US707263A - Golf-ball. - Google Patents

Description

No. 707,263. Patented Aug. 19, I902. A. T. SAUNDERS.

' GOLF BALL.

(Application med Sept. 11, 1900.

(No Model.)

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NlTED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

ADDISON '1. SAUNDERS, OF AKRON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANK A. SEIBERLING, OF AKRON, OHIO.

GOLF-BALL.

$I-ECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 707,263, dated August 19, 1902.

Application filed September 11,1900. Serial No. 29,734. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADDISON T. SAUNDERS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Golf-Balls, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in golf-balls,although an adaptation of the principles involved in my invention may result in an improvement in balls for other games, such as base-ball, croquet-golf, &c.; and the object of my invention is to provide a golfball possessing all the necessary qualities and characteristics of such balls, with superior resiliency and at less cost than those made by present methods and from materials now in use. 4

The desiderata in golf-balls are, in addition to proper specific gravity, the greatest resiliency under impact of the strongest blows from the clubs, as in driving, combined with the minimum of liveliness in light play, as in putting and when they pitch after flight, to gether with such characteristics of the material forming the shell or outer portion that they are not cut by blows from the edges of the iron clubs, and yet are yielding enough not to injure the wooden clubs in'heavy play.

I find that I am able to obtain greater resiliency than is possessed by a solid gutta-.

percha ball by forming within the ball a cavity to be filled with compressed air and that this resiliency increases in proportion to the compression of the air and may be increased to any desired extent by increased compression, enabling me thus to supply all necessary rebound or resiliency for the whole ball, thus making it practicable to construct the ball of materials which of themselves would not successfully replace the usual guttapercha of which said balls are commonly composed, but which possess the strength and impervious character necessary to contain the air under pressure, the specific gravity to furnish the desired weight, and the pliability which allows the resiliency of the air within to be called into action. A ball made of gutta-percha the same size as those now in use and having a cavity containing compressed air would be, of course, lighter by just so much as is missing from the cavity left for the air. In carrying out my invention the present standard weight is retained, in combination with the presentsize, by the admixture of metal filings, white lead, or other heavy substance with the gutta-percha or by using heavy substances about the aircavity beneath the gut-ta-percha.

A ball made of gutta-percha only, with the pneumatic modification and of the same weight as a solid gutta-percha ball, is necessarily increased in size, and therefore meets with added resistance in flight. It has the advantage, however, of being less easily lost.

A material which I have used as a substitute for gutta-percha to form a portion of my pneumatic ball and from which I have made solid balls which have fair playing qualities is a compound or admixture of india-rubber (a substance unsuited in its purity or alone for golf-balls on account of its too great liveness under light impact) with comparatively non-elastic substances in such proportions as to reduce its liveness to the desired degree. The particular substance possessing the necessary characteristics which is used to combine with the india-rubber is not essential.

I have successfully used a number of substances, including wood, a per cent. of guttapercha, cotton, cork, straw, the preparations of the metals used in making rubber comfilings.

pounds, as white lead or litharge, and metal When organic substances are used and it is desired to produce a compound of less specific gravity. than the rubber, they should not be reduced to impalpable powder, as this breaks down their structure and condenses them. They should be reduced rather to small fragmentsin the case of wood to fine sawdust. The admixture maybe made by mechanically kneading the substance together, as in a mill, or by dissolving the rubber in a suitable solvent and after admixture exposing in'open trays for evaporation of the vehicle. A number of the substances named may be used in the same admixture and in such proportions as to give a resultant compound of any -specific gravity desired and also of greater or less resiliency. This deadening of the rubber can and preferably will be carried further when using the admixture for the outer wall or shell of my pneumatic ball than in making a solid ball, for the reason above shown.

It is evident that with a given strength of material it is practicable to have a larger airspace and greater compression of air by reinforcing the wall than would be otherwise possible. I have found it necessary to do this, except when using a thick wall composed entirely or in greater part of guttapercha,to avoid undue distortion and dilation. The reinforcing or strengthening of the wall may be effected by an admixture of fiber throughout the compound, by an inner layer of such fiber, by a thin shell of metal, or by wound wire; but I prefer a winding of narrow strips of textile fabric or friction tape or thread around an air-tight lining of rubber. This friction-tape may contain heavy minerals, as white lead, litharge, or metal filings, to afiord a proper specific gravity to the tape or thread.

A ball constructed in accordance with my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sectional view of the ball as it appears when bisected. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the ball having the outer shell removed and showing the winding of the friction-tape upon the inner air-chamber; and Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing a winding of friction-thread instead of friction-tape.

In the drawings, A represents the shell or outer portion of the wall, composed either of gutta-percha or of the compound hereinabove described.

B is the reinforcing-web of friction thread or fabric, suitably weighted, if desired, in the manner above described.

0 represents the casing or spherical wall of the air-chamber, composed, preferably, of rubber, and D designates the inner space or air chamber, within which air or other elastic fluid is compressed.

