ONE MATERIAL BALL

Abstract

A ball includes a bladder that has a majority weight component of a material of a first material class. The ball includes at least one intermediate layer that is arranged exterior to the bladder and that has a majority weight component of the material of the first material class. The ball includes at least one exterior layer that is arranged exterior to the at least one intermediate layer and that has a majority weight component of the material of the first material class.

Claims

1-20. (canceled)

21. A method for manufacturing a ball, the method comprising: forming a bladder having a majority weight component of a material of a material class; thermally bonding an intermediate layer having a majority weight component of the material of the material class to the bladder; and thermally bonding an exterior layer having a majority weight component of the material of the material class to the intermediate layer.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: forming a mixture of recycled material and newly manufactured material, wherein the recycled material comprises parts that have been recycled from another ball; and forming at least one of the bladder, the intermediate layer, and the exterior layer from the mixture.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein 10% to 50% of the material of the material class is the newly manufactured material.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the material is a first material of the material class, and wherein forming the bladder further comprises: providing a rotatable mold; inserting the first material of the material class and a second material of the material class into the mold; rotating the mold to obtain a mixture of the first material and the second material; and heating or cooling the mixture to form the bladder.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the bladder comprises fibers of the second material embedded within a carrier matrix of the first material.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the material class is thermoplastic polyurethane.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein the material is a first material of the material class, and wherein the bladder comprises fibers of a second material of the material class embedded within a carrier matrix of the first material.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein forming the bladder comprises: forming a lattice structure comprising a plurality of lattice cells comprising radially extending elements.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein forming the bladder further comprises: arranging a surface layer comprising a plurality of panels over the lattice structure.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein lattice cells arranged adjacent to the surface layer have a dimension smaller than an average diameter of the plurality of panels of the surface layer.

31. The method of claim 28, wherein the bladder is not an inflatable bladder.

32. The method of claim 21, wherein the intermediate layer comprises a plurality of panels comprising the material of the material class.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the plurality of panels are formed by a process that comprises: providing a mold comprising a first mold part and a second mold part; inserting the material of the material class into the mold; and molding the material to form the plurality of panels.

34. The method of claim 21, wherein the intermediate layer and the exterior layer are foamed.

35. The method of claim 21, wherein the bladder, the intermediate layer, and the exterior layer are thermally bonded without an adhesive.

36. The method of claim 21, further comprising: arranging a cushioning layer between the intermediate layer and the exterior layer, the cushioning layer having a majority weight component of the material of the material class.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising: forming the cushioning layer from thermoplastic polyurethane yarn.

38. A method for recycling a ball comprising: recovering a material of a material class from a first ball; and manufacturing a second ball using at least a portion of the recovered material, the second ball comprising: a bladder having a majority weight component of the material of the material class; an intermediate layer arranged exterior to the bladder and having a majority weight component of the material of the material class; and an exterior layer arranged exterior to the intermediate layer and having a majority weight component of the material of the material class.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising: collecting a plurality of first balls, each having a majority weight component of the material of a material class at a ball return station; and recovering the material of the material class from the plurality of first balls.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the first ball has a majority weight component of the material of the material class.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0036] Possible embodiments of the present invention are described in the following detailed description with reference to the following Figures, wherein:

[0037] FIG. 1 shows the schematic structure of a ball according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a detailed structure of the layers of a ball according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0039] FIG. 3 shows a detailed structure of the layers of a ball according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0040] FIG. 4 shows a detailed structure of the layers of a ball according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF POSSIBLE EMBODIMENTS

[0041] It should be noted that only some possible embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below. However, the person skilled in the art will recognize that the specific details explained with respect to a particular embodiment may be modified, developed, combined in a different manner, or otherwise varied or omitted. Furthermore, it should be noted that different aspects of the following embodiments may be combined with aspects from the above summary of the invention.

[0042] First of all, FIG. 1 shows a part of a bladder 10. In one embodiment, the bladder 10 may be a TPU matrix 50 reinforced with TPU fibers 40. A method for manufacturing a suitable material is described in DE 10 2015 209 800.1. A bladder 10, which is based on such a fiber-reinforced matrix reinforced with internal material, can also be referred to as three-dimensional. A corresponding method for manufacturing a three-dimensional composite article, particularly a bladder 10 for a ball, can comprise the following steps: (a.) providing a rotatable mold; (b.) filling a first material into the mold; (c.) filling a second material into the mold, with at least one of the materials being a polymer material; (d.) moving the mold; and (e.) adapting at least one method parameter while performing one or several of the preceding steps so as to achieve a homogeneous distribution of the second material in the manufactured composite article. In this respect, each of the two mentioned materials is based on the same base material (e.g., TPU, PVC, PP, PA, or PE).

