FR2648051A1 - BALLOON, IN PARTICULAR BALLOON FOOTBALL - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a ball, in particular a soccer ball, consisting of an inflatable inner part, called a bladder 10, and an outer shell. In the bladder 10, there are preferably several walls 11, 12 formed of an elastic material and the contours of which correspond to the respective interior dimensions of the bladder; these walls are connected on their periphery respectively with the inner wall of the bladder, preferably by welding or by vulcanization; the walls 11, 12 create inside the bladder 10 chambers 14, 15, 16, 17, interconnected by recesses 18, 19, 20, 21, which makes it possible to use a single valve 22 for the inflation of the balloon.

Description

The present invention relates to a balloon

  ball, in particular a football, consisting of an inflatable inner part (called a bladder) and an envelope receiving the inner part. It is known that an essential specification of the quality of balloons of this kind concerns the perfect establishment of their roundness and in addition their aptitude.

  to maintain this rotundity for a period of

as long as possible.

  For known balloons of the aforementioned type, for example footballs, the roundness is defined almost exclusively by the balloon envelope. The inflatable inner part, called the bladder and which is obviously arranged as a spherical body, is then composed of a comparatively thin walled elastic material, which must withstand the internal pressure of the balloon (usually 0.8 to 1). , 2x105 Pa) but which does not have a high resistance to deformation. Thus, already during manufacture, small inevitable differences in the thickness of the wall formed of the bladder material cause the bladder filled with air to move more or less

of an ideal spherical shape.

  To guarantee the balloon the required rotundity, it is therefore necessary, according to the state of the art, to incur comparatively large costs for the manufacture of the balloon envelope. This envelope usually consists of 32 pentagonal and hexagonal elements, made of a laminated plastic material of great resistance, and glued together on the edges. There are also balloons whose envelope consists of a total of 18 individual elements of profile

elongate.

  The invention aims to obtain or improve

  using simple means the desired rotundity,

  already for the inner part (inflatable bladder).

  According to the invention, the problem is solved for a balloon of the type defined above in that there is provided in the bladder at least one wall, preferably several walls, of an elastic material, whose contours correspond to the dimensions respective inner portions of the bladder and which are connected on their periphery respectively with the inner wall

of the bladder.

  With the walls according to the invention, it is advantageous to obtain a stabilization of the bladder in the sense that the shape of this bladder is improved. Small wall thickness deviations of the bladder material therefore no longer have a disruptive effect, so that the inflated bladder substantially deviates from its spherical shape. The rotundity of the entire balloon is thus no longer determined exclusively by the shape and stability of the balloon envelope, but on the contrary, now the bladder intervenes in this respect for a large part. As a result, it is possible to advantageously obtain manufacturing savings facilities for the balloon envelope without reducing the quality of the latter (refer to the considerations

indicated above).

  In particular, the invention makes it possible to reduce the number of individual elements involved in the envelope of the balloon without the roundness of the balloon and the game properties being altered.

compared to conventional balloons.

  The invention further ensures protection of the balloon material and therefore an extension of the service life of the balloon. Indeed, it is now sufficient to use much smaller pressures (only about 0.5 x 105 Pa compared to the values of 0.8 to 1.2 x 10 Pa adopted until now), to give the inflated balloon the required "hardness"

  or desired for its sports applications.

  Although it is contemplated to first apply the invention to spherical sports balls, such as footballs, handballs, volleyballs and the like, the invention is also applicable.

  ellipsoid balloons (for "foot-

  American ball ") used mainly overseas.

  Indeed, also for these balloons, the requirements of quality.indicated above are applicable in correspondence and it poses' the same problems of manufacture and materials as for balloons spherical. According to another particularity of the invention, the walls are made generally with the same circular shape and their diameter corresponds to the internal diameter of the bladder; the planes of the walls intersect on at least one axis of symmetry

common to several walls.

  It is obvious that the stabilizing effect exerted according to the invention will be all the greater as the number of walls involved in the bladder will be greater. Thus it is for example possible to arrange the walls in the form of fans - inside the bladder with corresponding large, identical or different angles. In particular, however, it is possible to envisage a very advantageous embodiment according to which three walls oriented perpendicularly to one another and which cross each other are provided in the bladder.

  in pairs respectively on a common axis of symmetry.

  In a normal case, it would be sufficient, to satisfy the requirements of stability in accordance with the invention, to have in the bladder two walls mutually perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to each other and crossing each other.

on one of their axes of symmetry.

  At the same time, one is assured of this way of obtaining the optimal conditions in

  concerning manufacturing and expenditure.

  In principle, it is also possible to envisage any other arrangement of the walls by means of which the interior volume of the bladder is divided into several chambers of equal size.

or different.

  By means of the walls according to the invention, the interior of the bladder is thus divided into several chambers and, in this respect, it is advantageous to have a "four-chamber system", which can be created by arranging in the bladder two perpendicular walls

  or substantially perpendicular to each other and

  pouring on one of their axes of symmetry. In this respect, it can be envisaged that the different

  rooms are hermetically insulated from each other.

  This variant would for example have the advantage that, in case of loss of pressure in only one chamber, the balloon would still be usable (at least in case of emergency), because the other rooms would still be subjected to the operating pressure. In any case, such an embodiment would require

  to provide for each room a particular valve.

