| 摘要 |
A golf ball has an RFID or other electronically-detectable tag-insert 4 that is located in an over-size central cavity 6 of the golf-ball core 2, the tag is immersed in an aqueous liquid and or/ thixotropic gel medium 5 which in response to striking of the ball flows as a liquid round the tag within the cavity to damp transitional movement and vibration of the tag. For retro-fit of an already-manufactured standard ball, entry of aqueous liquid into the cavity 6 is from a borehole-opening 3 which is centred within a dimple of the outer cover 1 of the ball, and which is sealed 8 following introduction of a gelling agent 9 into the cavity. A central cavity (Fig.3, 22) can be formed in the core (20) of a ball during its manufacture, and after the cavity has been filled with the liquid medium (23) to immerse the tag (24), it is closed by a plastics plug (25) that displaces excess liquid (26) from the cavity. The tag (fig.7, 42) of a used and damaged ball can be retrieved and recycled by automated machine (fig.5, 30) that cuts a circumferential slit through the cover and partly into the core of the ball, and then impacts blades of a chisel (fig.7, 38) in the slit either side of the ball-centre to split the ball in two and reveal the tag. |
