AU2005211546A1

AU2005211546A1 - Reinforced cricket bat

Info

Publication number: AU2005211546A1
Application number: AU2005211546A
Authority: AU
Original assignee: A G Thompson Pty Ltd
Current assignee: A G THOMPSON Ltd Pty
Priority date: 2004-09-06
Filing date: 2005-09-15
Publication date: 2006-03-23
Also published as: GB2417693A; GB0419734D0; GB0518062D0

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant: A G THOMPSON PROPRIETARY LIMITED A.C.N. 005 650 644 Invention Title: REINFORCED CRICKET BAT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 2 REINFORCED CRICKET BAT This invention relates to cricket bats.

Law 6 of the game of cricket dictates characteristics of the bat. Law 6.1 dictates that the blade of the bat should be made solely of wood and Law 6.2 dictates that the blade may be covered with material for protection, strengthening or repair. The law also dictates the maximum thickness of the covering and states that the material of the covering shall not be likely to cause unacceptable damage to the ball.

These laws have resulted in cricket bats being traditionally manufactured of wood and for generations English Willow has been the wood of choice due to its lightness, toughness and resilience. However, the demand for English Willow and its world scarcity has resulted in a sharp increase in the cost of bats and caused manufacturers to look to other woods.

The role of the cricket bat and the hard nature of the cricket ball results in bats having a limited lifespan.

Bat manufacturers are thus striving to increase the strength and durability of cricket bats, thus increasing their longevity.

It is these issues that have brought about the present invention.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cricket bat comprising a blade with a handle extending therefrom, the blade having a main body formed of wood with a front face which forms the striking surface of the bat and a back surface, wherein a reinforcing layer composed of fibrous epoxy material is bonded to at least part of the back surface.

H:\melindaf\keep\Speci'S\P55928 specidoc 15/09/05 -3- A cricket bat in accordance with the invention has the advantage that the use of wood, in particular willow, to form the main body and striking face of the bat maintains the playing characteristics of a conventional wooden bat whilst the reinforcing layer significantly improves the strength and life of the bat.

The reinforcing layer furthermore provides a base upon which an attractive finish for the back of the bat can be applied in a manner which has not previously been possible with conventional bats, with a sealing layer being applied over the finish to protect it.

The reinforcing layer may be coated with a clear finishing layer such that the fibrous structure of the material is visible in the finished bat under the smooth outer surface. Preferably the fibrous material is carbon fibre, glass fibre, or Kevlar, but other materials are also possible such as combinations of the aforementioned materials. It is particularly preferable if the fibre material is woven into a mesh. This may be a mesh of a single material such as glass or carbon fibre, or may be a woven mixture, such as glass fibre interwoven with carbon fibre giving a semi-flexible layer, Kevlar interwoven with carbon fibre or even a woven mesh of all three fibres.

In an advantageous development, decals are provided on the back of the bat between the reinforcing layer and the finishing layer, the finishing layer, which is preferably a transparent layer so as to maintain the visibility of the decals, sealing the decals so as to provide a smooth finish to the back of the bat whilst at the same time protecting the decals. In this way, sponsor information or the like can be effectively included on the bat.

Alternatively, the face of the reinforcing layer may be H:\me1indaf\keep\Speci'S\P55928 specidoc 15/09/05 '4finished with a coat of polyurethane (PU) paint, it then being possible to apply a PU transfers or decals onto the paint coat as required, followed, preferably, by yet a further coat of clear lacquer.

Preferably, the wood used for the main body of the blade is willow and forms at least the sides of the blade as well as the front striking surface. However, it is also possible that the main body of wood could only partially form the sides of blade, the rest being formed by the layer of fibrous epoxy resin.

The reinforcing layer of fibrous epoxy resin preferably extends substantially along the entire length of the blade. Preferably, the main body of wood to which the layer of fibrous epoxy resin is bonded is of sufficient thickness so that the bat maintains the playing characteristics of wood. The thickness of reinforcing layer can be uniform or it may vary, but preferably the thickness of the reinforcing layer does not exceed 1.56mm.

Preferably, the reinforcing layer also extends around the end of the bat onto the base thereof, in particular completely covering the bottom end of the bat.

The present invention further provides a method of manufacturing a cricket bat according to the invention comprising the steps of forming a wooden blade with a front striking face and a rear face, bonding a layer of fibrous material onto the rear face of the blade using epoxy resin, applying a shrink tube around the blade, using the epoxy resin and then removing the shrink tube.

