Finally, A “Smart Golf Ball”!

Time to brush-up on your knowledge of ferrofluids, magnetorheological fluids, inverse magnetorheological fluids, and magnetorheological elastomers.

Today a patent application published with the title “adaptive golf ball,” and describes the invention as a “smart golf ball.” OK, that got my attention. It just so happens I have been looking for a ball that can predict when I am going to hit it off the toe and then adjust accordingly.

Well, come to find out… the ball disclosed in US Pub. No. 20080045358 isn’t quite as smart as I was hoping for. Oh well, how fun would golf really be if you were always in the middle of the fairway? The patent application describes the invention as:

The present invention relates to a smart golf ball comprised of one or more mantle layers juxtaposed between an inner core and outer cover, where the core, the mantle layer(s), and/or the cover are further comprised of a ferrofluid, a magnetorheological fluid, an inverse magnetorheological fluid, and/or a magnetorheological elastomer, in any of its construction. These nano-engineered materials make possible a golf ball with heretofore-unprecedented levels of adaptive play.

Check out this figure from the application:

What is so “smart” about this ball? Well, the following paragraphs from the application do a good job of explaining the concept.

[0022] 1. Magnetorheological fluids exhibit semi-solid-like characteristics in the presence of a magnetic field and semi-liquid-like characteristics in the absence of one. As a result, when an adaptive golf ball (with a magnetorheological fluid core) is resting upon a magnetic golf tee (i.e., a golf tee with one or more permanent magnets integrated therein), it will exhibit a solid core with reduced spin and greater distance off the tee. In the fairway and on the green however (i.e., without the use of a golf tee, magnetic or otherwise), this same adaptive golf ball will exhibit a liquid core with greater spin and improved control. In this way, the same ball will exhibit markedly-different playing characteristics depending on the use, or not, of a magnetic golf tee.

[0023] 2. When an adaptive golf ball is struck by a magnetic golf club (i.e., a golf club with one or more permanent magnets integrated therein), it will react differently as compared to being struck by a conventional (i.e., non-magnetic) golf club. In this way, the same adaptive golf ball will allow a more sophisticated club selection for the shot at hand.

[0024] 3. Use of a magnetic golf club with one or more permanent magnets integrated immediately-behind and centered-upon the optimal hitting region of the club face, may statistically reduce the number of mis-hits, because an adaptive golf ball will be attracted towards the “sweet” area of the club face immediately before impact (i.e., the golf ball will be struck more often by the optimal region of the club face).

[0025] 4. The magnitude of interaction between an adaptive golf ball and a magnetic golf club and/or magnetic golf tee can be easily controlled by the strength and number of permanent magnets integrated into the club and/or the tee. In this way, one may achieve magnetically-tunable playability. This would allow golf ball manufacturers to market the same ball over a much wider audience. “The adaptive golf ball could be the last ball you (the player) will ever use.”

[0026] 5. An adaptive golf ball may enjoy certain advantages with regard to the various energy and momentum conservation, transference, and/or conversion mechanisms normally associated with the process of striking a golf ball with a golf club.

[0027] 6. An adaptive golf ball may be more amenable to future technological innovations in the game of golf. For example, should an electromagnetic grid be someday buried beneath the playing surface, it might be possible to map the trajectory and impact point of an adaptive golf ball, to track player statistics in real time.

[0028] 7. Without a magnetic field present to invoke its extraordinary behavior, the adaptive golf ball will play like an ordinary golf ball. As a result, the novice player is not penalized for not invoking its special properties.

[0029] 8. An adaptive golf ball with a magnetorheological elastomer core, mantle, and/or cover layer will exhibit a unique, machine-readable, difficult to duplicate, three-dimensional distribution of magnetic and/or magnetizable particles. This distribution can be used as a unique magnetic “fingerprint” or “signature” for players and officials to unequivocally differentiate one golf ball from another.

