The present invention provides a method for arranging dimples on a golf ball surface in which the dimples are arranged in a pattern derived from at least one irregular domain generated from a regular or non-regular polyhedron. The method includes choosing control points of a polyhedron, generating an irregular domain based on those control points, packing the irregular domain with dimples, and tessellating the irregular domain to cover the surface of the golf ball. The control points include the center of a polyhedral face, a vertex of the polyhedron, a midpoint or other point on an edge of the polyhedron and others. The method ensures that the symmetry of the underlying polyhedron is preserved while minimizing or eliminating great circles due to parting lines.

The present invention is directed to a golf ball having a non-planar parting line on its spherical surface.

Methods for making golf balls and golf ball components using three-dimensional (3D) additive manufacturing systems are provided. The golf ball includes at least one three-dimensional piece. Preferably, a continuous liquid interface printing method is used to make the three-dimensional structure. Ultraviolet (UV)-light polymerizable materials are used in the method. The method may be used to make single-piece or multi-piece balls. For example, the ball may include an inner core produced by the liquid interface printing method. An outer core layer may be disposed about the inner core, and a cover comprising inner and outer cover layers may encapsulate the core assembly to form the finished golf ball. The outer core and cover layers may be made using conventional molding technologies or methods of this invention.

In a golf ball including dimples having coma shapes, the dimples are arranged such that one comma shaped dimple replaces a circular dimple, two or more comma shaped dimples of different sizes replace one circular dimple, comma shaped dimples having different shapes are arranged in a mixed type arrangement, circular dimples and comma shaped dimples are arranged in a mixed type arrangement, or a discontinuous annular dimple is added to the comma shaped dimples. Thus, a disadvantage of a large circular dimple may be removed and simultaneously a golf ball with stable flight capability and a long flight distance may be provided.

The present invention provides dimple patterns with tetrahedral tilings where the dimples are arranged in multiple copies of a first domain and a second domain, and the dimple pattern in the first domain is different than the dimple pattern in the second domain. A majority of dimples are provided having a first plan shape and a first profile shape, and at least one of the domains has a sub-pattern of nearest neighbor dimples having either a plan shape or a dimple profile shape that is different than the majority of dimples.

In a golf ball including dimples having comma shapes, the dimples are arranged such that one comma shaped dimple replaces a circular dimple, two or more comma shaped dimples of different sizes replace one circular dimple, comma shaped dimples having different shapes are arranged in a mixed type arrangement, circular dimples and comma shaped dimples are arranged in a mixed type arrangement, or a discontinuous annular dimple is added to the comma shaped dimples. Thus, a disadvantage of a large circular dimple may be removed and simultaneously a golf ball with stable flight capability and a long flight distance may be provided.

A golf ball according to an aspect of the present invention is a golf ball having a large number of dimples, a surface of the golf ball is covered with a plurality of virtual flat surfaces each having a triangular shape, one or more dimples are arranged so as to correspond to each of the virtual flat surfaces, and an edge of each dimple is formed in a linear shape. Each dimple may have a triangular pyramid shape or a triangular frustum shape.

The present invention provides dimple patterns with octahedral tilings where the dimples are arranged in multiple copies of a first domain and a second domain, and the dimple pattern in the first domain is different than the dimple pattern in the second domain. A majority of dimples are provided having a first plan shape and a first profile shape, and at least one of the domains has a sub-pattern of nearest neighbor dimples having either a plan shape or a profile shape that is different than the majority of dimples.

The present invention provides dimple patterns with icosahedral tilings where the dimples are arranged in multiple copies of a first domain and a second domain, and the dimple pattern in the first domain is different than the dimple pattern in the second domain. A majority of dimples are provided having a first plan shape and a first profile shape, and at least one of the domains has a sub-pattern of nearest neighbor dimples having either a plan shape or a dimple profile shape that is different than the majority of dimples.

The present invention is directed to golf balls having improved aerodynamic performance due, at least in part, to the selection of the plan shapes of the dimples thereon. In particular, the present invention is directed to a golf ball that includes at least a portion of its dimples having a plan shape defined by a periodic cosine function mapped along a circular closed path. In addition, the present invention provides methods for designing dimples having a plan shape defined by a periodic cosine function mapped along a circular closed path.