The shrink tube applied around the body during the drying process acts to press the fibrous material onto the rear face of the blade for maximum bonding and also acts to smooth the finish of the outer surface of the bonded H:\meidaf\keep\Speci's\P55928 speci.doc 15/09/05 5 layer.

The fibrous material, which may be carbon fibre, glass fibre, Kevlar or combinations thereof, the fibres preferably being woven, is preferably bonded to the body by first applying a coat of epoxy, in particular water resistant epoxy, to the rear face of the body, and dipping the woven material in wet epoxy before laying it into the pre epoxy coated surface. A further coat of epoxy may also be applied over the fibrous material prior to applying the shrink tube if required to achieve the desired thickness of the reinforcing layer.

It has been found to be particularly advantageous to roughen the rear face of the body prior to applying the initial epoxy coating, for example by sanding, which facilitates the bonding of the epoxy and fibrous material to the wooden material of the body of the bat.

After removing the shrink tube, the surface of the bonded fibrous material/epoxy is advantageously fine sanded to provide a particularly smooth finish. A decorative finish may then be applied in the form of a paint layer, in particular a PU paint, finished with a clear PU lacquer.

Decals or graphics may also be applied, either onto the smoothed epoxy layer or onto the lacquer finished paint layer if applied, the decals or graphics being finished with a further clear PU lacquer, preferably sprayed, which has the advantage of sealing the graphics so as to provide protection thereto and also giving a smooth finish to the rear surface of the bat. The decals are preferably PU graphics which are applied by water transfer.

Of course, it will be understood that the paint and decal layers may be omitted and the epoxy/fibrous material layer finished by application of a clear lacquer layer directly thereon such that the woven mesh of the fibrous material H:\me1indaf\keep\Speci-s\P55928 specidoc 15/09/05

I

6- Cl is visible in the rear surface of the finished bat.

VI In order that the invention may be well understood, there V_ will now be described an embodiment thereof, given by way of example, reference being made to the accompanying \0 drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cricket bat according CI to the invention; ^C Figure 2 is a side view of the cricket bat of Figure 1; Figure 3 is rear view of the cricket bat of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a view of the cricket bat of Figure 1 through section X-X; and Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the base of the bat of Figure 1.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the cricket bat 1 comprises a blade 2 having a willow main body 3 made of wood and a handle 4 spliced thereon. The main body 3 forms the front striking face 5 and also the sides or edges 6 of the blade and is reinforced, substantially along the entire longitudinal length of the blade 2, by a layer of fibrous material 7 bonded with epoxy resin to the body 3 so as to form the rear face 8 of the blade 2 and enhance the strength of the bat 1. In particular, the layer of fibrous epoxy resin 7 comprises any combination of woven carbon/glass/Kevlar (Registered trade mark) fibre and provides a smooth surface on the rear face 8 of the blade 2'to which a layer of PU transfers 9 and/or PU paint are/is applied in order to provide cosmetic graphics. The H:\melindaf\keep\Speci1\P5928 speci.doc 15/09/05 7 rear surface is furthermore finished by a layer of clear lacquer 10 which forms a protective layer for any paint and/or decals applied to the bat and also ensures a smooth finish to the rear face of the bat. As can clearly be seen in Figures 3 and 5, the weave of the fibrous material is visible through the clear lacquer if no paint is applied thereto. The reinforcing layer furthermore extends around the base or toe of the bat as shown in Figure 5. The reinforcing layer 17 is preferably a woven mesh of carbon or glass fibres or a combination of carbon and glass fibres. It is further envisaged that fibres of Kevlar (Registered trade mark) may also be used.

More particularly, the wooden body of the bat is shaped to form the striking face and edges of the bat as well as the general shape of the rear of the bat. The wooden surface forming the rear face 8 of the bat, and well as the bottom end thereof, is then sanded with sand paper to make it rough in order to facilitate the bonding of the epoxy and woven fibre material thereto, following which a base coat of water resistant Epoxy is applied on the sanded surface.

The chosen woven fibre material 11 is then dipped in wet Epoxy solution and laid on the surface of the epoxy base coat. A further epoxy coat can also be applied over the epoxy/fibre layer, depending on the desired thickness of the reinforcing layer following which a shrink tube is applied on the still wet fibre/epoxy layer. This tube acts to press the fibre on the surface for maximum bonding of fibre to the bat and also ensures a smooth finish to the layer upon release of shrink tube, thereby minimising the need for additional sanding of the layer once it is dry. The bat is typically left for 12 to 24 hours to allow the Epoxy to dry.

