BALL, IN PARTICULAR A SOCCER BALL, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A BALL

• US 20160263444A1
• Filed: 03/08/2016
• Published: 09/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adidas AG
• Original Assignee: Adidas AG
• Inventors: NRNBERG, Hans-Peter
• Granted Patent: US 10,376,750 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/54 Transponders, e.g. RFID
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2225/74 with powered illuminating means, e.g. lights
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2243/0025 Football American football A63B2243/007
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 41/08 Ball covers; Closures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 41/085 Closures
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 43/004 electrically conductive, e.g. for automatic arbitration
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 43/06 with illuminating devices ; with reflective surfaces
• 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: B33Y 10/00 Processes of additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing

Abstract

The present invention relates to a ball, in particular a soccer ball, comprising: a shell with a plurality of panels on an outside of the shell, wherein the plurality of panels are arranged in such a way that there is a gap between two adjacent panels, and wherein the gap is at least partly filled with a filling material.

Claims

1. A ball comprising:

a shell with a plurality of panels on an outside of the shell,

wherein the plurality of panels are arranged in such a way that there is a gap between two adjacent panels, and

wherein the gap is at least partly filled with a filling material.

2. The ball of claim 1, wherein the gap is designed in such a way that the two adjacent panels do not touch in the area of the gap.

3. The ball of claim 1, wherein the filling material fills the gap in such a way that the outside of the shell is completely covered inside the gap.

4. The ball of claim 1, wherein the filling material is a cured filling material that was liquid before the curing.

5. The ball of claim 1, wherein the filling material comprises polyurethane or silicone.

6. The ball of claim 1, wherein the filling material comprises a lighting element.

7. The ball of claim 1, wherein the filling material comprises an electronic element.

8. The ball of claim 1, wherein the filling material fills about 50% or more of the cross-sectional area of the gap.

9. The ball of claim 1, wherein one of the plurality of panels comprises a pseudo seam extending over a part of an outer surface of the panel.

10. The ball of claim 9, wherein the pseudo seam is filled with the filling material.

11. The ball of claim 1, wherein the shell is a bladder or a carcass arranged onto a bladder.

12. A method of manufacturing a ball, comprising the steps of:

providing a shell;

providing a plurality of panels;

arranging the plurality of panels on the shell so that there is a gap between two adjacent panels; and

filling the gap at least partly with a filling material.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the two adjacent panels do not touch at the gap.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the filling material completely covers an outside of the shell inside the gap.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the filling material is liquid and the method further comprises the step of curing the liquid filling material.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the filling material is applied from the outside in order to fill the gap.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the filling material is applied by a three-dimensional application technique.

18. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of forming a pseudo seam onto one of the plurality of panels, which extends over a part of an outer surface of the panel.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of filling the pseudo seam with the filling material.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of filling the gap with a filling material is arranged in such a way that the filling material enters from an outside of the shell into the gap.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of arranging the plurality of panels in a mold.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of supplying the plurality of panels to the shell via the mold so that the gap is formed between the two adjacent panels and gaps are formed between the plurality of panels and the shell.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the step of injecting the filling material into the gaps between the panels and the shell.

24. The method of claim 21, further comprising the step of rotating the mold so that the filling material is uniformly distributed in the gap.

25. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of:

arranging the plurality of panels on the shell by a robot arm; and

arranging the shell with the plurality of panels in a mold.

26. The method of claim 12, wherein the filling material comprises polyurethane or silicone.

27. The method of claim 12, wherein the shell is a bladder or a carcass arranged onto a bladder.

28. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of filling the gap with the filling material comprises adjusting the filling quantity per unit of time to the cross-sectional area of the gap.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the cross-sectional area of the gap is determined in real time via an optical method.