MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FOOTBALLS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, FREDERIC FOWKES, of 41 Queens Road, Didsbury in the County of Lancaster,
Commercial traveller do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FOOTBALLS to be as follows:-
My invention consists in the application of an air valve to the neck of the
india rubber bladder which is commonly used to distend the external leather case
of balls used in playing the game of Football and in the application of a loose door
or cover fixed by means of a screw thread or bayonet joint to close the hole in the
said external leather case.
Footballs as made at present have the neck of the bladder closed by means of a
piece of string tied tightly round it and the slit in the outer case is fastened with
a leather lace. The string used in tying up the neck of the "bladder" tends to cut
the rubber and when the neck is forcibly tucked under the leather cover it causes
an indentation in the spherical form of the bladder which exposes the edges of the
said indentation to abnormal strain and wear. The lacing of the outer case is
objectionable because it mars the spherical form of the ball and the ends of the lace
are apt to come loose.

page_text: I, FREDERIC FOWKES of 41 Queen's Road, Didsbury, in the County of Lancaster
Commercial Traveller in the employ Messieurs Charles Macintosh and Company,
India Rubber Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FOOTBALLS and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the 5
following statement:—
My Invention consists principally in the application, substantially as hereinafter
described, of an air-valve to the neck of the india rubber bladder, which is
commonly used to distend the external leather case of balls used in playing the game
of Football, and in the application of a loose door or cover fixed by means of a 1
screw-thread or bayonet joint to close the hole in the said external leather case.
Foot balls as made at present have the neck of the bladder closed by means of a
piece of string tied tightly round it, and the slit in the outer case is fastened with
a leather lace.
The string used in tying up the neck of the "bladder" tends to cut the rubber,
and when the neck is forcibly tucked under the leather cover, it causes an
indentation in the sperical form of the bladder which exposes the edges of the said
indentation to abnormal strain and wear. The lacing of the outer case is
objectionable because it mars the spherical form of the ball and the ends of the lace
äre apt to come loose.
My improved construction of football will be readily understood on reference to
the sheet of drawings hereunto annexed and the following explanation thereof.
Fig. 1. is a section of a portion of a football illustrating my method of closing
the same. Fig. 2. is a section shewing the football expanded and the mouth closed
and covered in.
1. a a is the external leather case and b. b. the india-rubber bladder, which in
Fig. 1 is shewn in the collapsed state as it would be when introducing it into
the case.
I L
Inside the neck c c of the bladder (which extends inwards, instead of outwards
as usual,) secure an air valve d d, which is kept closed by the pressure of the air
inside the bladder.
The upper end of the tube containing this valve is screwed internally to fit the
smaller end of the instrumente e and externally it is screwed with a left-hand
thread, to fit into a similarly screwed hole in a metal plate sewn to a leather
flap ffwhich latter is sewn by one edge to the casing a a so that it can be drawn
outwards (as shewn dotted on Fig. 1.) in order to introduce the india-rubber
bladder bb; the metal plate and Hap ff are then pushed into the casing and the
instrument e e being passed through the hole in the centre thereof, is screwed fast
into the upper end of the tube of the air valve, which is then drawn upwards by
the instrument ee and screwed into the hole in the metal plate of the flap ff. The
instrumente e is then unscrewed and removed.
The nozzle of the bellows or syringe is then screwed into the short tube of the
valve d d and the bladder inflated, and on unscrewing the said nozzle the pressure

page_text: of the air inside will keep the valve d d closed as shown at Fig. 2. The opening
in the leather casing a a is then closed by a metal plug g g covered with a round
piece of leather (seen detached at Fig. 3.) which is then screwed in place by the
reverse end of the instrument e e, and the football is then ready for use and
presents a perfect spherical (or oval) form without any apparent projection or
opening of any sort,
In some cases instead of using the left hand threaded screw as above described
I provide the tube of the valve d d externally with two short pins h h (see Fig. 4)
and the plate ff with two corresponding slots or notches so that the tube can be
drawn up through the hole until the pins h h are above the plate and then fixed
therein by partially turning the same. A bayonet joint or other similar means
might also be employed for this purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
The combination with the neck or mouth of a football of an air-valve for closing
the bladder and of a loose door or cover to close the opening in the leather case,
substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the drawings annexed.
Dated thin 70th - 1000
GEORGE DAVIES,
Agent for the Applicant.