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US 2003/0129913 A1Published application
Non-woven fabric
OwnerAlan John Brasierinventor
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OwnerAlan John Brasierinventor
Estimating the term…
A ball-covering needlefelt produced by needling a fibre batt in a range of angles including a plurality of angles which are non-perpendicular to the plane of the batt. The range of angles is preferably achieved by the batt being curved during needling, the batt conveniently being curved in its direction of travel through the needling machine. The needleboard of the needling machine is preferably correspondingly curved. The needling process produces a needlefelt having a high degree of fibre entanglement (comparable to woven ball-covering felts) and enables achievement of characteristics necessary for good wear and abrasion resistance without the excessive consolidation in conventional ball-covering needlefelts that leads to loss of flexibility (tending to faulty ball covering) and poor dynamic characteristics (making such balls unsuitable for professional use). The invention is particularly applicable to the manufacture of championship-quality tennis balls.
A method of forming a felt covering for a ball, characterised by the steps of forming a needlefelt comprising an entanglement of fibres produced by needling a fibre batt in a range of angles including a plurality of angles which are non-perpendicular to the surface of the batt, and cutting or otherwise shaping the needlefelt to form a blank adapted at least partially to cover a ball.
A needle felt for a ball covering, said needlefelt being characterised in that it comprises an entanglement of fibres formed by the needlefelting of a fibre batt passed through a needlefelting machine having at least one needleboard providing barbed needles to penetrate said batt in a range of angles including a plurality of angles which are non-perpendicular with respect to the surface of the batt, and in that said needlefelt is cut or otherwise shaped to form a blank adapted at least partially to cover a ball.
A felt-covered ball, characterised in that the ball-covering felt is a needlefelt comprising an entanglement of fibres formed by the needlefelting of a fibre batt passed through a needlefelting machine having at least one needleboard providing barbed needles to penetrate said web in a range of angles including a plurality of angles which are non-perpendicular with respect to the surface of the batt.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.