Voit

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For other uses, see Voit (disambiguation).

Voit Corporation is one of the oldest sporting goods companies in the world. It was founded by William J. Voit of Worthington, Indiana (1881-1958) in 1922 and was formerly part of AMF.

In the late 1920s Voit developed and patented the first full-molded, all-rubber inflatable ball and the first needle-type air retention valves in the late 1920s.

In 1931 Voit developed and patented the first all-rubber athletic balls, including the process of vulcanization which allowed a material to be fixed onto a separate rubber bladder.

Later in the 1930s, Voit developed the process of icosahedron winding, which allowed balls to be machine wound with nylon threads over the bladder, providing both strength and consistency in shape and permitting mass production by a machine process.

Those Voit patents and products made possible greatly increased athletic and recreation activity in the school systems, and led to universal use of a new type of product that now dominates sales in its field.

Other developments and patents later in the 1950s and '60s included:

The Swimaster line of professional dive equipment (used by the famous aquatic explorer Jacques Cousteau). Voit was one of the 5 original USA diving gear makers: US Divers, Healthways, Voit, Dacor, Swimaster.
The Equi Staff line of professional golf equipment (which included the innovation of the "Power Plugs" or screws to adjust the balance of golf clubs).
The first rubber-bodied water polo ball (which was adopted as the official ball of college, international and Olympic competitions).
Thunderball (film) tie-in scuba gear^[1]