Inflatable game ball and method of making same
AssigneeMei Huei Liu
InventorI-Teh Chang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sports or games balls having an inflatable bladder in which the bladder is re-inforced by a plurality of cloth (or other woven materials) pieces which are adhered to the bladder surface in a substantially orthogonal manner. The cloth-wrapped bladder is heat treated within a mould assembly to strengthen the glue bonding between the cloth pieces and the bladder surfaces and to provide a bladder with a well-defined shaped.
Claims13
A ball including an inflatable bladder and an outer sewn cover, said inflatable bladder being covered by at least a first and a second alternate fabric layers, said first fabric layer includes a plurality of longitudinally extending fabric strips which partially cover the surface of said inflatable bladder, said second fabric layer includes a plurality of latitudinally extending fabric strips, said second fabric layer includes an equatorial fabric strip surrounding the equator of said inflatable bladder and at least a first and a second latitudinal strips, said equatorial strip being generally parallel to and intermediate of said first and said second latitudinal strips.
A ball including a bladder and an outer sewn cover, said bladder being covered with a first fabric layer, a second fabric layer and a third fabric layer, said second fabric layer being intermediate of said first and said third fabric layers, wherein:
- said first fabric layer partially covers said bladder and includes a first and a second meridian strips, said first and second meridian strips respectively define a first and a second meridian planes which are generally orthogonal to each other;
- said second fabric layer includes an equatorial strip, a first latitudinal strip and a second latitudinal strip, said first and second latitudinal strips being generally parallel to said equatorial strip and said equatorial strip being intermediate of said first and second latitudinal strips, said equatorial and latitudinal strips intersect both said first and second meridian strips of said first fabric layer;
- said third fabric layer partially covers said bladder and includes a third and a fourth meridian strips, said third and fourth meridian strips define a third and a fourth meridian planes which are generally orthogonal to each other, said third and fourth meridian strips generally cover the surface of said bladder not already covered by said first and said second meridian strips.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.