Patent of the Week – Acushnet’s “Golf Ball Dimples” Patent

Why are golf ball dimple pattern patents so interesting? No, really… I am being serious. It must be the engineer in me… I love reading about dimple patterns. The bizarre geometry, the complicated layouts, the terminology, how they influence drag, … it is just fascinating stuff.

This week congratulations go out to Acushnet for USPN 7207905 titled “Golf Ball Dimples.” The patent describes the invention as:

A dimple for a golf ball including a generally circular perimeter (including ovals, ellipses, egg shapes, and other generally round shapes), a base, and a sidewall connecting the perimeter to the base. The sidewall may form a distinct angular junction with the base, or it may smoothly blend into the base. Along the perimeter, a sidewall tangent line and a ball phantom surface tangent line form an edge angle. The edge angle varies cyclically around the perimeter of the dimple. The edge angle can also vary cyclically around the perimeter of a group or cluster of dimples.

Check out some of the embodiments disclosed in the patent.

Did you know that tessellated dimples are dimples arranged in a tiled pattern with generally uniform land widths between the dimples? Therefore, non-tessellated dimple configurations have land areas with cross-sectional shapes that vary with the position in an uncontrolled manner. I encourage you to read the patent, you will definitely learn something new.

Congratulations Acushnet.

David Dawsey – Watching the Golf Ball Dimple Patents