CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/185,986, filed Jun. 29, 2015, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
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The present invention relates to the field of sports balls, and more specifically, balls that are designed to absorb kinetic energy.
BACKGROUND
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Balls are an essential in many of today's sports. Depending on the sport, the ball used must have a specific set of characteristics. Size, weight, shape, and ball composition are a few of the essential aspects used in defining the characteristics of the ball and its use. The rebound rate is a key characteristic of most sports balls, and is essential for proper gameplay. Many sports, such as basketball and tennis, require a high rebound rate, requires the ball to bounce with ease. While in other sports, such as racquetball and lacrosse, requires the ball to have a low rebound rate, which greatly reduces the ball's bounce. Finally, in a few other sports, such as bowling and road hockey, requires the ball to have no rebound rate, which eliminates the ball's bounce.
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Rebound is caused by the force of the ball hitting a hard surface, such as the ground or a hockey stick, which exerts an equal force back onto the ball, causing the ball to bounce. Rebound rates on balls are conventionally moderated through the materials used in the construction of the ball. Balls constructed of elastic material have high rebound rates, as the ball can deform and stretch when force is applied but is also resilient, as it quickly returns to the original shape upon dissipation of the force. Balls with low rebound rates are conventionally constructed out of materials that have a low resiliency or are constructed of non-elastic materials.
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Road hockey is one sport in which the rebound rate of the ball an essential aspect to providing ice hockey like gameplay to the users. Road hockey is played on hard, non-ice surfaces, which can be played indoors and outdoors on rough and has many indentations and rock and debris impediments. Conventional hockey pucks cannot be used for road hockey as the hard surface produces too much friction which causes the puck to roll. Additionally, the friction of such hard surfaces on the puck is so great that a puck will not slide very far. Conventional road hockey balls do not have the characteristics to provide the desired feel akin to ice hockey. The hockey balls have a tendency to bounce when used on hard surfaces and bounce off hockey sticks at a greater rate than one would expect a puck on an ice rink.
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Inventions such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,184 (Douglas), U.S. Pat. No. 7,357,740 (Pencer), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,619 (Mayer II) have been devised in order to provide hockey balls/pucks with a better feel and less rebound.
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Specifically, Douglas discloses a rubber compound mixture, that when used in construction of hockey pucks, improves the durability of the hockey puck while maintaining the general feel of the hockey puck. The hockey puck maintains its low coefficient of restitution over a wide temperature range, and acts “dead”, as in having consistently little bounce. The characteristic “dead” feel of the hockey puck is the direct result of the rubber compound mixture. Similarly, Mayer II discloses composition of a low rebound hockey ball which, based on the low rebound, simulates the feel and action of a hockey puck on hard surfaces. The low rebound characteristic of the hockey ball is accomplished through the use of a low rebound core material, which is encased by hard, tough covering material. Both Douglas and Mayer II disclose a solid puck/ball that are solid, have high inertia, and have the potential to cause a lot of damage upon impact. Pencer discloses modified hockey pucks intended to develop visual acuity and hand-eye coordination of hockey players. Pencer does not disclose a method for reducing the rebound of the puck.
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Accordingly, there is a need for hockey ball that can be used on hard surfaces that will have the feel and action similar to that of a conventional hockey puck used on ice, but is constructed in a manner that will not cause a lot of damage upon impact.
BRIEF SUMMARY
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In one aspect of the present invention, a low inertia low bounce hockey ball is provided comprising of an outer shell and an inner dampening low bounce material encased within the outer shell. The inner material counteracts the kinetic return force placed on the outer shell during a bounce, cancelling the kinetic return energy and minimizing or eliminating the resultant bounce of the low bounce hockey ball.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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It will now be convenient to describe the invention with particular reference to one embodiment of the present invention. It will be appreciated that the drawings relate to one embodiment of the present invention only and are not to be taken as limiting the invention.
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FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a low bounce hockey ball, according to one embodiment of the present invention;
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FIG. 2 is a front view of the low bounce hockey ball, according to one embodiment of the present invention;
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FIG. 3 is a profile view of half sphere shell, according to one embodiment of the present invention;
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FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the low bounce hockey ball, lacking the dampening cloth, according to one embodiment of the present invention;
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FIG. 5 is a front view of a dampening cloth, according to one embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
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The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred and other embodiments of the invention are shown. No embodiment described below limits any claimed invention and any claimed invention may cover processes or apparatuses that are not described below. The claimed inventions are not limited to apparatuses or processes having all the features of any one apparatus or process described below or to features common to multiple or all of the apparatuses described below. It is possible that an apparatus or process described below is not an embodiment of any claimed invention. The technology of 3D printing allows for an embodiment where the outer rigid shell and the inner non resilient material could be printed all at one time resulting in a separated internal material of a particular weight constructed in a geometrically more uniform non resilient 3D pattern to absorb the kinetic energy. This approach removes the non symmetric seam on the outer shell and provides the assembly of the two materials at the same time. The applicants, inventors or owners reserve all rights that they may have in any invention claimed in this document, for example the right to claim such an invention in a continuing application and do not intend to abandon, disclaim or dedicate to the public any such invention by its disclosure in this document.
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With reference to FIG. 1 and according to one embodiment of the present invention, the low bounce hockey ball 10 is shown in greater detail. The low bounce hockey ball 10 is primarily comprised of a rigid outer shell 12, and inner dampening material (not shown). The outer shell 12, is comprised of two identical half sphere shells 15. The half sphere shells 15 connect to each other to form the outer shell 12. The low bounce hockey ball 10 can be used on hard surfaces and provides the player with the feel and action similar to that of a conventional hockey puck used on ice. The low bounce hockey ball 10 reduces the rebound of the ball through the use of the dampening material (not shown). When a force is applied to a low bounce hockey ball lacking the dampening material (not shown), the kinetic force is changed into potential energy. The potential energy deforms the rigid outer shell 12 causing the low bounce hockey ball 10 lacking the dampening material (not shown) to bounce as the outer shell 12 exerts a rebound force back onto the object applying the force as the low bounce ball 10, lacking the dampening material, returns to its non-deformed shape. Upon placement of the dampening material (not shown) within the outer shell 12, the dampening material (not shown) absorbs the potential energy developed by the low bounce hockey ball 10 reversing directions during a bounce as the kinetic energy of the dampening material (not shown) still travelling in the first direction moments behind the ball collision counteracts the energy of the reversing direction of the low bounce hockey ball 10 and any subsequent rebounding force that induces bouncing. The low bounce hockey ball 10 is light weight and is constructed in a manner that will cause minimal damage upon impact. To limit impact damage, the outer shell is constructed from a light non-elastic rigid material, such as polyethylene, HDPE, ABS or other low friction polymer and the inner dampening material (not shown) is constructed from a light fabric of a polyester and cotton blend oriented in a folded technique to maximize its uniformity and volume inside the outer shell which maintains symmetry of the inner material before and after impacts. Other materials that can be used in the construction of the dampening material (not shown) include, but are not limited to: non-woven fibers; large mesh rubber sheet; strands of fabric; 3D printed low resilience material in an easily collapsible open weave; and, pieces of rubber foam or any other material in a form that when bounced on a surface has very low resilience and absorbs the impact energy completely without bouncing back. A worker skilled in the relevant art would appreciate the various materials that has low resilience and absorbs the impact energy without converting it into potential energy. A worker skilled in the relevant art would appreciate the value of not having holes in the outer shell when using the ball in outdoor environments where water could enter the ball and be absorbed by the inner material requiring the inner material be non-absorbing and to shed any water that gets into the ball easily and quickly. In one embodiment where water ingress is not important, to further reduce the impact force of the low bounce hockey ball 10, the outer shell 12 contains numerous holes, which allow the spherical shell to deflect more easily on impact and as a result, the impact force felt by humans when the ball strikes their body. The low bounce hockey ball 10 has been designed, developed, tried and tested to be rugged, mimic ice hockey puck movement on hard and rough surfaces while limiting impact force to humans.