  According to an improved embodiment of the invention, it is proposed that the walls have openings arranged preferably as circular recesses, so that chambers formed by the walls inside the bladder are pneumatically connected between they. In this respect, the advantage of using only one valve is

  is already applied in the balloons of the prior art.

  In addition, it is possible to save material and weight thanks to the openings

in the walls.

  According to still other particularities of the invention: the walls are formed of the same material

  than the bladder, preferably an elastomeric material.

  - The bladder and the walls are formed

  a weldable polyurethane elastomer.

  - The walls are formed of natural latex, or synthetic rubber, or a thermoplastic elastomer, or a mixture of these materials, and are vulcanized on their periphery with the wall

inside the bladder.

  Other features and advantages of the invention will be highlighted, in the following

  of the description, given by way of non-limiting example,

  with reference to the appended drawing in which:

  Figure 1 represents a form of realization

  an inflatable inner portion (referred to as a bladder) of a football, which has been shown in the form of a transparent body to better highlight the essential features of the invention, and FIG. a way corresponding to that of Figure 1, another form

of making a bladder.

  Reference numeral 10 denotes the outer wall of the spherical shaped bladder, which may advantageously be an elastomeric material, for example a weldable polyurethane elastomer. Alternatively, however, one can also consider the use of natural latex or rubber. synthetic, or a thermoplastic elastomer, or a mixture

of these materials.

  In the embodiment of Figure 1, there are provided inside the bladder 10, two walls 11, 12 of circular shape which are at an angle of 90 and which cross each other on a common axis of symmetry 13 The walls 11, 12 are advantageously formed of the same elastic material as the bladder 10, for example the materials indicated above. The walls 11, 12 are integrally connected on their periphery respectively with the bladder 10 or with its inner wall, preferably by welding or by vulcanization. Through the two walls 11, 12, the interior volume of the bladder 10 is divided into four chambers of the same size, which are designated 14, 15, 16 and 17. Figure 1 further shows clearly that the two walls 11, 12 have the same diameter, which is equal to the diameter of the sphere forming

the bladder 10.

  The four chambers 14, 17 of the bladder 10 are pneumatically connected to each other. For this purpose, the walls 11, 12 each comprise two

  circular openings 18, 19 and 20, 21.

  In this way, it is sufficient to use a single valve for the supply of compressed air, this valve being indicated schematically in the drawing.

and being designated 22.

  The variant of Figure 2 differs from the embodiment of Figure 1 in that it is provided in the bladder 10, in addition to the two walls 11, 12, a third wall 23 of the same size, which comprises also two circular openings, designated 24, and which is oriented perpendicular to the two

  other walls respectively 11,12. The corresponding lines

  passing through the wall 23 in the walls 11, 12, which define axes of symmetry of the walls

  corresponding, have been designated by 26 and 27.

  Through the three walls 11, 12 and 23, the internal volume of the bladder 10 is divided into a total of eight chambers of the same size 28-35, which are pneumatically connected to each other through the openings 18-21 and 24, 25. inflating the bladder 10, it is thus sufficient, in the embodiment of Figure 2 - as in the embodiment of Figure 1 - to provide

a single valve 22.

Claims (8)

  Ball, in particular a football, consisting of an inflatable inner part (called a bladder) and an envelope receiving the inner part, characterized in that at least one wall is provided in the bladder (10), preferably, a plurality of walls (11, 12, 23) made of an elastic material, the contours of which correspond to the respective internal dimensions of the bladder (10) and which are connected on their periphery respectively with the wall inner bladder (10).   2. Balloon according to claim 1, comprising a bladder of spherical shape, characterized in that the walls (11, 12, 23) are made generally with the same circular shape and their diameter (13 or 26, 27) corresponds to the inside diameter of the bladder (10) and in that the planes of the walls (11, 12, 23) intersect on at least one axis of symmetry   (13 or 26 or 27) common to several walls.   Ball according to one of the claims   1 and 2, characterized in that it is provided in the   bladder (10), two walls (11, 12) oriented perpendicularly   or substantially perpendicular to each other and crossing each other on one (13) of their axes of symmetry (Figure 1).   4. Balloon according to one of the claims   1 and 2, characterized in that there are provided in the bladder (10), three walls (11, 12, 23) oriented perpendicular to each other and which pass in pairs respectively on an axis of symmetry common (13 or 26 or 27) (Figure 2).   Ball according to one of the claims   1 to 4, characterized in that the walls (11, 12, 23) comprise openings (18, 19) or (20, 21) or (24, 25), preferably arranged as recesses   circular, so that chambers (14-   17) or (28-35), formed by the walls (11, 12, 23)   inside the bladder (10) are pneumatically connected between them.   Ball according to one of the claims   1 to 5, characterized in that the walls (11, 12, 23) are formed of the same material as the bladder   (10), preferably an elastomeric material.   7. A balloon according to claim 6,   characterized in that the bladder (] (f) and the walls (11, 12, 23) are formed of a weldable polyurethane elastomer.   Ball according to one of the claims   1 to 6, characterized in that the walls (11, 12, 23) are formed of natural latex, or synthetic rubber, or a thermoplastic elastomer, or a mixture of these materials, and are vulcanized on their periphery with the inner wall of the bladder (10).