Ball and method of making same
First Claim
1. A ball comprising:
- (a) a generally spherical center portion or core;
(b) cohesive tape at least partially covering said center portion;
(c) yarn covering said cohesive tape-covered center portion;
(d) tape substantially completely covering said yarn; and
(e) a synthetic cloth cover;
said ball having the general appearance, size, shape and characteristics, particularly the aerodynamic characteristics, when thrown or hit, of the conventional recreational ball it is meant to replace, but being softer and lighter.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Balls comprised of (1) a generally spherically shaped center portion or core prepared from a piece(s) of material, such as a rag or sheet rubber, (2) cohesive tape at least partially covering this center portion, (3) yarn covering the cohesive tape-covered center portion, (4) additional tape (preferably cohesive) substantially completely covering this yarn layer, and (5) a synthetic cloth cover (preferably a double knit polyester). The cover is preferably formed of two figure eight-shaped cloth pieces which have short lines imprinted thereon extending inwardly from the perimeter of each cloth piece such that when the two cloth pieces are joined, corresponding short lines on each cloth piece are aligned such that they either intersect or would intersect if extended thereby simulating the stitching utilized in the construction of conventional baseballs and the like. The balls of this invention have substantially the same size, shape and performance characteristics (particularly the aerodynamic characteristics) of the balls they are meant to replace, i.e., baseballs or softballs, when thrown or hit, but are softer and lighter, allowing for their use in congested areas--they do not travel as far when hit--and by or with young children who are more susceptible to injury with hard balls or handicapped persons who are similarly susceptible to injury and who may have special difficulty with hand-eye coordination.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. A ball comprising:
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(a) a generally spherical center portion or core; (b) cohesive tape at least partially covering said center portion; (c) yarn covering said cohesive tape-covered center portion; (d) tape substantially completely covering said yarn; and (e) a synthetic cloth cover; said ball having the general appearance, size, shape and characteristics, particularly the aerodynamic characteristics, when thrown or hit, of the conventional recreational ball it is meant to replace, but being softer and lighter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In a ball comprised of a generally spherically shaped interior structure and a cover, the improvement which comprises:
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a cover comprising a first and a second generally figure eight-shaped cloth piece, each having an intermediate waist portion and a head portion at each end thereof, and each having imprinted or affixed thereon substantially uniformly spaced short colored lines along and at an angle to the perimeter at the point of intersection of said lines with the perimeter and extending inwardly from the perimeter, and said second cloth piece having imprinted or affixed thereon a line along its perimeter;
whereinsaid first and second cloth pieces are positioned in a head to waist relation and such that the perimeter of said second cloth piece is on top of and slightly overlaps the perimeter of said first cloth piece and said short colored lines extending inwardly on each of said pieces would intersect if extended through said line along the perimeter of said second cloth piece; said first and said second cloth pieces are joined together along said line along the perimeter of said second cloth piece.
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13. A method for making a ball comprising:
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(a) forming a piece or pieces of material into a generally spherical shape to form the core of said ball; (b) at least partially covering said core with cohesive tape; (c) covering the tape-covered structure of step (b) with yarn while maintaining the spherical shape of the structure; (d) substantially completely covering the yarn-covered spherical structure of step (c) with tape while maintaining the spherical shape of the structure to form the interior structure of the ball; and (e) covering said interior structure of step (d) with a synthetic cloth cover to form the completed ball. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification