GB1103364A - Improvements in or relating to shuttlecocks - Google Patents

Abstract

1,103,364. Shuttlecock skirt. CARLTON TYRE SAVING CO. Ltd. 21 Nov., 1966 [4 Oct., 1966], No. 44159/66. Heading A6S. A shuttlecock comprises striking cap 3 coupled to the narrower end of the moulded flared skirt structure whose wider end has an undulating outline seen from planes perpendicular to the axis of the skirt, each undulation having respectively first and second surfaces C and D inclined in opposite senses with respect to the axis, the first surface C containing a greater area of moulded material than the second axis. The moulded material may consist of a plurality of stems 1 lying at the outermost (as in Figure 1) or the innermost extremities of the undulations and interconnected by thin vane material which may comprise ribs and bars 10 and 11, including midstems 9. The depth of the undulations may be greater at the wider end of the skirt structure. degenerating to zero at the narrower end. The heavier first surface may be achieved by having more interconnecting ribs and bars than the second surface, or by making only the first surface continuous, and/or by providing the first surface with a projection 12 beyond the second surface. This uneven distribution of material and the undulations of Figure 1 impart a counter-clockwise spin to the shuttlecock when struck, the speed of which can be varied by varying the relative amounts of material in the first and second surface or the depth of the undulations. If the direction of the undulations is reversed, so that the first and second surfaces are interchanged, the spin will be clockwise. The lightness of the shuttlecock means that additional weighting means 13 can be incorporated within the striking cap so that the centre of gravity of the shuttlecock is at its narrower end.