71, the protective layers 5 and 6 were formed with the second jig 72. Thereafter, the metal coating 4 may be formed again. In this case, each metal film 4 is preferably thin so that the metal film 4 has a total thickness of 500 to 1000 mm. In this way, the portion that could not be subjected to metal vapor deposition with the first jig 71 can be metal vapor deposited with the second jig 72.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the layer of the acrylic resin solvent containing a pigment was formed as a protective layer, it can also be comprised only with the clearcoat layer 6. FIG. Alternatively, the protective layers 5 and 6 may not be provided outside the metal coating 4.

  Furthermore, in the said embodiment, when forming the metal film 4, aluminum was vapor-deposited and formed, but you may form a film with what kind of metal. In addition, when forming the metal coating 4, the metal coating 4 is not limited to being formed as a whole, and the metal coating 4 may be formed partially (for example, only on the dimple portion). Thus, if the metal film 4 is formed only in the dimple portion, the contact with the golf club is reduced, and the metallic luster can be maintained for a longer time.

  Moreover, when forming the 1st protective layer 5 in the said embodiment, although the solvent of the acrylic resin containing a pigment was sprayed and the 1st protective layer 5 was formed, the acrylic resin containing a pigment was not used. Alternatively, a protective film may be formed by using ITO (Indium Oxide) or the like by sputtering to produce gradation. Further, not only the ITO (indium oxide) but also the protective film is formed using a material that improves the adhesion performance in inverse proportion to the thickness, such as SiO (silicon monoxide), SiO2 (silicon dioxide), etc. It may be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Golf ball 2 ... Core 3 ... Cover 4 ... Metal film 5 ... 1st protective layer 6 ... 2nd protective layer 71 ... 1st jig | tool, 72. ..Second jig 8 ... acicular body
9: The part that was in contact with the first jig

Claims (2)

In a golf ball manufacturing method comprising a core, a cover covering the surface of the core, and a metal film provided on the surface side of the cover,
Activating the surface of the cover;
A step of holding the activated golf ball with a first jig that makes point contact, and forming a metal film having a thickness of 500 mm to 1000 mm (0.05 μm to 0.1 μm) on the surface of the cover; ,
In the state of being held by the first jig, the step of transferring to the second jig so as to be held at a part different from the part that was in contact with the first jig ,
Forming a protective layer on the surface of the golf ball transferred to the second jig;
A method for producing a fully vapor-deposited golf ball, comprising: The step of forming the protective layer is a method in which the protective layer is formed by filling a portion that has been in contact with the first jig by heating an acrylic resin solvent. Golf ball manufacturing method.

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