Vacuum vice for bowling balls
AssigneeDavid Edis
InventorsDavid Edis, Bert Poort
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vacuum vice for holding a bowling ball when drilling holes or engraving the ball includes inner and outer o-rings seals which form two vacuum chambers that work together to form a seal with a bowling ball having surface imperfections or engraving. The inner vacuum chamber holds the ball to a buoyant cup. The outer vacuum chamber seats the ball against a contoured, hard rim surface and is connected by a leakage path around the inner seal to a piston chamber which pulls on the buoyant cup to further seat the ball. The outer seal is mounted on a movable housing that automatically adjusts to the size of the ball.
Claims16
A vacuum vice for holding a bowling ball, comprising:
- a housing for supporting a bowling ball;
- a resilient circular seal in the housing surrounding a first portion of the bowling ball;
- a circular support on the housing surrounding a second portion of the bowling ball including the first portion and an outer portion surrounding the first portion and in a different plane than said seal;
- and
- means for forming a vacuum between the housing and the first portion of the bowling ball to seat the bowling ball against the circular support.
A method for holding bowling balls, comprising the steps of:
- supporting a bowling ball in a housing;
- surrounding a first portion of the bowling ball with a resilient circular seal in the housing;
- surrounding a second portion of the bowling ball, including the first portion and an outer portion surrounding the first portion, with a circular support on the housing in a different plane than said seal;
- and
- forming a vacuum between the housing and the first portion of the bowling ball to seat the bowling ball against the circular support.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.