Patent Grant
8622856
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/717,985, filed Nov. 20, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,854,815, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This application claims priority to and the benefit of German Patent Application Serial No. 102555092.1, filed Nov. 26, 2002, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a ball for a ball game, such as a soccer ball. More specifically, the invention relates to a game ball having a plurality of three-dimensional panels forming an outer layer of the ball and methods of manufacturing such panels.
There are many different methods for producing game balls. For example, balls for children are typically manufactured from plastic materials such as polyvinyl chloride. During manufacture, a liquid material is poured into a mold, where it solidifies to form a finished ball or at least one layer of the ball's outer cover. A typical method is disclosed in German Patent No. DE 27 23 625, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Higher quality balls, such as, for example, soccer balls for tournament play, typically have an outer layer assembled from separate panels that surround an inflatable bladder. Conventionally, there have been two kinds of game balls, a laminated ball and a hand-stitched ball. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,333,648 and 6,503,162, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, an exemplary laminated ball includes a bladder made from air impermeable rubber. The bladder has a spherical hollow body into which compressed air is pumped through a valve. The ball further includes a reinforced layer formed by circumferentially winding a fiber, for example, a nylon filament, onto the entire surface of the bladder in order to reinforce the bladder and enhance mechanical properties of the ball, such as, for example, uniformity of size and weight distribution, sphericity, durability, and shape retention. A cover layer made of thin vulcanized rubber is then bonded onto the reinforcing layer, and an outer layer including a plurality of panels is mounted onto the cover layer. The cover layer typically serves to improve a bond between the panels and the ball's core. The panels are typically manufactured from artificial or natural leather. An end of the back of the leather panel is usually cut obliquely and a trench, having a substantially V-shape, is formed at a panel joint so that the panel wraps relatively smoothly around the ball.
A hand-stitched ball has a structure in which the bladder described above is surrounded by and is housed in an outer layer having a spherical shape formed by folding edges of a plurality of panels (also typically made from artificial or natural leather) toward the inside and sewing them together with a thread (usually about 10,000 deniers). Conventionally, a backing member formed by a plurality of woven fabrics is attached to the inside of the panel. For example, the woven fabrics can be bonded onto the inside of the panel with an adhesive such as a latex paste, thereby reinforcing the panel and providing additional cushioning during play. The panels described above, for example, pentagons and hexagons of a soccer ball, are typically produced as flat two-dimensional panels (not taking into account the thickness of the material).
Furthermore, the edges of the panels may cause delamination between the ball's component layers. Also, hand-stitched seams may be damaged after prolonged use. In particular, moisture may seep into the stitched seams, thereby disrupting the weight distribution of the ball so that it reacts unpredictably during play. Finally, the elastic properties of such assembled balls are not completely homogenous. For example, a soccer ball may react differently when it is kicked in the center of a panel as compared to when the player's foot contacts the seam between two panels.
In an attempt to minimize the disadvantages mentioned above, it has been known to decrease the number and increase the size of the panels, thereby reducing the number of stitched seams or border regions. A lower number of panels, however, leads to a structure, where each individual panel covers a larger section of the surface of the ball. Because the panels are two-dimensional, each panel needs to be curved to adapt to the rounded surface of the ball. Such shaping, however, may cause a considerable internal stress and strain on the panel. The larger the panel the greater the stress resulting from its curvature. Such stress may cause undesirable shape deviations and inhomogeneous elastic properties when the ball is inflated. To address these shortcomings, it has been proposed in, for example, French Patent Publication No. FR 2 443 850 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP 58-215335, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, to preform the panels prior to mounting them onto the bladder, to reduce the stress of the stitched seams or the border regions.
Known approaches, however, do not take into account the multi-layer composition of modern high performance balls, wherein one or more layers are arranged underneath the outer layer. During play, these additional layers are also subjected to considerable mechanical loads. Exemplary multi-layer systems for game balls are disclosed in European Patent Publication No. EP 0 894 514 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,054, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. Due to the high pressure inside the ball and load fluctuation during play, one or more interior layers may delaminate from the outer material, thereby compromising the ball's performance.
There is, therefore, a need for a game ball having larger outer panels with improved resistance to delamination of component layers and homogeneity of elastic properties.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved methods of manufacturing multi-layer outer panels for a game ball and a game ball that address the disadvantages of known methods.
