US20060229150A1

US20060229150A1 - Lamination inflatable sports ball

Info

Publication number: US20060229150A1
Application number: US11/103,796
Authority: US
Inventors: Tsung Ou
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-04-11
Filing date: 2005-04-11
Publication date: 2006-10-12

Abstract

A sports ball includes an inflatable ball bladder having an outer spherical surface, and a plurality of laminating laves. The plurality of laminating leaves are overlappedly attached to the outer spherical surface of the ball bladder, wherein each of the laminating leaves, which is constructed from a plurality of polygon panels, has a plurality of peripheral alignment edges arranged when the alignment edges are connected correspondingly, the laminating leaves forms a portion of a spherical casing such that when the laminating leaves are connected edge-to-edge, the spherical casings form a spherical carcass of the ball bladder.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a ball, and more particularly to a sports ball having a simple structure and a manufacturing method. However, a strength and optimal hardness of the sports ball are substantially preserved as compared with conventional sports ball.
2. Description of Related Arts
A conventional sports ball usually comprises an inflatable ball bladder and an outer ball carcass which comprises a plurality of carcass panels overlappedly attached on the outer surface of the inflatable ball bladder. In order to ensure an overall strength and performance of the sports ball, each of the carcass panels is usually sewed with an adjacent piece of the carcass panels so as to prevent the outer ball carcass from breaking too easily.
As a matter of conventional art, there exist many methods by which the sports ball can be manufactured. Due to sewing requirement of the outer ball carcass, most of the manufacturing methods are complicated and require high degree of precision. This inevitably increases the cost of the sports ball and therefore increases the ultimate selling price thereof.
Accordingly, a conventional method for manufacturing the sports ball comprises the following steps.
1. Cut a material sheet into a plurality of outer cover skins, including hexagon shaped panels and pentagon shaped panels when a soccer ball is made.
2. Sew the cover skins together in an edge to edge manner to form a ball carcass, wherein thirty two pieces of the cover skins are required to form the ball carcass, wherein an edge section of the ball carcass is not sewn to form the inlet opening.
3. Insert the inflatable blabber into the ball carcass through the inlet opening.
4. Sew up the inlet opening to form the sports ball.
Even for the those conventional balls which do not need sewing of the outer ball carcass, such as a basketball, the inflatable ball bladder usually has a plurality of carcass channels wherein each of the carcass panels is attached on the inflatable ball bladder alone the corresponding carcass channels. Presumably, the main reason for doing that is to maximize the overall cushion effect of the relevant sports balls without significantly increasing the sizes thereof. This manufacturing method is no less complicated since each piece of the carcass panels has to be attached on the inflatable sports ball precisely at predetermined position in between each two adjacent carcass channels.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

