Do you like playing sports? Many sports require some kind of special equipment.
Tennis can be easily identified by a fuzzy green ball. Have you thought about how it is made?
Tennis balls are made from natural and synthetic rubber. It gives the best bounce. A machine kneads the rubbers together. Once the rubber is ready, it is cut into little pellets. These pellets are put into round molds and then heated. When the rubber pellets come out, they form half the shell of a tennis ball. The half-shells are cleaned and a machine puts glue onto the inside edges. Now two half-shells are glued together to form the whole shape of the ball.
A machine compresses the two sides and holds them together to dry. Once the balls are dry and ready, they are coated all over in glue again. Now they are ready for the green felt. The felt sheets are cut into long rectangular oval shapes. These shapes are stacked together and compressed. After that, they are put into a bath of sticky white glue. All the edges of the felt need to be coated with glue. Now, a special machine wraps the felt pieces around the ball. Then it goes into the steam machine to make the felt ideal for playing.
Contact sports can be a lot of fun. They include sports like football and hockey. Many of these sports require players to wear protective gear. A good helmet is shock absorbing, and it will minimize injuries to the head. But we still need to be careful because concussions can still happen.
How are helmets made? Plastic pellets go inside a machine. The machine melts the pellets and molds them into the shape of a helmet. A robotic arm drills nine holes into the plastic outer shell. The holes will be used to attach different parts of the helmet. This includes the liner and faceguard. Next, the shells are painted. The paint dries hard with a glossy finish. Once the paint is dried, logos can be added to the helmet at this point.
Then the padding for the helmet is inserted. Each helmet goes through an impact test. If it passes the test, a faceguard is added to the helmet. But first, a chin guard needs to be sewn onto the chinstrap. When that is done, it is fastened to the helmet. Finally, it goes through a final inspection. Once the helmet is packed, it is ready for game time.
Have you worn cleats? Cleats help soccer players get a stronger grip on the ground. To start making cleats, leather or artificial leather is cut. The lining for the shoes is also cut at this time. Then stitching guidelines are printed onto the leather. They show which parts need stitching later on.
Designs and logos are added to the leather at this point. Then the cleats can finally be stitched and assembled. The upper edges of the shoe are wrapped to the bottom. And the bottom of the cleats is added to the shoe. With some finishing touches, the cleats are finished.
Which sport do you want to play?