Simulated ball used in sports incorporating an electronic component
First Claim
1. A simulated ball used in sports having an electronic component mounted therein with exposed controls for operation by a user, said ball including a hollow body over which a complementary shaped flexible ball cover is mounted, said body receiving said electronic component in a recess provided in an outer wall of said hollow body, said body including means associated therewith to position and hold said electronic component within said hollow body, said complementary shaped flexible ball cover having a corresponding opening there through to allow exposure of the controls of the electronic component, said ball cover being drawn in generally close-fitting and conforming relationship to the outer wall of said hollow body including at least partially within the recess thereof;
- and said body being formed from two generally curvilinearly shaped thin-walled plastic half sections which terminate in complementary interfitting free end portions, a thin-walled plastic disc-shaped element extending substantially across the hollow body and structurally inter-engaging the complementary interfitting free end portions to provide laterally outwardly directed and circumferentially extending support therefor.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A simulated ball used in sports is disclosed as having an electronic component mounted therein with exposed controls for operation by a user. The ball includes a hollow body over which a complementary shaped ball cover is mounted, the body receiving the electronic component in a recess provided in an outer wall of the hollow body, said body further including means associated therewith to position and hold the electronic component within the hollow body. The complementary shaped ball cover has a corresponding opening there through to allow exposure of the controls of the electronic component, and the ball cover is drawn in generally close fitting and conforming relationship to the outer wall of the hollow body. A body is preferably formed from two generally curvilinearly shaped thin-walled plastic half sections which terminate in complementary interfitting free end portions with a thin-walled disc shaped element extending substantially across the hollow body and structurally inter-engaging the complementary interfitting free end portions to provide radially outwardly directed and circumferentially extending support therefore. The electronic component is mounted to a supporting frame position within the confined of the hollow body, with the body having alignment means associated therewith to facilitate assembly and positioning of the supporting frame in a position spacing the supporting frame and the electronic component mounted thereto from the hollow body.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A simulated ball used in sports having an electronic component mounted therein with exposed controls for operation by a user, said ball including a hollow body over which a complementary shaped flexible ball cover is mounted, said body receiving said electronic component in a recess provided in an outer wall of said hollow body, said body including means associated therewith to position and hold said electronic component within said hollow body, said complementary shaped flexible ball cover having a corresponding opening there through to allow exposure of the controls of the electronic component, said ball cover being drawn in generally close-fitting and conforming relationship to the outer wall of said hollow body including at least partially within the recess thereof;
- and said body being formed from two generally curvilinearly shaped thin-walled plastic half sections which terminate in complementary interfitting free end portions, a thin-walled plastic disc-shaped element extending substantially across the hollow body and structurally inter-engaging the complementary interfitting free end portions to provide laterally outwardly directed and circumferentially extending support therefor.
- View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A generally curvilinearly-shaped hollow body having an electronic component mounted therein with the controls for the electronic component being exposed for operation by a user, said body being formed from two generally curvilinearly shaped thin-walled plastic half sections which terminate in complementary interfitting free end portions, a thin-walled plastic disc element extending substantially across the hollow body and structurally inter-engaging the complementary interfitting free end portions of the thin-walled plastic half sections in planes aligned with and transverse to the disc-shaped element to provide outwardly directed and circumferentially extending support for the thin-walled half sections in the complementary interfitting free end thereof, said electronic component being fixedly mounted to a supporting frame positioned wholly within the confines of and spaced from said body, said body having alignment means associated therewith to facilitate assembly and positioning of the supporting frame in a position spacing the supporting frame and the electronic component mounted thereto from the thin-walled plastic half sections within said body, means for mounting the supporting frame to the body in its predetermined aligned position within the assembled thin-walled plastic half sections forming said body;
- a through opening in said disc-shaped element for receiving said supporting frame therethrough, and said alignment means for said supporting frame being provided on said disc-shaped element adjacent the through opening thereof.
- View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
- 17. A generally curvilinearly-shaped hollow body formed from two generally curvilinearly-shaped and complementary thin-walled plastic half sections which terminate in complementary interfitting free end portions, a thin-walled plastic disc-shaped element extending substantially across the hollow body and structurally inter-engaging the complementary interfitting free end portions of the thin-walled plastic half sections in planes generally aligned with and transverse to the disc-shaped element to provide laterally outwardly directed and circumferentially extending support for the thin-walled plastic half sections in the complementary interfitting free end portions thereof, and means in the vicinity of said complementary interfitting free end portions for holding the thin-walled plastic half sections together to form the generally spherically-shaped hollow body.
- 27. A simulated ball used in sports having an electronic component mounted therein, comprising a generally curvilinearly shaped hollow body over which a complementary-shaped flexible ball cover is mounted, said body receiving said electronic component in a complementary-shaped recess formed in said body, said ball cover having a plurality of circumferentially extending and closely spaced flexible fingers which are received within the recess of said body, an endless collar which engages and traps the flexible fingers of the ball cover against an inner wall of the body recess, said electronic component being received in said body recess within said endless collar, and means for releasably mounting the electronic component to said body.
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34. The method of mounting an electronic component in a simulated ball with a tight fitting seamed flexible ball cover positioned in a complementary conformed relationship about a generally curvilinearly-shaped body, said body having a recess formed therein for receiving said electronic component, wherein the steps include:
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forming a plurality of circumferentially extending and closely spaced flexible fingers from a limited surface area of the baseball cover within the seams thereof, positioning said flexible fingers in said body recess, trapping said flexible fingers in said body recess, drawing material portions of said ball cover surrounding said flexible fingers in generally tight-fitting and conforming relationship to the generally curvilinearly-shaped body, and thereafter positioning and mounting said electronic component within the body recess over the flexible fingers of said ball cover. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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Specification