ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,629,563, issued on May 19.
"Valve for adjusting the gas pressure inside a tennis ball" was invented by John H. Lieber (Tulsa, Okla.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A repeatable use valve in a tennis ball that uses an inflation tube inserted into the valve opening to increase or decrease the pressure inside the ball. The increase or decrease in pressure will cause the ball to have respectively higher or lower bounce. The valve can be installed in new tennis balls at the time of manufacture. The valve can also be installed in used tennis balls, including used balls that have lost some or all of their original factory pressure."
The patent w...