Patent Publication Number: US-2012028743-A1

Title: Toy Ball Apparatus with Reduced Part Count

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/368,635, filed Jul. 28, 2010, entitled TOY BALL APPARATUS WITH REDUCED PART COUNT, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The outer surfaces of many conventional balls can be difficult to grasp for some people, particularly young children and infants who are still developing motor control, making catching and throwing such balls a challenge. This challenge, and its attendant frustration, is increased for persons engaged in one-handed grasping and throwing. One prior invention which addresses this difficulty is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,984, entitled TOY BALL APPARATUS, filed by David Silverglate, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. The commercial embodiments of U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,984, offered under the brand name OBALL®, have been well-received in the marketplace, delighting parents and children alike. 
     While U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,984 describes balls that are easy to grasp, the balls have relatively complicated structures, with many component parts. A high part count can increase the costs of manufacturing, as more molds are required, and more parts must be assembled, consuming valuable time. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure addresses the above issue by providing a ball that is easy to grasp, but that features a smaller number of components, so that it is more easily manufactured. A toy ball apparatus is disclosed herein that includes a mesh defining an outer surface of the toy ball apparatus. The mesh includes four mesh components that are coupled together to enclose a closed volume, each mesh component including a plurality of loop structures, each loop structure having a curved inner perimeter surface formed to at least partially surround a hole communicating with the closed volume and surrounded at least partially by a polygonal outer perimeter. Each mesh component has cooperative mating surfaces formed along an outer perimeter of the mesh component, the cooperative mating surfaces being formed along at least a portion of the outer perimeter of each of a plurality of the loop structures in the mesh component. The adjacent mesh components are joined together along the cooperative mating surfaces. 
     This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is a front exploded view of a toy ball apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention, showing four mesh components from which the toy ball apparatus is assembled, and drawn approximately to scale. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of a mesh component of the toy ball apparatus of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the mesh component of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the mesh component of  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 5  is a top partial assembly view showing two of the mesh components of the toy ball apparatus of  FIG. 1 , as viewed from the top in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a rear partial assembly view showing two of the mesh components of the toy ball apparatus of  FIG. 1 , as viewed from the left rear side in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a left side partial assembly view showing two of the mesh components of the toy ball apparatus of  FIG. 1 , as viewed from the left side in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8  is a net diagram of the mesh components that form the truncated icosahedrons of the mesh of the toy ball apparatus of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 9  is a front view of the assembled toy ball apparatus of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 10  is a front view a toy ball apparatus according to another embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a toy ball apparatus  10  according to one embodiment of the present invention. Toy ball apparatus  10  includes a mesh  12  that defines an outer surface of the toy ball apparatus  10 . The mesh  12  includes a plurality of mesh components  14  from which the mesh  12  is assembled. During manufacture, the mesh components  14  are first molded as separate components, and then assembled together by a suitable assembly process. During assembly, the plurality of mesh components  14  are coupled together to enclose a closed volume  20 . In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the mesh  12  includes four mesh components  14 , including a first mesh component  14   a,  a second mesh component  14   b,  a third mesh component  14   c,  and a fourth mesh component  14   d.    
     Mesh  12  may be formed in a polyhedron shape such as a truncated icosahedron, which approximates a sphere. Other polyhedral shapes may also be used to approximate a sphere, or other ball shape. It will be appreciated that by using four mesh components, the number of mesh components has been reduced as compared to the ten mesh components which are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,984, which can result in reduced manufacturing costs. As discussed below, the particular shape of the mesh components also simplifies molding, since the mesh components  14  may be molded in a mold without overhang portions that would make removal of the part from the mold difficult, as discussed in more detail below. 
     Each mesh component  14  includes a plurality of loop structures  15 . In the illustrated embodiment, these loop structures  15  are categorized into a plurality of smaller loop structures  16  and a plurality of larger loop structures  18 . Each loop structure  15  has a curved inner perimeter surface formed to at least partially surround a hole  92  communicating with the closed volume  20 . The hole is sized to accommodate passage of one or more digits of the user into the closed volume, to enable grasping of toy ball apparatus  10  by the loop structures  15 . 
     Further, each loop structure  15  is surrounded at least partially by a loop structure perimeter, which may be polygonal. In the illustrated embodiment, the smaller loop structures  16  are bounded by pentagonal loop structure perimeters formed around all or part of the smaller loop structure  16 , while larger loop structures  18  are bounded by hexagonal loop structure perimeters formed around all or part of the lager loop structure. The loop structures  15  of each mesh component  14  are integrally molded together, and as a result all or a portion of the loop structure perimeters of each individual loop structure may be integrally molded with one or more adjacent loop structures of the same mesh component. 
