The present invention is a modified resin for a molded article obtained by modifying an ethylene/unsaturated carboxylic acid copolymer with guanidine carbonate, wherein a melt flow rate of the ethylene/unsaturated carboxylic acid copolymer is 20 (g/10 minutes) or more and 600 (g/10 minutes) or less.

A description is provided herein of an apparatus comprising a golf ball having embedded electronic components that can measure how far said ball has rolled and its velocity during a putt across a putting surface. Elements of the ball fabrication are described which allow light to be transmitted to interrogation devices which respond depending on the orientation of the ball relative to external light sources. A correlation of light received at various parts of the ball provide an event signal which is interpreted by an on-board processor. Determination of current distance and speed is continuously calculated during the roll of the putted ball. Data is relayed to a secondary device capable of displaying the information to a golfer during putting practice sessions. This will help the golfer to train how hard to hit a putt so that it will roll a known distance.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a rubber composition from which a crosslinked rubber molded product having good softness and excellent resilience performance can be obtained. The present disclosure provides a rubber composition containing (a) a base rubber, (b) a co-crosslinking agent, (c) a crosslinking initiator, and (d) a salt of a benzothiazole derivative, wherein (d) the salt of the benzothiazole derivative includes a compound represented by the formula (1) in which a sulfur atom S.sup.2 constituting a thiocarbonyl group has a Mulliken charge of −0.190 or more.

##STR00001##

[In the formula (1), R.sup.1 to R.sup.4 are identical to or different from each other, and represent an electron-withdrawing group or a hydrogen atom, S.sup.1 and S.sup.2 represent a sulfur atom, X represents a cation component, n is an integer ranging from 1 to 4, and at least one of R.sup.1 to R.sup.4 bonding to the identical benzene ring is an electron-withdrawing group when n is 2 or more.]

A system for measuring golf ball trajectory characteristics is disclosed. The system includes artificial grass with a launch location for a golf ball and a plurality of wide-angle distance optical sensors mechanically connected to the artificial grass positioned such that a field of measurement of each wide-angle distance optical sensors intersects. The system also includes a central processing unit connected to the wide-angle distance optical sensors, the central processing unit configured to collect distance measurements from the wide-angle distance optical sensors and to determine a velocity of a trajectory of the golf ball from the launch location to the intersection of the field of measurement of each wide-angle distance optical sensors given a distance between the plurality of the wide-angle distance optical sensors, a distance between the plurality of the wide-angle distance optical sensors and the launch location, and the distance measurements from the plurality of the wide-angle distance optical sensors. Once the velocity of the trajectory of the golf ball is determined, the central processing unit transmits the velocity to a display.

A resin composition for golf balls includes (a) an acid-containing copolymer having an amount of acid constituent per 100 wt % of the sum of monomer units in the copolymer that is from 1 to 30 wt %, and (b) an amine-containing polymer having a branched structure. The resin composition imparts golf balls with an excellent rebound resilience and also confers an outstanding durability to repeated impact and an outstanding scuff resistance, making it particularly useful as a cover material in golf balls.

A method and system for charging an electronic golf ball are described herein. The system is made up of a charging apparatus and an electronic golf ball. The charging apparatus includes a holder for holding the electronic golf ball, a power transmitting apparatus mounted within the holder, the power transmitting apparatus encircling an area where the electronic golf ball is located when the electronic golf ball is to be charged, and a power supply electrically connected to the power transmitting device. The electronic golf ball includes an outer shell, a ball core covered by the outer shell, a power receiving apparatus within the ball core, wherein the power receiving apparatus receives power wirelessly from the power transmitting apparatus, a printed circuit board electrically connected to the power receiving apparatus, and a battery connected to the printed circuit board.

A golf ball material contains (I) a multi-component copolymer having conjugated diene units, non-conjugated olefin units and aromatic vinyl units; and (II) a binary copolymer of an olefin and an α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid of 3 to 8 carbons and/or a ternary copolymer of an olefin, an α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid of 3 to 8 carbons and an ester of the α,β-unsaturated carboxylic acid, or a metal neutralization product thereof.

The conjugated diene units include butadiene units, the non-conjugated olefin units include units selected from the group consisting of ethylene, propylene and 1-butene units, and the aromatic vinyl units include styrene units. The content of the conjugated diene units in the multi-component copolymer (I) is 5 wt % or more. This golf ball material is soft and has an excellent rebound resilience. Golf balls which use this material in the cover provide golfers with a competitive edge.

A golf ball core, mantle, and/or cover layer(s) of golf ball having a composition comprising functionalized aluminosilicate particles having a particle size of less than 50 μm is disclosed herein. The aluminosilicate microspheres with an average diameter less than 50 μm are functionalized with, but not limited to, polysulfide, vinyl, amino, epoxy, hydroxyl, carboxyl, methacryloyl, hydrocarbon, mercapto and isocyanate.

In a golf ball having a core and a cover of at least one layer encasing the core, the core is a product molded under heat from a rubber composition which includes (A) a base rubber, (B) an unsaturated carboxylic acid and/or a metal salt thereof, and (C) an organic peroxide. Letting the content of component (B) in the rubber composition per 100 parts by weight of component (A) be X parts by weight and the concentration of volatile substances from component (B) within the core be A wt %, the value A/X is 0.0123 or less. This golf ball has a low energy loss, enabling a high initial velocity to be obtained.

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.