Patent Publication Number: US-8113919-B2

Title: Bowling ball surface treatment apparatus

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention pertains to a bowling ball surface treatment apparatus and, more specifically, to a bowling ball surface treatment apparatus capable of uniformly abrading and polishing a bowling ball while rotating the bowling ball in many different directions. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Frictional rolling contact between a bowling ball and a lane often leaves irregular wear portions or scratches on a surface of the bowling ball. In particular, the bowling ball tends to make contact with the lane substantially at the same circumferential area thereof, which may cause unbalanced wear of the bowling ball. The scratched or unevenly worn bowling ball looks ugly and use of the scratched or unevenly worn bowling ball makes it difficult for a bowler to exercise, e.g., spin skills at his or her desire due mainly to the unpredictable movement of the bowling ball. As a result, the scratch and the unbalanced wear may adversely affect the score of a bowling game, thus reducing amusement of the game played. Thus, the bowling ball needs to be periodically abraded into a perfect spherical shape with no or little scratch. 
     There are a number of prior art references that disclose a device for automatically abrading a bowling ball. One of them is U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,896 that teaches a bowling ball resurfacing machine including three shafts disposed at an angle of 120 degrees in such a manner as to support a bowling ball, three motors for rotating the corresponding shafts in a forward or reverse direction, and three cone-shaped abrading cups mounted on the shafts. Although this bowling ball resurfacing machine has its own advantages, it suffers from a drawback in that a rolling direction or a rotation axis of the bowling ball cannot be vigorously changed during a resurfacing process. For this reason, the bowling ball resurfacing machine encounters a difficulty in uniformly abrading the whole surface of the bowling ball into a perfect sphere. 
     Another prior art reference is U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,607 disclosing a bowling ball resurfacing apparatus that includes a housing, first and second vertical support rollers mounted to the housing for rotation about parallel vertical axes, each of the vertical support rollers adapted to make contact with the surface of the bowling ball at one lateral bottom side of the bowling ball, first and second horizontal support rollers mounted to the housing for supporting the bowling ball in cooperation with the vertical support rollers, each of the horizontal support rollers rotatable about horizontal axes and adapted to make contact with the surface of the bowling ball at the other lateral bottom side of the bowling ball, drive motors for causing the support rollers to rotate, and a grinding-and-polishing wheel assembly for making frictional contact with the surface of the bowling ball to grind or polish the bowling ball. 
     The prior art devices noted above are capable of substantially evenly abrading or polishing the surface of the bowling ball by rotating the bowling ball in different directions. However, the prior art devices leave a room for improvement because they are structurally complicated, difficult and costly to fabricate, and highly susceptible to trouble. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above-mentioned or other problems inherent in the prior art devices, it is an object of the present invention to provide a bowling ball surface treatment apparatus capable of rotating a bowling ball in many different directions and uniformly abrading and polishing the whole surface of the bowling ball within a shortened period of time. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a bowling ball surface treatment apparatus which is simple in structure, easy to manufacture and low in price. 
     In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a bowling ball surface treatment apparatus, comprising: 
     a housing; 
     a ball movement guider provided inside the housing for guiding movement of a bowling ball and confining the bowling ball within a limited surface treatment area, the ball movement guider having an inner surface formed of a curvilinear guide surface portion for guiding the bowling ball along a curved course of movement and a diverter portion for changing the course of movement of the bowling ball; 
     a surface treatment disc arranged below the ball movement guider for supporting, rotating and revolving the bowling ball, the surface treatment disc having a disc shaft and a surface treatment element for making frictional contact with the bowling ball to abrade or polish the bowling ball; 
     a disc rotating device for rotating the surface treatment disc about a disc center axis; and 
     a disc revolving device for rotatably holding the disc shaft of the surface treatment disc and for causing the surface treatment disc to make revolving movement around a sun axis offset from the disc center axis. 