After drying, the shrink tube is removed, following which the surface is fine sanded in order to ensure as smooth a finish as possible. Suitable surface decoration is then H:\meindaf\keep\Speci-G\P55928 epecidoc 15/09/05 8 applied in the form of paint and/or decals 9. It has been found to be particularly preferably for paint to be applied as a separate layer to any decals with a layer of clear PU lacquer being applied in between, although, of course, it will be understood that if a single decorative layer of paint or decals is applied, only a single layer of clear lacquer 12 is required, and this is preferably applied by spraying. The decals are also preferably PU graphics which are applied by water transfer, although other types of graphics are also possible.

It should be understood that this is only one example, and variants of the embodiment should be obvious to the person skilled in the art.

H;\me1indaf\kee\SPeci'e\P55928 opecidoc 15/09/05

Claims

1. A cricket bat comprising a blade with a handle extending therefrom, the blade having a main body formed of wood with a front face which forms a striking surface of the bat and a back surface, wherein a reinforcing layer composed of fibrous material is bonded to at least part of the back surface.

2. The cricket bat according to claim 1 wherein an epoxy resin is used to bond the reinforcing layer to the back surface.

3. The cricket bat according to either claim 1 or 2 wherein the fibrous material is carbon fibre, glass fibre, or Kevlar TM or combinations of the aforesaid materials.

4. The cricket bat according to claim 3 wherein the fibrous material is woven into a mesh.

The cricket bat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the reinforcing layer extends substantially along the entire length of the blade.

6. The cricket bat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the reinforcing layer is coated with a clear finishing layer such that the fibrous structure of the material is visible under the finishing layer.

7. The cricket bat according to claim 6 wherein at least one decal is provided on the back of the bat between the reinforcing layer and the clear finishing layer.

8. The cricket bat according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the face of the reinforcing layer is finished with a coat of polyurethane paint with transfers or decals H:\melindaf\keep\peci'B\P55928 specidoc 15/09/05 10 being applied to the paint coat.

9. The cricket bat according to claim 8 wherein a further coat of clear lacquer is applied over the transfers or decals.

The cricket bat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the main body is made of willow.

11. The cricket bat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the blade has edges between the front face and the back surface, the edges being covered by the reinforcing layer.

12. The cricket bat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the main body to which the reinforcing layer is bonded is of sufficient thickness so that the bat maintains the characteristics of the wood.

13. The cricket bat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the thickness of the reinforcing layer does not exceed 1.56 mm.

14. The cricket bat according to any one of the preceding claims wherein at the end of the bat a toe is defined between the front face and back surface, the reinforcing layer extending around the toe to reinforce the end of the bat.

15. A method of manufacturing a cricket bat comprising the steps of forming a wooden blade with a front striking surface and a rear face, bonding a layer of fibrous material onto the rear face of the blade using an epoxy resin, applying a shrink tube around the blade, curing the epoxy resin and then removing the shrink tube.

16. The method according to claim 15 comprising H:\melindaf\keep\Speci's\P55928 speci.doc 15/09/05 1 11 bonding a woven layer of carbon fibres, glass fibres, Kevlar T or combinations thereof.

17. The method according to claim 16 wherein the bonding step comprises applying a coat of epoxy to the rear face of the blade, dipping the woven layer in wet epoxy, laying it onto the pre-epoxy coated surface and then applying a further coat of epoxy over the fibrous material prior to applying the heat shrink tube.

18. The method according to claim 17 comprising roughening the rear face of the blade prior to apply the initial epoxy coating.

19. The method according to any one of claims 15 to 18 comprising finely sanding the surface of the bonded fibrous material after removing the shrink tube and applying a decorative finish in the form of a clear lacquer.

The method according to claim 19 comprising applying at least one decal or transfer onto the epoxy layer or onto the lacquer finish.

21. The method according to claim 20 comprising applying a further clear polyurethane lacquer onto the decal or transfer.

22. A cricket bat comprising a blade with a handle extending therefrom, the blade having a main body formed of wood with a front face which forms a striking surface of the bat and a back surface wherein a reinforcing layer of fibrous material is bonded solely to the entire back surface of the blade.

23. A cricket bat substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying H:\me1indaf\keep\Speci'S\P5928 specidoc 15/09/05 12 drawings.

24. A method of manufacturing a cricket bat substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. H:\melindaf\keep\Specieilp55928 specidoc 15/09/05