     It will be further appreciated that each mesh component includes cooperative mating surfaces  19  formed on an outer perimeter of the mesh component. The cooperative mating surfaces  19  are formed along at least a portion of the loop structure perimeters of a plurality of the loop structures  15  in the mesh component, and adjacent mesh components  14  are joined together along the cooperative mating surfaces  19  to form mesh  12 . Since the outer perimeter of each mesh component  14  is formed by portions of the loop structure perimeters of each loop structure  15  that bounds the edge of the mesh component  14 , it will be appreciated that the cooperative mating surfaces  19  of each mesh component  14  are formed by part of the loop structure perimeters of a plurality of loop structures  15  in the assembly. Thus, the external edges, shown at  16   b  and  18   b  in  FIGS. 2-4 , of the loop structure perimeters also function as the cooperative mating surfaces  19  of each mesh component  14 . 
     As discussed above, loop structures  15  may be sized to receive the fingers of a user&#39;s hand, such as a child&#39;s hand. The inner perimeter surfaces of the loop structures  15 , such as inner perimeter surfaces  16   a  and  18   a  of loop structures  16  and  18 , respectively, are typically curved, and may be continuously curved around their entire perimeter. In some examples, the inner perimeter surfaces may be circular. In other examples, the inner perimeter surfaces may be oval, or formed of complex curves. Some of the inner perimeter surfaces may have straight portions joined by curved portions, rather than corners. In this way, user discomfort from gripping the ball at sharp angular junctions, such as the corner of a square or pentagon, may be avoided. Further, for example, when a small hand inserts fingers into the holes of adjacent loop structures  15  and clenches to grip the ball, the curved inner perimeter surfaces gently guide the fingers toward each other and toward a vertex of the mesh, thereby promoting a secure grip on the toy ball apparatus  10  without discomfort on the fingers of the hand. 
     The shape and number of the mesh components  14  are designed in a manner that decreases manufacturing costs incurred using a process such as injection molding. Regarding the number of mesh components  14 , it will be appreciated that when four mesh components  14  are utilized the production time may be significantly reduced when compared to a toy ball apparatus  10  having ten mesh components. The decreased production time may in turn decrease the toy ball apparatus&#39;s manufacturing cost. 
     Further, the shape of each mesh component  14  features no overhang portions and has a shape that, while curved, is typically constrained to have no more than 90° degrees of internal curvature (270° of external curvature). With such a shape, complicated molding techniques, such as the use of molds with sliders, may be avoided, also helping to control manufacturing costs, and in some cases multiple mesh components may be produced in a single mold cycle with a single mold. Specifically, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 , each mesh component includes both hexagonal loop structures  18  and pentagonal loop structures  16 , and the hexagon-hexagon external dihedral angle α is approximately 217° and the corresponding hexagon-hexagon internal dihedral angle is approximately 143° (142.62°), while the pentagon-hexagon external dihedral angle β is approximately 222° and the corresponding pentagon-hexagon internal dihedral angle is approximately 138° (138.19°). As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the mesh component  14   a  has a maximum internal curvature of less than 90 degrees, which prevents molded components from having undercut regions. The maximum internal curvature of the depicted mesh component is formed where two hexagon loop structures and one pentagon loop structure are linked together, along the same arc, resulting in an internal curvature of (180−143)+(180−138)=79° (computed by summing the difference between 180 degrees and the internal dihedral angle, for each of the internal dihedral angles). Put another way, each mesh component has a maximum aggregate external dihedral angle of less than 270 degrees. Along the same stretch of two hexagonal loop structures and one pentagon loop structure, the aggregate external dihedral angle equals (217+(222−180))=259° (computed by summing the first external dihedral angle and the difference between 180 and each of the remaining external dihedral angles along a path in the mesh component). Line  91  in  FIG. 8  illustrates one exemplary location of such a path on the mesh component at which the maximum internal and external curvatures are reached. It will be appreciated that other locations on the same mesh component have similar geometries (hexagon-hexagon-pentagon) and accordingly have the same maximum internal and external curvatures. While 79 degrees of maximum internal curvature and the corresponding 259 degrees maximum aggregate external curvature are depicted in the illustrated embodiment, it will be appreciated that other embodiments may have internal curvatures of between 70 and 90 degrees, or between 250 and 270 degrees of external curvature. 
       FIGS. 2-4  respectively show top, front and side views of a single mesh component  14   a.  Although a single mesh component  14   a  is shown in these figures it will be appreciated that each of mesh components  14   a - 14   d  is substantially identical in size and shape in the depicted embodiment. As shown, each mesh component includes eight loop structures, including three smaller loop structures  16  and five larger loop structures  18 . An outer loop structure perimeter of each of the smaller loop structures  16  is pentagonal and an outer loop structure perimeter of each of the larger loop structures  18  is hexagonal. The outer loop structure perimeter of each loop structure  15  includes edges that may be internal or external to the mesh component  14 . For example, external edges  16   b  of loop structures  16  and external edges  18   b  of loop structures  18  collectively surround the outer perimeter of the depicted mesh component  14   a.  On the other hand, internal edges  18   c  are formed along edges of the loop structures in an internal region of the mesh component  14   a.  Further, it will be appreciated that each of the smaller loop structures  16  is typically spaced apart from the other smaller loop structures  16 . That is to say, the outer loop structure perimeters of the smaller loop structures  16  are typically not in direct contact with each other. In the mesh component  14   a,  one hexagonal loop structure  18  is bordered by only internal edges  18   c,  and is not bordered by any external edges  18   b.    
