US1890594A

US1890594A - Inflatable ball

Info

Publication number: US1890594A
Application number: US506555A
Authority: US
Inventors: Archibald J Turner
Original assignee: WILSON WESTERN SPORTING GOODS
Current assignee: WILSON WESTERN SPORTING GOODS; WILSON-WESTERN SPORTING GOODS Co
Priority date: 1931-01-05
Filing date: 1931-01-05
Publication date: 1932-12-13
Anticipated expiration: 1949-12-13

Description

D 13, 1932 A. J. TURNR 1,890,594

INFLATABLE BALL Filed Jan. 5, 1931 i5 the elimination of the 2o tially so forming t choring member and posite the laced in the following Panarea nee. 13, 1932 J'. TURNER, 0F CHICAGO,

INFIAT I Application med January 5,

My invention relates toI inflatable balls such as basket balls, soccer balls, footballs, etc., having an outer covering or casing, usually of leather, and an inner bladder of rubber. My invention relates more particularly to the t pe of ball shown in United States Patent Nb.

llrl Tubbs, wh

erein the bladder is detachably anchored at the region of the valve to the ind lo side of an integrall portion of the cover and in through thecover, usually placed opposite the laced bladder insertion opening.

ne important object of my invention is tendency of the anchorlng members, due to their thickness showing through' on the outer surface of the ball after the leather covering becomes worn and more pliable. ll effect this object preferably by inithe covering. carried anits associated bladdercarried anchoring member that the two will normally internest, even in the absence of high internal pressure, whereby, when final ation pressure is reached, the parts are not substantially distorted from their normal position.

dy centering in it of the cooperatlng bladder-carried parts, when the bladder is to be anchored to thev cover. This 1s of particular advantage because, the inatlon aperture generally being located opopening of the cover, the

operator cannot7 readily see what he is doing.

P he and advantages of my invention are description of a embodiment thereof,

set forth preferred and 1n the attached ig. 2 is a view a ment of the bladder with the valve and anchoring member which it carries and of a fragment of the associated part of the cover with the anchoring member which it carries, the two parts being separated to show their inatable 1,730,309 to lra d foregoing andI other objects, features on a larger scale of a fragh orifice ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOB T0 WILSON-WESTERN GOODS C0., 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, 1r

naar.`

1931. Serin ne. 5065.555.

position prior to bringing them together for assembly; and

ig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional. view on a still larger scale showing the bladder anchored on the inside of the cover and in the position assumed by the parts when the blader is partly inated.

the exemplary basket ballshown in the rawing, the leather cover 10, made up from the usual pattern pieces, has the usual laced bladder insertion opening 11 and, preferably diametrically opposite, a small inflation aperture 12. The cover may carry the usual fabric lining 13.

On the inside of the cover and in association with its indation aperture 12, there is fixed the cover-carried bladder anchorage member, which consists of an internally screw-threaded metallic nut 14, embedded in the center of a molded rubber block 15. At its margins the block 15 is of reduced thickness, leaving a marginal dang-e 16, which is stitched to the inside of the cover by a ring of stitching i7 passing through the ange and the cover, with the lining 13, if there be any, between. A layer of fabric 18 is preferably embedded in the top side of the rubber block 15 to reenforce the dange 16 against tearing by the stitching 17. rllhe securement by the stitching-'17 may be augmented, if desired, by cementing the upper face of the block l'directly to the inside of the cover, in which event, of course, it is advisable to cut away the lining about the margin of the inflation aperture 12.

The threaded bore of the nut 1d is, of course, allied with the inflation aperture 12. The inflation aperture 12 and the central opening in the rubber block 15 above and'below the nut are preferably of only slightly larger diameter than ,the threaded bore of the nut. The over-lapping of the rubber block on the top and bottom ends of the nut serves to cushion the cover and bladder respectively against the metallic impact or wear of the metal nut.

The bladder-carried anchoring member inl sisting of a primary depression 23 receiving the cylindrical nut embracing portion of the cover-carried rubber member 15 and a secondary depression 24 receiving the flange 16. Beyond the secondary depression 24 there is a marginal flange 25 which is vulcanized to the inside of thethin sheet rubber wall ofthe bladder 26. At the region of the anchorage the sheet rubber wall of the bladder 26 is cut away at a diameter preferably that of the secondary depression 24 of the member 20.

Where the valve as here shownis to be of the standard tire valve metallic type 27 and is to be carried by the bladder rather than by the cover, the valve stem 28 is embedded in the tubular portion 21 of the bladder-carried anchorage member 20 and extends outwardly beyond the bottom of the primary depression 23 `where it is externally screwthreaded for engaging the cover-carried nut 14. As is usual, the protruding end of the valve stem is internally threaded for reception of the coupling end of the inflating pump. AThe rubber sleeve portion 21 envelops the metallic valve tube 28' to protect the bladder against internal injury yby chafing against the metal, when, for example, the bladder is collapsed. The parts as shown in Fig. 3 are in the positions which they normally assume under only nominal pressure. The molded

