Patent Application
20130228305
Not applicable
Not applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of sporting goods.
More particularly, the present invention is in the field of tennis. In particular the present invention relates to an apparatus to improve the bounce performance of cold tennis balls.
Description of historical problem: The bounce performance of a tennis ball varies approximately forty percent from a temperature of seventy degrees Fahrenheit, to a temperature of thirty degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore when a ball is cold, the bounce performance of the ball is significantly diminished making it difficult to play tennis. This is a universal problem experienced by all players of the sport.
2. Background Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,095 DTD Feb. 8, 1983, De Satnick
This device uses a needle to pierce the ball and insert a gas into the ball to adjust the pressure within the ball.
The tennis ball conditioner utilizes heat to increase the internal pressure and to heat the entire composition of the ball thereby improving the bounce performance of the ball.
There is no invasive puncturing of the ball and no possibility of subsequent leaking due to the piercing of the ball membrane.
The tennis ball conditioner solves the cold tennis ball bounce performance problem by rapidly heating tennis ball's to the desired operating temperature.
The tennis ball conditioner apparatus comprises an insulated housing with internal thermostatically controlled heating, cooling and variable speed fan to quickly warm tennis balls to operating temperature. The balls are then stabilized or maintained at the desired operating temperature. The apparatus conditions the balls for use primarily by heating and also stores ready for transportation a varying number of balls.
Playing tennis with cold tennis balls that will not bounce properly is a universal problem when ambient temperature is cold and is experienced by all players of the sport.
The bounce performance of a tennis ball decreases by approximately 40% as temperature decreases from 70 degrees F. to 30 Degrees F.
The tennis ball conditioner solves this problem by rapidly heating tennis ball's to the desired operating temperature then stabilizing said balls at the desired temperature.
An embodiment to be preferred of the tennis ball conditioner, the present invention is here and in
Referring to
Referring to
The tennis ball conditioner shown in
Referring to
Referring to
“For clarity, within this document all reference to the top and bottom of the Tennis Ball Conditioner will correspond to the Tennis Ball Conditioner of the
Closing Statement
Having thus described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the Tennis ball conditioner, it is to be appreciated and will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes not exemplified in the detailed description of the invention could be made without altering the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. It is also to be appreciated that numerous embodiments incorporating only part of the preferred embodiment are possible which do not alter, with respect to those parts, the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. The presented embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects exemplary and/or illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims, and all alternate embodiments and changes to the embodiments shown herein which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the appended claims are therefore to be embraced therein.
