JP2539644B2 - Shock absorber for tennis racket - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shock absorber attached to an annular frame portion of a tennis racket in order to damp the impact when the tennis racket is hit.

<Prior Art> A tennis racket has a hitting net surface for hitting a tennis ball and a grip portion for rotating the hitting net surface, and the gripping portion and the hitting net surface are rod-shaped grips. The handle part is continuous as one body.

The hitting net surface is stretched on an annular frame portion above the frame, and the rod-shaped grip handle portion having a grip portion is integrally connected to the annular frame portion. The annular frame portion and the grip handle portion The racket frame is made up of.

In such a tennis racket, since the annular frame portion and the grip portion are continuously formed by the hard grip handle portion, the impact force at the time of hitting the ball hitting the net surface is directly transmitted from the frame to the palm, Shock your hands and arms.

This impact force causes the shock wave to resonate strongly on the palm of the hand when the hitting net surface does not accurately hit the core of the ball and hit the ball.
In addition to causing many sports obstacles on the elbows, shoulders, etc., the impact force of a hit ball is generally propagated through a hard grip handle and reaches the palm, so that it is hardly attenuated, and for this reason, even a skilled person has a long time. There was a problem that sports practice often occurred due to time practice.

In order to solve such a problem, recently, at least one buffer portion is provided on one or both of the annular frame portion and the grip handle portion in the frame of the tennis racket, and the silicone gel or the like is provided in the buffer portion. It has been proposed by the present inventor to include a buffer layer made of the gel-like substance.

The shock-absorbing action of the shock-absorbing layer is achieved by the inelasticity or microelasticity of the gel-like substance, and the diffusion characteristics similar to liquids. That is, when a shock wave is applied to a gel-like substance, the shock energy is absorbed and attenuated by the intermolecular frictional resistance due to the change while being deformed by this impact force. Since the impact resilience due to the strain is extremely small enough to be ignored, or is so small that it does not adversely affect the impact operation, it is possible to prevent the generation of a new shock wave due to the impact resilience and the gel-like substance Since there is a characteristic that disperses and disperses rapidly due to a propagation characteristic similar to that of a liquid, the shock wave transmitted to the buffer layer via the frame skeleton is thereby attenuated.

Therefore, in the tennis racket including such a buffer layer, the shock wave transmitted to the frame is effectively absorbed and attenuated in the buffer layer, and a large impact force is not transmitted to the grip portion.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, if the cushioning layer is provided in advance in the tennis racket as described above, there is a problem that the weight of the cushioning layer cannot be individually selected and adjusted for each user. The conventional tennis racket that does not include the cushioning layer cannot be provided with the cushioning layer, so that there is a problem that the user needs to purchase a new tennis racket including the cushioning layer.

<Means for Solving Problems> In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, a shock absorber 30 that can be attached to the annular frame portion 11 of the tennis racket at any time.
Will be provided.

This shock absorber 30 has a holding member 31 as shown in FIG.
And a buffer layer for the gel-like substance contained in the holding member 31.
32 and fixing means 33 for fixing the holding member 31 to the annular frame portion 11.

The holding member 31 is configured to open the surface in contact with the annular frame portion 11 so that the buffer layer 32 is directly brought into contact with the outer surface of the annular frame portion 11, and at least the buffer layer 32 is provided in the annular frame portion 11. It has a hard back face 311 to be pressed.

<Operation> Since the absorber of the present invention has such a structure, when the absorber is attached to the annular frame portion 11 by the fixing means 33, the cushioning layer 32 has a rigid back surface portion 311 and a rigid annular frame portion 11. The pressure is narrowed between them, and the shock wave is transmitted from both the back surface portion 311 and the annular frame portion 11.

Therefore, the shock wave generated in the tennis racket is absorbed and attenuated as the energy that deforms the buffer layer 32.

As described above, the absorbing operation of the buffer layer 32 at this time is characterized by a small impact resilience and a good diffusion transferability, and thus the shock wave is greatly attenuated.

