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AssigneeSpalding Sports Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsDaniel P. Touhey, Brian P. Feeney, Joseph E. Stahl, Neil T. Amundsen, Louis F. Polk, Joseph J. Schachtner, Kenneth V. Schomburg, George D. Stickler, Richard F. Terrazzano, Eric K. Litscher, Andrew C. Harvey, Malcolm E. Taylor, Peter M. de Bakker, Robert C. Sykes, Charles Keane
Estimating the term…
An inflatable sport ball, such as a basketball, a football, a soccer ball, a volley ball or a playground ball, is provided with a self-contained inflation mechanism for inflating or more likely adding pressure to the ball. The mechanism is a pump which is inside of the ball and which is operable from outside of the ball to pump ambient air into the ball.
An inflatable sport ball comprising an integral pump, wherein said pump is inside said ball and includes means selectively extendable outside of said ball for actuating said pump, and further wherein said pump is essentially flush with or below the surface of the ball when not in use.
An inflatable sport ball comprising a carcass and an internal pump attached to said carcass, said pump including a cylinder having an air outlet into said ball, a one-way valve attached to said air outlet permitting air flow from said cylinder into said ball and preventing air flow from said ball back into said cylinder, a piston in said cylinder operable to draw ambient air from outside said ball into said cylinder and to force said drawn ambient air from said cylinder through said one-way valve into said ball and further including means for actuating said piston from outside said carcass and including means for locking said piston in said inserted position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.