EP0556495B1 - Cadre de raquette de sport ajouré - Google Patents

Cadre de raquette de sport ajouré Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0556495B1
EP0556495B1 EP92301470A EP92301470A EP0556495B1 EP 0556495 B1 EP0556495 B1 EP 0556495B1 EP 92301470 A EP92301470 A EP 92301470A EP 92301470 A EP92301470 A EP 92301470A EP 0556495 B1 EP0556495 B1 EP 0556495B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
frame
wall
sports racket
panels
string
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP92301470A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0556495A1 (fr
Inventor
Tsai Chen Soong
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to DE69213704T priority Critical patent/DE69213704D1/de
Priority to EP92301470A priority patent/EP0556495B1/fr
Publication of EP0556495A1 publication Critical patent/EP0556495A1/fr
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0556495B1 publication Critical patent/EP0556495B1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B49/00—Stringed rackets, e.g. for tennis
    • A63B49/02—Frames
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B49/00—Stringed rackets, e.g. for tennis
    • A63B49/02—Frames
    • A63B49/022—String guides on frames, e.g. grommets
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B49/00—Stringed rackets, e.g. for tennis
    • A63B49/02—Frames
    • A63B49/10—Frames made of non-metallic materials, other than wood
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B60/00—Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like
    • A63B60/50—Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like with through-holes
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B2209/00—Characteristics of used materials
    • A63B2209/02—Characteristics of used materials with reinforcing fibres, e.g. carbon, polyamide fibres
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63B—APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT
    • A63B2225/00—Miscellaneous features of sport apparatus, devices or equipment
    • A63B2225/01—Special aerodynamic features, e.g. airfoil shapes, wings or air passages

