A sport ball including a bladder enclosing a volume of gas. The sport ball further includes a casing including a casted material, wherein the casing encloses the bladder.

Methods for manufacturing a panel for a ball, in particular for a soccer ball, as well as panels manufactured by these methods and balls with such panels. A method comprises the following steps: providing a carrier material having an outer side and an inner side within a mold having at least one first and at least one second mold part. Three-dimensionally molding an outer layer of the panel on the outer side of the carrier material within the mold. Three-dimensionally molding an inner layer of the panel on the inner side of the carrier material using at least the first mold part.

A sports ball may include a bladder having one or more pockets attached thereto wherein the pockets have holes for allowing air to escape the pockets. The pockets may include insert(s) such as sensors, a battery or a microprocessor. The pockets may also include one or more damping members to further protect the insert(s).

A sports ball comprising a transparent outer wall surrounding a hollow cavity and defining a geometric center, and a central core object suspended at the geometric center of the hollow cavity. The ball may have the shape of a sphere having a center point, with the central core object suspended at the center point of the sphere. In other cases, the ball may be oblong or ellipsoid, with the central core object suspended at the center points of the respective major and minor axes of the ellipsoid. The transparent outer wall of the ball may be elastically deformable, and may be comprised of a transparent inflatable bladder contiguous with an inner surface of a transparent outer skin. The transparent outer skin may be comprised of a plurality of outer facets joined together, such as by sewing.

Described are methods for manufacturing an outer layer for a panel of a ball, in particular of a football, an outer layer manufactured with such a method as well as a panel and a ball comprising such an outer layer. The method includes shaping a sheet of material in a mold, wherein the mold is formed in such a way that during shaping, the sheet of material assumes a three-dimensional shape of the outer layer of the panel. Moreover, the method includes creating first textures in at least a first partial region on a first side of the sheet of material and creating second textures in at least a second partial region of the sheet of material.

A method of manufacturing a sport ball includes providing a plurality of casing panels including a first panel and a second panel. The first panel has a first surface and an opposite second surface. The first panel includes a first flange area forming a first edge portion of the first panel. The second panel has a third surface and an opposite fourth surface. The second panel includes a second flange area forming a second edge portion of the second panel. The method includes turning the first flange area away from the first surface of the first panel, turning the second flange area away from the third surface of the second panel, abutting the first flange area and the second flange area, and joining the first panel to the second panel.

Methods for manufacturing a panel for a ball, in particular for a soccer ball, as well as panels manufactured by these methods and balls with such panels. A method comprises the following steps: providing a carrier material having an outer side and an inner side within a mold having at least one first and at least one second mold part. Three-dimensionally molding an outer layer of the panel on the outer side of the carrier material within the mold. Three-dimensionally molding an inner layer of the panel on the inner side of the carrier material using at least the first mold part.

Methods for manufacturing a panel for a ball, in particular for a soccer ball, as well as panels manufactured by these methods and balls with such panels. A method comprises the following steps: providing a carrier material having an outer side and an inner side within a mold having at least one first and at least one second mold part. Three-dimensionally molding an outer layer of the panel on the outer side of the carrier material within the mold. Three-dimensionally molding an inner layer of the panel on the inner side of the carrier material using at least the first mold part.

A method for making a piece unit of liners of American football comprises an adhering step, a cutting step, and a curing step. An extrusion-molded thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) is hot compressed molding material with a backing fabric to form a pseudo-adhesive semi-finished molding material. The semi-finished molding material is cut to be a piece unit and remain a surplus material. The piece unit is cured to form a flat piece material or a curved piece material. It may shorten the process and control the parameters and changes (such like foaming coefficient, colors, and etc.) easily. Furthermore, the strength of the ball cover may become stronger because each flat piece material or curved piece material has the arrangement of the backing fabric.

An inflatable game ball includes a cover formed from a plurality of panel segments attached along peripheral edges. Each panel segment an outer panel portion, having a first shape and a first size, and an inner panel portion, having the first shape and a second size, smaller than the first size. The outer panel portion is joined with the inner panel portion, such that peripheral edges of the outer panel portion are aligned, and parallel, with peripheral edges of the inner panel portion. An inflatable bladder is disposed within the cover and movable between deflated and fully-inflated conditions. When the inflatable bladder is deflated, an interior surface of the outer panel portions is separated from a top surface of the inner panel portions by a first distance. When the inflatable bladder is fully-inflated, the interior surface is in contact with the top surface of the inner panel portions.