A main object of the present invention is to provide a sports ball having a simple structure and a manufacturing method. However, the strength and the optimal hardness of the sports ball are substantially preserved as compared with conventional sports ball.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports ball which comprises a plurality of laminating leaves attaching on a smooth inflatable ball bladder without sewing with each other, wherein each of the laminating leaves is constructed as an integral piece of polygon for forming the outer ball carcass of the present invention.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports ball, wherein each of the laminating leaves are first subject to embossing process before they are attached on the inflatable ball bladder, so as to preserve an optimal cushion effect of the present invention.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a sports ball which is easy to manufacture so as to minimize the manufacturing cost of the present invention.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a sports ball, comprising:
an inflatable ball bladder having an outer spherical surface; and
a plurality of laminating leaves overlappedly attached to the outer spherical surface of the ball bladder, wherein each of the laminating leaves, which is constructed from a plurality of polygon panels, has a plurality of peripheral alignment edges arranged when the alignment edges are connected correspondingly, the laminating leaves forms a portion of a spherical casing such that when the laminating leaves are connected edge-to-edge, the spherical casings form a spherical carcass of the ball bladder.
Moreover, the present invention also provides a method of manufacturing a sports ball, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing an inflatable ball bladder having an outer spherical surface;
(b) cutting a carcass sheet in a plurality of laminating leaves, wherein each of the laminating leaves, which is constructed from a plurality of polygon panels, has a plurality of peripheral alignment edges arranged when the alignment edges are connected correspondingly, the laminating leaves forms a portion of a spherical casing; and
(c) overlappedly attaching to the outer spherical surface of the ball bladder, wherein when the laminating leaves are connected edge-to-edge, the spherical casings form a spherical carcass of the ball bladder.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sports ball according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of the sports ball according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is schematic diagrams of the method of manufacturing the sports ball according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a method of manufacturing the sports ball according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 of the drawings, a sports ball, such as a mini soccer ball, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, in which the sports ball comprises an inflatable ball bladder 10 having a smooth outer spherical surface 11, and a plurality of laminating leaves 20.
The plurality of laminating leaves 20 is overlappedly attached to the outer spherical surface 11 of the ball bladder 10, wherein each of the laminating leaves 20, which is constructed from a plurality of polygon panels 21, has a plurality of peripheral alignment edges 22 arranged when the alignment edges 22 are connected correspondingly, the laminating leaves 20 forms a portion of a spherical casing such that when the laminating leaves 20 are connected edge-to-edge, the spherical casings form a spherical ball carcass 23 of the ball bladder 10.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each of the polygon panels 21 forms a predetermined polygon having the corresponding shape of the respective polygon. Accordingly, each of the laminating leaves 20 has a central portion and the plurality of polygon panels 21 integrally extended from the central portion to form the respective laminating leave 20 having the corresponding peripheral alignment edges 22. For instances, as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, each of the laminating leaves 20 is constructed by five hexagons and three pentagons, so that each of the hexagons forms six of the peripheral edges 22, and each pentagon forms five of the peripheral edges 22.
The laminating leaves 20 are preferably made of flexible and durable materials, such as leather, rubber, PU etc., so that they can be fittedly attached on the outer spherical surface 11 of the inflatable ball bladder 10, with the peripheral alignment edges 22 correspondingly connected. On the other hand, the inflatable ball bladder 10 is preferably fabricated by conventional materials which are utilized in conventional inflatable ball bladders such as rubber or PU so that the inflatable ball bladder 10 is capable of being effectively attached by the laminating leaves 20.
Referring to FIG. 2 of the drawings, the sports ball further comprises an adhesive layer 30 provided between the laminating leaves 20 and the outer spherical surface 11 of the inflatable ball bladder 10 for providing an adhesive effect between the laminating leaves 20 and the inflatable ball bladder 10. The adhesive layer 30 is preferably embodied as conventional adhesive materials for binding the laminating leaves 20 with the outer spherical surface 111 of the inflatable ball bladder 10.
It is then worth emphasizing that the outer spherical surface 11 of the inflatable ball bladder 10 should be smooth (i.e. with any windings or channels) so that the laminating leaves 20 are capable of fittedly and securely attached on that outer spherical surface 11 by the adhesive layer 30. In other words, no guiding line is formed on the outer spherical surface 11 of the inflatable ball bladder 10 to guide the laminating leaves 20 overlapping thereon.
In order to achieve an optimal cushion effect of the sports ball, each of the laminating leaves 20 are embossed, preferably by conventional embossing processes, in the peripheral alignment edges 22 so as to create a predetermined slope thereon with respect to the corresponding polygon panels 21 such that when the laminating leaves 20 are attached on the inflatable ball bladder 10, each of the polygon panels 21 form a slope effect at the corresponding peripheral alignment edges 22 for creating the cushion effect of the sports ball. In other words, each of the laminating leaves 20 are embossed in the peripheral alignment edges 22 to create a predetermined slope thereon with respect to the corresponding polygon panels 21 so as to stand out the shapes of the polygon panels 21 protruding on the ball bladder 10 when the laminating leaves 20 are attached on the inflatable ball bladder 10.
