Polyurea and polyurethane compositions for golf equipment

Abstract

A golf ball having at least a core and a layer disposed about the core is disclosed. The layer is formed from a composition having multiple reactive and/or non-reactive ingredients. At least one of these ingredients is a polyether polyahl formed from three or more diols and/or cyclic ethers, such as oxolane, oxirane, and a chiral cyclic ether.

1 . A golf ball comprising:
 a core having a diameter of 1.55 inches or greater; and   a cover layer having a thickness of from 0.02 inches to 0.12 inches and being formed from a polyurea, wherein the polyurea is formed by reacting a polyurea prepolymer with an amine curative, and wherein the polyurea prepolymer is formed by reacting an isocyanate with a polyether polyamine, wherein the polyether polyamine comprises —O(CH 2 ) 4 —, —O(CH 2 ) 2 —, and a branched oxyalkylene monomer unit.   
   
   
       2 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the golf ball additionally comprises an intermediate layer disposed between the core and the cover layer. 
   
   
       3 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the core is a solid core having a compression of 40 to 100 or a coefficient of restitution of 0.7 or greater, and the cover layer has a flexural modulus of 1,000 psi to 100,000 psi or a Shore D hardness of 90 or less. 
   
   
       4 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has a coefficient of restitution of 0.7 or greater. 
   
   
       5 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the branched oxyalkylene monomer unit has a structure of: 
     
       
         
         
             
             
         
       
     
     where Y 1  to Y 4  are independently hydrogen or hydrocarbon moieties, at least one of which is an alkyl moiety having 1 to about 10 carbon atoms; and a, b, and x are independently zero or integers from 1 to about 10. 
   
   
       6 . The golf ball of  claim 5 , wherein the branched oxyalkylene monomer unit is —OCH 2 CH(CH 3 )(CH 2 ) 2 —, —OCH(CH 3 )(CH 2 ) 3 —, —OCH(CH 3 )(CH 2 ) 2 —, —OCH 2 CH(CH 3 )CH 2 —, —OC(CH 3 ) 2 CH 2 —, —OCH(C 2 H 5 )CH 2 —, or —OCH(CH 3 )CH 2 —. 
   
   
       7 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the polyether polyamine is formed from oxolane having a molar fraction M 1  of 0.01 to 0.9, oxirane having a molar fraction M 2  of 0.005 to 0.6, and a chiral cyclic ether having a molar fraction M 3  of 0.005 to 0.8, M 1 +M 2 +M 3 ≦1.