[0030] 9. An adaptive golf ball can be conveniently picked-up using a permanent magnet that is attached or otherwise integrated into one or the other distal end of a putter. This may alleviate back strain or injury when leaning over to pick-up the ball after sinking a putt.

[0031] 10. Use of a permanent magnet at the distal end of a long, telescopic pole may facilitate the retrieval of an adaptive golf ball in murky water and/or uninviting brush.

[0032] 11. As an aid for physically-handicapped players, a magnetic cup (i.e., a cup on the green with permanent magnets integrated therein and/or thereon) could be used to attract an adaptive golf ball with a statistical reduction in the number of strokes on the green.

[0033] 12. A magnetic golf tee (i.e., a golf tee with one or more permanent magnets integrated therein) will be easier to use with an adaptive golf ball as compared to the “balancing act” of a conventional golf ball resting on a conventional golf tee.

[0034] 13. On a driving range, where the need exists to pick-up a large number of golf balls in a quick and efficient manner, an adaptive golf ball could facilitate a magnetic “raking” means for picking up many golf bal
ls simultaneously.

[0035] 14. An adaptive golf ball may allow for certain manufacturing advantages. For example, the liquid-core of a traditional golf ball is sometimes frozen to retain its spherical shape during subsequent processing steps. In comparison, a magnetorheological fluid core could be “solidified” by merely introducing a magnetic field and then “re-liquefied” at some later convenient time by removing the magnetic field.

[0036] 15. In a production environment, the adaptive golf ball will enjoy certain handling, holding, sorting and/or packaging advantages, because a permanent magnet and/or electromagnet can be used to pick-up and place one or more of them in a novel and convenient manner.

[0037] 16. An adaptive golf ball may have certain advantages with regard to labeling. For example, certain inks and paints are now available with magnetic particles contained therein. It may be possible that these magnetic pigments will adhere more favorably to the surface of an adaptive golf ball, thereby allowing the manufacturer’s name and other labeling (part number, serial number, etc.) to last longer.

[0038] 17. Recently, hollow-metal-core golf balls have gained a following amongst some players because of their favorable moment of inertia characteristics (see Nano Dynamics NDMX HMS110, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). An adaptive golf ball could be simply achieved by filling the hollow-core with a magnetic fluid.

[0039] 18. Traditional golf tees are considered by most to be low-tech, expendable necessities of the game. As a result, most golf ball manufacturers do not fabricate them. An adaptive golf ball would cause the golf tee to evolve from its present unsophisticated state, thereby enticing golf ball manufacturers to increase their revenues by selling magnetic golf tees.

[0040] 19. If a reservoir of ferrofluid should take the shape of a sphere, and a permanent magnet in spherical form be introduced therein, the magnet will float towards the center of the reservoir. Such magnetic-levitating and self-centering means may have profound advantages in the core of an adaptive golf ball because it effectively de-couples the spin aptitude of the cover from the core.

[0041] 20. During manufacture, retractable pins are traditionally used to center the core within the overlying mantle layer(s) and/or cover. This procedure leaves material voids behind, that need to be later filled-up in subsequent processing steps. In theory, magnetic levitation could be used to position the core of an adaptive golf ball during such time that the mantle layer(s) and/or cover are being formed, thereby allowing a higher level of centration to be achieved without the use of retractable holding pins.

[0042] 21. As is well known by those who are fluent in spin-stabilized magnetic levitation, a spinning magnet can sometimes be suspended in mid-air above a permanent magnet. An adaptive golf ball with a floating magnetic core could facilitate such levitation means.

[0043] 22. An adaptive golf ball will continue to benefit from the exponential growth in maximum energy product (BH.sub.max) for permanent magnet materials.

[0044] 23. After club impact, a spinning adaptive golf ball (with a floating magnetic core) may enjoy certain advantages with regard to its flight as a result of the earth’s magnetic field.


Sound too good to be true?

Dave Dawsey  – Watching Golf Ball Technology

PS – Check out other golf ball patent posts here