<Examples> Fig. 1 is a front view showing an example of a tennis racket to which the absorbent device of the present invention is attached. The frame 10 shown here is made by bending a rigid skeleton and has an upper portion. An annular frame portion 11 for forming a hitting net surface 111 is provided, and the annular frame portion 11 is provided with a rod-shaped grip handle portion 12 integrally formed with the frame portion 11. There is.

In this embodiment, the frame 10 is formed by bending one shaft material in an annular shape to form an annular frame portion 11, and the both ends of the annular frame portion 11 are combined to form a grip handle portion 12, so that the upper portion of the grip handle portion 12 is formed. Has a bifurcated shape, and a grip 20 is formed at the base end of the handle 12, that is, in the lower portion in the figure.

In the embodiment, the grip portion 20 is ten bases of the grip handle portion 12.
It is provided in cm and is made by wrapping artificial or natural leather bands.

The annular frame portion 11 and the handle 12 of the frame 10 are integrally made of a shaft material of glass fiber reinforced plastic having a core material of expandable synthetic resin.

To make the frame 10 having such a one-body structure, there is a method of winding a fiber reinforced plastic prepreg around a material that has been bent and formed into a frame shape in advance and heating and curing it in a mold. Separately, a rod of expandable synthetic resin is used as a core material, and a prepreg, which is a material for molding glass fiber reinforced plastic, is wound around the core material, and one rod-shaped shaft material is fitted into a mold and heat-pressed. There is also a way to do it. Such a molding method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 51-141045.

At the upper bifurcated portion of the frame 10, a horizontal frame piece 112 for fixing the thread end is installed as a part of the annular frame portion 11, and the thread end of the hitting net surface 111 is fixed to the horizontal frame piece 112.

At least one absorber 30 according to the present invention is provided on the annular frame portion 11 of the frame 10, and the absorber 30 is attached to the top of the annular frame portion 11 in the embodiment.

The absorber 30 of the present invention holds a buffer layer 32 made of a gel-like substance in a holding member 31 attached to the annular frame portion 11 of a tennis racket, and the buffer layer 32 is brought into contact with the annular frame portion 11. It is configured so that it is pressed and pressed against the outer surface of the annular frame 11 by the hard back surface 311 of the holding member 31.

To this end, the absorbent article of the present invention is provided with a fixing means 33 for fixing the holding member 31 to the annular frame portion 11, and by this fixing means 33, the cushioning layer 32 is also fixed to the back side portion 311 with the back surface fixed. To be done. The absorber 30 of the present invention may be normally attached to the top of the annular frame 11 as shown in FIG. 1, but may be attached to other parts of the annular frame 11 if desired. If the mounting position of the absorber 30 deviates from the center of the annular frame portion 11, it is desirable to attach one to the symmetrical portion of the annular frame portion 11 as shown by the chain line in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the holding member 31 is usually an annular frame portion.
It is preferable to make a casing with an open surface for contacting with 11, but in some cases, as shown in FIG.
1 may be configured as the sagittal holding member 31. In this case, the holding member 31 is made of a hard plate piece.

When the holding member 31 is composed of a casing,
As shown in the figure, the buffer layer 3 is provided between the buffer layer 32 and the back surface 311.
It is also possible to form a space 321 in which 2 is compressed and deformed when it comes into pressure contact with the annular frame portion 11 so as to generate cushioning properties, or as shown in FIG. Also good as 312.

As the holding member 31, a frame body having a U-shaped cross section may be used as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, or alternatively, FIGS.
As shown in the figure, a casing having an opening on the side in contact with the annular frame portion 11 may be used.

Thus, when the casing is used as the holding member 31 as described above, the casing is made transparent and the internal buffer layer is formed.
The 32 may be colored to have a beautiful appearance, or the casing may have a lattice shape.

