Play balls or pressureless tennis balls
First Claim
1. A play ball comprising:
- a blend of at leasta) one or more crosslinked rubbers,b) one or more reinforcing particulate fillers comprising silica or carbon black or combinations thereof, andc) a polymeric filler being an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer with from about 1 to 10 weight percent vinyl acetate and/or the reaction product of cellulose grafted with a low density polyethylene in the presence of a free-radical source,wherein said polymeric filler is blended into said one or more rubbers before they are crosslinked, andwherein said ball is in the form of a hollow sphere.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hollow rubber play ball is disclosed that uses a combination two or more fillers to produce desirable playing properties in a tennis ball as specified by the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ITF). The preferred play ball is a pressureless tennis ball. The specific fillers disclosed are mineral type particulate reinforcing fillers such as silicas and carbon black, polymeric fillers such as cellulose, a reaction product of grafting polyethylene with cellulose, and ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers. These fillers can also have surface treatments to enhance the elastomer-filler interaction. Another reinforcing filler that can be introduced with the rubber components is the non-rubber constituents in skim rubber that serve to increase the modulus of a compounded rubber.
48 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A play ball comprising:
- a blend of at least
a) one or more crosslinked rubbers, b) one or more reinforcing particulate fillers comprising silica or carbon black or combinations thereof, and c) a polymeric filler being an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer with from about 1 to 10 weight percent vinyl acetate and/or the reaction product of cellulose grafted with a low density polyethylene in the presence of a free-radical source, wherein said polymeric filler is blended into said one or more rubbers before they are crosslinked, and wherein said ball is in the form of a hollow sphere. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 12)
- a blend of at least
- 5. In a tennis ball comprising a hollow sphere which is comprised of a crosslinked blend of one or more rubbers and reinforcing filler, the improvement comprising the inclusion of a grafted product of the reaction of low density polyethylene with cellulose in the presence of a free-radical source and wherein said grafted reaction product is present in amounts from 10 to 50 phr.
- 7. In a tennis ball comprising a hollow sphere of a blend of one or more crosslinked rubbers and reinforcing fillers, the improvement wherein said fillers comprise in combination, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, having from about 1 to 10 weight percent vinyl acetate and from 90 to 99 weight percent ethylene, and a particulate reinforcing filler selected from carbon black or silica or combinations thereof which are blended into said one or more rubbers before they are crosslinked.
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11. In rubber ball halves including one or more rubbers, fillers, and curatives wherein the improvement comprises having from 5 to 50 phr 6f a filler, said filler being a reaction product of low density polyethylene, cellulose fiber, and a free radical initiator reacted at from about 90°
- to about 190°
C. which forms cellulose grafted with said polyethylene.
- to about 190°
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13. A play ball comprising:
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a blend of (a) one or more crosslinked rubbers, (b) one or more reinforcing particulate fillers comprising silica or carbon black or combinations thereof, and (c) an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer comprising from about 1 to 10 weight percent vinyl acetate and from about 90 to 99 weight percent ethylene; wherein said ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer is blended into said blend before said one or more rubbers are crosslinked, and wherein said ball is in the form of a hollow sphere. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification