U.S. patent application number 10/748539 was filed with the patent office on 2005-06-30 for elastic ball.
Invention is credited to Lin, Chia-Yen.
Application Number | 20050143204 10/748539 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34828363 |
Filed Date | 2005-06-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050143204 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin, Chia-Yen |
June 30, 2005 |
Elastic ball
Abstract
An elastic ball includes a transparent surface layer of a hollow
sphere, a sealing device attached on the transparent surface layer
including a coupling and a rubber sheath in which the coupling is
formed by overlapping conic bodies one after another in the order
from the smallest one all the way up to the largest one and is
provided with an inscribed tangential common point on their base
circumferences and a channel defined in a middle conic body, and is
externally sleeve-jointed with the rubber sheath, and a fluid
filled in a hollow portion of the transparent sphere through the
channel of the sealing device. The pressure of the fluid is applied
on the rubber sheath of the sealing device to seal up the channel
of the coupling for preventing leakage of the fluid.
Inventors: |
Lin, Chia-Yen; (Taipei City,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SUPREME PATENT SERVICES
POST OFFICE BOX 2339
SARATOGA
CA
95070
US
|
Family ID: |
34828363 |
Appl. No.: |
10/748539 |
Filed: |
December 29, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/594 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09F 19/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/594 |
International
Class: |
A63B 039/00; A63B
041/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An elastic ball, comprising: a transparent surface layer of a
hollow sphere; a sealing device attached on the surface layer,
having a coupling and a rubber sheath, the coupling being formed by
overlapping a plurality of conic bodies one after another, and
provided with a channel defined in a middle conic body, the rubber
sheath covering the coupling externally; and a fluid, which is
filled thoroughly in a hollow portion inside the transparent
surface layer through the channel defined in the middle conic body
by pushing the rubber sheath of the sealing device with pressure to
seal the channel of the coupling.
2. The elastic ball according to claim 1, wherein the transparent
surface layer is made of polyurethane.
3. The elastic ball according to claim 1, wherein the conic bodies
overlap one after another, an inscribed tangential common point
being formed on a base circumference of each conic body.
4. The elastic ball according to claim 1, wherein the fluid
comprises at least one of air, water and oil substantially.
5. The elastic ball according to claim 1, wherein the fluid further
comprises ornaments.
6. An elastic ball, comprising: a transparent surface layer of a
hollow sphere with a specific thickness; a sealing device attached
on the surface layer, having a tapered inserting portion, an
imbedding portion, and a sealing portion, the tapered inserting
portion being out-and-out buried in the surface layer, the
imbedding portion having a thickness substantially the same as the
specific thickness of the surface layer, the sealing portion having
a diameter greater than the imbedding portion so that leakage of
the inside fluid is prevented; and a fluid, which is filled
thoroughly in a hollow portion inside the transparent surface
layer.
7. The elastic ball according to claim 6, wherein the transparent
surface layer is made of polyurethane.
8. The elastic ball according to claim 6, wherein the fluid
comprises at least one selected from air, water and oil
substantially.
9. The elastic ball according to claim 8, wherein the fluid further
comprises ornaments.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates generally to an elastic ball,
and more specifically, to a transparent elastic ball made of
polyurethane (PU) containing ornaments floating inside as a toy or
a decoration article.
[0003] 2. The Prior Arts
[0004] A decoration ball containing liquid inside is mostly made of
glass so far, for example, a hollow crystal ball filled with fluid
and having a house or an angel ornament in the center of the ball,
and white powders floating around the ornament while the ball is
being swayed. However, it is usually placed on a table or displayed
in a cabinet for appreciation only, to carry it out and play with
it as a bouncing ball is not possible, due to the nature of the
glass/crystal ball.
[0005] Another elastic ball is a solid elastic ball, which is
generally made of rubber or PU. Due to its unitary color and small
size, they do not give the same visual attraction to kids as the
decorating glass ball. Yet, another elastic ball with a doll, a
lighting element, or a sounding device inside is more attractive to
children but still bores them or adults due to its regularity of
sound, light or figure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] In view of the mentioned defects, the present invention is
to provide an elastic ball comprising a transparent surface layer
of a hollow sphere, a sealing device attached on a transparent
surface layer including a coupling and a rubber sheath, in which
the coupling is formed by overlapping conic bodies one after
another in the order from the smallest one all the way up to the
largest one, and is provided with an inscribed tangential common
point on their base circumferences and a channel defined in a
middle conic body; and the rubber sheath is externally
sleeve-jointed with the coupling. Besides, a fluid is fully filled
in a hollow portion of the transparent sphere through the channel
of the sealing device and the pressure thereof is applied on the
rubber sheath of the sealing device to seal up the channel of the
coupling for preventing leakage.
[0007] The merits of the present invention include: adopting PU
elastic material; containing a fluid to present a specific visual
effect; possible for making larger spherical balls than glass ones,
and filling glowing pieces, looking fantastic particularly in
nighttime.