Moreover, since each of the laminating leaves 20 is securely attached on the inflatable ball bladder 10 in such a manner that polygon panels 21 are connected edge-to-edge at the corresponding peripheral alignment edges 22, each two corresponding adjacent peripheral alignment edges 22 will form a sew sewn effect between those two corresponding peripheral alignment edges 22 without actually sewing thereof. In other words, the sports ball of the present invention can be embodied as closely resembling the appearance of conventional sports ball so as to maximize widespread acceptance of the present invention.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sports ball comprises altogether four identical pieces of the laminating leaves 20 which are to be attached on the inflatable ball bladder 10 for fittedly aligning the corresponding peripheral alignment edges 22 so as to form the spherical carcass of the inflatable ball bladder 10, such that each of the laminating leaves 20 form a quarter of the spherical carcass.
It is worth mentioning that the number of pieces of the laminating leaves 20 utilized in forming the spherical carcass would ultimately depend on the size of the sports ball and the purpose for which the sports ball is utilized. For instances, whereas four pieces of laminating leaves 20 may be utilized to form a mini sports ball, eight laminating leaves 20 may be utilized for forming a full-sized soccer ball.
Referring to FIG. 3 to FIG. 4 of the drawings, a method of manufacturing a sports ball is illustrated, in which the manufacturing method comprises the steps of:
(a) providing an inflatable ball bladder 10 having an outer spherical surface 11;
(b) cutting a carcass sheet in a plurality of laminating leaves 20, wherein each of the laminating leaves 20, which is constructed from a plurality of polygon panels 21, has a plurality of peripheral alignment edges 22 arranged when the alignment edges 22 are connected correspondingly, the laminating leaves 20 forms a portion of a spherical casing; and
(c) overlappedly adhering the laminating leaves 20 to the outer spherical surface 11 of the inflatable ball bladder 10, wherein when the laminating leaves 20 are connected edge-to-edge, the spherical casings form a spherical carcass of the inflatable ball bladder 10.
In order to create the sewing seam effect, step (b) comprises a sub-step (b.1) of pre-embossing each of the laminating leaves 20 at the corresponding peripheral alignment edges 22 so as to create a predetermined slope thereon with respect to the corresponding polygon panels 21, such that when the laminating leaves 20 are attached on the inflatable ball bladder 10, each of the polygon panels 21 form a slope effect at the corresponding peripheral alignment edges 22 for creating the cushion effect of the sports ball. In other words, the shapes of the polygon panels 21 are protruded on the ball bladder 10 when the laminating leaves 20 are attached on the inflatable ball bladder 10.
In order to overlappedly attach the laminating leaves 20 on the inflatable ball bladder 10, step (c) comprises the steps of:
(c.1) applying an adhesive layer 30 on the outer spherical surface 11 of the inflatable ball bladder 10;
(c.2) aligning each of the peripheral alignment edges 22 with a corresponding adjacent peripheral alignment edge 22; and
(c.3) overlapping the laminating leaves 20 on the outer spherical surface 11 wherein the adhesive layer 30 securely binds the laminating leaves 20 with the outer spherical surface 11 of the inflatable ball bladder 10 to form the spherical carcass of the sports ball of the present invention.
The laminating leaves 20 are overlappedly attached on the ball bladder 10 in a spherical mold machine for minimizing a manufacturing time required to sew the laminating leaves 20 together so as to reduce a manufacturing cost of the sports ball. It is worth mentioning that the sports ball of the present invention is manufacture by a molding method using a spherical mold machine, in which case the manufacturing method further comprises the steps, in between step (b) and step (c) of:
providing a spherical mold having an interior cavity and a plurality of embossing ribs formed on an interior spherical wall of the interior cavity;
slightly attaching outer surfaces of the laminating leaves 20 on the interior spherical wall; and
disposing the inflatable ball bladder 10 into the interior cavity of the spherical mold.
Furthermore, the step (c) further comprises the steps of:
(c.1′) applying an adhesive layer 30 on the outer spherical surface 11 of the inflatable ball bladder 10;
(c.2′) aligning each of the peripheral alignment edges 22 with a corresponding peripheral alignment edge 22;
(c.3′) inflating the inflatable ball bladder 10 in the spherical cavity of the spherical mold so as to overlap the laminating leaves 20 on the outer spherical surface 11, wherein the adhesive layer 30 securely binds the laminating leaves 20 with the outer spherical surface 11 of the inflatable ball bladder 10 while the peripheral alignment edges 22 are embossed by the corresponding embossing ribs to form the spherical carcass of the sports ball of the present invention.
At this point, it is worth mentioning that a regular spherical mold (without the embossing ribs) may be utilized. In such a case however, the above-mentioned sub-step (b.1) is needed to pre-emboss each of the peripheral alignment edges 22 before the laminating leaves 20 are attached on the mold.
One skilled in the art may appreciate that the above-mentioned manufacturing method is extremely simple. The laminating leaves 20 used to form the sports ball is preferably four in number. As a result, the manufacturer of the sports ball of the present invention does not need to sew every single laminating leaves 20 with the adjacent one while the overall effect of the present invention is perfectly comparable with conventional sports ball. Where a larger sports ball is preferred, the number of laminating leaves 20 can be increased to eight or even more.
From the forgoing descriptions, it can be shown that the above-mentioned objects have been substantially accomplished. The present invention provides a sports ball having a simple structure and a manufacturing method of that sports ball. Note that the strength and the optimal hardness of the sports ball are substantially preserved as compared with conventional sports ball.
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A sports ball, comprising:

