Appeal No. 2002-1031
Application 09/129,883
3.5 mm under an applied load of 100 kg., a cover having a Shore D
hardness of 50-63, preferably 55-60 (col. 2, lines 39-41), and,
in the Figure 2 embodiment, an intermediate layer having a Shore
D hardness of 20-70, preferably 25-60 (col. 2, lines 33-36).
Yamagishi ‘413 is silent as to the dimple pattern on the ball.
Hayashi, the primary reference in the rejection of
independent claim 16, pertains to a wound golf ball comprising a
two layer core 4-5, a layer 2 formed by winding thread rubber
around the core layers, and an outer cover 3. In the background
section of the specification (col. 1, lines 5-40), Hayashi
describes the tradeoffs between solid core golf balls and wound
golf balls. An objective of Hayashi is to provide a modified
wound golf ball that retains the superior hitting feel and
controllability of that type of ball while also having flight
distance that is comparable to solid core golf balls. To this
end, Hayashi proposes to provide a relatively large diameter
center ball of two layer construction in order to (a) optimize
the hardness of center ball layers and the hardness distribution
of the center ball, (b) improve control and flight performance,
and (c) give a soft pleasant hitting feel (col. 1, lines 46-55).
In accordance with these objectives, the ball of Hayashi may have
a center core having a distortion of 1-5 mm, preferably 1.8 to
5
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