Collapsible Football

Throwing around a football when traveling to the beach, going camping, and much more is always an enjoyable summer activity. However, the big size and irregular shape of footballs make them a big hassle to store and transport. This Instructable will take you through the steps on how to make a simple collapsible football that is perfect for summer activities.

• Collapsible kitchen funnels - 2
• Wide can (fits inside funnels)
• Autodesk Fusion 360

My initial prototype was made by using readily available materials. The funnels on each side are connected by the can in the middle. When the funnels collapse, the design becomes a small cylinder, making it easy to store and transport.

I tested the prototype on a camping trip to see how it would compare to a real football. The attached video shows the design being thrown in slow motion. The positives were that the design was very easy to transport as intended and I was able to throw it around. The improvement areas that I noticed were: the lack of a solid grip made the design hard to hold and spiral and there was nothing to keep the funnel extended, so it collapsed halfway when caught.

To make the final design in Fusion 360, I first replicated the basic structure and dimensions of the funnel in my sketch. Then, I revolved everything around the center axis to create the funnel shape. Finally, I added chamfers to smooth the edges and make the shape more realistic.

After getting the solid shape of the funnel, use the shell function to hollow out the middle. This makes the football lighter and ensures that you don't waste any material when printing.

After I got the first half of the funnel down, I added the center ring. I made its diameter a little bit smaller than the funnel’s so that it fits tightly. I then mirrored the funnel to create both ends of the football connected with the centerpiece.

The base model was completed, but I wanted to make new revisions based on the test results. I came up with the idea to put rings around the funnel, still allowing it to collapse but solving the problem of grip and holding the funnel extended.

The final design turned out pretty well, but I wasn’t able to print it out because I didn’t have the flexible filament required for the collapsible sides. The changes from the initial prototype (rings, pointed tip) greatly improved the functionality.

Overall, it was fun incorporating one of my interests into an engineering project. In the future, I look forward to printing out my design, testing it out, and reiterating as needed.