an inflatable ball bladder having an outer spherical surface; and

a plurality of laminating leaves overlappedly attached to said outer spherical surface of said ball bladder, wherein each of said laminating leaves, which is constructed from a plurality of polygon panels, has a plurality of peripheral alignment edges arranged when said alignment edges are connected correspondingly, said laminating leaves forms a portion of a spherical casing such that when said laminating leaves are connected edge-to-edge, said spherical casings form a spherical carcass of said ball bladder.

2. The sports ball, as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said laminating leaves are embossed in said peripheral alignment edges to create a predetermined slope thereon with respect to said corresponding polygon panels so as to stand out the shapes polygon panels protruding on said ball bladder when said laminating leaves are attached on said inflatable ball bladder.

3. The sports ball, as recited in claim 2, wherein each of said laminating leaves is securely attached on said inflatable ball bladder in such a manner that said polygon panels are connected edge-to-edge at said corresponding peripheral alignment edges, wherein each of said two corresponding adjacent peripheral alignment edges form a sewing sewn effect between said two corresponding peripheral alignment edges of said sports ball.

4. The sports ball, as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said laminating leaves is constructed by five hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels integrally extended therefrom in an edge-to-edge manner, so as to form said peripheral alignment edges at said edges of said hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels respectively.

5. The sports ball, as recited in claim 2, wherein each of said laminating leaves is constructed by five hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels integrally extended therefrom in an edge-to-edge manner, so as to form said peripheral alignment edges at said edges of said hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels respectively.

6. The sports ball, as recited in claim 3, wherein each of said laminating leaves is constructed by five hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels integrally extended therefrom in an edge-to-edge manner, so as to form said peripheral alignment edges at said edges of said hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels respectively.

7. The sports ball, as recited in claim 1, being formed by four identical pieces of said laminating leaves which are to be attached on said inflatable ball bladder for fittedly aligning said corresponding peripheral alignment edges so as to form said spherical carcass of said inflatable ball bladder, such that each of said laminating leaves form a quarter of said spherical carcass.

8. The sports ball, as recited in claim 3, being formed by four identical pieces of said laminating leaves which are to be attached on said inflatable ball bladder for fittedly aligning said corresponding peripheral alignment edges so as to form said spherical carcass of said inflatable ball bladder, such that each of said laminating leaves form a quarter of said spherical carcass.

9. The sports ball, as recited in claim 6, being formed by four identical pieces of said laminating leaves which are to be attached on said inflatable ball bladder for fittedly aligning said corresponding peripheral alignment edges so as to form said spherical carcass of said inflatable ball bladder, such that each of said laminating leaves form a quarter of said spherical carcass.

10. The sports ball, as recited in claim 1, further comprising an adhesive layer provided between said laminating leaves and said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder for providing an adhesive effect between said laminating leaves and said inflatable ball bladder so as to securely bind said laminating leaves with said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder.

11. The sports ball, as recited in claim 3, further comprising an adhesive layer provided between said laminating leaves and said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder for providing an adhesive effect between said laminating leaves and said inflatable ball bladder so as to securely bind said laminating leaves with said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder.

12. The sports ball, as recited in claim 6, further comprising an adhesive layer provided between said laminating leaves and said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder for providing an adhesive effect between said laminating leaves and said inflatable ball bladder so as to securely bind said laminating leaves with said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder.

13. The sports ball, as recited in claim 9, further comprising an adhesive layer provided between said laminating leaves and said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder for providing an adhesive effect between said laminating leaves and said inflatable ball bladder so as to securely bind said laminating leaves with said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder.