     With the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to uniformly abrade and polish the whole surface of the bowling ball within a shortened period of time. Furthermore, the present bowling ball surface treatment apparatus has a simple structure and therefore can be manufactured in an easy and cost-effective manner. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a side elevational section view showing a bowling ball surface treatment apparatus in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view of the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus taken along line II-II in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a view illustrating the movement of a disc revolving device employed in the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus of the present invention; and 
         FIGS. 4 through 11  are schematic diagrams depicting the movement of a bowling ball during a surface treatment process performed by the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     One preferred embodiment of a bowling ball surface treatment apparatus in accordance with the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a bowling ball surface treatment device includes a housing  10  having a top access opening  11  through which a bowling ball B is put into or taken out from the housing  10 . The access opening  11  is openably closed by a lid  12 . The housing  10  has an internal space divided into an upper surface treatment compartment  13  and a lower drive compartment  14  by means of a partition plate  15 . In the surface treatment compartment  13 , the bowling ball B inserted through the access opening  11  is subjected to surface treatments. The drive compartment  14  is designed to receive various drive units described later. 
     A control board  16  for controlling the operation of the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus is attached to an internal side surface of the housing  10 . A series of push buttons  17  and a timer  18  for setting various operating conditions of the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus are arranged on an external side surface of the housing  10  and electrically associated with the control board  16 . 
     Within the surface treatment compartment  13  of the housing  10 , there is provided a generally ring-shaped ball movement guider  20  for guiding the movement of the bowling ball B and confining the bowling ball B within a limited surface treatment area. Although the ball movement guider  20  has a generally circular shape in the illustrated embodiment, it may have an elliptical shape, a polygonal shape or other irregular shape. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the ball movement guider  20  is fixedly secured to the partition plate  15  by means of a plurality of rod-like support members  20   a  extending downwardly from the ball movement guider  20 . Each of the support members  20   a  is provided with a coil spring portion  20   b  that serves to reduce vibration and noise which would be generated in the ball movement guider  20  during operation of the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus. Alternatively, the ball movement guider  20  may be attached to the housing  10  through a shock-absorber, e.g., a coil spring. Although four support members  20   a  are used in the illustrated embodiment, the number of the support members  20   a  may be greater or lesser. 
     The ball movement guider  20  has a ball reception opening  21  for rotatably and revolvably receiving the bowling ball B and an inner surface  20   c  along which the bowling ball B makes revolving movement. The ball reception opening  21  is somewhat greater in diameter than the bowling ball B to ensure that the bowling ball B received in the ball reception opening  21  can freely revolve along the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20  while rotating about its own axis. A shock-absorbing liner  22  made of an elastically deformable material, e.g., a rubber strip, is detachably attached to the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20 . 
     The inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20  includes a curvilinear guide surface portion  20   c - 1  for guiding the revolving movement of the bowling ball B along a curved course of movement and a diverter surface portion  20   c - 2  for changing the course of movement of the bowling ball B when the bowling ball B makes revolving movement about the center axis of the ball movement guider  20 . As best shown in  FIG. 2 , the curvilinear guide surface portion  20   c - 1  extends over about two thirds of the inner surface  20   c  and the diverter portion  20   c - 2  is formed into a generally planar surface shape and designed to interconnect the opposite ends of the curvilinear guide surface portion  20   c - 1 . It is preferred that the diverter portion  20   c - 2  is arranged in the rear extension of the ball movement guider  20 . This assists in taking out the bowling ball B when the surface treatments are completed. The length of the curvilinear guide surface portion  20   c - 1  and the diverter portion  20   c - 2  is not limited to the one illustrated in  FIG. 2  but may be arbitrarily changed if such a need arise. Although the diverter portion  20   c - 2  has a planar surface shape in the illustrated embodiment, it may be formed into, e.g., a bulged surface shape, a slightly concave surface shape or other shapes. If necessary, an additional diverter portion may be formed in a symmetrical relationship with the diverter portion  20   c - 2 . In a nutshell, the diverter portion  20   c - 2  may be modified in its shape and number as long as the diverter portion  20   c - 2  can positively change the course of movement of the bowling ball B. 
     A surface treatment disc  30  is arranged below the ball movement guider  20  to support, rotate and revolve the bowling ball B. The surface treatment disc  30  is provided with a disc shaft  31  extending downwardly along a disc center axis. The surface treatment disc  30  has a surface treatment element that makes frictional contact with the bowling ball B to perform surface treatments, i.e., abrading and/or polishing. In the illustrated embodiment, the surface treatment element is formed of a surface treatment fabric  40  and a cushion backing  41  attached to the surface treatment fabric  40 . 
     Examples of the surface treatment fabric  40  include an abrading fabric such as a sheet of sandpaper or a sheet of diamond-coated paper and a polishing fabric such as a non-woven fabric or cotton fabric. The abrading fabric and the polishing fabric can be selectively used in abrading and polishing the bowling ball B. It is preferred that three kinds of abrading fabrics, i.e., fine, medium and coarse abrading fabrics, are used to abrade the bowling ball B with different roughness. 
     The cushion backing  41  is made of, e.g., a sponge material, which absorbs shock generated by the bowling ball B during a surface treatment process. The shock-cushion backing  41  is replaceably attached to the top surface of the surface treatment disc  30  by means of, e.g., a Velcro fastener. The cushion backing  41  has a central hard portion  41   a  whose hardness is greater than that of the remaining portion of the cushion backing  41 . The central hard portion  41   a  serves to cause a slip between the bowling ball B and the surface treatment fabric  40  when the bowling ball B is moved radially inwardly and brought into contact with the surface treatment fabric  40  in a position just above the central hard portion  41   a  of the cushion backing  41 . This helps to prevent the bowling ball B from rotating at an exceptionally high speed during the surface treatment process. In order to reliably generate the slip between the bowling ball B and the surface treatment fabric  40  in the position just above the central hard portion  41   a  of the cushion backing  41 , the surface treatment disc  30  is formed to have a central convex region corresponding to the central hard portion  41   a  of the cushion backing  41 . 
     The bowling ball surface treatment apparatus includes a disc rotating device for rotating the surface treatment disc  30  and the disc shaft  31  about the disc center axis and a disc revolving device for causing the surface treatment disc  30  to revolve, or make planetary movement, around a sun axis offset a predetermined distance from the disc center axis. 
     The disc rotating device includes a disc driving shaft  32  extending through the partition plate  15  into the surface treatment compartment  13  and the drive compartment  14 , a disc driving motor  33  provided within the drive compartment  14 , a pair of pulleys  34   a  and  34   b  and a belt  35  for transferring a torque of the disc driving motor  33  to the disc driving shaft  32 , and a pair of spur gears  36   a  and  36   b  for transferring a torque of the disc driving shaft  32  to the disc shaft  31  of the surface treatment disc  30 . 
     On the other hand, the disc revolving device includes a sun shaft  51  mounted for rotation about the sun axis. The sun shaft  51  or the sun axis is also offset from a vertical center axis of the ball movement guider  20  to ensure that, during a below-mentioned surface treatment process, the bowling ball B can make contact with the surface treatment fabric  40  in different radial positions of the surface treatment disc  30 . The sun shaft  51  or the sun axis is arranged nearer to the diverter portion  20   c - 2  than to the curvilinear guide surface portion  20   c - 1 . The sun shaft  51  is of a hollow type extending through the partition plate  15  into the drive compartment  14  and is rotatably supported on the partition plate  15 . 
     The disc revolving device further includes a carrier arm  52  fixedly secured to the sun shaft  51  at its proximal end. The carrier arm  52  is designed to rotatably support the disc shaft  31  of the surface treatment disc  30  at its distal end, with a specified interval left between the sun shaft  51  and the disc shaft  31 . The sun shaft  51  is rotatingly driven by a sun shaft driving device. If the sun shaft  51  is rotated as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the surface treatment disc  30  revolves clockwise around the sun shaft  51  while rotating counterclockwise about the disc center axis. In this regard, it is preferred that the rotating direction of the surface treatment disc  30  is opposite to the revolving direction thereof. By the revolving movement of the surface treatment disc  30 , the bowling ball B is also revolved around the center axis of the ball movement guider  20  and is moved along the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20 . As will be fully described below with reference to  FIGS. 4 to 11 , the bowling ball B is moved along the curvilinear guide surface portion  20   c - 1  at a relatively low revolving speed but is moved fast along the diverter portion  20   c - 2 . Furthermore, the revolving movement of the bowling ball B is stopped for a while when the bowling ball B makes initial contact with the diverter portion  20   c - 2 . 
