Golf ball

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having an individualized and improved appearance by imparting the luster, without lowering durability and a color developing property of the paint film and/or the mark. Another object of the present invention is to provide a golf ball having an improved visibility, which the mark should inherently provide. The present invention provides a golf ball comprising a golf ball body, a mark formed on the golf ball body, a paint film coating the golf ball body and the mark, wherein the mark and/or the paint film contains a luster material, wherein the luster material has a core material having a transparent base and a first transparent layer formed on the transparent base; and at least one composite layer formed on the core material and consisting of a second transparent layer having a lower refractive index than the first transparent layer, and a third transparent layer having a higher refractive index than the second transparent layer.

1 . A golf ball comprising
 a golf ball body,   a mark formed on a golf ball body,   a paint film coating the golf ball body and the mark, wherein the mark and/or the paint film contains a luster material, wherein the luster material has   a core material having a transparent base and a first transparent layer formed on the transparent base; and   at least one composite layer formed on the core material and consisting of a second transparent layer having a lower refractive index than the first transparent layer, and a third transparent layer having a higher refractive index than the second transparent layer.   
     
     
         2 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein materials constituting the first transparent layer and the third transparent layer are at least one selected from the group consisting of titanium dioxide, iron oxide, zirconium dioxide, zinc oxide, zinc sulfide, and bismuth oxychloride. 
     
     
         3 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein a material constituting the second transparent layer is selected from the group consisting of silicon dioxide, magnesium fluoride, and aluminum oxide. 
     
     
         4 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the transparent base is a glass flake. 
     
     
         5 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the first transparent layers are directly formed on the both faces of the transparent base, and the second transparent layers are directly formed on the first transparent layers, and the third transparent layers are directly formed on the second transparent layers. 
     
     
         6 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the transparent base has a light transmittance of at least 75%. 
     
     
         7 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein materials for the first transparent layer, the second transparent layer, and the third transparent layer are selected so that a difference of a refractive index between adjacent layers is at least 0.2. 
     
     
         8 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the first transparent layer, the second transparent layer, and the third transparent layer each has a thickness ranging from 40 nm to 250 nm. 
     
     
         9 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the luster material has an average particle size ranging from 5 μm to 300 μm. 
     
     
         10 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the luster material has a thickness ranging from 0.5 μm to 5 μm. 
     
     
         11 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the mark is formed from an ink composition containing the luster material in an amount ranging from 1 mass % to 30 mass %. 
     
     
         12 . The golf ball according to  claim 11 , wherein the ink composition comprises a pigment in an amount ranging from 0.5 mass % to 20 mass %. 
     
     
         13 . The golf ball according to  claim 12 , wherein a content ratio of the luster material to the pigment (luster material [mass %]/pigment [mass %]) ranges from 0.1 to 50. 
     
     
         14 . The golf ball according to  claim 11 , wherein the ink composition contains a base resin in an amount ranging from 15 mass % to 50 mass %. 
     
     
         15 . The golf ball according to  claim 14 , wherein the ink composition comprises a polyester resin, an epoxy resin, a soluble nitrocellulose, an acrylic resin, a vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymer, an urethane resin, or a polyamide resin as the base resin. 
     
     
         16 . The golf ball according to  claim 11 , wherein the ink composition contains non-volatiles in an amount ranging from 20 mass % to 70 mass %. 
     
     
         17 . The golf ball according to  claim 1 , wherein the paint film contains
 an acrylic resin, an epoxy resin, a polyurethane resin, a polyester-based resin, or a cellulose-based resin as a resin component.   
     
     
         18 . The golf ball according to  claim 17 , wherein the paint film contains the luster material in an amount ranging from 0.05 part to 20 parts by mass with respect to the resin component.