Bladder shell for inflatable balls

1. An article consisting of a single layer of synthetic latex blended with a natural rubber latex and compounded with ingredients comprising an anti-oxidant, an activator, an accelerator, a thickening agent, a wetting agent, and a stabilizer, said single layer being in a form such that it is disposable in a ball as an inflatable bladder shell that, when inflated, retains air and imparts bounce characteristics to the ball, the synthetic latex being blended with the natural rubber latex so as to impart to the single layer a reduced permeability to air as compared with a layer consisting of the natural rubber latex alone, the natural rubber latex and synthetic latex being present in the single layer in a ratio of 80:20 to 20:80; the thickness of the bladder shell being between 0.25 to 3.0 mm.

2. A bladder shell comprising a valve and an article consisting of a single layer of synthetic latex blended with a natural rubber latex and compound with ingredients comprising an anti-oxidant, an activator, an accelerator, a thickening agent, a wetting agent, and a stabilizer, said single layer being in a form such that it is disposable in a ball as an inflatable bladder shell that, when inflated, retains air and impacts bounce characteristics to the ball, the synthetic latex being blended with the natural rubber latex so as to impart to the single layer a reduced permeability to air as compared with a layer consisting of the natural rubber latex alone, the natural rubber latex and synthetic latex being present in the single layer in a ratio of 80:20 to 20:80; the thickness of the bladder shell being between 0.25 to 3.0 mm, wherein the valve is in the single layer.

3. A ball comprising a bladder shell comprising a valve and an article consisting of a single layer of synthetic latex blended with a natural rubber latex and compounded with ingredients comprising an anti-oxidant, an activator, an accelerator, a thickening agent, a wetting agent, and a stabilizer, said single layer being in a form such that it is disposable in a ball as an inflatable bladder shell that, when inflated, retains air and imparts bounce characteristics to the ball, the synthetic latex being blended with the natural rubber latex so as to impart to the single layer a reduced permeability to air as compared with a layer consisting of the natural rubber latex alone, the natural rubber latex and synthetic latex being present in the single layer in a ratio of 80:20 to 20:80; the thickness of the bladder shell being between 0.25 to 3.0 mm, wherein the valve is in the single layer.

4. The bladder shell as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the synthetic latex is selected from the group consisting of acrylonitrile-butadiene latex and polychloroprene latex.

5. The ball as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the blend of natural latex and the synthetic latex is compounded with

antioxidant from 0.01 to 3 PHR;

accelerator from 1 to 3 PHR;

activator from 0.01 to 5 PHR;

thickening and wetting agents combined from 0.5-1 PHR;

stabilizer from 0.1-2 PHR; and optionally

softener from 0.1-2 PHR; and filler from 5-20 PHR.

6. The ball as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the softener is selected from the group consisting of anionic paraffin, and paraffin wax, and the activator is selected from the group consisting of stearic acid, zinc oxide, activated zinc and mixtures thereof.

7. A process of manufacture of an article consisting of a single layer of synthetic latex blended with a natural rubber latex and compounded with ingredients comprising an anti-oxidant, an activator, an accelerator, a thickening agent, a wetting agent, and a stabilizer, said single layer being in a form such that it is disposable in a ball as inflatable bladder shell that, when inflated, retains air and imparts bounce characteristics to the ball, the synthetic latex being blended with the natural rubber latex so as to impart to the single layer a reduced permeability to air as compared with a layer consisting of the natural rubber latex alone, the natural rubber latex and synthetic latex being present in the single layer in a ratio of 80:20 to 20:80; the thickness of the bladder shell being between 0.25 to 3.0 mm, comprising the steps of:

a) cleaning a former;

b) dipping the cleaned former into a first coagulant bath at a temperature of 10-85° C. to obtain a first coagulant coated former;

c) drying the first coagulant coated former at a temperature of 20-70 degrees C;

d) dipping the dried coagulant coated former into a bath comprising a blend of synthetic latex and natural rubber latex that is compounded with a bath of compounding ingredients having 50-58%. by weight water for a period of 1 to 4 minutes at a temperature of 20-45° C. to obtain a layer of blended natural rubber latex and synthetic latex on the former;

e) drying the former with the layer of said blended natural rubber latex and synthetic latex;

f) leaching the former with the layer of blended natural rubber latex and synthetic latex compound in hot water for 8-10 minutes to remove compounded ingredients from the surface and drying the former in an oven at a temperature of 55-115° C.;

g) vulcanizing the leached former in an oven to form a resultant former having a blended layer of compounded natural rubber latex and synthetic latex at temperature of 100-140 degrees C. in hot air and heating in a drying oven for 25-45 minutes at a temperature of 70 to 90 degrees C.;

h) cooling the resultant former;

i) stripping the layer of blended natural rubber latex synthetic latex off the resultant former to obtain a bladder shell for an inflatable ball;

j) washing the stripped shell with water to remove extraneous material, drying the washed shell in a hot air room and post curing the washed shell at 60-90 degrees C. for 8 to 12 hours.