Frank,
If we imagine how the Position of the spherical surface could be measured or gaged, even in a conceptual way, this may lead us to the correct tolerance zone shape.
To start, let's say that the Position tolerance is referenced at MMC. If we want to gage it, the gage element would be a spherical cavity sized at the sphere's MMC size plus the Position tolerance. The spherical cavity would be fixed to a flat surface plate (the simulator for the planar datum feature). The center point of the cavity would be at the specified basic distance from the plate. Are you with me so far?
Now if we imagine where the as-produced sphere could be inside the gage cavity, we can derive the tolerance zone for the center point. The center point is the center of the AME (minimum circumscribed sphere in this case). So we have a smaller sphere (the AME) that can exist anywhere inside a larger sphere (the gage cavity). It's easy to show that the center point could exist anywhere inside a spherical volume. This is the tolerance zone.
In order to derive the parallel-plane or cylindrical tolerance zone shapes that others have suggested, the gage element would need to have a different shape as well. To get the palallel-plane zone, the gage element would be two parallel plates that would only contact the upper and lower extremities of the as-produced sphere. To get the cylindrical zone, the gage element would be a cylindrical sleeve that would only contact the as-produced sphere at one cross section. If the form of the as-produced sphere was less than perfect, the results would be different in all three cases.
I hope that this illustrates the distinction between tolerance zone shape and the effects of DOF constraint. There seemed to be general agreement that the tolerance zone would be spherical if all 6 DOF's were constrained. The lack of secondary or tertiary datum features doesn't change the tolerance zone shape (or the gage element for the considered feature). The open DOF's (translation in X and Y in this case) just allow a relative shift. This can be visualized as the spherical tolerance zone being allowed to shift relative to the as-produced feature, or the part being allowed to shift relative to the gage.
Evan Janeshewski
Axymetrix Quality Engineering Inc.