Abstract:
An inflatable sport ball, such as a basketball, a football, a soccer ball, a volley ball or a playground ball, is provided with a self-contained inflation mechanism for inflating or more likely adding pressure to the ball. The mechanism is a self-contained, manually operable pumping chamber which is inside of the ball and which is operable from outside of the ball to compress the chamber and. pump ambient air into the ball.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/159,311, filed Oct. 14, 1999. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to sport balls which contain mechanisms for inflating or adding pressure to the balls. 
     Conventional inflatable sport balls, such as basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, volley balls and playground balls, are inflated through a traditional inflation valve using a separate inflation needle that is inserted into and through a self-sealing inflation valve. A separate pump, such as a traditional bicycle pump, is connected to the inflation needle and the ball is inflated using the pump. The inflation needle is then withdrawn from the inflation valve which self-seals to maintain the pressure. This system works fine until the sport ball needs inflation or a pressure increase and a needle and/or pump are not readily available. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a sport ball which has a self-contained inflation mechanism. The object is to be able to inflate or add pressure to a sport ball without the need for separate inflation equipment such as a separate inflation needle and pump. Specifically, the invention relates to a sport ball which has a self-contained, manually operable pumping chamber which pumps ambient air into the ball to achieve the desired pressure. More specifically, the pumping chamber includes means for admitting ambient air into the chamber and means for forcing that air from the chamber through one-way valve means into the interior volume of the ball. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a portion of a sport ball with a self-contained pumping chamber comprising a bellows arrangement operable from outside the ball for adding air pressure to the ball. 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-section view of the pumping chamber of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a view partially in cross section showing an alternative pumping chamber arrangement. 
     FIG. 4 is a view partially in cross section of another alternative pumping chamber arrangement. 
     FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the separate components of the pumping chamber of FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-section view of a portion of a sport ball illustrating a further alternative pumping chamber. 
     FIG. 7 is an illustration of a sport ball of the FIG. 6 type being pumped. 
     FIG. 8 illustrates another pump chamber embodiment of the invention. 
     FIG. 9 illustrates a further pump chamber embodiment. 
     FIG. 10 is a sectional view of an adjustable, self regulating pressure relief valve. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a portion of a sport ball  10  is illustrated incorporating one embodiment of an inflation pumping chamber of the invention. The ball which is illustrated is a typical basketball construction comprising a carcass  12  which is a term used herein to include all the various layers of the ball such as a rubber bladder  14  for air-retention, a layer  16  composed of layers of nylon or polyester yarn windings wrapped around the bladder and an outer rubber layer  18 . For a laminated ball, the carcass also includes an additional outer layer  20  of leather or a synthetic comprising panels which are applied by adhesive and set by pressure during a cold molding process. The windings are randomly oriented and two or three layers thick and they form a layer which cannot be extended to any significant degree and which restricts the ball from expanding to any significant extent above its regulation size when inflated above its normal playing pressure. This layer for footballs, volleyballs and soccer balls is referred to as a lining layer and is usually composed of cotton or polyester cloth that is impregnated with a flexible binder resin such as vinyl or latex rubber. 
     In the present invention, a chamber of some sort is incorporated into the sport ball structure in which the chamber is filled with air and then the air is manually expelled from the chamber into the interior of the ball. The embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a section of the carcass  12  formed into a pump chamber  22  which includes an inner portion  24 , which is a section of the bladder  14  and the layer  16 , and an outer portion  26 , which is a section of the rubber layer  18  and the outer layer  20 . The outer portion  26  is attached along one edge  28  so that the outer portion  26  can be lifted and rotated around that attached edge  28  outwardly away from the carcass. The three free edges of the outer portion  26  are attached to the inner portion  24  by the bellows  30 . The pump chamber  22  is thus bounded by the inner portion  24 , the outer portion  26  and the bellows  30 . Located in the inner portion  24  is a one-way valve  32  comprising a known duckbill valve which permits air flow from the pump chamber  22  into the sport ball when the bellows is closed but prevents reverse flow. Likewise, the outer portion  26  has a one-way valve  34  which also comprises a duckbill valve. This valve  34  permits air flow from the atmosphere into the pump chamber  22  when the bellows  30  is opened but does not permit reverse flow when the bellows is closed. The inner portion  24  has a recess  36  to accommodate the duckbill  34  when the bellows is closed. The outer portion  26  has a ball latch  38  which snaps into the recess  40  to hold the outer portion  26  down in the closed position. As shown in FIG. 2, this recess  40  is a part of the duckbill valve  32  but it could also be a separate recess. Velcro strips on the end of the outer portion  26  and on the corresponding surface of the inner portion  26  can also be used to hold the outer portion down. A small indentation and undercut may be formed on the end of the outer portion for access to pull the outer portion up. 
     Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.  3 . This comprises a bulb  42  which has a bellows-shaped configuration such that the bulb can be compressed. This bulb  42  has a one-way valve, duckbill outlet  44  and a small inlet hole  46 . The bulb  42  is mounted in a housing  48  with a recess  50  on the inside surface of the carcass  12 . The carcass  12  has a small opening  52  for access to the compressible bulb  42  and for the passage of air. In order to make the opening  52  as small as possible and yet provide for the compression of the bulb, a small key  54  is provided which covers the inlet hole  46  in the bulb and is then used to compress the bulb to force the air out of the one-way outlet valve  44  into the sport ball. 
     FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a further embodiment of the invention comprising a compressible pump chamber  56  which is placed in a depression  58  in the sport ball carcass  12 . The chamber  56  comprises the four parts illustrated in FIG. 5 including the base  60 , the cover  62 , the open cell foam pad  64  and the duckbill valve  66 . The foam pad  64  and the duckbill  66  are placed into the base  60  and the cover  62  is cemented to the base  60  with the duckbill being located in the exit tube  68  that is formed. The top  70  of the cover  62  is flexible and has an air intake hole  72 . The open cell foam pad  64  is normally full of air which has entered through the hole  72 . The hole  72  is then covered with a finger and the flexible top  70  is pushed to compress the open cell foam pad  64  and force the air out through the exit tube  68  and duckbill  66 . The cover  70  is then released and air enters the hole  72  to again fill the open cell foam pad  64 . 
     FIG. 6 illustrates another version of the invention wherein the pumping chamber  74  comprises the space between the carcass  12  and the relatively rigid partition  76  inside of the ball attached to the carcass. Duckbill one-way valves  78  and  80  are located in the carcass  12  and the partition  76  respectively. A spring  82  is located between the carcass  12  and the partition  76  and maintained in position by the duckbill  80  and a protrusion  84  on the inside of the carcass. The pressure in the ball is increased by pressing on the carcass  12  over the chamber  74  to compress the spring and expel the air from the chamber  74  through the duckbill  80  into the ball. When the pressure on the ball is released, the spring forces the carcass back out to its normal position which draws air from the atmosphere in through the duckbill  78  into the chamber  74 . FIG. 7 illustrates pumping the ball by placing it on the ground or some other surface and pressing on the carcass in the region of the chamber. 
     FIGS. 8 and 9 show other variations of the invention in which a squeezable bulb  86  is contained within a pocket  88  within the ball. In the FIG. 8 variation, the bulb  86  is permanently located in the pocket  88 . The bulb  86  has an air outlet comprising a one-way valve  90  communicating through the pocket  88  into the interior of the ball. The bulb  86  also has an air inlet which also has a one-way valve  92  permitting air to enter the bulb  86 . A permeable membrane  94  covers the bulb  86  and a flap  96  on the carcass permits access for pressing down on the bulb to squeeze air into the ball. The FIG. 9 variation is similar to that in FIG. 8 except that the bulb  86  is removed from the pocket  88  for easier manipulation. This is possible because the outlet of the bulb  86  is connected to the one-way valve  90  by means of the tube  98 . 
     Since the pressure in a sport ball can be too high through overinflation or a temperature increase, it is advisable to have a way to bleed pressure from the ball when the conventional inflating needle is not available. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 10 involving a self-regulating, adjustable pressure relief valve  100 . This comprises an aperture  102  through the carcass  12  covered on the inside by the cupshaped enclosure  104 . The enclosure  104  has an opening  106  with a valve seat  108 . The valve  110  seals against the valve seat  108  to hold the pressure in the ball. The valve stem  112  is threaded through a disk  114  whereby the disk  114  can be moved axially on the valve stem  112  by turning the head  116  of the valve stem  112 . A spring  118  is located around the valve stem  112  between the disk  114  and the carcass. Therefore, turning the head  116  and valve stem  112  moves the disk  114  axially on the valve stem and adjusts the pressure of the spring  118 . The pressure of the spring  118  is adjusted such that an over pressure in the ball will force the valve to open and bleed pressure and then close when the desired pressure is reached.