Sportsball Construction with Antimicrobial Function

Abstract

An antimicrobial sportsball includes a ball carcass having an interior cavity and an antimicrobial ball cover, covering the ball carcass. The antimicrobial ball cover contains and releases antimicrobial agent to the ball surface and the environment. The ball carcass includes an inflatable bladder adapted to be inflated into a designated size and shape and a cushion layer covering the inflatable wound or lined bladder, so as to provide additional cushioning effect and form channels.

Claims

1. An antimicrobial sportsball, comprising: a ball carcass having an interior cavity; and an antimicrobial ball cover, covering said ball carcass to form a sportsball, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover is made of polyurethane composite and an antimicrobial agent, wherein said antimicrobial agent is continuously and stably released from said polyurethane composite to a surface of said antimicrobial ball cover to serve as a sanitizer when said sportsball is played and contacted to an environment.

2. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 1, wherein said ball carcass comprises an inflatable bladder adapted to be inflated into a designated size and shape and a cushion layer covering said inflatable bladder, so as to provide additional cushioning effect.

3. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 2, wherein said ball carcass further comprises a reinforced layer arranged between said cushion layer and said inflatable bladder to strength said ball carcass.

4. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 2, wherein said inflatable bladder has a valve stem mounted thereon, wherein an end of said valve stem is exposed on said antimicrobial ball cover, so as to allow said sportsball to be inflated or deflated through said valve stem.

5. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 3, wherein said inflatable bladder has a valve stem mounted thereon, wherein an end of said valve stem is exposed on said antimicrobial ball cover, so as to allow said sportsball to be inflated or deflated through said valve stem.

6. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 1, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover has at least one channel arranged on said surface thereof for facilitating gripping said sportsball, wherein said antimicrobial agent is continuously released along said channel.

7. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 2, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover has at least one channel arranged on said surface thereof for facilitating gripping said sportsball, wherein said antimicrobial agent is continuously released along said channel.

8. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 3, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover has at least one channel arranged on said surface thereof for facilitating gripping said sportsball, wherein said antimicrobial agent is continuously released along said channel.

9. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 1, wherein said antimicrobial agent comprises copper iodide blended into said polyurethane composite to release copper ions from said antimicrobial ball cover.

10. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 2, wherein said antimicrobial agent comprises copper iodide blended into said polyurethane composite to release copper ions from said antimicrobial ball cover.

11. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 3, wherein said antimicrobial agent comprises copper iodide blended into said polyurethane composite to release copper ions from said antimicrobial ball cover.

12. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 6, wherein said antimicrobial agent comprises copper iodide blended into said polyurethane composite to release copper ions from said antimicrobial ball cover.

13. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 1, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover is made of a polyurethane foam, wherein said antimicrobial agent is blended into said polyurethane foam as a surface layer.

14. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 11, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover is made of a polyurethane foam, wherein said antimicrobial agent is blended into said polyurethane foam as a surface layer.

15. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 12, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover is made of a polyurethane foam, wherein said antimicrobial agent is blended into said polyurethane foam as a surface layer.

16. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 13, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover further comprises a layer of non-woven base cloth, wherein said polyurethane foam is coated on top of said layer of said non-woven base cloth, wherein said polyurethane foam coating layer is embossed to pebble shape or leather grain.

17. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 14, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover further comprises a layer of non-woven base cloth, wherein said polyurethane foam is coated on top of said layer of said non-woven base cloth, wherein said polyurethane foam coating layer is embossed to pebble shape or leather grain.

18. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 15, wherein said antimicrobial ball cover further comprises a layer of non-woven base cloth, wherein said polyurethane foam is coated on top of said layer of said non-woven base cloth, wherein said polyurethane foam coating layer is embossed to pebble shape or leather grain.

19. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 1, wherein a thickness of said antimicrobial ball cover has a range between 0.8 mm and 2.0 mm.

