The present invention is directed to a golf ball having a non-planar parting line on its spherical surface. The non-planar parting line includes a plurality of arcuate segments, including at least one elliptical arc segment.

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

Golf balls according to the present invention achieve flight symmetry and overall satisfactory flight performance due to a dimple surface volume ratio that is equivalent between opposing hemispheres despite the use of different dimple geometries, different dimple arrangements, and/or different dimple counts on the opposing hemispheres.

The present disclosure is generally directed to a dimple pattern for a golf ball. In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a specific arrangement of maximum and minimum diameter dimples. In more specific aspects, (i) the maximum diameter dimples are nearest neighbors with each other, (ii) the minimum diameter dimples are nearest neighbors with each other, (iii) the minimum and maximum diameter dimples are not nearest neighbors with each other, and (iv) the maximum diameter dimples only appear in one domain while the minimum diameter dimples only appear in the other domain.

The present disclosure is generally directed to a dimple pattern for a golf ball. In one aspect, the present disclosure is directed to a specific arrangement of first and second domains each consisting of perimeter dimples and interior dimples. The dimples have at least three different dimple diameters, including a minimum dimple diameter, a maximum dimple diameter, and at least one additional dimple diameter. In a specific aspect, the dimples having the maximum dimple diameter are only present in the first domains, the dimples having the minimum dimple diameter are only present in the second domains, and none of the perimeter dimples in the first domain are maximum dimple diameters.

Golf balls including at least one modified dimple group are disclosed. The modified dimple group comprises one or more modified dimples forming an axially symmetric pattern about a Correction Area Centroid located on an axis of symmetry at a latitude greater than 0°, where 0° represents the hemispherical pole and 90° represents the equator. The modified dimples can be altered, for example, by changing dimple coverage, dimple diameter, dimple depth, dimple edge angle, dimple volume, dimple cross-sectional shape, and/or dimple plan shape. Optionally, the dimples have a catenary cross-sectional shape and the modified dimples are altered by changing the shape factor and/or chord depth. Such modifications preferably produce a golf ball that flies more consistently regardless of orientation when struck than a corresponding golf ball without such modifications.

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.

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

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.