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With reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 and according to one embodiment of the present invention the outer shell 12 described in greater detail. The outer shell 12 shaped like a sphere, thereby allowing the outer shell 12 and the low bounce hockey ball (not shown) to move freely around on any hard surface. With specific reference to FIG. 2, the frontal view of the outer shell 12 is shown in greater detail. The outer shell 12 is constructed of a light, semi-flexible material, such as polyurethane, HDPE, PE, ABS, PC, PVC or other common plastic, silicon or urethane durable material. A worker skilled in the relevant art would appreciate the various materials that are light and rigid or semi-flexible, having low surface friction, such as plastic and plastic with fillers, fibers and additives, thermal plastic elastomers, rubbers and silicon that are durable to being stepped on, impact with sticks, walls and floors while sliding easily on a hockey stick surface enhancing maneuverability of the ball on the stick by the player. The outer shell 12 may contain bores 17, which decrease the weight of the outer shell 12, increase air resistance, and permit some localized lateral deformation of the outer shell 12 reducing the transfer of energy. The shape and positioning of the bores 17 around the outer shell 12 is not an essential characteristic of the low bounce hockey ball (not shown). A worker skilled in the relevant art would appreciate the various types of bores that can achieve the essential functions of the bores, namely: decrease the weight of the sphere while maintaining rigidity; increase air resistance; and, permit local and lateral deformation near the bores. For ease of construction, and use within the low bounce hockey ball (not shown), the outer shell 12 is constructed from two identical half spheres 15. The half sphere 15 is clearly depicted in FIG. 3. The half spheres 15 are coupled together by a strong glue or heat welded using spin welding or Ultrasonic welding to form the outer shell 12. A worker skilled in the relevant art would appreciate the various ways of coupling the two half spheres, some examples include the use of glue, latch apertures, 3D printing, rivets as well as spin welding to melt the two parts together. In addition, a worker skilled in the relevant art would appreciate the various ways of constructing the outer shell 12 including molding the shell around the dampening material (not shown), pushing the dampening material thru the holes after molding of the ball, placing the dampening material in one half of ball while securing other half with glue, melting or other technique to fasten two ball halves. Elimination of the two halves using 3D printing additive material manufacturing techniques to create the shell all at once without any seam is another method of construction. With specific reference to FIG. 4 a cross-sectional view of the outer shell 12 is shown. The outer shell 12 contains a large inner cavity 20. The cavity 20 reduces the overall weight of the outer shell 12, and permits the fitment of the dampening material (not shown).
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With reference to FIG. 5 and according to one embodiment of the present invention the dampening material 25 is shown in greater detail. The dampening material 25 is required to be of a certain surface area so it can be set within the outer shell (not shown). Proper fitment of the dampening material 25 within the outer shell (not shown) is essential in the proper functioning of the low bounce hockey ball (not shown). If too little fabric is used, the dampening material 25 will localize to one area of the outer shell (not shown) thereby altering the rotational axis of the low bounce hockey ball (not shown) and thus altering the movement of the low bounce hockey ball (not shown) on hard surfaces. If too much fabric is used, the dampening material 25 will not have sufficient room to absorb external forces placed on the outer shell (not shown) rendering the dampening material 25 incapable of inhibiting the rebound of the low bounce ball (not shown). 3D printing additive material manufacturing allows for creation of the inner material at the same time as outer material is created all in one process using dual materials when building the ball. In a regular sized hockey ball with volumes ranging from 113 000 mm3 to 221 000 mm3 and diameters ranging from 60 mm to 75 mm the dampening material 25 is required to have a weight of 15 to 35 grams. In one embodiment, a zero bounce hockey ball (not shown) with a total weight of 43 grams and a volume of 194 600 mm3 employs a dampening material 25 of 21.5 grams and 79,350 mm3. The dampening material 25 can be comprised of polyester, cotton blend weave. A worker skilled in the relevant art would appreciate the various fabrics of various thicknesses arranged in a way to occupy most or all of the internal volume of the outer shell that could dampen the external forces applied to the outer shell (not shown). Uniform orientation of the inner material before and after impacts ensures the ball rolls and behaves in a symmetrical manner when in motion during use. In another embodiment, the dampening material 25 can be comprised of a light deforming material, like a non resilient sponge or foam. A worker skilled in the art would appreciate the various materials that can be used as the dampening material 25. Any material oriented inside the outer shell with no rebound energy when bounced like small pieces of soft rubber, mesh of rubber, cloth fabrics and thin folded plastic film will achieve the effect.