Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The invention generally relates to balls, particularly to balls for competition or recreation. 
         [0003]    2. Related Art 
         [0004]    Traditional balls for competition will become heavy when once they touch water. Thus those balls are not suitable for the competitions or games relative to water. A ball is essentially composed of a bladder and a casing outside the bladder. An exemplary structure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,422. The ball of &#39;422 has an inner inflatable bladder and an outer casing pieced up by four panels. 
         [0005]    The panels of &#39;422 have a multi-layer structure which includes a first layer, a second layer and a third layer. The first layer is a surface layer made of plastic or resin and capable of water resistance. The second layer is a fiber layer attaching the first layer. The third layer is a waterproof layer made of water-impermeable material such as synthetic rubber. 
         [0006]    Because the different materials of the layers have respective properties, they must be separately processed section by section. In the conventional manufacturing method, materials of the surface layer, fiber layer and waterproof layer are separately cut into a plurality of identical sections (such as oval or pentagonal) first. Then the sections are adhered layer by layer in the order. Irregular edges must occur and must be trimmed away. Finally, the trimmed sections are assembled with the others to form a ball. 
         [0007]    The method abovementioned has drawbacks of low production efficiency, low yield rate and low accuracy. Furthermore, the more the number of sections required to piece up a ball are, the higher the difficulty of the method is. Thus it has to be improved. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    A primary object of the invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a ball casing which can manufacture waterproof balls. Also, the balls have great flexibility and expandability. 
         [0009]    A secondary object of the invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a ball casing which can enhance production efficiency, yield rate and accuracy. 
         [0010]    To accomplish the above objects, the method of the invention includes the steps of: 
         [0011]    (1) providing a material having a protection layer and a fiber layer adhering therewith; 
         [0012]    (2) cutting the material into sections and 
         [0013]    (3) piecing together the sections to form a ball casing. 
         [0014]    The method first prepares a whole material formed by multiple layers and then cut it into sections. This may simplify the manufacturing process and increase yield rate. Besides, a pattern layer may additionally be disposed on the fiber layer to further improve integrality and showing. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  shows the material in bundled status; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is an assembled cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1  along the line B-B′; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2A  is a disassembled cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1  along the line B-B′; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  shows sections formed on the material; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  shows the piecing of sections; 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  shows the assembled ball casing pieced by the sections; 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  is an assembled cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 7  is a disassembled cross-sectional view of the second embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0023]    Please refer to  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The method for manufacturing a ball casing includes the following steps: 
         [0024]    (1) Provide a material  1  for forming a ball casing  50  as shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  2 A and  5 . The material  1  includes a transparent or light-permeable protection layer  10  having a first side  11  and a second side  12  and a fiber layer  20  having a first side  21  and a second side  22 , wherein the first side  11  of the protection layer  10  is smooth or granular, and the first side  21  of the fiber layer  21  is made of natural or artificial fiber and adhered with the second side  12  of the protection layer  10  by an adhesive layer  30 . 
         [0025]    (2) The material  1  is cut into sections  40  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
         [0026]    (3) The sections  40  are pieced together along marginal edges  41  thereof by a thread  42  or adhesive to form a ball casing  50  as shown in  FIG. 5 . A bladder (not shown) is disposed in the ball casing for inflation. 
         [0027]    Please refer to  FIGS. 2 and 2A . Preferably, the first side  21  or the second side  22  of the fiber layer  20  may be added a pattern layer  60  by printing and dyeing or weaving. The pattern layer  60  has a colored planar or stereoscopic pattern and is sandwiched between the fiber layer  20  and the protection layer  10 . 
         [0028]    Please further refer to  FIGS. 6 and 7 , which show another embodiment of the invention. The embodiment includes the following steps: 
         [0029]    (1) Provide a material  1  for forming a ball casing  50 . The material  1  includes a transparent or light-permeable protection layer  10  having a first side  11  and a second side  12 , a fiber layer  20  having a first side  21  and a second side  22 , and a sponge layer  70  having a first side  71  and a second side  72 , wherein the first side  11  of the protection layer  10  is smooth or granular, the first side  21  of the fiber layer  21  is made of natural or artificial fiber and adhered with the second side  12  of the protection layer  10  by an adhesive layer  30 , and the first side  71  of the sponge layer  70  is adhered with the second side  22  of the fiber layer  20  by a bonding layer  80 . 
         [0030]    (2) The material  1  is cut into sections  40  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . 
         [0031]    (3) The sections  40  are pieced together along marginal edges  41  thereof by a thread  42  or adhesive to form a ball casing  50  as shown in  FIG. 5 . A bladder (not shown) is disposed in the ball casing for inflation. 
         [0032]    The sponge layer  70  may provide a soft tactile impression. The balls with the sponge layer  70  will be particularly suitable for games or recreation. 
         [0033]    Similarly, the first side  21  or the second side  22  of the fiber layer  20  may be added a pattern layer  60  by printing and dyeing or weaving. The pattern layer  60  has a colored planar or stereoscopic pattern and is sandwiched between the fiber layer  20  and the protection layer  10 . 
         [0034]    It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiments have been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Technology Category: 7