     The loop structures  15  are arranged to form each mesh component  14  in such a manner that each mesh component  14  includes an outer perimeter having 17 external edges. As one example, these external edges are labeled A 1 -A 17  for mesh component  14   a  in  FIG. 8 . Each mesh component  14  includes 8 faces (in which holes  92  are positioned), 14 vertices, and 31 edges (along which the loop structures  15  are formed). Of these 31 edges, 14 are internal edges such as internal edges  18   c  in  FIGS. 2-4 , and 17 are external edges such as external edges  16   b,    18   b  in  FIGS. 2-4 . 
     It will be appreciated that other geometric configurations for the mesh  12  and mesh components  14  may be utilized in other embodiments. As one example, the mesh components  14  may take the form of other polyhedral segments, and thus the loop structures may be shaped in the form of other polygons or curves, alternatively or in addition to the hexagon and pentagon shaped loop structures. As another example, the mesh components  14  may be formed entirely of loop structures having outer perimeters shaped as pentagons, which are assembled to make a dodecahedron-shaped ball. Other embodiments of the mesh  12  of the toy ball apparatus  10  may be formed as a rhombicosidodecahedron, truncated icosidodecahedron, or snub dodecahedron, as some examples. As another variation, some or all of the loop structures may be filled in with material, so that they do not contain any curved inner perimeter surface. In this way, material may span the entirety of the interior of each loop structure, to create a partially or completely solid surface. 
       FIGS. 5-7  show mesh component  14   a  respectively coupled to mesh components  14   d,    14   c  and  14   b.  These figures provide illustrations of the mating surfaces  19  of the mesh components in various orientations, and possible examples of how the components may be fitted into a single mold during the molding process. In particular,  FIG. 5  shows mating surfaces  19  of mesh component  14   a  arranged to contact with mating surfaces  19  of mesh component  14   d,  as viewed from the top in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 6  shows mating surfaces  19  of mesh component  14   a  arranged to contact with mating surfaces  19  of mesh component  14   c,  as viewed from the rear in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 7  shows mating surfaces  19  of mesh component  14   a  arranged to contact with mating surfaces  19  of mesh component  14   b,  as viewed from the left side in  FIG. 1 .  FIGS. 5-7  also illustrate that neither of the mesh components shown in the orientations in each of  FIGS. 5-7  include any overhang regions, which would otherwise be visible in the background through the holes in the mesh, but noticeably are not visible. This is due to the maximum internal curvature of each mesh component  14  being less than 90 degrees, in some embodiments between about 70 and 90 degrees, and most specifically about 79 degrees. The lack of overhang regions facilitates the use of simple molds during the injection molding process, as described above. 
       FIG. 8  is a diagram showing a net of the toy ball apparatus  10  and its constituent mesh components  14   a - 14   d.  In this net representation, the mesh components  14   a - 14   d  have been flattened and schematically represented as pentagons and hexagons. Internal edges (such as internal edges  18   c  in  FIG. 2 ) of the loop structures  15  within each mesh component that are connected to one another are indicated in dashed lines  93  where the edges have been separated due to flattening. The connections between these separated internal edges are represented by dot dashed lines. External edges (such as external edges  16   b  and  18   b  described above) along the outer perimeter of each mesh component are drawn in solid lines, and connections between the external edges on the outer perimeter of each mesh component and external edges of other mesh components are also indicated by dot dashed lines. In this manner it can be seen how each external edge is joined with another corresponding external edge when the mesh components  14   a - 14   d  are assembled. For ease of understanding, each external edge of each mesh component has been respectively labeled A 1 -A 17 , B 1 -B 17 , C 1 -C 17 , and D 1 -D 17  on mesh components  14   a ,  14   b,    14   c,  and  14   d.  As an example, D 6  is an external edge on the outer perimeter of mesh component  14   d,  which is joined to external edge C 6  during assembly. 
