Sport Balls And Methods Of Manufacturing The Sport Balls

• US 20090325744A1
• Filed: 06/27/2008
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Nike, Inc.
• Inventors: Raynak, Geoffrey C., McNamee, Mark, White, Vincent F., Rapaport, Zvi
• Granted Patent: US 8,182,379 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 473/604
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 41/08 Ball covers; Closures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 41/085 Closures
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 41/10 Bladder and cover united
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 45/00 Apparatus or methods for manufacturing balls working of plastics or substances in a plastic state B29
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/10 Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/1036 Bending of one piece blank and joining edges to form article
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 156/108 Flash, trim or excess removal
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 83/06 Blanking

Abstract

A sport ball may include a casing, an intermediate layer, and a bladder. In manufacturing the sport ball, a panel element of the casing and the bladder may be located in a mold, and a polymer foam material of the intermediate layer may be injected into an area between the bladder and the panel element. In addition, edges of panel element may be heatbonded to each other to join the panel elements and form seams of the casing.

Claims

1. A sport ball comprising:

a casing that forms at least a portion of an exterior surface of the ball;

an intermediate layer at least partially formed from a foam material, the intermediate layer being located adjacent to the casing and within the casing; and

a bladder located adjacent to the intermediate layer and within the intermediate layer,

wherein the foam material of the intermediate layer is bonded to each of the casing and the bladder.

2. The sport ball recited in claim 1, wherein the casing is formed from a plurality panels, and adjacent panels are bonded to each other to form seams.

3. The sport ball recited in claim 2, wherein the panels include a thermoplastic polymer material at the seams, and stitching and adhesive materials are absent from the seams.

4. The sport ball recited in claim 1, wherein one of the casing and the intermediate layer include a textile material.

5. The sport ball recited in claim 1, wherein the casing includes a textile layer positioned adjacent to the intermediate layer.

6. A sport ball consisting of:

a casing that forms at least a portion of an exterior surface of the ball;

a foam layer located within the casing and bonded to the casing; and

a bladder located within the foam layer and bonded to the foam layer.

7. The sport ball recited in claim 6, wherein the casing is formed from a plurality panels that include a thermoplastic polymer material, and adjacent panels are bonded to each other to form seams.

8. The sport ball recited in claim 7, wherein stitching and adhesive materials are absent from the seams.

9. The sport ball recited in claim 7, wherein the foam layer is formed from a polymer foam material.

10. A method of manufacturing a sport ball, the method comprising:

locating a bladder within a mold; and

injecting an at least partially uncured polymer foam material into the mold and onto a surface of the bladder.

11. The method recited in claim 10, wherein the step of locating includes positioning a casing element within the mold.

12. The method recited in claim 11, wherein the step of locating further includes spacing the casing element from the bladder.

13. The method recited in claim 12, wherein the step of injecting includes locating the polymer foam material between the casing element and the bladder.

14. The method recited in claim 10, wherein the step of locating includes positioning a plurality of panels within the mold and spacing the panels from the bladder.

15. The method recited in claim 14, wherein the step of injecting includes locating the polymer foam material between the panels and the bladder.

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

locating a bladder and a casing element within a mold, at least a portion of a surface of the casing element being spaced from the bladder; and

injecting a polymer foam material into the mold and between the bladder and the casing element.

17. The method recited in claim 16, wherein the step of injecting includes bonding the polymer foam material to surfaces of the casing element and the bladder.

18. A method of manufacturing a sport ball, the method comprising:

forming a casing of the sport ball from panel elements that include a thermoplastic polymer material; and

heatbonding edges of the panel elements to each other to join the panel elements.

19. The method recited in claim 18, wherein the step of heatbonding includes utilizing radio frequency energy to heat the edges of the panel elements.

20. The method recited in claim 18, further including a step of forming indentations in the casing at the edges of the panel elements.

21. A method of manufacturing a sport ball, the method comprising:

locating a plurality of panels adjacent to each other; and

heating edges of the panels with radio frequency energy to join the panels.

22. A method of manufacturing a sport ball, the method comprising:

positioning a plurality of panel blanks adjacent to each other, the panel blanks including a panel area and a flange area;

compressing and heating the flange areas from adjacent panel blanks to join the flange areas to each other; and

removing excess portions of the flange areas.

23. The method recited in claim 22, further including a step of incorporating a thermoplastic polymer material into the panel blanks.

24. The method recited in claim 22, wherein the step of compressing and heating includes utilizing radio frequency energy to heat the flange areas.

25. The method recited in claim 22, further including a step of forming indentations in areas where the flange areas are joined to each other.