[0043] If the filled-in polymer material is a thermoplastic material (e.g., TPU), the filled-in material is preferably heated and/or cooled. Said material melts when heated and thus forms the carrier or matrix material. The second material, for example, may be fibers (e.g., TPU fibers), which are embedded in the first carrier material after rotational molding or extensively adhere to its surface.

[0044] In another embodiment, the bladder 10 may also be formed by a TPU structure. A corresponding method of manufacturing is disclosed in DE 10 2015 209 811.7. In this respect, a bladder 10 may comprise a surface layer comprising a plurality of panels, as well as a lattice structure extending below the surface layer. The lattice structure comprises a plurality of lattice cells comprising radially extending elements. At least the lattice cells arranged adjacent to the surface layer at least have a dimension smaller than the average diameter of the panels. This way the bladder 10 or the ball may be provided with homogeneous resilience and stability, like an inflatable bladder 10. Consequently, the bladder 10 thus manufactured is not a conventional inflatable bladder but a lattice structure. The structure thus manufactured can be made of a base material such as TPU, PVC, PP, PA, or PE.

[0045] Moreover, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a first intermediate layer 20 is arranged. The intermediate layer 20 may be arranged as a cushioning layer. In one embodiment, this cushioning layer may be made of TPU foam. In another embodiment, this cushioning layer may also be made of TPU yarn.

[0046] With reference to FIG. 2, an embodiment is described wherein the bladder 100 does not comprise a TPU matrix reinforced with TPU fibers. In this embodiment, an intermediate layer 120 may be arranged above the bladder 100. This intermediate layer 120 may be arranged as a protection layer. In one embodiment, the protection layer may be made of a non-woven fabric and laminated onto the bladder 100. In one embodiment, the non-woven fabric may be made of rhombus-shaped pieces (e.g., two strip layers as a cover for the bladder 100). A ball may comprise as further layers a cushioning layer 125 (e.g., of eTPU or other materials mentioned herein) and an exterior layer 130, as described herein.

[0047] In one embodiment, the cushioning layer 125 and the exterior layer 130 may be replaced by a single layer 230. In this case, said single layer may be arranged as integral foam. This is explained with reference to FIG. 3. There, the bladder 200 and the layers arranged as the cushioning layer 220 are provided as described above with reference to FIG. 2. In contrast to FIG. 2, however, the intermediate layer arranged as the cushioning layer 125 and the exterior layer 130 are replaced by integral foam 230. Said integral foam 230 offers cushioning properties and abrasion protection in one single element.

[0048] In one embodiment, the integral foam layer may also be combined with a composite bladder 300. This is also schematically represented in FIG. 4. There, the layer 330 arranged as integral foam above is directly arranged on the composite bladder 300. Integral foam, as used herein, may be manufactured with a so-called MuCell procedure, for example.

[0049] In all cases, the cushioning layer may be provided as a plurality of panels. A possible method for manufacturing such panels is disclosed in DE 10 2015 209 797.8, for example. In one embodiment, the method for manufacturing a panel comprises providing a carrier material having an outer side and an inner side within a mold having at least one first and one second mold part. On the outer side of the carrier material an outer layer of the panel is three-dimensionally molded within the mold. In addition, on the inner side of the carrier material an inner layer of the panel is three-dimensionally molded using at least the first mold part. This method enables manufacturing three-dimensionally molded panels for a ball with a minimum number of manufacturing steps. Separately molding a plurality of elements and subsequently attaching the molded elements to each other is not necessary.

[0050] By integrally manufacturing the panel, this method can completely dispense with bonding agents, adhesives or the like. No separate adhesives need to be applied to join the individual layers of the panel. The materials used for the individual layers of the panel are compatible with each other and, according to some examples, may be joined solely by means of thermal and/or mechanical energy. Furthermore, it is also possible to join the used materials by means of chemical reactions. A bonding is enabled by affinity of the used materials. However, should it be advantageous for the panel to be manufactured, adhesives, bonding agents or the like may be used alternatively. For manufacturing such a panel, TPU, PVC, or PE may be used, for example.

[0051] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, an exterior layer 30 is further provided. Said exterior layer 30 may be arranged as an inlay or decoration element. If the exterior layer 30 is arranged as a protection layer, all underlying layers can be efficiently protected from environmental influences such as moisture or heat, but also from abrasion. Moreover, using the exterior layer 30 offers many possibilities for designing the ball without having to provide the underlying layers with a color component.

[0052] The present invention has been described above by way of exemplary embodiments. Accordingly, the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalences. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.