Definitions

  • the frame of a fiber reinforced racket is usually of a tubular, thin-walled cross section with a large number of fiber/thermoplastic layers piled one over the other at different fiber orientation angles for optimum strength. Cutting of the multi-layered cloth, laying Epoxy, folding over thermo-expandable core or air tube, laid into the mold, heated, polished and cosmetics, are all very time-consuming and labor intensive processes, hence the high production cost.
  • the main difficulty in racket frame design technology is the extreme high ratio of the strength to weight required. This explains why people in the trade stick to existing designs, shapes and fabrication practices and discouraged changes.
  • the weight allocated to form the portion of the frame which supports the string networks is about 1 2 gm per centimeter along the axis of the frame. If the material is graphite-fiber/epoxy, which has a specific gravity of 1.35, the volume of the frame per cm long is about 0.885 cubic cm. If this volume of material is used to form a circular tubed frame with an inner radius of 16.0 mm, which is an average of tennis frame circumference, its wall thickness is 1.62 mm, or even less when the weight of the core is included.
  • This thin walled tube composed of up to 5 or more layers of graphite cloth, rolled into a tube, formed in a forming mold, baked and cured to make a tennis racket.
  • This hollow frame is characterized by having no surface openings except string holes in the plane of the string network.
  • functional large openings in the surface not in the plane of string network especially surface openings perpendicular to the plane of the string network, because it weakens the frame at the most critical region.
  • One prior art is a Soong patent, EPO No. 104,930 which will be discussed later.
  • a sports racket having a hand grip 1 joined to a frame 2 supporting a string network 7 extending throughout a ball-hitting region 7 spaced from the grip, the frame having an outwardly flaring throat region and surrounding the ball-hitting region spanned by the string network, wherein a major portion of the frame is symmetric about a midplane which coincides with the plane of the string network, and is composed of an outer wall substantially perpendicular to the midplane and an inner wall, closer to the string network, substantially parallel to the outer wall, which walls are separated but connected with each other characterised in that the walls are connected by a multiple panel system, wherein the panels are plate-like structural members, substantially perpendicular to the midplane, having large open spaces among them which are through holes extending from one end to the other end of the height of the frame without obstruction.
  • the frame of a sports racket is designed to be produced by extrusion, or injection molded, or by other suitable methods, by forcing suitable materials out of the extrusion die or injection mold to form the necessary outer wall and the inner wall of the frame which are rigidly connected to each other by a multiple panel system of plate-like structural members, characterized in that each panel is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the string network, having large open spaces 25 between the panels, which extend from one end to the other through the height of the frame without obstruction, along the direction perpendicular to the plane of the string network. It is called a through-hole frame. Panels link to each other as well as the walls. Said unobstructed openings i.e.
  • through-holes made among panels and the walls may be in the shape of polygons, or other geometrical shapes, as looked in a view perpendicular to the plane of the string network.
  • the frame is designed just for extrusion or injection molding, or other molding methods, taking advantage of the unprecedented large, end-to-end openings for reduction of weight and of air resistance. Due to the mutually supportive plate-like panel members, the frame is strong and light in weight. Materials may be short fiber-reinforced thermoplastics or high strength plastics. The racket of such a frame looks different and innovative. Details are described in later sections.
  • Fig. 1 shows a tennis racket 10.
  • the frame 2 is the main structure from the handle 3 all the way to the head region 4.
  • Lateral region 5 connects the head region 4 to the throat region 6.
  • the string network 7 is supported by the head region 4, the lateral region 5 and the throat region 6.
  • There is a bumper guard 9 protects the frame at the head region and some part of the lateral region from scratch when the racket hits the ground.
  • Fig. 2 shows a typical portion of a desired frame conforming to the intent of the invention.
  • the frame section 20 is symmetric to the midplane 21 of the frame which is the same plane of the string network.
  • Outer wall 22 forms the outboard boundary of the frame
  • inner wall 23 forms the inboard boundary of the frame, all with respect to the center of the network.
  • Multiple panels 24 which connect the two walls are perpendicular to the midplane 21, having large openings 25 among them, called through holes.
  • the inner wall height 26 is the nominal frame height.
  • the outer wall 22 with height 27 may have the same height 26 as the inner wall 23, or may be different.
  • the height of the panels 24 may vary from the outboard side to the inboard side, or they may be less than the heights of the two walls.
