Game ball

• US 5,000,451 A
• Filed: 02/14/1990
• Issued: 03/19/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: James A. Macdonald, Richard A. Macdonald
• Original Assignee: James A. Macdonald, Richard A. Macdonald
• Inventors: MacDonald, James A., MacDonald, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Marlo, George J.
• Application Number:
  US07/480,208
• Time in Patent Office: 398 Days
• Field of Search: 273/65, 273/58 F, 273/58 H, 273/58 K, 273/58 A, 273/58 B, 273/58 BA, 273/58 E, 273/428
• US Class Current: 473/594
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2243/007 American football
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 43/00 Balls with special arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 43/04 with an eccentric centre of gravity; with mechanism for changing the centre of gravity solid balls A63B37/10
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 273/20 Weighted balls

Abstract

A football or other projectile is stabilized in flight by weighted material that responds to spinning of the football about its major axis by moving radially outward to become evenly distributed about that axis. In a preferred embodiment, two annular tubes, concentrically disposed about the major axis, encircle the ball at opposite sides of a plane containing the minor axis of the ball. The weighted material, in the form of beads, liquid, etc., is contained within the tubes and is flung radially outward as the ball spins.

Claims

1. A projectile adapted to be thrown through the air comprising:

a body substantially symmetrical about a major axis and a minor axis;

movable flight stabilization means on said body at opposite sides of the minor axis in planes parallel to and symmetrical about the minor axis, said stabilization means being of sufficient weight to be flung radially outward with respect to the major axis in response to centrifugal force when said projectile is thrown through the air with spin about said major axis.

2. A projectile as recited in claim 1 wherein said stabilization means is located within the middle one third of the major axis.

3. A projectile as recited in claim 1 wherein said stabilization means includes:

an enclosed chamber encircling said body, and weighted means disposed within said chamber and movable radially outward within said chamber with respect to the major axis.

4. A projectile as recited in claim 3 wherein said enclosed chamber is an endless tube and said weighted means is a plurality of beads.

5. A projectile as recited in claim 4 wherein said tube is circular in cross-section and said beads are spherical, the diameter of said beads being approximately sixty-five percent to seventy percent of the inner diameter of said tube.

6. A projectile as recited in claim 3 wherein said enclosed chamber is an endless tube and said weighted means is a liquid.

7. A projectile as recited in claim 6 wherein said liquid fills approximately eighty-five percent to ninety percent of said tube.

8. A projectile as recited in claim 1 wherein the weight of said stabilization means is approximately thirty percent to fifty percent of the total weight of said projectile.

9. A projectile as recited in claim 1 further comprising a longitudinal bore extending through said body to define an air passage of varying cross-section.

10. A projectile adapted to be manually thrown through the air comprising:

a body having a prolate spheroid configuration substantially symmetrical about its major axis and minor axis;

movable weight means on said body in planes parallel to and symmetrical about the minor axis and lying substantially along the middle one third of the major axis, said weight means being movable at least in a direction radially outward from the major axis under the influence of centrifugal force created when said body is thrown through the air with spin about said major axis, whereby said weight means is distributed equally around said body as said body travels through the air.

11. A projectile as recited in claim 10 wherein said movable weight means includes:

an enclosed chamber encircling said body, and weighted material disposed within said chamber and movable radially outward within said chamber with respect to the major axis.

12. A projectile as recited in claim 11 wherein said enclosed chamber is an endless tube and said weighted material is a plurality of beads.

13. A projectile as recited in claim 12 wherein said enclosed chamber is an endless tube and said weighted material is a liquid.

14. A projectile as recited in claim 10 further comprising a Venturi nozzle passage extending through said body concentrically about said major axis.

15. A game ball adapted to be manually thrown through the air comprising:

a body having a prolate spheroid configuration substantially symmetrical about a major axis and a minor axis disposed transverse to the major axis;

a longitudinal bore extending through said body to define an air passage symmetrical about both the major axis and the minor axis, said air passage having a maximum cross-sectional area at opposing longitudinal ends of said body and continuously decreasing to a minimum cross-sectional area at substantially the midpoint between said opposing ends; and

movable weight means provided on said body in planes oriented parallel to and disposed symmetrically about the minor axis, said weight means being movable at least in a direction radially outward from the major axis under the influence of centrifugal force created when said body is thrown through the air with spin about said major axis, whereby said weight means is distributed evenly around said body in a radial direction as said body travels with spin through the air.

16. A game ball as recited in claim 15 wherein said movable weight means includes first and second tubes each having a circular cross-section encircling said body, said tubes being disposed on respective opposite sides of the minor axis, and a plurality of spherical beads disposed within said tubes.

17. A game ball as recited in claim 16 wherein first and second annular recesses are defined in the exterior of said body and said first and second tubes are received within said first and second recesses, respectively.

18. A game ball as recited in claim 15 wherein said movable weight means includes first and second tubes each encircling said body on respective opposite sides of the minor axis, and a non-toxic liquid contained in said tubes.

19. A game ball as recited in claim 18 wherein first and second annular recesses are defined in the exterior of said body and said first and second tubes are received within said first and second recesses, respectively.

20. A game ball as recited in claim 15 wherein said body has an outer skin fabricated of a lightweight, low density plastic material and an interior fabricated of a lightweight, low density sponge rubber material.