In accordance with the invention, a top layer of an outer panel, as well as one or more backing materials disposed underneath the top layer, are preformed into a shape corresponding to a surface of the ball. Multi-layer outer panels are then attached to or interconnected to surround a bladder, thereby producing a game ball while minimizing overstretching of the outer material or the backing material and improving resistance of the outer panels to delamination. Further, because the overstretching is reduced, a game ball having outer panels produced according to the invention has more homogeneous elastic properties as compared to known game balls. Further yet, the method according to the invention promotes the manufacture of game balls having larger outer panels, which, because of the smaller number of seams or border regions, improves environmental stability, durability, and shape retention, further improves homogeneity of the elastic properties and decreases manufacturing costs. Finally, larger outer panels lead to a greater freedom for creating ornamental designs on the surface of the game balls, because of the smaller number of interrupting seams or border regions.
In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a method of manufacturing a multi-layer outer panel for a game ball. The method includes three-dimensionally forming a top layer that includes a first material and has an outer surface and an inner surface (step (a)). The outer surface of the top layer is dimensioned to substantially correspond to a section of a surface of the ball. The method further includes three-dimensionally forming at least one backing layer that includes a second material and has an outer surface and an inner surface (step (b)). The inner surface of the at least one backing layer is dimensioned to substantially correspond to the section of the surface of the ball. The method also includes connecting the inner surface of the top layer and the outer surface of the at least one backing layer, thereby forming the outer panel (step (c)). In various embodiments, the outer surface of the at least one backing layer is dimensioned to substantially match the inner surface of the top layer. Also, the outer panel may have a predetermined radius of curvature substantially matching a radius of the game ball.
In one embodiment, step (b) is performed prior to step (a). In this embodiment, the at least one backing layer is used to three-dimensionally form the top layer by, for example, at least one of deep drawing, vacuum forming, injection molding, or dipping the backing layer into the first material. Alternatively, the top layer can be formed by spraying the first material onto the backing layer. In a particular version of this embodiment, the backing layer is used on a lower side of a stamp for deep drawing the top layer.
In another embodiment, the top layer is three-dimensionally formed by at least one of deep drawing, vacuum forming, injection molding, and spraying into a mold. In this embodiment, step (a) may be performed prior to step (b) and the top layer may be used to three-dimensionally form the backing layer, for example, the top layer can be at least partially used as a mold for three-dimensionally forming the backing layer. In yet another embodiment, step (a) and step (b) are performed independently. The top layer and the at least one backing layer may be connected by at least one of a chemical bond, a physical bond, and an adhesive. In one embodiment, the outer panel is substantially free of mechanical stress at an interface between the top layer and the at least one backing layer.
In various embodiments of the invention, the first material includes a thermoplastic elastomer, for example, polyurethane, polyester, polyamide, polyolefin, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, or polybutadiene. In a particular embodiment, the first material is substantially transparent, and, prior to step (a), at least one image may be provided on at least one surface of the first material. In this version, the method includes cutting the first material into a two-dimensional section. The step of providing an image on at least one surface of the first material may include depositing an imaging material onto the at least one surface of the first material.
The second material may include a foam material, for example, polyurethane, ethylene vinyl acetate, or latex. The foam material can be prevulcanized prior to the three-dimensional forming of the backing layer. A substrate layer including, for example, a textile material can be attached to the inner surface of the at least one backing layer. The second material may include a mesh material.
In general, in another aspect, the invention features a method for manufacturing a game ball. The method includes providing a plurality of panels and an air-impermeable bladder having a substantially spherical shape. Each panel, according to this aspect of the invention, includes a three-dimensional top layer that includes a first material and has an outer surface and an inner surface and at least one three-dimensional backing layer that includes a second material and has an outer surface and an inner surface. The outer surface of the top layer is dimensioned to substantially correspond to a section of a surface of the ball. The outer surface of the three-dimensional backing layer is connected to the inner surface of the top layer. The method also includes interconnecting the edges of the panels, thereby forming an outer layer of the ball surrounding the bladder.
In one embodiment of this aspect of the invention, the method further includes adhesively mounting the plurality of panels onto the bladder. A reinforcing layer, for example, including a flexible, substantially spherical skeletal frame separate from and surrounding the bladder, is optionally interposed between the plurality of panels and the bladder. In another embodiment of the invention, the outer layer forms a self-supporting structure.
