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.

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 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 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.

In a multi-piece solid golf ball having a core, an intermediate layer encasing the core and a cover which encases the intermediate layer and has numerous dimples on an outside surface thereof, the intermediate layer is formed of a resin material, the cover is formed of a urethane resin material, the core has a diameter of at least 38.0 mm, the core has a deflection when compressed under a final load of 1,275 N (130 kgf) from an initial load of 98 N (10 kgf) of at least 3.9 mm, the core has a center and a surface such that the value obtained by subtracting the JIS-C hardness at the core center from the JIS-C hardness at the core surface is at least 15, the sphere obtained by encasing the core with the intermediate layer (intermediate layer-encased sphere) has a surface hardness on the Shore D hardness scale of at least 69, the ball has a surface hardness on the Shore D hardness scale of 62 or less, and the (intermediate layer thickness)/(core diameter) value is from 0.025 to 0.043, the (cover thickness)/(core diameter) value is from 0.014 to 0.027.

A golf ball of the present invention includes a core and a cover located outside the core and having a plurality of dimples on a surface thereof A bottom of each of the dimples has a curved shape protruding toward an outside of the golf ball. A depth d of a center protruding portion of the bottom of the dimple is a perpendicular distance between a line S connecting both ends of an outer periphery of the dimple and a highest point of the protruding portion. A volume occupation ratio VR of the dimple is less than 0.75. A relationship between Shore D hardness H of a material of the cover and the depth d (unit: mm) satisfies the following Formula 1:

(H-83)/(−300)>d   (Formula 1).

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 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 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 low frequency periodic function mapped along a simple closed path. In addition, the present invention provides methods for designing dimples having a plan shape defined by a low frequency periodic function mapped along a simple closed path.

A golf ball can have a relatively large number of dimples on a surface thereof. A trajectory of the golf ball calculated under conditions of an initial speed of 260 ft/s, a launch angle of 15.0 degrees, and an initial backspin rate of 3000 rpm can satisfy the following mathematical formula:

Amin≥−5.0*Vave−38.98,

wherein A min represents a minimum value (degree) of a vector angle A in the trajectory, and Vave represents an average volume (mm.sup.3) of the dimples. The vector angle A can be calculated by the following mathematical formula:

A=ATAN(Vy/Vx),

wherein Vx represents a horizontal component of a speed of the golf ball, and Vy represents a vertical component of the speed of the golf ball.