| Odorant golf balls -> Monitor Keywords |
|
|
 
Odorant golf ballsOdorant golf balls description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20070219019, Odorant golf balls. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001]This application claims benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/783,117 filed Mar. 16, 2006. This prior application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002]1. Field Of The Invention [0003]This invention relates to odorant-containing golf balls that are useful as a means to identify and distinguish a golf ball. In one embodiment, the odorant golf balls are comprised of a polymer having an odorant encapsulated within the polymer and wherein the odorant is present at a detection threshold. [0004]2. Background [0005]The rules of golf are internationally standardized and are jointly governed by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews (R&A), and the United States Golf Association (USGA). By agreement with the R&A, USGA jurisdiction on the enforcement and interpretation of the rules is limited to the United States and Mexico. [0006]Both the R&A and the USGA have similar rules regarding when a player uses a wrong ball during the course of play. The USGA defines a wrong ball as any ball other than the player's: ball in play; provisional ball, or second ball played under Rule 3-3 or Rule 20-7c in stroke play; and includes another player's ball; an abandoned ball; and the player's original ball when it is no longer in play. A ball in play includes a ball substituted for the ball in play whether or not the substitution is permitted. In the United States Rule 15-3 of the USGA's The Rules of Golf, incorporated herein by reference, states that: [0007]15-3. Wrong Ball [0008]a. Match Play [0009]If a player makes a stroke at a wrong ball that is not in a hazard, he loses the hole. [0010]There is no penalty if a player makes a stroke at a wrong ball in a hazard. Any strokes made at a wrong ball in a hazard do not count in the player's score. [0011]If the wrong ball belongs to another player, its owner must place a ball on the spot from which the wrong ball was first played. [0012]If the player and opponent exchange balls during the play of a hole, the first to make a stroke at a wrong ball that is not in a hazard, loses the hole; when this cannot be determined, the hole must be played out with the balls exchanged. [0013]b. Stroke Play [0014]If a competitor makes a stroke or strokes at a wrong ball that is not in a hazard, he incurs a penalty of two strokes. [0015]There is no penalty if a competitor makes a stroke at a wrong ball in a hazard. Any strokes made at a wrong ball in a hazard do not count in the competitor's score. [0016]The competitor must correct his mistake by playing the correct ball or by proceeding under the Rules. If he fails to correct his mistake before making a stroke on the next teeing ground, or in the case of the last hole of the round, fails to declare his intention to correct his mistake before leaving the putting green, he is disqualified. [0017]Strokes made by a competitor with a wrong ball do not count in his score. [0018]If the wrong ball belongs to another competitor, its owner must place a ball on the spot from which the wrong ball was first played. [0019]Therefore, in match play where two golfers face each other to determine who can win the most holes out of an 18 hole match, the golfer playing the wrong ball would lose a hole if he played a wrong ball outside of a hazard. Even more draconian, is the outright disqualification of a player in stroke play for playing a wrong ball. [0020]It is likely that every avid amateur golfer has at one time or another played a wrong ball during the course of play. This is typically because the amateur golfer fails to place a personal marking or denote his ball before teeing off for a round of golf. Often the golfer will come to a ball in play and remember that he failed to mark his ball and not know for certain whether the ball he has found is his or not. This is despite the fact that the golf ball manufacturer places the tradename of the manufacturer and typically a number on the golf ball. [0021]Professional golfers are typically more diligent about knowing the identity of their golf balls before teeing off for a tournament round of golf. Tournaments are often won or lost by a stroke or less and a great deal of money can be earned or loss based on a one or two stroke difference in a golfer's score. However, it takes very little research to learn that professional golfers are not immune to playing the wrong ball during the course of a round of golf. [0022]In 1986 professional golfer, Wayne Grady, was disqualified twice in the same season for playing the wrong ball in both the 1986 Phoenix Open and the 1986 Los Angeles Open. [0023]More recently, on Nov. 20, 2004, during the 2004 UBS Warburg cup, an international competition involving famous players from around the globe, in a match against Arnold Palmer and Jay Haas, professional golfer Mark McNulty mistakenly played his partner, Gary Player's, ball. McNulty explained that after scuffing his ball on the eighth hole his caddie gave him a Callaway No. 4 ball--the same brand and number as that of Player's--in replacement. McNulty had been using a Callaway No. 1, but ran out and his caddie did not inform anyone of the numerical switch. [0024]"When we got down to the balls (in the fairway), there was one six yards ahead of the other, and seeing that Gary had been slightly behind me most of the day, I presumed that the (forward) ball was mine," McNulty said. [0025]"I looked at the back ball and it was a No. 4 and I just said, `he didn't out-drive it,` and that was that. He went ahead and hit a fantastic shot. And it was my call, and it was only when I got to the green that I realized that it was the wrong ball." [0026]In 1994, at the Las Vegas Invitational, all professional golfer Curt Byrum had to do was finish the tournament and he would have made enough money to retain his professional playing privileges for 1995. But, on the 16th hole of the final round, Byrum mistakenly played the wrong ball and teed off the next hole with it. When Byrum finished the round he discovered the mistake and paid the price by getting disqualified from the tournament. [0027]Despite having every incentive not to play the wrong ball, golfers of all levels can and sometimes do play the wrong ball during the course of a round of golf. The present invention addresses this problem by associating an odorant with a golf ball so that the player or caddie upon receiving the ball will either: 1) remember to mark the ball; 2) remember to denote the tradename and number of the ball; or 3) remember the odorant smell so that the smell of the ball can be used to distinguish the ball from a second ball even if the second ball is of the same make and number as in the Player/McNulty confusion described above. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0028]The present invention is directed to golf balls with an improved recognition feature. One aspect of the present invention features a golf ball comprising a polymer; and an odorant associated with the polymer wherein the odorant distinguishes the golf ball from a second golf ball substantially free of the odorant means. [0029]In another embodiment the present invention is directed to a golf ball comprising a polymer; and an odorant present at a detection threshold and associated with the polymer. [0030]Other embodiments of the invention include those golf balls wherein the odorant is present at a super detection threshold. [0031]Other embodiments of the invention include those golf balls wherein the odorant is present at a recognition threshold. [0032]Other embodiments of the invention include those golf balls wherein the polymer is selected from the group consisting of transpolybutadiene, transpolyisoprene, polyurethane, polyurea, polyurethane/polyurea, ionomeric resin such as ionic copolymers of ethylene and an unsaturated monocarboxylic acid, which are available under the trademark SURLYN.RTM. of E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., of Wilmington, Del., castable thermoplastic polyurethanes, thermoset polyurethanes, cationic urethane ionomers, anionic urethane ionomers, urethane epoxies, polyurethane/polyurea ionomers, epoxy resins, polyethylenes, polyamides, polyesters, polycarbonates, polyacrylin, and mixtures thereof. [0033]Other embodiments of the invention include those golf balls wherein the polymer and associated odorant are painted, coated, or surface treated on to the golf ball. [0034]Other embodiments of the invention include those golf balls wherein said odorant is encapsulated within said polymer. Continue reading about Odorant golf balls... Full patent description for Odorant golf balls Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Odorant golf balls patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Odorant golf balls or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Method for manufacturing golf club head Next Patent Application: Golf ball having specific spin, moment of inertia, lift, and drag relationship Industry Class: Games using tangible projectile ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Odorant golf balls patent info. IP-related news and info Results in 0.19223 seconds Other interesting Feshpatents.com categories: Medical: Surgery , Surgery(2) , Surgery(3) , Drug , Drug(2) , Prosthesis , Dentistry 174 |
 * Protect your Inventions * US Patent Office filing 
PATENT INFO |
|
