US20040029661A1

US20040029661A1 - Ball

Info

Publication number: US20040029661A1
Application number: US10/214,981
Authority: US
Inventors: Hsiang-Bin Hung
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-08-07
Filing date: 2002-08-07
Publication date: 2004-02-12

Abstract

A ball has a core and a cover surrounding the core. The cover is made of a rubber material and surrounding the core. The cover has two half pieces sewn together with each other, and each half piece has a fabric lining securely attached to an inner surface of the half piece with a ripening process. Accordingly, the cover made of a rubber material has an excellent wear-resisting efficiency and will not contain water, such that the useful life of the ball is prolonged.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a ball, and more particularly to a ball for baseball or softball and having an excellent wear-resisting effect.

2. Description of Related Art

A conventional ball for baseball or softball comprises a core and a cover surrounding the core. The cover of the conventional ball is always made of leather such as animal leather or artificial leather. A lining made of a foam material is mounted on the cover when the cover is made of artificial leather such as PU or PVC. However, the conventional cover of the ball made of a leather material is easily worn off due to being struck by a bat or rolling on the field, such that the useful life of the conventional ball is short. The rigid nature of the PVC or PU material is slippery, and the slippery resistibility of the ball with PVC or PU cover is still beyond standard. In addition, as water is easily contained in the pores on the animal leather or the foam lining, the weight of the ball increases while water is contained in the ball. The heavy ball easily causes hurt to the arm of the player, and the cover containing water becomes frangible. Furthermore, the wet surface of the ball is very slippery to hold or grip.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a ball to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a ball that has an excellent wear-resisting effect and will not contain water. The ball has a core and a cover surrounding the core. The cover is made of a rubber material and surrounds the core. The cover has two half pieces sewn together with each other, and each half piece has a fabric lining securely attached to an inner surface of the half piece with a vulcanizing process. With such a ball structure, the cover made of a rubber material has an excellent wear-resisting efficiency and will not contain water, such that the useful life of the ball is prolonged.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ball in accordance with the present invention; [0008]
FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the ball in FIG. 1; and [0009]
FIG. 3 is an enlarged side plan view in partial cross section of the ball in FIG. 1.[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. [0011] 1 to 3, a ball in accordance with the present invention comprises a core (40) and a cover (10). The cover (10) surrounds the core (40) and is made of a rubber material. The cover (10) comprises two half pieces (not numbered) sewn together with each other. Each half piece has a fabric lining (20) securely attached to the inner surface of the half piece with a compressing and vulcanizing process. Wherein, the lining (20) is made of a strong fabric material, in practice, the lining (20) is a blend fabric of cotton fiber and artificial fiber such as synthetic fiber. With the reinforcement of the fabric lining (20), the cover (10) made of rubber material is not easily lacerated or torn during sewing the cover (10). In addition, in the compressing and vulcanizing process, the half piece is heated to a desired temperature firstly, and then the fabric lining (20) is compressed to attach to the half piece. Accordingly, the fabric lining (20) can be firmly attached to the half piece.
To sew the half pieces together, multiple through holes ([0012] 30) are defined in each half piece and around the periphery of the half piece. A combining lace (31) extends through the through holes (30) in the half pieces in turn. Consequently, the half pieces are sewn together and combined into a cover (10) for surrounding the core (40).
With such a ball structure, the cover ([0013] 10) made of rubber material can provide an excellent wear-resisting efficiency, thus the useful life of the ball is prolonged. The rubber cover (10) reinforced by the fabric lining (20) can be sewn easily, and the ball with the rubber cover (10) can be easily grasped and provide an excellent slippery resistibility. In addition, because the water will not be contained in the rubber cover (10) and the fabric lining (20), the weight of the ball will not increase even when the user plays with the ball in rain or on wet ground. The cover (10) will not become frangible, such that the useful life of the ball will be further prolonged.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. [0014]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A ball comprising:

a core; and

a cover made of a rubber material and surrounding the core, the cover having two half pieces sewn together with each other,

wherein each half piece has a fabric lining securely attached to an inner surface of the half piece with a compressing and vulcanizing process.

2. The ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fabric lining is made of a strong fabric material.

3. The ball as claimed in claim 2, wherein the fabric lining is a blend fabric of artificial fiber and cotton.

4. The ball as claimed in claim 1, wherein each half piece has multiple through holes defined around a periphery of the half piece for a combining wire extending through the through holes in the half pieces in turn so as to sew the half pieces into a cover.