20. The antimicrobial sportsball, as recited in claim 18, wherein a thickness of said antimicrobial ball cover has a range between 0.8 mm and 2.0 mm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 is a partial sectional view of an antimicrobial sportsball according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the antimicrobial sportsball according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of part of the antimicrobial sportsball according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] FIGS. 4A-4C are pictures of an antimicrobial ball cover of the antimicrobial sportsball according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 5 is an application scenario of the antimicrobial sportsball according to the above first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an antimicrobial sportsball according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an antimicrobial sportsball according to a third preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an antimicrobial sportsball according to a fourth preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0035] The following description is disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Preferred embodiments are provided in the following description only as examples and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The general principles defined in the following description would be applied to other embodiments, alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0036] First of all, referring to FIG. 1, an antimicrobial sportsball 1 according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a ball carcass 20 having an interior cavity and an antimicrobial ball cover 10, preferred to be made of polyurethane composite when the sportsball 1 is a basketball for example, covering the ball carcass 20. The antimicrobial ball cover 10 has eight channels 11 arranged on the surface thereof so as to help the user to grip the ball and enhance the delivery of the antimicrobial agent to the environment. The ball carcass 20 includes a cushion layer 21, a reinforced layer 22 which is embodied as a winding or lining layer 22, and an inflatable bladder 23, wherein the inflatable bladder 23 has a valve stem 231 mounted thereon, wherein an end of the valve stem 231 is exposed on the antimicrobial ball cover 10.

[0037] It is worth mentioning that the term “environment” indicated in the present specification, including the appended claims thereof, refers to all of the objects, surfaces, and space around the antimicrobial sportsball 1, which include but not limited to the surface of the antimicrobial sportsball 1 itself, the players' hands, bodies, and clothing, the sports court/field floor, the mist, dust, water, grass, and mud in the sports field, the sports equipment like the backboard, rim, net, cue, goal, and etc.

[0038] The inflatable bladder body 23 is made of a flexible material (such as rubber, polyurethane sheet, or latex) with a structure has an interior cavity, so as to allow the user to utilize the valve stem 231 mounted thereon to inflate or deflate the antimicrobial sportsball 1 through inflating or deflating the inflatable bladder 23. The reinforced layer 22 is a layer covering over the inflatable bladder 23 and constructed through at least one winding thread or a layer of lining cloth, so as for further enhance the strengths of the ball carcass 20 and assure and endure the ball carcass 20 to remain in the designated size and shape (e.g. true roundness and etc.) when inflated. The cushion layer 21 covering on the reinforced layer 22 is made of natural or synthetic rubber or other soft elastic materials (such as styrene butadiene rubber, PVC, foaming materials, etc.) for providing a cushioning effect of the inflated antimicrobial sportsball 1.

[0039] The antimicrobial ball cover 10 serves as not only the conventional external layer of a ball that provides mostly the abrasion resistance, the frictional effect (grip feel), and some cushioning effect of the ball, but also an antimicrobial means on the surface of the ball for protecting the ball surface to be contacted with the users with antimicrobial agent and/or releasing antimicrobial agent to the environment such that the antimicrobial ball cover 10 is capable of sanitizing its own surface as well as other objects it has contacted thereby. After a period of time, the antimicrobial agent can further be accumulated in the environment of the antimicrobial sportsball 1, which will maximize antimicrobial effect around the ball. Namely, the antimicrobial sportsball 1 not only sanitize the environment to neutralize the microbial contaminant left in the environment, but also leave antimicrobial agent in the environment in order to neutralize the microbial contaminant that may be left in the environment later.

