FR2565499A1 - Tennis racquet - Google Patents

Abstract

Racquet for tennis or similar ball game, the strings 9 being inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis of the racquet. According to the invention, the frame 1 is of general octagonal shape, the strings 9 being stretched perpendicularly to the side of the frame 1 and having substantially the same length. Applications: tennis, squash and badminton.

Description

TENNIS RACKET
The present invention relates to a ball game racket, intended in particular, but not exclusively, for the practice of tennis.

It is known that the rackets currently used comprise a frame of general oval or elliptical shape having a longitudinal axis extending in the extension of a handle and a transverse axis perpendicular to the first. The stringing of the frame is generally made by means of holes drilled in the middle part of the frame so that the uprights extend parallel to the longitudinal axis and cross beams perpendicular to the uprights, the screen thus constituted by a kind of weaving, being of rectangular mesh. it follows from the very shape of the frame that the lengths of the uprights, for the same distance from the center of the screen, are greater than those of the cross beams. I1 follows that the forces collected by the different strings, under the impact of the ball are not identical which. en.traine a greater fatigue of certain strings and premature wear of these, and in particular of the central uprights which, of maximum length, are the most stressed, the impacts occurring, normally, in the vicinity of the center of the racket .

To remedy this drawback, it has already been proposed for a very long time to double the central uprights, as for example in French patent No. 550,985.

This solution further increases the disparity between the role of the uprights and that of the cross beams, hence a less homogeneous response. In addition, the stringing being more complicated, this solution found no practical application.

In order to eliminate the duality of operation between the uprights and the crosspieces, it has also already been proposed to incline the strings pnr relative to the longitudinal axis of the racket so that the screen is made up of diamond-shaped meshes. Such rackets are described in particular in French patents Nos. 1489007, 1495578, 24322323 and 2362642. In these patents, there are no longer uprights and askew but a set of crossed strings forming angles with the longitudinal axis. These strings are not homogeneous, the length of the strings depending on the position they occupy inside the frame. In addition, the stringing of such rackets is difficult and the strings form variable angles with the axes of the holes which lead to rapid wear of the ropes at certain attachment points. In what follows, a frame will be understood to mean a length of natural or synthetic casing stretched between two holes in the frame, although the sieve usually consists of a single length of casing.

The object of the present invention is to remedy the drawbacks of known snowshoes and to allow a homogeneous string to be obtained, all the strings of which are substantially the same length.

According to the present invention, the tennis racket comprising a handle and a frame on which is stretched a sieve strung by holes, consisting of strings inclined on the longitudinal axis of the racket, is characterized in that the frame is of octagonal shape. Thus, the strings are stretched between parallel sides and therefore are all substantially the same length, and are distributed symmetrically with respect to the center of the racket. Thus, during a central impact all the strings react in the same proportion which gives the game a pleasant impression.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the meshes of the sieve are rectangular. It is thus possible to string the racket according to the traditional method.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear during the description which follows with reference to FIG. 1 which represents a racket according to the invention, seen from the front.

This racket consists of a frame I, a heart df racket 2 and a handle 3. According to the invention, the frame 1 is of octagonal shape, rounded possibly joining the eight sides of the polygon. The strings are stretched between two parallel sides, for example the sides and 5, so that they are all the same length here that they are stretched in a direction perpendicular to the sides so that there is no acute angle when dt rope.

The center of the racket 6 has the shape of a square which is shown in dashes in Figure 1. Given the arrangement adopted, the strings are all the same length except those surrounding the impact zone 6 and which are strung in particular from the spacer 7.

The racket is corded in a traditional way by placing the frame on the machine support at 450 with respect to the position it usually occupies and the mesh of the sieve 8 is square in the impact zone and possibly rectangular outside this area. In the drawing, the arrows indicate the directions of stringing of a racket according to the invention.

The string thus obtained is perfectly homogeneous and the: strings are stressed perpendicular to the direction of the side on which they are stretched.

It goes without saying that many variants can be made, in particular by substitution of equivalent technical means, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (2)

10) Tennis racket including a handle and a frame on  which is stretched a sieve corded by holes made up of  strings inclined on the longitudinal axis of the racket,  characterized in that the frame (1) is shaped  octagonal 20) Tennis racket according to claim 1, characterized  in that the mesh of the sieve (8) is rectangular. 30) Tennis racket according to one of claims 1 or 2,  characterized in that the strings (9) are stretched  perpendicular to the side on which they are  tense.