     The sun shaft driving device includes a sun shaft driving motor  53  provided within the drive compartment  14 . The sun shaft driving device further includes a pair of pulleys  54   a  and  45   b  and a belt  55  for transferring a torque of the sun shaft driving motor  53  to the sun shaft  51 . 
     During a surface treatment process, the surface treatment disc  30  is rotated about the disc center axis by means of the disc rotating device and, at the same time, is caused to make revolving or planetary movement around the sun axis, i.e., the sun shaft  51 , by means of the disc revolving device, whereby the bowling ball B can make frictional contact with the surface treatment fabric  40  in different radial positions of the surface treatment disc  30 . 
     At this time, the operations of the disc driving motor  33  and the sun shaft driving motor  53  are controlled by the control board  16 . Using the push buttons  17  and the timer  18 , the surface treatment disc  30  is set to rotate at a rotational speed of, e.g., 400 to 1200 rpm, and also to make revolving or planetary movement at a speed of, e.g., one revolution per one or two second. If necessary, the operation of the disc driving motor  33  may be intermittently stopped for a time period of, e.g., 1 to 3 second. 
     The bowling ball surface treatment apparatus includes a treatment solution supplying device for supplying surface treatment solutions to the bowling ball B. Two kinds of surface treatment solutions are used in the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus. One is an abrading solution for use in abrading the bowling ball B and the other is a polishing solution for use in polishing the bowling ball B. 
     The treatment solution supplying device includes an abrading solution injection nozzle  61  for injecting the abrading solution to the surface of the bowling ball B, a polishing solution injection nozzle  62  for injecting the polishing solution to the surface of the bowling ball B, an abrading solution tank  63  for storing the abrading solution, a polishing solution tank  64  for storing the polishing solution, an abrading solution pump  65  for pumping the abrading solution stored in the abrading solution tank  63  to the abrading solution injection nozzle  61 , and a polishing solution pump  66  for pumping the polishing solution stored in the polishing solution tank  64  to the polishing solution injection nozzle  62 . 
     The abrading solution injection nozzle  61  and the polishing solution injection nozzle  62  are attached to the inner side of the lid  12  so that they can face the bowling ball B received within the surface treatment compartment  13 . The abrading solution tank  63 , the polishing solution tank  64 , the abrading solution pump  65  and the polishing solution pump  66  are arranged within the drive compartment  14 . The polishing solution tank  64  communicates with the surface treatment compartment  13  through a drain pipe  67  to collect the abrading solution and the polishing solution injected into the surface treatment compartment  13 . 
     Description will now be made on the operation of the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus configured as above. 
     First, the lid  12  is opened and the bowling ball B is placed on the surface treatment disc  30  through the ball reception opening  21  of the ball movement guider  20 , as indicated by a single-dotted chain line in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . 
     Then, the operating conditions of the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus are set using the push buttons  17  and the timer  18 . The disc driving motor  33  and the sun shaft driving motor  53  are energized and rotatingly driven under the control of the control board  16 . The torque of the disc driving motor  33  is transferred to the disc driving shaft  32  via the pair of pulleys  34   a  and  34   b  and the belt  35 , and then to the disc shaft  31  via the pair of spur gears  36   a  and  36   b , thereby rotating the surface treatment disc  30  together with the disc shaft  31 . Simultaneously, the torque of the sun shaft driving motor  53  is transferred to the sun shaft  51  via the pair of pulleys  54   a  and  54   b  and the belt  55 . As the sun shaft  51  is rotated about the sun axis together with the carrier arm  52 , the surface treatment disc  30  makes revolving or planetary movement around the sun shaft  51  or the sun axis as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . 
