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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Bocce ball.
2. The Prior Arts
A Bocce ball is an Italian ball game that is played in a sandy area that is approximately 40-50 feet long and 10 feet wide. This game is a confrontation between two teams, and is started by throwing a small ball from someone to the ground to serve as a target ball, and then, every team member of the teams is requested to roll or throw his ball to approach as closer as possible to the target ball. A team winner is defined by having the closest ball and scores by counting the number of its balls in a domain near the target ball closer than the closest ball of the opponent team.
In playing the game, it is common than colliding one ball with others; and therefore, the material of ball must be carefully selected to ensure no fracture to be thus incurred. In early days, the balls were formed by wood carving in a relatively higher cost until unsaturated polyester was adopted. Later on, waste polyester material (waste ball body, for example) was chopped into pieces and processed for the inner layer of the ball to combine with the outermost layer of the ball. It is possible to lower cost from some points of view theoretically, however, it is not so easy to collect a massive quantity of a mono-material (the unsaturated polyester material for instance) practically, so that the cost cannot be lowered down efficiently as expected.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a Bocce ball having a body made of more than two different materials in an easy and low cost manner.
In order to realize the object, a Bocce ball of the present invention comprises a body layer, a medium layer, and a core layer, which are arranged sequentially from outside toward inside as an outermost layer, a middle layer, and a central layer. The medium layer and the core layer, which are formed with different materials, are tightly bound together, and the core layer is enclosed by the medium layer to form the ball.
For more detailed information regarding advantages or features of the present invention, at least one example of a preferred embodiment will be described below with reference to the annexed drawings.
The related drawings in connection with the detailed description of the present invention to be made later are described briefly as follows, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a Bocce ball constructed in accordance with the present invention; and
FIGS. 2A-2D are cross-sectional views showing in sequence a fabrication process of the Bocce ball of the present invention.
With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIG. 1, a Bocce ball constructed in accordance wit the present invention comprises, sequentially from inside to outside, a core layer 1, a medium layer 2, and a body layer 3. The body layer 3 and the medium layer 2 are formed of different materials respectively. The medium layer 2 has a high adhesion for fixedly sticking the core layer 1 as well as the body layer 3 to keep the Bocce balls intact when they collide each other during playing, and the body layer 3 must be firm and indomitable. In an embodiment, the body layer 3 is made of unsaturated polyester resin while the medium layer 2 is made of acrylic and enclosing the core layer 1. The core layer 1 is made to provide the standard weight of the ball, and can be made of any desired material. For example, the core layer 1 can be made of iron sand, racks, rubber, waste rubber, and nylon, which are selected for lowering the overall costs.
FIGS. 2A-2D show a fabrication process of the Bocce ball of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2A, positioning sinks 11 are formed in opposite sides the core layer 1, respectively. In FIG. 2B, a thimble 5 is arranged to prop against each positioning sink 11 in a mold so as to infuse material to form a medium layer 2 on the outside layer. Next, FIG. 2C represents the state where the thimbles 5 have been removed from the positioning sinks 11, and at this time, the core layer 1 is enclosed inside the medium layer 2 while the positioning sinks 11 are still remained. Referring to FIG. 2D now, the last layer, namely the body layer 3, is made of an unsaturated polyester resin, and the processing procedure is first to plug and fix the thimbles made of unsaturated polyester resin in the positioning sinks 11, and then pouring the unsaturated polyester material into the mold such that the thimbles and the material are unified during the process of heating and forming to intensify the combination of the medium layer 2 and the body layer 3. Moreover, since the material of the body layer 3 is distributed in the positioning sinks 11, all the layers cannot be detached easily and therefore production is simplified and cost is lowered.
Generally speaking, in the structure of Bocce ball of the present invention, a medium layer is arranged as a middle layer, which can, on the one hand, unite with an outermost layer tightly, namely the body layer made of an unsaturated polyester resin, and on the other hand, use a chipper material for the core layer to lower the cost and rise the competitive capacity of the present invention.
In the above described, at least one preferred embodiment has 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.