In order to give the buffer layer 32 a design effect in this way, the buffer layer
The base 32 may be made of a transparent silicone gel and the balls of the colored silicone gel may be dispersedly contained in the substrate 32. In this way, a polka dot pattern is seen in the buffer layer 32 and the appearance is beautiful. Furthermore, the holding member 31 is the annular frame portion.
The buffer layers 32 may be brought into contact with the opposite side surfaces of the ring 11, respectively. In this case, instead of using two absorbers of the present invention, an annular frame portion 11 is fitted in the center as shown in FIG. Space 31
Forming 3 and casing 31 on both left and right sides of this space
It is convenient to use a holding member 31 having a structure provided with 4,314 '. Thus, in this embodiment, casings 314, 31
Hinge 315 for both casings so that 4'can be opened and closed in the contact and separation direction
It is connected with.

As the gel-like substance used in the buffer layer 32 of the absorbent device 30 of the present invention, silicone gel is well suited because of its stability as a material, and among them, JIS K2530-1976- (50 g load)
The silicone gel having a penetration of about 50 to 200, which is measured by the method described above, and the composite type silicone gel obtained by mixing the particles for weight adjustment into the silicone gel as a base material are the most preferable.

Since such silicone gel materials are also particularly excellent in buffering and anti-vibration ability, the intended purpose can be easily achieved by using these silicone gel materials.

As such materials, for example, Toray Silicone CF5027 manufactured by Toray Silicone Co., Ltd. and KE-1051 manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. are available.

The impact absorption characteristics of the buffer layer 32 can be adjusted by incorporating a large number of particles for weight adjustment into the silicone gel material.

That is, the shock wave generated in the tennis racket is absorbed in the buffer layer 32 as energy for changing the strain of the buffer layer 32. At this time, if particles having a large specific gravity such as lead are mixed in the buffer layer. This is because the energy for moving the particles is required, so that the shock wave attenuation can be increased by this.

Further, the amount of the gel-like substance for forming the buffer layer 32 is increased in order to reduce the weight compared to the volume mainly due to the appearance and design of the holding member 31, or to save the expensive silicone gel. Since there are cases where it is desired to do so, it is conceivable to use the particles for weight adjustment in such cases as well.

Thus, as the weight adjusting particles to be mixed in the silicone gel material for such a purpose, there are Philite (registered trademark) manufactured by Nippon Philite Co., Ltd. and Expancel (Registered trademark) etc., and this silicone gel mixed with minute hollow spheres is
No. 60-297677.

The gel-like substance for forming the buffer layer 32 may be used without an outer cover. However, if the gel-like substance is used as it is, dust may adhere to the buffer layer 32, or gel If the substance is silicone gel, the oil component exudes from the inside and contaminates the surroundings.
For this, it is preferable to use a gel-like substance covered with, for example, a 0.1 mm urethane film or a 0.3 mm vinyl chloride film.

The fixing means 33 only needs to be capable of fixing the holding member 31 to the annular frame portion 11, and for example, a coupling fastener such as a screw or a rivet may be used as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, an adhesive piece is provided as a fixing means 33 on the holding member 31, and the adhesive piece is adhered to the annular frame portion 11 by an adhesive layer 331 formed by an adhesive, a surface fastener or the like. May be.

The fixing means 33 may be constructed so that it can be easily attached and detached. For this purpose, a screw hole 33 'is provided for screwing as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, or it is tightened as shown in FIG. A band can be used, or a cord can be used as shown in FIG. 9, and further, as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to use a locking piece that is engaged with each other or a locking piece that is wound around the annular member 11 and is engaged with each other as shown in FIG. A tennis racket using the absorber of the present invention has a hitting net surface 111.
The shock vibration at the time of hitting the ball is transmitted to the palm through the frame 10.

This shock vibration is always transmitted from the annular frame portion 11 to the absorber 30 of the present invention before being transmitted to the palm, and is subjected to the buffering action thereof. Therefore, it is transmitted to the buffer layer 32 of a gel-like substance on the palm, where it is attenuated. The shock wave after being applied will be applied.