In yet another embodiment, the air-impermeable bladder includes an elastic material. In this embodiment, the game ball is inflatable, and, in the inflated state, the radius of the game ball exceeds a predetermined radius of curvature of each of the plurality of panels.
Also, the invention features multi-layer outer panels and a game ball manufactured in accordance with the methods described above.
The advantages and features of the present invention herein disclosed will become apparent through reference to the following description, the accompanying drawings, and the claims. Furthermore, it is to be understood that the features of the various embodiments described herein are not mutually exclusive and can exist in various combinations and permutations.
In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the same parts throughout the different views. Also, the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the following description, various embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the following drawings, in which:
In the following description, various embodiments of the methods according to the invention for the manufacture of three-dimensional panels for a game ball are discussed in detail using the manufacture of hexagons or pentagons for a soccer ball as an example. However, it is to be understood that outer panels for other game balls, such as handballs, volleyballs, rugby balls, etc., can also be manufactured using the methods disclosed herein. Also, three-dimensional outer panels can be manufactured in a wide variety of shapes including, for example, diamonds, Z-shapes, or V-shapes.
Referring to
A plurality of three-dimensional outer panels 30 manufactured according to the methods of the invention discussed in greater detail below, are mounted onto the bladder 22 or the carcass 27. In some embodiments, the panels 30 are directly attached to the uppermost layer, i.e. the bladder 22, the reinforcing layer 24, or the cover layer 26. In other embodiments, the edges 32 of the panels 30 are interconnected, thereby forming an outer layer 33 surrounding the bladder 22 or the carcass 27. The outer layer 33 may or may not form a self-supporting structure.
Referring to
Referring to
Optionally, a mesh material 46 can be used as a substrate for the backing layer 42 or can be embedded into the backing layer 42 for structural durability. The mesh material 46 may be formed from a natural fiber, such as cotton or a synthetic material such as, for example, polyester yarn, nylon, or any combination thereof. The backing layer 42 may have additional layers interposed between it and the bladder 22 or the carcass 27, for example, an additional substrate layer 47 to increase the mechanical stability of the panel 30, including, for example, a textile material.
In one embodiment of the invention, the panel 30 is manufactured by first producing the backing layer 42 and then using the backing layer 42 to shape the top layer 40. Referring to
In some embodiments, the foam material 50 is a prevulcanized preform, i.e., a material having cross-linking agents contained therein not completely vulcanized. The preform can be pre-vulcanized for adjustment of the mechanical properties and for the provision of the initial shape thereof. The pre-vulcanization step is typically carried out at temperatures from about 155° C. to about 170° C. Compared to conventional vulcanization, pre-vulcanization requires a shortened period of processing time. Suitable foam materials include, but are not limited to, polyurethane foam, ethylene vinyl acetate foam, and latex foam.
Referring to
The process temperature generally depends upon which foam material 50 is used. In one embodiment, the mold 52 is kept at a room temperature. In another embodiment, the mold 52 is kept at a temperature ranging from about 30° C. to about 120° C. The foam material 50 expands and vulcanizes under pressure in the cavity defined by the mold 52 and the stamp 56 when the stamp 56 is lowered into the mold 52. After the stamp 56 is withdrawn, the material 50 assumes the three-dimensional shape forming the backing layer 42, as shown in
Referring to
Referring now to
Referring to
Referring to
Still referring to
Other methods of three-dimensional forming of the top layer 40 using the backing layer 42 can also be employed. Referring to
In yet another alternative embodiment, the panel 30 is manufactured by first producing the top layer 40 and then using the top layer 40 to produce the backing layer 42. Referring to
The backing layer 42 is produced as described above in connection with
Because the inner surface 48 of the top layer 40 is used to shape the outer surface 44 of the backing layer 42, the curvature of the outer surface 44 of the backing layer 42 substantially matches the curvature of the inner surface 48 of the top layer 40, and both of these surfaces substantially correspond to the section of the surface 45 of the bladder 22 or the carcass 27.
As discussed above in connection with
In yet another alternative embodiment, the top layer 40 and the backing layer 42 may also be produced independently from each other. In this embodiment, the outer surface 44 of the backing layer 42 is dimensioned to match the inner surface 48 of the top layer 40 to provide a substantially stress-free connection of the top layer 40 and the at least one backing material 42 forming the outer panel.
Having described certain embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments incorporating the concepts disclosed herein may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as only illustrative and not restrictive.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Child | 12944257 | US |
