Title: REINFORCING IONOMERIC MATERIALS USING MULTI-FUNCTIONAL MODIFIER WITH ACID FUNCTIONAL GROUP

 Number/Link: US2012289364

Applicant/Assignee: TAYLOR MADE GOLF CO

Publication date: 11-11-2012

“Gist”: Use of carboxyl group-containing PU ionomers in golf ball covers.

Why it is interesting: It is claimed that certain PU ionomers have advantages over other ionomers for use in golf ball covers. In many golf balls SURLYN(TM) is used as the material of choice, Dupont even has a complete range of resins just for golf balls.
But what is really interesting – or at least remarkable- is the sheer number of golf ball patent applications published each year. More than 7500 were published during the last 10 year (see graph).  About half of these applications are from the US, the rest mostly from the East:  Japan, Korea and since 2005 also from China.

All these patents are about balls to be hit with a stick…  it makes one wonder what there still is left to be improved..