US1587392A

US1587392A - Sport ball

Info

Publication number: US1587392A
Application number: US52786A
Authority: US
Inventors: William W Macdonald
Original assignee: AG Spalding and Bros Inc
Current assignee: AG Spalding & Bros; AG Spalding and Bros Inc
Priority date: 1925-08-27
Filing date: 1925-08-27
Publication date: 1926-06-01
Anticipated expiration: 1943-06-01

Description

June 1,1926.

' L58Z392 W. W. MacDONALD SPORT BALL l 1521/1822 Zo'.

William WJa/en ala /y @(MLQLLQM mw (M Patented .lune 1, 1926i.

UNITED STATES PATENT HCE..

WLLIAM'. W. MACDONALD, OF CHICOPEE, MASSACH-USETTS, ASSIGNOR TO A. Gr. SEALD,

ING a BROS., or Niiw YORK, 1v. Y.,

A CORPORATION F NEW JERSEY.

erom; BALL.

Applicatipn filed August 27, 1925. Serial No. 52,786.

The invention is an improvement in sport balls such as foot balls, basket balls and the like, having an iniiatable inner member, and it concerns particularly the means whereby the bladder may be iniated after it has been inserted through the slit 0r opening in said cover and after the cover has been laced to draw the edges of the cover together.

The invention consists in the process and in the features and combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accom vanying drawings:

, Figure 1 is a cross sectional View showing so much of the ball as is necessary to make clear the disposition of the parts during the filling operation.

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the relative position of the parts and the condition of the filling tube after the filling of the ball has been completed, the pump nozzle having been withdrawn and the ball ready for play.

Fig. 8 is a front view.

Fig. l is a perspective view yof a washer.

In these drawings l indicates the bladder or inflatable member made or rubber, 2 is the cover member of leather having an opening 3 and lacing 4f as usual and having also the flap 5 of substantially ordinary form stitched t0 the inner side of said cover and adapted to extend across the opening and with its free portion bearing on the inner side of the cover.

The bladder may have a flutter valve 6 on its inner side to extend across and close the filling opening by reason of the internal pressure. A

This filling opening in the present case extends through a tube 7 which entends outwardly from the bladder through an opening 8 in the flap 5. The tube is of rubber integral with the bladder walland it has an iltegral enlargement or ring 9 near its base. This enlargement when pulled through the opening 8 lies on the outer side of said flap. The filling tube` also has an integral enlargement or ring shaped hea-d 10 at its outer end which when the filling operation is being performed as shown in Fig. l bears against the inner side of the cover member as shown in Fig. l. The portion of the'tube between the

enlargements

9, 10 is relatively thin and flexible. E Before the inflating of the bladder is done it will'lbe understood that it has been inserted into place within the cover in its collapsed condition. The pump nozzle has been inserted into the filling tube and the lacing has been completed and secured and the closure of opening 3 has been completed. This condition of the parts is shown in Fig. l, it being noted that the head of the filling tube is bearing against the inner side of the cover at the vedges of the slit or open-` ing therein, which now has been closed. The pump 1s now operated and after the bladder has been completely inflated the pump is removed, withdrawing its nozzle from the filling tube and out through the slit or opening. As soon as the filling tube is freed from the support aEorded by the nozzle, that is, as soon as the nozzle is withdrawn, the filling tube collapses and assumes the bent position indicated in Fig. 2 and it thus closes the filling opening, extending through it and prevents the escape of air pressure from the bladder.

In other words the filling tube automatically assumes a bent or doubled up position and brings the opposing portions of its wall together to eect a closure against the escape of the air pressure from the inflated bladder. This avoids the hand operation heretofore employed in which after the bladder is inflated and before the lacing is done, it has been necessary to double the tube by hand and tie it in this position and thereafter tuck it within `the cover and follow this with the lacing, all of which is difficult to do because of the tendency for the bladder wall now under pressure of its contained air to bulge out through the opening in the cover which as yet has not been laced.

By the present invention the doubling up or bending of the filling tube is performed automatically as a result of removing the pump nozzle therefrom and allowing the internal pressure to force the bladder outwardly at the region where the tube is located and'thus the doublin@P up occurs between the bladder and the lac-ed or closed cover against the inner side of which the head of the tube bears.

During the filling operation as shown in Fig. l the nozzle of the pump lying within the filling tube supports the same against collapsing. The enlarged head of the tube bears on the inner side of the closed cover where it is laced, contacting with both edges lltl at the opening. The pressure of the bladder is exerted against the inner face of the flap where the tube goes through and the flap in turn presses upon the enlargement at the base oil the tube, and therefore when the pump nozzle is removed and the tube is no longer supported it collapses at its weakest point which is intermediate the enlargements, and hence the doubling up action taires place .automatically and the bladder is sealed ragainst the escape of .air pressure.

The closure effected by the doubled up filling tube .alone will serve Ato hold the pressure within the bladder, In other words, the liutter valve may be dispensed with but l prefer to employ the flutter valve in addition to the automatically doubled up or bent tube.

lilhen the flutter valve is employed the pump nozzle will force it from its seat as shown in Fig. l to Vallow free access of air in filling the bladder. The flutter valve being made of rubber would of course give during the filling operation under the pressure of the air forced in by the pump sufficiently to allow the inflating of the bag, but l prefer to have a pump .nozzle of sul'licient length to force the elastic rubber strip constituting the valve away from its seat around the filling opening for the free entrance of air.

lThe enlargement of the base of the filling tube forms a connection between the tube and the flap and holds the tube in proper relation to the opening in the cover so that the bladder will not creep and further the tube is thereby maintained on the filling nozzle during the inflating operation, because it resists any tendency for the tube to leave the nozzle during this operation.