The preferred way of making my pneumatic golf-ball is as follows: The inner air-chamber D of the desired size and capacity has its inclosing wall or shell 0 made, preferably, of pure para, containing sufficient sulfur for purposes of vulcanization. This rubber air-shell C is made upin the usual way of mak ing toy hollow rubber balls, except that instead of the single lump of self-healing rubher which is usually attached to the inner surface two lumps are used, a'l'fixed at opposite points of the interior to preserve the center of gravity coincident with the center of the ball. These lumps of self-healing rubher are indicated in the drawings at c. This ball should then be vulcanized in the usual way. This rubber ball or air-chamber may next be covered with a layer of fiber or fabric in strips or overlapping sections, strongly adhered to it and conforming to its spherical shape. This will prevent its inflation and distortion during subsequent operations.

This chamber being sufficiently charged with air by means of a hypodermic needle thrust through one or both of the self-healing lumps of rubber c is rendered sufficiently rigid for easy handling and is then wound, preferably, with a frictioned thread or yarn of treated Sea Island cotton, silk, or other strong fibrous material to the desired size for the reinforcement. The friction compound above alluded to with which the thread is covered should be of the best quality of rubber and loaded, as desired. When the thread has been properly coated with the compound, the coating will fill in all interstices between the threads when wound. If preferred, the thread may be embedded in or coated with compound as the winding progresses. The location of the self-healing lumps or plugs 0 may be marked before winding by thrusting a fine needle (blunt-pointed) through them both and winding with this needle protruding at both sides. When the winding is finished, the needle is withdrawn and one of the apertures is allowed to remain closed. The location of the other is marked and through it at thisjuncture (or later) the ball is charged with compressed air or other elastic fluid to the desired degree. It is then inclosed in hot sheet gutta-percha, loaded, if desired, or in the compound hereinbefore described, of the desired thickness, and compressed in a suitable mold. When the outer shell or covering is composed of rubber compound, it should be vulcanized while in the mold. By placing the wrapped ball properly in the gutta-percha and mold and by having the inner pneumatic ball so located with reference to its inclosing shell as that the self-healing plugs shall coincide with marked points or poles in the pattern of the outer surface of the shell the location of the two self-healing plugs within the airchamber is always known, and if under any circumstances or at any time it is desired to charge the ball more highly it can be done by puncturing the gutta-percha at one of these points and inserting a hypodermic needle attached to a compressed-air source through one of the plugs within the chamber. The withdrawal of the needle allows the self-healing plug to close, and the puncture in the outer shell can readily be closed with a hot bit of gutta-percha and a hot tool. In practice the plugs or lumps may be dispensed with, as the inner lining described is selfsealing throughout under the pressure employed.

It is obvious that the inclosing shell may consist of gutta-percha alone, or the described composition alone, or layers of each, or of other equivalent or other suitable material. It is also obvious that another suitable elastic fluid than airas, forinstance, nitrogen gas-- may be used to charge the ball.

From the foregoing description the latitude which the above-described expedients afford will be clear, showing how it is possible to make balls meeting the conditions of a standard and also admitting of variations to suit special tastes or demands-for instance, by making a ball with the thinnest wall practicable with the least possible resiliency at the same time as rigid as practicable and of right specific gravity. The ball will putt well, showing. no undue deviations from its course from contact with slight roughnesses of the green, as a rubber ball would, and if the inclosed air is compressed to a high degree it will be very sensitive and resilient for halfshots, with a corresponding good driving quality, while if this same kind of shell, eX- cept of less specific gravity and thicker to maintain the right weight, is used with the necessarily smaller air-chamber filled with air compressed to the highestdegree practicable this ball may putt and drive similarly to the other and yet show a marked difference in the half-shots, due to the fact that the latter blows do not reach and call into action the resiliency of the air in the same proportion as with the other ball nor as the heavier impact does in this ball' owing to the difference in the thickness of the wall of the shell.

I have hereinabove described a ball con-' taining a single central air-cavity. It is of teristic of such balls, and one in which they are all distinguished in principle from my present pneumatic golf-ball, resides in the fact that the shell portions thereof are adapted and intended to transmit the elasticity of the pneumatic body under the im pact of all blows, light as well as hard. Hence none of these is the mechanical equivalent of or could successfully substitute my present golf-ball.

I claim as my invention- 1. A golf-ball comprising an airtight shell having a central cavity adapted to contain a body of fluid under pressure to form an elasprovided with self-sealing meansto retain the compressed fluid therein, substantially as described. 3. A golf-ball comprising an outer shell of such material and thickness and having such rigidity as to maintain its sphericity under light impact and having a central cavity to containa compressed fluid and a self-sealing fluid-tight lining for said cavity, substantially as described.

4. A golf-ball comprising an inner hollow rubber ball, adapted to be filled with an elastic fluid, a fibrous reinforcing-covering, surrounding said ball, and an inclosing shell of gutta-percha, or similar material, substantially as described.

5. A golf-ball comprising an'inner hollow rubber ball, adapted to be filled with an elastic fiuid, a covering of reinforcing material, as friction-thread Wound thereabout, said covering being suitably treated to increase its specific gravity, and an outer shell of guttapercha, substantially as described.

6. A golf-ball comprising an inner hollow rubber ball, adapted to be filled with an elastic fluid, a covering of reinforcing material, as friction-thread wound thereabout, said covering being suitably treated to increase its specific gravity, and an outer shell of guttapercha, mixed with strength and'weight giving substances, substantially as described.

ADDISON T. SAUNDERS.

WVitnesses:

CHARLES T. BURNHAM, M. O. BURNI-IAM.

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