     Consequently, the bowling ball B is surface-treated by making frictional contact with the surface treatment fabric  40  attached to the surface treatment disc  30 . As the surface treatment disc  30  continues to revolve around the sun shaft  51  offset from the center axis of the ball movement guider  20 , the bowling ball B is brought into contact with different radial positions of the surface treatment disc  30 . By the revolving movement of the surface treatment disc  30 , the bowling ball B is also revolved around the center axis of the ball movement guider  20  and is moved along the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20 . In other words, the bowling ball B is moved along the curvilinear guide surface portion  20   c - 1  at a relatively low revolving speed but is rectilinearly moved along the diverter portion  20   c - 2  at a relatively high speed. The revolving movement of the bowling ball B is stopped for a while when the bowling ball B makes initial contact with the diverter portion  20   c - 2 . The rotational axis about which the bowling ball B rotates is positively changed in this process, thus ensuring that the different surface regions of the bowling ball B make contact the surface treatment fabric  40  of the surface treatment disc  30  as the surface treatment apparatus continues to work. This makes it possible to uniformly abraded or polish the whole surface of the bowling ball B. 
     The revolving or planetary movement of the bowling ball B made within the ball movement guider  20  will be described in detail with reference to  FIGS. 4 to 11 . 
     Referring first to  FIG. 4 , the surface treatment disc  30  is revolved clockwise around a sun axis S while rotating counterclockwise about a disc center axis D. The bowling ball B is moved from the 7 o&#39;clock position toward the 9 o&#39;clock position along the curvilinear guide surface portion  20   c - 1  of the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20  at a relatively low speed. In the 7 o&#39;clock position, the bowling ball B makes contact with the surface treatment disc  30  at a contact point P 1 . Since the distance between the disc center axis D and the contact point P 1  is relatively great, the bowling ball B is rotated with an increased spinning force by means of the surface treatment disc  30 . While revolving and rotating in this manner, the bowling ball B is abraded or polished by the surface treatment fabric  40  of the surface treatment disc  30 . 
     Turning to  FIG. 5 , the surface treatment disc  30  is further revolved clockwise around the sun axis S while rotating counterclockwise about the disc center axis D. Thus, the bowling ball B is moved from the 9 o&#39;clock position toward the 11 o&#39;clock position along the curvilinear guide surface portion  20   c - 1  of the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20 . In the 9 o&#39;clock position, the bowling ball B makes contact with the surface treatment disc  30  at a contact point P 2 . Since the distance between the disc center axis D and the contact point P 2  is relatively great, the bowling ball B is rotated with an increased spinning force by means of the surface treatment disc  30 . While revolving and rotating in this manner, the bowling ball B is abraded or polished by the surface treatment fabric  40  of the surface treatment disc  30 . 
     Turning to  FIG. 6 , the surface treatment disc  30  is further revolved clockwise around the sun axis S while rotating counterclockwise about the disc center axis D. At this time, the bowling ball B is pressed against the diverter portion  20   c - 2  of the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20 . In this state, the bowling ball B is kept stationary in the 11 o&#39;clock position while making rotation about the disc center axis D. In the 11 o&#39;clock position, the bowling ball B makes contact with the surface treatment disc  30  at a contact point P 3 . Since the distance between the disc center axis D and the contact point P 3  is relatively great, the bowling ball B is rotated with an increased spinning force by means of the surface treatment disc  30 . While rotating in the 11 o&#39;clock position, the bowling ball B is abraded or polished by the surface treatment fabric  40  of the surface treatment disc  30 . 
     Turning to  FIG. 7 , the surface treatment disc  30  is further revolved clockwise around the sun axis S while rotating counterclockwise about the disc center axis D. The bowling ball B continues to be pressed against the diverter portion  20   c - 2  of the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20 . In this state, the bowling ball B is still kept stationary in the 11 o&#39;clock position while making rotation about the disc center axis D. At this time, the bowling ball B makes contact with the surface treatment disc  30  at a contact point P 4 . Since the contact point P 4  is moved radially inwardly of the surface treatment disc  30  from the contact point P 3  shown in  FIG. 6 , the bowling ball B is rotated with a reduced spinning force by means of the surface treatment disc  30 . While rotating in the 11 o&#39;clock position, the bowling ball B is abraded or polished by the surface treatment fabric  40  of the surface treatment disc  30 . 
