Cellulose Acetate Table Tennis Balls and Processes for Making

摘要

The present invention is directed to cellulose acetate table tennis balls and to processes for forming the cellulose acetate table tennis balls. Cellulose acetate may be provided as a flake or powder and then may be melt extruded to a sheet or pellet. The sheet may be soaked and a plurality of coupons may then be cut from the sheet. The coupons may be melt extruded to form hemispheres and then two hemispheres may be adhered to each other to form a sphere. The pellets may be injection molded to form hemispheres and then two hemispheres may be adhered to each other to form a sphere. The cellulose acetate table tennis balls are free of celluloid but meet the International Table Tennis Federation standards for table tennis balls.

主权项

1. A process for manufacturing table tennis balls, comprising:
(a) mixing cellulose acetate and a plasticizer to form a mixture; (b) melt extruding the mixture in a film die to form an extruded sheet; (c) soaking the extruded sheet in a solvent to form a soaked sheet; (d) cutting a plurality of coupons from the soaked sheet; (e) thermoforming the coupons into hemispheres; and (f) adhering pairs of hemispheres to form the table tennis balls.