Nike patents sport ball with cast foam shell and valveless bladder
Nike has been granted a patent for a sport ball design that uses a sealed, valveless bladder to hold air. The ball features an outer shell made of cast polyurethane foam, which is joined from two halves and covered by traditional panels.
In the filing’s own words
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.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. A sport ball comprising: a bladder enclosing a volume of gas, the bladder comprised of a first material, the bladder being sealed and valveless; an intermediate layer disposed radially adjacent to the bladder, wherein the intermediate layer is configured to contain the bladder and enclosed gas, and wherein the intermediate layer is formed of a second material different from the first material of the bladder; a casing including a casted material different from the first material and the second material, and the casing including two hemispherical halves joined at a single circumferential seam, wherein the casted material includes a polyurethane foam, and wherein the casing encloses each of the bladder and the intermediate layer; and one or more casing panels attached to an outer surface of the casing, the one or more casing panels forming an outermost surface of the sport ball.
Facts
- Company
- Nike (Nike, Inc.)
- Official title
- Sport ball
- Patent number
- US12746437B2
- Application number
- 18174247
- Filed
- Feb 24, 2023
- Granted
- Sep 29, 2026
- Inventors
- 1
- Claims
- 9
Classified under
A63B 41/02 Human necessitiesA63B 41/085 Human necessitiesA63B 45/00 Human necessitiesB29K 2075/00 Operations & transportMore from Nike in Clothing & sport
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.