  • Shape of openings 25 between the panels and the walls may be triangular, polygon or of other geometrical shapes as looked in a view perpendicular to the midplane 21. Thickness of the wall of the panels may vary from each other or vary for the same panel from one end to the other end. But the openings 25 are through holes from one end to the other end.
  • String holes 28 may be made in outer and inner walls as the case may be, in the plane of the string network or at a distance from the plane. Holes may also be inside panel's interior to pass strings through the frame. Openings at the inner wall for the string may be larger than the diameter of the string or the grommet that is used to guide the string. There may be an advantage having the string not contacting the inner wall. Distance 29 between the two walls may be varied along the length of the axis of the frame.
  • Figure 3 shows a length of a frame 30 which is the same frame as 20 except the panels 31 are approximately at the right angle with the outer and the inner walls and the panels are not interconnected to each other. String holes 28 may be passed through the interior of the panel and are not exposed. This will reduce air resistance.
  • the Fig. 2 configuration is stiffer than the Fig 3 configuration in the bending in the plane of the string network, and is comparable to bending in the perpendicular direction and in torsion, but the thickness of the walls and panels would have to be less Compared to the conventional tubular frame with the same weight per unit length, their rigidity are comparable.
  • Fig. 4 shows an innovative frame design 50 in which the entire frame from the head to the handle is cut from a length of extrusion.
  • Walls 52, panels 53, throat 54 and the handle 55 made from the extrusion will be all exactly parallel and perpendicular to the plane of the network.
  • polishing, paint and cosmetics one needs only to put on a bumper guard, grommet strips, string, and a handle sleeve with grip, to complete the racket. It would be very inexpensive, need very little hand work after the piece is cut from the extrusion.
  • Plane shape and size of the head can be made in any manner.
  • a sleeve is needed to finish the incompleted handle if the frame is extruded the sleeve may be made in different grip size to be installed onto the same handle core.
  • the cross section A-A in Fig. 4 shows the cut out section from the extrusion of the handle 55.
  • the sleeve consists of a tube 56 which has a foamed grip 57 as shown.
  • the tube should fit the incomplete handle snugly before installation. There need to have only one tube size .
  • the foamed grip 57 will have different grip sizes as the conventional grips do.
  • Adhesive will be applied on the exterior surfaces of the incomplete handle 55 when the sleeve is fitted over the handle, at the time of installation or before. Shops will need only to store the raw frames and have different grip sized sleeves for players of different grips.
  • Figures 2 and 3 show embodiments wherein outer wall and inner wall have the same height. If the height of the outer wall is desired to be less than the height of the inner wall, machining of the piece cut out from the stock would be a simple thing to do.
  • Fig. 5 frame 60 may be produced either by extrusion then followed by machining, or by injection molding.
  • Inner wall 61 and outer wall 62 have different height.
  • Parallel panels 63 may be of varying thickness along its length from one end to the other end and from the out board to the inboard side, subjected to the constraints of the molding process.
  • Openings 64 may be of a triangular shape, rectangular or other shapes.
  • String holes 65 may be through the interior of the panel or not.
  • Strings may go through the outer wall and the inner wall to the interior of the network in the conventional way. However, to take advantage of the through-hole design in which access of the interior of the frame is easy, strings may be attached to the inner wall only.
  • Fig. 6 shows a preferred embodiment of a new way of stringing.
  • 71 is a portion of the frame where 72 is the inner wall, 73 is the outer wall and 74 panels.
  • the grommet strip 75 consists of the strip 76 and grommets 77. String is not shown. Strings pass the inner wall only, the outer wall is not contacted. To accommodate the grommet strip 75, there is a longitudinal opening 78 running through all panels to let the string to pass through internally. This longitudinal opening 78 may be created during molding process.
  • a Nylon tube or other suitable material which is flexible and can sustain molding temperature may be embedded between the upper and lower mold in the plane of the string network which is the parting plane of the mold. It will be held in place by the mold and fills the space intended for said longitudinal opening.
  • the tube is flexible and can be pulled out after the frame cools off String holes in the inner wall may be made during molding or separately afterwards.
  • the grommet strip is flexible and can be inserted into the space between the walls 72 and 73. Section B-B shows a cut through the two walls and a grommet. Section C-C shows the cut which includes a panel too.
  • Soong does not disclose or make obvious panel or plate members extending through the thickness of the frame and which are perpendicular to the midplane of the frame or the string network required clearly by the present application.
  • no panel or plate members defining the so-called truss assembly are arranged perpendicular to the plane of the string network or the midplane of the frame, nor do they extend from one side to the other side across the midplane of the frame..

