Tennis balls
A tennis ball comprising a hollow core and a cover, the core being formed from a composition including rubber, in which the composition comprises recycled tennis ball material.
1 . A tennis ball comprising a hollow core and a fabric cover, the hollow core being formed from a composition including rubber, in which the composition comprises recycled rubber, wherein the composition comprises fibres from recycled coatings on recycled tennis balls.
2 . A tennis ball according to claim 1 , wherein at least some of the recycled rubber is derived from recycled tennis balls.
3 . A tennis ball according to claim 1 , wherein the hollow core comprises two molded ball core half shells joined to form the ball.
4 . A tennis ball according to claim 1 , wherein the recycled rubber is present in the range 5% to 80%.
5 . A tennis ball according to claim 1 , wherein the fabric cover comprises a cloth coating on the ball.
6 . A tennis ball comprising a hollow core and a fabric cover, the hollow core comprising two molded ball core half shells joined to form the ball, the half shells being formed from a composition comprising a proportion of recycled content and a proportion of unrecycled, new or virgin rubber, in which the recycled content is present in a range 5% to 80%, and in which the ball conforms to one or more of the following criteria:
i) a diameter of between 6.35 cm and 6.86 cm; a weight of between 56.0 g and 59.4 g; and a rebound height of between 135 cm and 147 cm;
ii) a diameter of between 6.54 cm and 6.86 cm; a weight of between 56.0 g and 59.4 g; and a rebound height of between 138 cm and 151 cm;
iii) a diameter of between 6.54 cm and 6.86 cm; a weight of between 56.0 g and 59.4 g; and a rebound height of between 135 cm and 147 cm; and
iv) a diameter of between 7.00 cm and 7.30 cm; a weight of between 56.0 g and 59.4 g; and a rebound height of between 135 cm and 147 cm,
wherein the composition comprises fibres from recycled coatings on recycled tennis balls.
7 . The ball as claimed in claim 6 , in which at least some of the recycled content is derived from recycled tennis balls.
8 . The ball as claimed in claim 7 , in which the recycled content comprises tennis ball fibres from recycled coatings on the recycled tennis balls.
9 . The ball as claimed in claim 6 , in which the composition comprises rubber selected from a group of rubbers consisting of: natural rubber, polybutadiene, isoprene, styrene-butadiene rubber and mixtures thereof.
10 . The ball as claimed in claim 6 , in which the ball has a generally uniform outer surface consisting of the fabric cover.
11 . The ball as claimed in claim 6 , in which the ball is a pressurized tennis ball.
12 . The ball as claimed in claim 6 , in which the ball is a pressureless tennis ball.
13 . The tennis ball as claimed in claim 6 , in which the fabric cover comprises a cloth coating on the ball.
14 . The ball as claimed in claim 6 , comprising thermally expanded microspheres.
15 . The tennis ball according to claim 6 , in which the composition comprises kieselguhr.
16 . The ball according to claim 6 , wherein the core formulation comprises from 10-80% by weight, from 20-50% by weight, or from 30-50% by weight of recycled rubber balls.