1A lot happens when an inflated rubber ball hits the ground.
2The rubber compresses and quickly snaps back to its round shape.
3That snapping back makes the ball bounce.
4In addition, the air inside the ball acts as a tightly coiled spring, increasing the rebound.
5When an inflated rubber ball falls to the ground, it bounces back,
6and players catch it on the rebound.
7This type of ball is at the heart of many games, from basketball to soccer to volleyball.
8At the core is an inflated rubber bladder.
9Making it starts with a sheet of natural rubber.
10The factory worker folds it in a specific configuration.
11He places a die on top and activates a press
12to force it through the layers, which cuts out the shape.
13He now has the bladder of a sports ball.
14He brushes an adhesive around the hole in the bladder and inserts a plug.
15Another worker inflates the rubber bladder as she places it in a spherical chamber.
16It heats and cures the rubber for 5 minutes at a temperature of 284 degrees Fahrenheit.
17The rubber bladder spins on a revolving cylinder, causing it to take up nylon threads.
18The threads twist around the bladder and form a layer that both strengthens it and keeps it round.
19The material that will form the exterior of the ball is made using colored synthetic rubber,
20natural rubber, magnesium carbonate, and mineral oil.
21Once it cures, a worker rolls it into thick sheets and slices it to a specific width.
22He folds it several times.
23This blue rubber will be used for volleyballs.
24The folded rubber now travels between a series of rollers.
25They flatten it and press it extremely thin,
26and it becomes both lightweight and formable.
27An automated blade slices the rubber into shorter pieces.
28A metal pattern cutter will now be used to cut the rubber into strips,
29which will fit together to form the outside of the ball.
30These particular strips are for a basketball.
31The worker places the pattern on several pieces of rubber.
32A press forces the sharp-edged pattern through the rubber
33to cut out fish-shaped strips that are designed to fit around the round bladder.
34She lines the two halves of a bonding shaper with the strips.
35She inserts the bladder and re-inflates it.
36She closes the bonding chamber and activates it.
37Inside, heat and pressure cause the strips to stick to the bladder.
38To make a medicine ball, which is used for exercising, a different pattern cutter is used.
39The forming process is the same,
40but this ball has a unique visual impact very different from that of the basketball.
41Back at the basketball station, a worker applies the brand name to the outer skin in two places.
42Glue helps the decal stick to the rubber.
43This mold will now transfer a pattern onto the rubber ball
44while also baking the lettering into it.
45Another worker places the ball in the mold and pumps more air into the bladder.
46He closes the lid.
47The mold applies heat and pressure to emboss the pattern onto the rubber.
48The lettering has penetrated the rubber,
49and the worker peels off the decal plastic.
50Another worker replenishes the air that's been lost to make the ball completely full and round.
51The ball is now ready to receive its stripes.
52The worker paints black rubber into grooves that were formed during embossing.
53This rubber quickly cures to become part of the ball.
54Another worker inserts a fill valve into the hole.
55Then mechanical fists squeeze the ball to deflate it.
56This prepares it for packaging.
57With the valve inside, it can be easily re-inflated by the customer.
58A worker wraps it in plastic and ships it to the retailer.
59Making this rubber basketball has only taken a couple of hours,
60but it should be able to take a lot of knocks and bounce right back.