rubber members

15 and 20 in particular are in substantially the form in which they are molded. While inflating'the ball to playing pressure, the parts are slightly altered in position and shape, but there is no substantial distortion. This I consider to be a decided improvement over the constructions heretofore in use where the covercarried anchorage member was a relatively thick patch 'and where the bladder-carried valve stem was inserted in an integral inturned neck of the bladder, so that the sheet rubber bladder wall normally approached the valve stem at the base of the protruding end. This meant that when the parts were 'assembled and the bladder inflated to playing pressure the sheet rubber wall of the bladder, at the region of the valve, had to stretch itself -into a considerably distorted shape in being pressed tightly against the cover-carried anchorage member. This not only subjected t-he rubber Wall of the bladder to undue strain at this vital point, but, because of the stretching, which was most concentrated immediate the adjacent valve stem, subjected the cover and the cover-carried anchor member to greater pressure at the margin of the patch than adjacent the valve. This resulted in outside of the cover of labout the diameter of the cover-carried anchormember. As the ball continued to be used and the leather cover became more pliable, this ring became more pronounced. vThis same trouble that a ring appearing on the caused the appearance ofthe ring also detracted from the bouncing characteristic of vthe ball when it impacted at the region of whatever size and shape is required to mate' the cover-carried anchorage member, I am able successfully to use a nut or other coupling member of considerably greater depth. This permits a more rugged and durable anchorage and a mounting wherein the valve stem is less liable to tilt out of a radial position. Previously designers had to keep the coupling member as shallow as possible often reducing them to mere threaded plates.

The mating annularly stepped conformations of the cover-carriedand the bladdercarried anchoring members greatly facilitate the operator locating the protruding stem o the valve in the nut when the bladder is being anchored on the inside of the cover, even though, as is usually the case, the operator is not able to see where he is working.

While I have illustrated and described in detail this specific embodiment of my invention, I contemplate that other adaptations and changes may be made without departing from the scope or spirit of my. invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In an inflatable ball a leather cover having a closable bladder insertion opening, an inflation aperture spaced therefrom, a molded rubber nut-attaching member on the inside'of the cover, held in alignment with the inflation aperture, the attaching member being of reduced thickness at its margins forming av marginal flange, and a ring of stitching through the flange and cover to fix themember on the inside of the cover, and a separate removable bladder having a sheet rubber wall with a cut-away opening, a saucer-shaped molded rubber valve supporting and anchoring member having a marginal flange secured to said bladder wall at the margin of said opening and having primary and secondary preformed central depressions, the primary depression being deeper and of lesser diameter and adapted to receive the nut embracing portion of said attaching member, and the secondary depression being shallower and of greater diameter for receiving the flange of said attaching member, an inflation stem carried by the supporting and anchoring member and protruding outwardly through the bottom of the primary depression an threaded for engagement with said nut, a neck portion of said supporting and anchorfoo a nut embraced thereby and l ing member enveloping the inner end of said ture spaced therefrom,

stem, to vprotect the inside of the bladder therefrom, and an inflation valve associated with the stem.

2. In an inflatable ball a cover having a bladder insertion opening, an inflation apera nut vattaching mem' ber on the inside of the cover, a nut embraced thereby and held in association with the inlation aperture, the attaching member being of reduced thickness at its margins forming a marginal flange, means for permanently ixing the attaching member to the inside of the cover, and a separate removable bladder having an opening in its wall, a saucer` shaped flexible supporting and anchoring member having a marginal flange secured to said bladder wall and having primary and secondary prefformed central depressions, the primary depression being deeper and of lesser diameter and adaptedto receive thenut embracing portion of said attaching member, and the secondary depression being shallower and of greater diameter for receiving the iange of said att-aching member, an inflation stem carried by the supporting and anchoring member and protruding outwardly through' the bottom of the primary depression and threaded for engagement with said nut, and an inflation valve associated with the stem.

3. In an inflatable ball a cover having an inflation aperture, a cover-carried anchoring y ber, an inflation member ixed tothe inside of the cover an embracing a coupling member in association with the aperture, a separate removable blad. der having an opening inits wall, a flexible -cupped supporting and anchoring member having a marginal flangef'secured to' said bladder Wall and having a preformed cent-ral depression for the reception of said coupling embracing attaching member, an inflation stem carried by the supporting and anchoring member and protruding outwardly through the bottom of said depression, and constituting a second coupling member for cooperation with said first.` mentioned cou pling member for detachably anchoring the bladder to the inside of the cover.

4. In an inflatable ball, a cover having an inliation aperture,

outwardly through the bottom of its depression and threaded for co-action with the nut member for detachably anchoring the bladder to the inside of the cover.

5. A bladder for an inflatable ball comprising a sheet rubber wall having acut-away opening, a molded rubber valve supporting and anchoring member having a marginal Harige vulcanized to the wall about the margin of said opening and having a pre-formed open saucer-shaped central depression, an in- -lation stem carried by the supporting member having a threaded end protruding 0utwardly through the bottom of the depression and terminating in substantially the plane of the wall, leaving an annular space between the protruding stem and the side wall of the depression adapted to receive an inwardly protruding cover-carried patch-like mounting for a stem-engaging member, and an inliation valve associated with the stem.

-6. A bladder for an inflatable ball comprising a wall, a cupped resilient rubber anchoring member having a marginal flange secured to the wall and a pre-formed opensaucer-shaped central depression immediately joining the marginal flange, an intlating stem carried by theanchoring member and having a coupling portion protruding outwardly from the bottom -of the depression leaving an annular space between the coupling portion and the side wall of the depression.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 30 day of December, 1930.

ARCHIBALD J. TURNER.

a nut member, means for holding the nut member in registry with the aperture comprising a patch member embracing the nut member and secured at the inf' side of the cover, a separate removable rubber bladder havlng an`opening in its wall of greater diameter molded rubber stem supporting and anchoring member having a marginal Bange secured to said bladder wall adjacent the margin of the opening and having a pre-formed open saucer shaped central depression for' the reception of said patch member and nut memstem carried by the supporting and anchoring member and protruding than the patch member, a a