       FIG. 9  illustrates toy ball apparatus  10  in its assembled state, in which the plurality of mesh components  14   a,    14   b,    14   c,  and  14   d  have been coupled to enclose the closed volume  20  and form the mesh  12 , by joining adjacent mesh components  14  along their cooperative mating surfaces  19  and securing the mesh components  14  together, for example, by plastically welding the mesh components  14  together along the cooperative mating surfaces  19 . The assembled toy ball apparatus  10  has an outer surface in the form of a truncated icosahedron, which has 32 faces, 90 edges, and 60 vertices. A seam or parting line  94  may be visible, showing the divisions between the mesh components in the assembled ball. By plastically welding the mesh components, toxic adhesives may be avoided, and the structural integrity of the assembled toy ball apparatus may be promoted. Alternatively, other joining and securing techniques may be used which are not toxic and which offer suitable structural integrity. 
     It will be appreciated that when fewer mesh components are utilized in the toy ball apparatus the number of seams or parting lines is also decreased. During the manufacturing process, each seam is mated, and then reworked or finished to produce the final product. Thus, by decreasing the seam count of the toy ball apparatus, the assembly, rework and finishing labor is also reduced, thereby helping to lower manufacturing costs. Further, in embodiments that are not plastically welded, but are bonded with adhesive, the structural integrity of the toy ball apparatus may be increased when the number of seams is decreased, due to the fact that the adhesively bonded seams generally do not have as much structural integrity as the molded mesh components. Further, by reducing part count, it becomes easier to employ an automated process, as opposed to manual labor, to couple the mesh components to form the toy ball apparatus, to further reduce manufacturing costs. 
     Toy ball apparatus  10  is typically formed of a plastic, such as a thermoplastic, which may have a shore “A” hardness of between approximately 50 and 150. As a result, toy ball apparatus  10  may be resiliently deformable. It will be appreciated that toy ball apparatus  10  may be at least partially deformed into the closed volume  20  that is surrounded by mesh  12 . Typically, once a force, or object, causing such deformation is removed from toy ball apparatus  10 , the resilient character of mesh  12  results in toy ball apparatus  10  substantially returning to its original shape. Due to mesh  12  being substantially deformable and substantially resilient, toy ball apparatus  10  may bounce when thrown against an object or impediment. Such deformability and resiliency of toy ball apparatus  10  may also make it more comfortable to catch and throw as compared to prior devices. In some embodiments, materials of different hardness and rigidity may be combined in the same toy ball apparatus  10 . Further, in some embodiments a more rigid material may be used to manufacture the toy ball apparatus  10 , for example, to provide a ball with superior bounce characteristics. 
     One potential advantage of the above described toy ball apparatus over the toy ball apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,984 is that by reducing the component count by 60% from ten to four, manufacturing costs may be significantly reduced. Another potential advantage is that by using mesh components that do not have overhang regions, manufacturing of these mesh components may be accomplished using molds that do not incorporate complicated and costly sliders. These advantages are simply illustrative, and not exhaustive. 
       FIG. 10  illustrates a toy ball apparatus  100  according to another embodiment of the invention. Toy ball apparatus  100  is similar in many respects to toy ball apparatus  10  described above, and such similarities will not be re-described for the sake of brevity. Toy ball apparatus  100  includes a mesh  112  that surrounds a closed volume, the mesh  112  being formed of a plurality of interlinked loop structures  115 . In this embodiment, the mesh  112  is formed in the shape of a truncated icosahedron and the loop structures  115  have hexagonal and pentagonal outer loop structure perimeters. 
     The loop structures  115  include inner perimeters that have a plurality of straight portions  119  joined at radiused corners, the straight portions  119  and radiused corners collectively defining substantially hexagonal and pentagonal inner perimeter surfaces of the loop structures. Some of the loop structures  115  include inner perimeter surfaces that bound a hole that communicates with the closed volume, and other of the loop structures are fitted with a spanning structure  117 , which is a plate-shaped structure bounded by an inner perimeter of the loop structure in which it is fitted. Thus, only a subset of the loop structures  115  include holes, while another subset of the loop structures  115  include the solid spanning structure  117 . In the embodiment of  FIG. 10 , the spanning structures  117  are pentagonal, and are positioned in loop structures with pentagonal outer loop structure perimeters symmetrically about the mesh  112 . The toy ball apparatus  100  may be manufactured of four mesh components as described above in relation to toy ball apparatus  10 , with a parting line between the mesh components of substantially the same configuration as shown in  FIG. 9 . In addition to the manufacturing advantages of having a comparatively low part count discussed above, it will be appreciated that the configuration of toy ball apparatus  100  provides the external appearance of a soccer ball through solid spanning structures  117  and straight portions  119  on the loop structure inner perimeter surfaces, while retaining the resilient deformability and reduced wind resistance provided by having holes in many of the loop structures. 
     It will be appreciated that the configurations and/or approaches described herein are exemplary in nature, and that these specific embodiments or examples are not to be considered in a limiting sense, because numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the present disclosure includes all novel and nonobvious combinations and subcombinations of the various features, functions, acts, and/or properties disclosed herein, as well as any and all equivalents thereof.