Figure-8 Mold for Baseball Cover Seam Formation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high production costs and material limitations of traditional baseball and softball manufacturing, particularly due to labor-intensive hand-sewing and the vulnerability of leather covers to moisture, lead to increased costs and reduced competitiveness, while PU material usage partially addresses these issues but requires post-production trimming.
Innovation Solution
A mold constructed from two figure of 8 shaped soft material pieces that fit together to form a ball cover, with grooves and protruding supports to create a raised sewn section and material inlets/outlets, allowing for mechanized production of a complete ball cover without the need for additional trimming.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If hand-sewing is used to join ball covers at seams, then the raised sewn section appearance is achieved, but production costs increase due to high operational ability requirements and labor intensity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual sewing mechanical system with a mold-based injection molding system. The mold includes joining edges with integrated grooves that form the raised sewn section appearance through the molding process itself, eliminating the need for subsequent hand-sewing operations while maintaining the desired aesthetic appearance.
Solution Approach 2:
The mold design incorporates the raised sewn section features directly into the joining edges during the initial molding process. This preliminary formation of the sewn section appearance eliminates the need for post-production sewing operations, thereby reducing labor costs and increasing productivity.
2Reliability
If leather material is used for ball covers, then traditional appearance and feel are maintained, but production costs increase and material sources become limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from natural leather to synthetic PU material. This substitution maintains the desired appearance and performance characteristics while providing unlimited material availability and lower cost. The mold design is optimized for injecting PU material to achieve the desired ball cover properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses PU synthetic material as a composite alternative to natural leather. This composite material provides similar aesthetic and functional properties while offering advantages in cost, availability, and consistency. The injection molding process is designed to properly form the PU material into the ball cover shape.
3Reliability
If leather ball covers are sewn together at seams, then traditional construction is maintained, but moisture enters through seams during humid or rainy weather, soaking the ball core and shortening ball lifespan
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a seamless injection-molded ball cover formed from flexible PU material that acts as a continuous protective shell. This eliminates the seam structures that would otherwise allow moisture penetration, while the flexible material maintains the necessary ball cover properties. The mold design ensures complete coverage and seamless construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the sewn construction mechanical system with an injection molding system that creates a seamless ball cover. This eliminates the physical seams that allow moisture entry, thereby protecting the ball core from water damage and extending ball lifespan while maintaining the desired appearance through integrated raised section design.
4Productivity
If semi circular shaped molds are used to form ball covers, then mechanized production is achieved, but join lines appear where molds join, requiring additional trimming work
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs figure-of-8 shaped mold pieces instead of simple semi-circular molds. The asymmetric figure-of-8 design allows the mold joining edges to be positioned along the raised sewn section areas, which are aesthetic features that mask the join lines. This eliminates the need for post-production trimming while maintaining mechanized production efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent strategically positions the mold joining edges at specific locations along the raised sewn sections. This local placement strategy ensures that the join lines coincide with aesthetic features that conceal them, thereby eliminating the need for additional trimming operations while maintaining the benefits of mechanized production.
Data Source
AI summary
A ball cover shaping mold of a baseball or softball is constructed from two corresponding figure of 8 shaped mold pieces. These two mold pieces fit together to form a mold of the outside of the ball cover of a softball or baseball, and these two mold pieces are constructed from a soft material. Where these two mold pieces join are the seams, and on the inside side of the seams, grooves are set to form the raised sewn section on the ball cover, and an material inlet and an air outlet is situated where these two pieces join. PU material is used in the mold to construct the ball cover. The soft mold pieces are easy to remove and moreover, the grooves set on the inside seams of the figure of 8 shaped mold pieces form the raised sewn section on the outside of the ball cover where the two mold pieces join, thereby fulfilling the required outside appearance of the ball. The raised sewn section is situated along the mold lines, eliminating the need to further repair and trim the ball to achieve the required outside appearance of the ball, this structure of the mold being simple, and meticulously designed, therefore allowing for easy formation of the ball cover, and additional work procedures are simplified, hugely increasing the production rate of baseballs and softballs, and thereby raising the competitiveness of the product on the market.