4'l he outer enlargement or head of the tube not only aflords a bearing to contact with the inner side of the cover member but it aids in determining the point at which the tube will double up upon itself in the automatic closing of the filling opening, 'that is, the doubling will take place at a point about midway of the tube between the enlargements where its walls are thinner and flexible, rather than at the regions where the enlargements occur.

i prefer to employ a comparatively thin elastic rubber washer at 91 between the base of the enlargement 9 and the apron or flap This washer is of considerably larger diameter than the diameter of the enlargement 9 and it can be stretched to pass over the enlargement and seat itself between the base of the same and the outer face of the apron or flap 5. its purpose is to prevent the bladder from falling baclr into the case or cover and pulling the tube with its enlargement back through the opening in the flap or apron. It enables a small diameter enlargement 9 to be used, such as may be readily pulled outwardly through the opening in the apron or flap. It presents a suliicient bulk of material to insure the locking of the tube against being drawnback inwardly through the opening in the flap or apron during the inflation of the bladder.

In assembling the parts the bladder is placed in the casing or cover and its tube is then drawn out through the opening in the flap or apron. For this purpose the enlargement 9 is of such diameter as to permit it readily to be drawn through the opening in the apron, and yet present ample shoulder area lying on the outer side of the flap.

Having drawn the tube through so that its enlargement lies on the outer face of the flap, f

the washer is stretched and forced down over the enlargement 9 to rest upon the outer face of the flap or apron 5 and under the enlargement where it will resist any tendency for the enlargement to recede inwardly i1 through the opening in the flap. Thus a comparatively small enlargement 9 can be used relative to the hole 1n the flap because the elastic washer will hug the tube below l the enlargement 9 and present a large enough body of material to prevent the recession of the tube through the opening in the flap.

The opening' in the washer is of less diameter than the tube.

The above description and drawing are l presented as illustrative of the principles involved in my invention and are not to be regarded as restrictive upon its scope which is defined by the accompanying claims.

I claim:

l. In a ball of the class described and in combination, an inflatable bladder, a cover member having an opening through which the bladder' is inserted, means for closing said opening, said bladder having a filling tube adapted to be automatically collapsed into doubled up condition between the inflated bladder and the cover, substantially as described.

2. ln combination in a ball, a covermember having an opening with lacing for substantially closing the same, an inflatable bladder insertible through said opening and having a filling tube connected therewith on the outer side thereof, said filling tube being adapted to receive a filling nozzle. and being automatically collapsed into doubled up condition between the inflated bladder and the cover, substantially as described.

3. ln combination in a ball, a cover having an opening with means for closing the same, an inflatable bladder through said opening, said bladder having a filling tube on the outer side thereof, adapted to receive a filling nozzle, said tube having an enlargement at its outer end to bear on the inner side of the cover member to determine the approximate point at which the tube will bend, said tube being held in bent or doubled condition to form a closure,

insertible against the escape of air, solely by said inflated bladder pressing the tube between; itself and the cover member.

a. In combination in a ball, a cover having an opening, and a member on the interior of the cover to close said opening and an inflatable bladder having an external fill ing tube passing through an opening in the sain member with an enlargement on said tube on the outer face of the said member, said enlargement being at the base of the tube, the main, portion of said tube lying between the said enlargement and the cover.

5. In combination in a ball, a cover member hai/'ing a laced opening and a flap, and an inflatable bladder having an external filling tube extending through an opening in the flap, and adapted to receive a pump nozzle, said tube having an enlargement on the outer side of the flap and a terminal enlargement to bear on the inner side of the cover.

G. In combination in a ball, a cover member having an opening and an inflatable bladder, insertible through said opening and having an external filling tube adapted to receive a filling nozzle and having a relatively weak zone intermediate of its length to insure its bending at this point and forming a closure when the inflated bladder presses it against the inner side of the ball cover, substantially as described.

7. In combination in a foot ball or the like, a cover having a laced opening, a bladder having a valve composed of a rubber sheet on its interior and an external filling tube to receive a filling nozzle, said filling tube being adapted to bend intermediate of its length under pressure of the inflated bladder to form a closure supplementing the closing action of the elastic valve member.

8. rlhe hereindescribed process of filling 'foot ball or basket ball comprising lacing the cover over the end of the external collapsible filling tube of the bladder and about a filler nozzle inserted therein, then inflating the bladder through said filler nozzle, then u'fithdraiving said nozzle, and allowing the filling tube under pressure of the inflated bladder, to collapse and bend intermediate its length to close the opening through said tube, substantially as described.

9. In a sport ball, a casing or cover having an opening with a flap or apron at said opening, a bladder insertible through said opening having a filling tube passing through an opening in the apron and with an enlargement on the outer side of' said apron, and an elastic washer of sufficient diameter to prevent pulling through the opening in the apron, said elastic washer lying between the enlargement of the tube and the outer face of the apron, substantially as described.

10. In a sport ball, a casing or cover having an opening with a flap or apron at said opening, a bladder insertible through said opening having a filling tube passing through an opening in the apron and with an enlargement on the outer side of said apron, .and a washer of larger diameter than the enlargement lying between the same and the apron, substantially as described.

1l. In a sport ball, a casing or cover having an opening with a flap or apron at said opening, a bladder insertible through said opening having a filling tube passing through an opening in the apron and with an enlargement on the outer side of said apron, and a washer of larger diameter than the enlargement lying between the same and the apron, said washer being detachable from the filling tube.

12. In a sport ball, a casing or cover having an opening with a fiap,`or apron at said opening, a bladder insertible through said opening having a filling tube passing through an opening in the apron and with anv en argement on the outer side of said apron, and an elastic washer adapted to be stretched to go over the enlargement and seat itself between the enlargement and the apron, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

WILLIAM w. MACDoNALn.