Here, the deformation of the gel-like substance forming the buffer layer 32 is an inelastic deformation, does not cause repulsion elasticity, and propagates rapidly over a wide area, so that the vibration is attenuated and absorbed in the whole gel-like substance. The shock wave transmitted to the palm is extremely low compared to the conventional one, and it will converge in a short time.

The inelastic deformation referred to in the specification of the present application means that strong elastic deformation such as rubber and spring is not caused, and does not mean that elastic deformation is not caused at all.

Similarly, the absence of impact resilience means that strong impact resilience such as rubber and spring is not exhibited, and does not mean that the impact resilience is absolutely zero.

As the gel-like substance constituting the above-mentioned buffer layer 32, in addition to the gel-like substance in a pure state as described in the above-mentioned examples, JP-A-61-51035 and JP-A-62-138 are used.
As disclosed in JP-A-39-21436, after gel curing, the surface is further crosslinked to form a non-adhesive skin layer only on the surface, and JP-A-61-21436 is disclosed. As described above, those enclosed in an outer casing such as a urethane film or filled in a hose-shaped film, and those cured in a ball shape as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-89534 It is possible to use
It is possible to arbitrarily select and use the regenerated gel and its molded product produced by the production method disclosed in No. 61-132849.

<Advantages of the Invention> Since the absorber of the present invention has such a structure, there is an effect that the shock wave generated in the tennis racket at the time of hitting the ball is absorbed by the buffer layer 32, and the impact applied to the hand of the user can be alleviated. The conventional tennis racket can be used at any time, and the weight suitable for each individual user can be selected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a tennis racket to which the absorbent device of the present invention is attached, FIG. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional front view showing a main part of the same tennis racket, and FIG. 3 is a vertical view of another embodiment of the absorbent device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a state when it is attached to a tennis racket, FIGS. 4 and 5 are vertical sectional front views showing other embodiments of the absorber of the present invention, and FIGS. FIG. 10 is a vertical sectional side view showing yet another embodiment of the absorbent device according to the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a frame, 11 is an annular frame portion, 30 is the absorber of the present invention,
31 is a holding member, 311 is a back surface part, 32 is a buffer layer, and 33 is a fixing means.

Claims (15)

(57) [Claims] 1. A holding member attached to an annular frame portion of a tennis racket, a buffer layer which is held by the holding member and is made of a gel-like substance, and the holding member is attached to the annular frame portion. Fixing means for fixing, the holding member is configured to directly contact the buffer layer with the outer surface of the annular frame portion, and hard to press the buffer layer against the outer surface of the annular frame portion. Shock absorber for a tennis racket, which has a unique back surface. 2. The shock absorber for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the holding member is a casing having an opening on a side in contact with the annular frame portion. 3. The gel substance according to claim 1, which is a silicone gel having a penetration of about 50 to 200.
A shock absorber for a tennis racket according to the item. 4. The impact absorbing device for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the gel-like substance contains a large number of particles for weight adjustment. 5. The shock absorber for a tennis racket according to claim 4, wherein the weight adjusting particles are made of lead. 6. The impact absorbing device for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the holding member has a pair of casings which are in contact with both side surfaces of the annular frame portion, respectively. 7. A shock absorber for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means is a coupling fastener such as a screw. 8. The shock absorber for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means is a cord. 9. The shock absorber for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means is a surface fastener. 10. The impact absorbing device for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means is an adhesive piece which is in contact with the annular frame portion. 11. The shock absorber for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means is at least one locking piece provided on the holding member. 12. The shock absorber for a tennis racket according to claim 11, wherein the locking piece is configured to be directly engaged with the annular frame portion. 13. The tennis racket according to claim 11, wherein the locking piece is composed of a pair of connecting pieces that are wound around the annular frame portion and are engaged with each other. Shock absorber. 14. The shock absorber for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the buffer layer is colored and the holding member is made of a transparent material. 15. The shock absorbing material for a tennis racket according to claim 1, wherein the buffer layer is transparent, and a colored silicone gel ball is enclosed therein. Ingredient