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  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Physical Education & Sports Medicine (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Fishing Rods (AREA)
  • Casting Or Compression Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)
  • Extrusion Moulding Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)

Claims (10)

  1. Une raquette de sport a un grip (1) joint à un cadre (2) supportant un cordage (7) s'étendant sur une zone de frappe de balle (7) distante du grip; le cadre possède une région creuse évasée vers l'extérieur (6) et entoure la région de frappe de balle constitué par le cordage; la majeure partie du cadre est symétrique par rapport à un plan moyen (21) qui coïncide avec la plan du cordage, et est constitué d'un rebord extérieur (22) substantiellement perpendiculaire au plan moyen, et d'un rebord intérieur (23), plus proche du cordage, et substantiellement parallèle au rebord extérieur; les rebords sont séparés mais connectés entre eux; la connection se fait à l'aide d'un système de panneaux multiples (24), (31) où les panneaux sont des membres à structure du type plaque, substantiellement perpendiculaires au plan moyen; ceux-ci sont séparés par des ouvertures (25) qui sont des "ouvertures de part en part" s'étendant en hauteur d'un bord à l'autre du cadre (26), (27) sans obstruction.
  2. Ledit cadre de la raquette de sport de l'article 1 est un cadre à panneaux multiples s'étendant entre les régions (3) et (8), en dehors de la zone de frappe de balle (7).
  3. Ledit cadre de la raquette de sport de l'article 1 peut être obtenu par un procédé à extrusion et en coupant une pièce (51) de ladite extrusion perpendiculairement à la direction de l'axe (58) de ladite extrusion.
  4. Lesdites ouvertures entre les panneaux et entre les panneaux et les rebords du dit cadre de la raquette de sport de l'article 1 sont de forme triangulaire ou de forme rectangulaire.
  5. Les cordes de la raquette de sport de l'article 1 passant à travers l' espace entre le rebord extérieur et le rebord intérieur du dit cadre passent à travers des ouvertures dans lesdits panneaux.
  6. Dans la raquette de sport de l'article 1, la majorité des cordes entrent dans le cadre depuis le cordage à travers des trous dans le rebord intérieur, se retournent dans l'espace entre le rebord intérieur et le rebord extérieur et ressortent vers le cordage également à travers des trous dans le rebord intérieur sans contact avec le rebord extérieur.
  7. Dans la raquette de sport de l'article 6, la majorité des cordes passant à travers le rebord intérieur sont supportés par des erses (77) ou par une série de erses interconnectées (75) accessibles à partir des dits larges ouvertures (25) entre le rebord intérieur et le rebord extérieur du cadre.
  8. Dans la raquette de sport de l'article 6, la majorité des dits trous pour les cordes sont faits à une certaine distance du plan du cordage (21) et ne sont pas dans ledit plan.
  9. Dans la raquette de sport de l'article 1, le manche extérieur (56), (57), d'une forme de grip adaptée, est emboîté et fixé à la poignée incomplète (55) du dit cadre afin de constituer un grip pour la poignée finie.
  10. Dans la raquette de sport de l'article 9, ledit manche (56), (57) avec un grip adapté est une poignée pré-fabriquée, un accessoire séparé, prêt à être emboîté sur le cadre afin de former la raquette complète et prête à être utilisée.
EP92301470A 1992-02-21 1992-02-21 Cadre de raquette de sport ajouré Expired - Lifetime EP0556495B1 (fr)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE69213704T DE69213704D1 (de) 1992-02-21 1992-02-21 Durchlochter Rahmen für Sportschläger
EP92301470A EP0556495B1 (fr) 1992-02-21 1992-02-21 Cadre de raquette de sport ajouré

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
EP92301470A EP0556495B1 (fr) 1992-02-21 1992-02-21 Cadre de raquette de sport ajouré

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0556495A1 EP0556495A1 (fr) 1993-08-25
EP0556495B1 true EP0556495B1 (fr) 1996-09-11

Family

ID=8211277

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP92301470A Expired - Lifetime EP0556495B1 (fr) 1992-02-21 1992-02-21 Cadre de raquette de sport ajouré

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0556495B1 (fr)
DE (1) DE69213704D1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2445351A (en) * 2007-01-05 2008-07-09 Dunlop Slazenger Group Ltd Paddle racket having reduced air resistance

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3934876A (en) * 1974-04-15 1976-01-27 Norman S. Blodgett Game racket
EP0108652B1 (fr) * 1982-06-14 1987-09-23 Cousin Freres S.A. Cadre de raquette de tennis et son procédé de fabrication
DE3379712D1 (en) * 1982-09-27 1989-06-01 Soong Tsai C Frame for sports racket
US5005834A (en) * 1990-03-16 1991-04-09 Ferrari Importing Company Multi-frame racket

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE69213704D1 (de) 1996-10-17
EP0556495A1 (fr) 1993-08-25

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