     Turning to  FIG. 8 , the surface treatment disc  30  is even further revolved clockwise around the sun axis S while rotating counterclockwise about the disc center axis D. The bowling ball B continues to be pressed against the diverter portion  20   c - 2  of the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20 . In this state, the bowling ball B is still kept stationary in the 11 o&#39;clock position while making rotation about the disc center axis D. At this time, the bowling ball B makes contact with the surface treatment fabric  40  just above the central hard portion  41   a  (see  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) of the cushion backing  41  of the surface treatment disc  30  at a contact point P 5  which lies radially inwardly of the surface treatment disc  30  from the contact point P 4  shown in  FIG. 7 . Therefore, the spinning force of the surface treatment disc  30  applied to the bowling ball B is reduced to a great extent, thereby decelerating the rotation of the bowling ball B. This helps to prevent the bowling ball B from rotating at an uncontrollably high speed. 
     Turning to  FIG. 9 , the surface treatment disc  30  is even still further revolved clockwise around the sun axis S while rotating counterclockwise about the disc center axis D. The bowling ball B continues to be pressed against the diverter portion  20   c - 2  of the inner surface  20   c  of the ball movement guider  20 . In this state, the bowling ball B is still kept stationary in the 11 o&#39;clock position while making rotation about the disc center axis D. At this time, the bowling ball B makes contact with the surface treatment fabric  40  just above the central hard portion  41   a  (see  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) of the cushion backing  41  of the surface treatment disc  30  at a contact point P 6  which nearly coincides with the disc center axis D. Therefore, the spinning force of the surface treatment disc  30  applied to the bowling ball B is kept very small, thereby further decelerating the rotation of the bowling ball B. This helps to prevent the bowling ball B from rotating at an uncontrollably high speed. 
     Turning to  FIG. 10 , the surface treatment disc  30  is even still further revolved clockwise around the sun axis S while rotating counterclockwise about the disc center axis D. Consequently, the bowling ball B makes contact with the surface treatment fabric  40  just above the central hard portion  41   a  (see  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) of the cushion backing  41  of the surface treatment disc  30  at a contact point P 7  which is slightly moved to the left from the disc center axis D. At this moment, the bowling ball B is escaped from the 11 o&#39;clock position and is rapidly and rectilinearly moved along the diverter portion  20   c - 2  toward the 7 o&#39;clock position shown in  FIG. 11  (and in  FIG. 4 ). The abrading or polishing region on the surface of the bowling ball B is positively changed by this rectilinear movement. This means that the abrading or polishing region of the bowling ball B is changed each time the surface treatment disc  30  makes one revolving or planetary movement around the sun axis S. Therefore, the whole surface of the bowling ball B is uniformly abraded or polished by the surface treatment fabric  40  of the surface treatment disc  30  as the surface treatment disc  30  continues to make revolving or planetary movement. 
     The surface treatments available in the bowling ball surface treatment apparatus are divided into an abrading process and a polishing process, which may be performed independently or in combination. 
     During the abrading process, an abrading fabric that constitutes the surface treatment fabric  40  is replaceably attached to the surface treatment disc  30 . Coarse, medium and fine abrading fabrics may be selectively used to abrade the bowling ball B with different roughness. If needed, coarse abrading, medium abrading and fine abrading can be successively performed by attaching the coarse, medium and fine abrading fabrics to the surface treatment disc  30  one after another. In the abrading process, the abrading solution stored in the abrading solution tank  63  is supplied by the abrading solution pump  65  to the surface of the bowling ball B through the abrading solution injection nozzle  61 . 
     During the polishing process, the abrading fabric is replaced by a polishing fabric that constitutes the surface treatment fabric  40 . The polishing solution stored in the polishing solution tank  64  is supplied by the polishing solution pump  66  to the surface of the bowling ball B through the polishing solution injection nozzle  62 . 
     While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described hereinabove, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.