[0008] For more detailed information regarding advantages or
features of the present invention, at least an example of preferred
embodiment will be described below with reference to the annexed
drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The related drawings in connection with the detailed
description of the present invention to be made later are described
briefly as follows, in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an elastic ball constructed
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a sealing device of elastic
ball of the present invention before assembling;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a top view of a coupling of the elastic ball of
the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the using state of
the sealing device of the elastic ball of the present
invention;
[0014] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the state of the
sealing device of the elastic ball of the present invention under
pressure;
[0015] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an elastic ball constructed
in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 7 shows an enlarged partial portion of a sealing device
of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an elastic ball constructed
in accordance with yet an embodiment of the present invention under
use before a sealing device is assembled; and
[0018] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an elastic ball of yet an
embodiment of the present invention under use after a sealing
device is assembled.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0019] With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1,
an elastic ball is comprised of a surface layer 1 of a hollow
sphere made of transparent polyurethane (PU), a sealing device 2,
and a fluid 3 fully filled in a hollow portion enclosed by the
surface PU layer 1. In a preferred embodiment, the surface layer 1
is a surface layer of polyurethane. The fluid 3 could be air,
liquid, with ornamental pieces 31. For example, the fluid 3 is air,
water, or some kind of oil, doped with the ornamental pieces 31,
such as sparkles, or sparkles in fish shape, for creating the
visual floating effect.
[0020] The sealing device 2, attached on the transparent surface PU
layer 1 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, is comprised of a coupling 21
and a rubber sheath 22, in which the coupling 21 is formed by
overlapping conic bodies 21A, 21B, 21C one after another in the
order from the smallest conic body 21A all the way up to the
largest conic body 21C, which are provided with an inscribed
tangential common point C at their base circumferences and the
coupling 21 has a channel 211 defined in the middle conic body 21B
as indicated in FIG. 3, and the rubber sheath 22 is externally
sleeve-jointed with the coupling 21 as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and
5.
[0021] The fluid 3 which is fully filled in a hollow portion
enclosed by the surface PU layer 1 as shown in FIG. 1 and mentioned
above is poured into the hollow portion by inserting a needle P in
the channel 211 of the coupling 21, in which the pressure created
by the fluid 3 will push the rubber sheath 22 of the sealing device
2 to seal up an opening at the inner end of the channel 211 of the
coupling 21 (shown in FIG. 5) for preventing the fluid 3 from
flowing out of the elastic ball of the present invention.
[0022] In addition, an elastic ball constructed in accordance with
another embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 6
comprises a transparent surface layer 4 of a hollow sphere, a
sealing device 5, and a fluid 6 fully filled in the hollow portion
of the surface layer 4, in which a preferred embodiment of the
surface layer 4 is a surface layer made of polyurethane (PU). The
fluid 6 could be air, liquid, with ornamental pieces 61. For
example, the fluid 6 is air, water, or some kind of oil, doped with
the ornamental pieces 61, such as sparkles, or sparkles in fish
shape, for creating the visual floating effect.
[0023] The transparent surface layer 4 of a hollow sphere has a
designated thickness T as shown in FIG. 7, and the sealing device 5
is attached thereon. The sealing device 5 is comprised of a tapered
inserting portion 51, an imbedding portion 52, and a sealing
portion 53, in which the tapered inserting portion 51 is
out-and-out buried in the surface layer 4, the thickness of the
imbedding portion 52 is about the same with T of the surface layer
4, and the diameter of the sealing portion 53 is greater than the
imbedding portion 52 so that leakage of the inside fluid is
preventable.
[0024] As indicated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the sealing device 5
comprises a breakable part 54 and a longitudinal rod part 55. After
the needle P shown in FIG. 1 is applied to inject the fluid 6 into
the hollow portion inside the surface layer 4, the sealing device 5
is then plugged in the entrance to enable the tapered inserting
portion 51 to be buried thoroughly under the surface layer 4, in
which the thickness of the imbedding portion 52 of the sealing
device 5 is about the same with the thickness T of the surface
layer 4, and the sealing portion 53 is greater in diameter than
that of the imbedding portion 52, therefore, a worker is supposed
to fracture the breakable part 54 and seal the ball with the
sealing portion 53.
[0025] To speak in short, the elastic ball of the present invention
can serve for a toy or an ornament made of polyurethane (PU),
containing a fluid inside to present a floating visual effect, in
which the fluid is guided into a hollow sphere and prevented from
being leaked by a sealing device.
[0026] A method for manufacturing an elastic ball is presented
hereunder, without any intention of limiting the scope of the
present invention.
[0027] The procedure is comprised of: spraying a de-molding agent
on surface of an upper-half and a lower-half mold; positioning the
sealing device 2 at a positioning needle of the upper-half mold;
injecting PU material in the lower-half mold in a quantity
depending on the size and thickness of the ball; covering the
upper-half mold on the lower-half mold and closely fixing the
halves together with tenons; placing it in a rotary forming machine
to produce the PU surface layer 1 of hollow sphere, which is to be
taken out depending on the curing conditions of the PU material;
injecting fluid 3 (water or oil) with the ornaments 31 (sparkles or
pieces), into the transparent PU hollow sphere by means of
inserting the needle P in the channel 211 of the coupling 21 to
complete the elastic ball.
[0028] In the above described, more than one preferred embodiment
have been described in detail with reference to the drawings
annexed, and it is apparent that numerous changes or modifications
may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope
thereof, as set forth in the claims below.
* * * * *