[0040] Further specifically, it is worth mentioning that, in most ball game fields, matters like players' discharges (e.g. nasal discharge, saliva, tear, sweat, and etc.) and other environmental materials (e.g. mud, dust, and etc.) are very likely to hazard the players in several ways that are mostly impossible to completely avoid. First, some of the matters may carry a pathogenic microbe that once a player touches it directly (e.g. touches the discharge left on the ground of the sports field and etc.) or indirectly (e.g. touches a contaminated ball and etc.), s/he is under a risk of being infected thereby. Second, other matters that do not carry any pathogenic microbe may also be a medium and/or breeding ground that help the microbe to spread and/or reproduce. Accordingly, the present invention aims to not only provide an antimicrobial sportsball 1 that is capable of sanitizing its own surface and being prevented from microbial contamination, but, most importantly, to allow the ball to sanitize itself and the environment during the ball game and to extend the antimicrobial function to other objects and surfaces that have directly and/or indirectly contacted the ball, such that the microbial threat of a ball game can really be reduced effectively and significantly. Based on such effective antimicrobial function, the players can therefore feel safer and more confident playing in the ball game when there is microbial hazard concern anytime anywhere.

[0041] According to the above first preferred embodiment, referring to FIGS. 1-4C, the antimicrobial ball cover 10 is embodied as made of a polyurethane (PU) composite material base containing copper iodide, which is able to continuously and stably releasing copper ion into the environment to kill microbes (e.g. fungi, bacteria, viruses, parasites, and etc.) through contact. In other words, on the one hand, every time when the antimicrobial sportsball 1 contacts an object of the environment (e.g. the player's hand, the floor, etc.) the antimicrobial ball cover 10 will transfer a certain amount of the copper ion to the object, especially if there is more water or moisture on the object, on the surface of the ball, or in the air. In this case, sweat of the players also helps the releasing and delivery of the copper ion (or other antimicrobial agent). On the other hand, as the antimicrobial sportsball 1 is stored on the shelf, the copper ion (or other antimicrobial agent) will mostly be held in the antimicrobial ball cover 10 instead of being released, such that the antimicrobial power of the ball can be preserved for a relatively long time.

[0042] It is also worth mentioning that the copper ion released to the environment will stay active for a long period as well, which allows the protections to be accumulated in the environment, including the surface of the ball, the players' hands and cloth, the sports field floor, the dust in the sports field, the sports equipment like the backboard, the rim, and the net, and etc.

[0043] According to this embodiment, copper ion is preferred for being released from the ball as a sanitizer because it has been widely proven useful and effective in killing microbes of a broad spectrum, especially for bacteria and viruses. That is to say, copper ion is capable of killing and inhibiting most of the bacteria and viruses in addition to some other microbes (e.g. fungi, parasites, and etc.). Nevertheless, according to other implementations, the antimicrobial ball cover 10 may also be made of other material that contains and releases other antimicrobial agent, such as silver salt, ammonium salts, chloride salts, and etc. As long as the antimicrobial ball cover 10 is capable of releasing at least one antimicrobial agent, it shall be within the scope of the present invention and the present invention shall not be limited hereby.

[0044] Further, the eight channels 11 arranged on the surface of the antimicrobial ball cover 10 is to not only help the user to grip the antimicrobial sportsball 1, but also to enhance the delivery of the antimicrobial agent to the environment through increasing the surface area of the antimicrobial ball cover 10. Besides, matters like players' discharges (e.g. nasal discharge, saliva, tear, sweat, and etc.) and other environmental materials (e.g. mud, dust, and etc.) are more likely to be temporally trapped in the channels 11 to absorb more antimicrobial agent, such that once these matters are dropped and stained on player's hands, body, and clothing or the surroundings, such as the ground of the sports court/field, the hoop, and etc. afterwards, these matters that contain higher dosage of the antimicrobial agent may further help to sanitize their surrounding environment for a period of time.

[0045] Referring to FIG. 6, an antimicrobial sportsball 1 according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is a non-inflatable sportsball, which also includes a ball carcass with a rubber foam, polyurethane foam, or cork mixture solid center core, and an antimicrobial polyurethane composite ball cover 10 covering thereon to release antimicrobial agent into the environment.

[0046] Referring to FIGS. 7-8, the antimicrobial sportsball 1 according to different embodiments of the present invention may also be implemented into various types of ball. That is, the present invention shall not be limited to certain type of ball.

[0047] One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.

[0048] It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.