Final Assembly

Final Assembly


The panels can now be stitched together. The stitcher used a pattern to stich all the panels in the right order. It is all done by hand. When most of the cover is sewed, the stitcher puts the bladder in and then finishes the outer covering. Now the football is complete. The ball is then deflated and packaged for shipping.

The Following is a video of a factory produces footballs for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

The Manufacturing Process

There are two main parts of a football the inner bladder and the outer covering.


Outer Covering:




https://www.pexels.com/photo/ball-ball-game-ball-sports-clip-274553/

The outer covering is usually made up of around 32 hexagonal panels.Sheets of synthetic leather are backed with several layers of cloth. A more expensive ball will have more layers of cloth. The cloth is stuck to the leather using adhesive. After the adhesive has dried the sheets of cloth and leather are passed through a die cutting machine which cuts out the hexagonal panels and punches the stitch holes. Finally they are taken and imprinted with the manufactures logo and colours. 






https://www.flickr.com/photos/109430286@N06/19753404670

Inner Bladder:

The Bladder is made using  either synthetic or natural rubber. The rubber is heated and forms a balloon. As the material cools it forms wrinkles so its partially inflated to smoothen the wrinkles.

Raw Materials Used to Make a Football

The average modern football is made using a synthetic leather, most commonly polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride. These cover an inflated bladder which is usually made from rubber or a rubber like material.








https://www.flickr.com/photos/jcb2u/2324109685

Footballs used to be made with real leather and held together with cotton laces but they were expensive and heavier then the footballs we use now.




 


















https://www.pexels.com/photo/grass-sport-game-match-47730/

Modern balls  have a valve so they can be pumped up. The synthetic leather is stuck to the bladder using adhesive.



The standard size of a football used in the Premiere League is size 5 and has a circumference or 70cm which is 27 inches.

Introduction

Hello my name is Matthew and this is my introduction to my blog on How a Football is Made

Credit: 1SoccerStore.com