The present invention is a golf ball which comprises cat-witch dimples on the surface thereof. The cat-witch dimples have a cross-sectional shape defined by the superposition of a catenary curve function and a Witch of Agnesi curve function. The cat-witch dimples include a plurality of similarly shaped cat-witch dimples having at least two different dimple diameters.

The present invention is directed to golf balls having improved aesthetics and desirable aerodynamic properties due, at least in part, to the novel shape of the dimples on the surface thereof. In particular, the present invention is directed to a golf ball that includes at least a portion of its dimples having a shape obtained from the intersection of a prismatic polyhedron and the golf ball outer surface. The resulting curve of intersection represents the dimple perimeter and the intersecting portion of the surface of the prismatic polyhedron represents the dimple surface shape.

The present invention concerns a golf ball having dimples with a cross-sectional profile comprising a conical top portion and a bottom portion. More particularly, the profiles of the present invention are defined by three independent parameters: dimple diameter (D.sub.D), edge angle (.sub.EDGE), and saucer ratio (S.sub.r). These parameters fully define the dimple shape and allow for greater flexibility in constructing a dimple profile versus conventional spherical dimples. The dimples optionally have a transition surface connecting the conical top portion to the land area of the golf ball and/or a transition surface connecting the conical top portion to the bottom portion.

The present invention relates to golf balls, specifically, to a golf ball with multifaceted dimples comprising two discrete geometries including a circular perimeter and a depression or protrusion based on a polyhedral prismatoid.

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 a golf ball which comprises spherical-cosine dimples on the surface thereof. The spherical-cosine dimples have a cross-sectional shape defined by the superposition of a spherical function and a cosine function. Each of the spherical-cosine dimples preferably has a dimple diameter of 0.180 inches or greater.

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

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 invention is directed to golf balls having surface textures with unique appearances and improved aerodynamic characteristics due, at least in part, to the use of curvilinear dimple plan shapes. 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 number of convex or concave arcs that are derived from the vertices of a regular n-sided polygon, for example, an equilateral triangle or square.

The present invention concerns a golf ball having dimples with a cross-sectional profile comprising a conical top portion and a bottom portion. More particularly, the profiles of the present invention are defined by three independent parameters: dimple diameter (D.sub.D), edge angle (.sub.EDGE), and saucer ratio (S.sub.r). These parameters fully define the dimple shape and allow for greater flexibility in constructing a dimple profile versus conventional spherical dimples. The dimples optionally have a transition surface connecting the conical top portion to the land area of the golf ball and/or a transition surface connecting the conical top portion to the bottom portion.