Sports ball comprising automatic inflation means and method to manage the internal pressure of such a ball

• US 7,654,922 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2007
• Issued: 02/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission)
• Original Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission)
• Inventors: Blanpain, Roland, Vassilev, Andrea
• Primary Examiner(s): WONG, STEVEN B
• Application Number:
  US11/776,808
• Publication Number:
  US 20080026886A1
• Time in Patent Office: 936 Days
• Field of Search: 473/593, 473/570, 473/577, 473/594, 473/595, 446/220
• US Class Current: 473/593
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 41/12 Tools or devices for blowing up or closing balls for pricking-balls A63B39/04

Abstract

Sports ball, and more generally a pneumatic object with at least one internal pressure sensor (10) of said ball, automatic inflator (6), capable of compensating for a decrease in the internal pressure, this inflator having at least one gas micro-generator, said at least one micro-generator being capable of being actuated when the pressure sensor (10) measures an internal pressure below a predetermined threshold.

Claims

1. Sports ball comprising:

at least one internal pressure measurement sensor of said ball,

an automatic inflator, capable of compensating for a decrease in the internal pressure, said automatic inflator comprising at least one gas micro-generator, said at least one microgenerator being capable of being actuated when the pressure measurement sensor measures an internal pressure below a predetermined threshold, wherein said micro-generator comprises a pyrotechnic formulation capable of igniting by means of a Joule effect and an electrical actuator capable of inducing the ignition of said formulation.

2. Sports ball according to the claim 1, wherein the pyrotechnic formulation is solid propellant.

3. Sports ball according to claim 1, wherein the electrical actuator comprises a capacitive circuit powered by a micro-battery.

4. Sports ball according to claim 1, wherein the electrical actuator comprises a capacitive circuit powered by a piezoelectric device converting deformation energy of the sports ball into electrical energy.

5. Sports ball according to claim 1, further comprising an internal temperature sensor for the ball.

6. Sports ball according to claim 1, comprising several gas micro-generators distributed regularly so as to limit the unbalance effect.

7. Method to manage the internal pressure of a sports ball comprising several gas microgenerators and a pressure sensor comprising the following steps:

measurement of the internal pressure of the sports ball by the pressure sensor,

comparison of the pressure value with a threshold value made by a comparator in the sports ball, and

activation of at least one gas microgenerator if the pressure value measured is below the threshold.

8. Method to manage the internal pressure of a sports ball according to claim 7, wherein the activation of the micro-generators is performed in a predefined order to prevent an unbalance effect.