14. The sports ball, as recited in claim 1, being manufactured by a method which comprises the steps of:

(a) providing said inflatable ball bladder having said outer spherical surface;

(b) cutting a carcass sheet in said plurality of laminating leaves; and

(c) overlappedly adhering said laminating leaves to said outer spherical surface of said ball bladder, wherein when said laminating leaves are connected edge-to-edge, said spherical casings form said spherical carcass of said ball bladder.

15. The sports ball, as recited in claim 13, being manufactured by a method which comprises the steps of:

(a) providing said inflatable ball bladder having said outer spherical surface;

(b) cutting a carcass sheet in said plurality of laminating leaves; and

16. A method of manufacturing a sports ball, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing an inflatable ball bladder having an outer spherical surface;

(b) cutting a carcass sheet in a plurality of laminating leaves, wherein each of said laminating leaves, which is constructed from a plurality of polygon panels, has a plurality of peripheral alignment edges arranged in such a manner when said alignment edges are connected correspondingly, said laminating leaves forms a portion of a spherical casing; and

(c) overlappedly attaching said laminating leaves to said outer spherical surface of said ball bladder, wherein when said laminating leaves are connected edge-to-edge, said spherical casings form a spherical carcass of said ball bladder.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, in step (b), further comprising a step of embossing each of said laminating leaves at said corresponding peripheral alignment edges to create a predetermined slope thereon with respect to said corresponding polygon panels so as to stand out the shapes polygon panels protruding on said ball bladder when said laminating leaves are attached on said inflatable ball bladder.

18. The method, as recited in claim 17, wherein the step (c) comprises the steps of:

(c.1) applying an adhesive layer on said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder;

(c.2) aligning each of said peripheral alignment edges with a corresponding adjacent peripheral alignment edge;

(c.3) overlapping said laminating leaves on said outer spherical surface wherein said adhesive layer securely binds said laminating leaves with said outer spherical surface of said inflatable ball bladder to form said spherical carcass of said sports ball.

19. The method as recited in claim 17, in step (c), wherein said laminating leaves are overlappedly attached on said ball bladder in a spherical mold machine for minimizing a manufacturing time required to sew said laminating leaves together so as to reduce a manufacturing cost of said sports ball.

20. The method as recited in claim 18 in step (c), wherein said laminating leaves are overlappedly attached on said ball bladder in a spherical mold machine for minimizing a manufacturing time required to sew said laminating leaves together so as to reduce a manufacturing cost of said sports ball.

21. The method, as recited claim 17, wherein each of said laminating leaves is constructed by five hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels integrally extended therefrom in an edge-to-edge manner, so as to form said peripheral alignment edges at said edges of said hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels respectively.

22. The method, as recited claim 18, wherein each of said laminating leaves is constructed by five hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels integrally extended therefrom in an edge-to-edge manner, so as to form said peripheral alignment edges at said edges of said hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels respectively.

23. The method, as recited claim 20, wherein each of said laminating leaves is constructed by five hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels integrally extended therefrom in an edge-to-edge manner, so as to form said peripheral alignment edges at said edges of said hexagonal polygon panels and three pentagonal polygon panels respectively.

24. The method, as recited in claim 17, wherein said sports ball is formed by four identical pieces of said laminating leaves which are to be attached on said inflatable ball bladder for fittedly aligning said corresponding peripheral alignment edges so as to form said spherical carcass of said inflatable ball bladder, such that each of said laminating leaves form a quarter of said spherical carcass.

25. The method, as recited in claim 18, wherein said sports ball is formed by four identical pieces of said laminating leaves which are to be attached on said inflatable ball bladder for fittedly aligning said corresponding peripheral alignment edges so as to form said spherical carcass of said inflatable ball bladder, such that each of said laminating leaves form a quarter of said spherical carcass.

26. The method, as recited in claim 23, wherein said sports ball is formed by four identical pieces of said laminating leaves which are to be attached on said inflatable ball bladder for fittedly aligning said corresponding peripheral alignment edges so as to form said spherical carcass of said inflatable ball bladder, such that each of said laminating leaves form a quarter of said spherical carcass.