GB2059269A

GB2059269A - Cricket bat handle

Info

Publication number: GB2059269A
Application number: GB7933972A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Gunn & Moore Ltd
Current assignee: Gunn & Moore Ltd
Priority date: 1979-10-01
Filing date: 1979-10-01
Publication date: 1981-04-23

Abstract

A cricket bat handle (1) comprises a hollow tube (2) attached at one end to the blade or hitting part (6) which is closed at (3) at its other end. It can be filled with sawdust or plastics foam. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Cricket bat and like handles This invention relates to cricket bat and like handles. It also includes handles of similar construction for sports such as equipment having similar requirements of resilience in their handles, such as hockey sticks.

The usual construction of cricket bat handles comprises a laminated structure of longitudinal layers of cane wood separated by longitudinal rubber elements with or without spring metal or other material inserts. It has a v-shaped end which is spliced into a v-shape recess in the blade of the bat. The laminated construction of the handle provides resilience to dampen the shock of the bat hitting the ball which would otherwise be transferred directly through the handle to the hands and arms of the batsman.

While the existing bat handles are very successful, their somewhat complicated construction makes them an expensive item to produce.

The present invention seeks to provide a cricket bat and like handle which is relatively cheap to produce, and can be readily provided with the desired degree of resilience.

According to the invention a cricket bat and like handle comprises a hollow tube which is attached at one end to the blade or hitting part of the bat or the like and is closed at the other end.

The tube may be produced from plastics materials or like metal alloys.

The hollow tube may be attached to the bat by inserting it into a suitably diametered bore in the blade of the bat or the like or the conventional splicing technique may be used to attach a short wooden or plastics element to the blade of the bat or the like, the element having a protruding portion or knob around which the hollow handle fits.

Suitably the hollow handle may be filled with a suitable filling material, the desired resilience ofthe handle depending to some extent upon the material of the filling and the compression or otherwise thereof.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which the invention is described applied to a cricket bat and in which Figure lisa sectional view of one form of handle in accordance with the invention attached to the blade of the cricket bat; Figure 2 is a sectional view of a second form of handle in accordance with the invention attached to the blade of a cricket bat, and Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line Ill-Ill of figure 2 but with the filler omitted.

Referring firstly to figure la a cricket bat handle 1 comprises a plastics tube 2 of suitable resilience or flexibility. Such a tube 2 may comprise suitable grades of polypropylene or polyvinylchloride. The upper end of the tube is provided with a rounded end cap 3 suitably of wood or plastics material, having a projecting portion 4 which seats in the interior of the tube 2 and closes the handle. At the lower end, the tube 2 is pushed into a bore 5 in the blade 6 of the bat and is retained therein by means of a wooden member 8 having a diametral slit into which a wedge 14 can be driven from the open end of the tube to expand it. Additional security may be provided by making the tube a force fit into the bore or by the use of adhesives.

In order to set and adjustthe resilience of the handle, the handle is preferably filled with a suitable material 7. One example of a suitable material is sawdust which can be loaded into the tube in a fairly loose manner or can be compacted into the tube to the extent required by the resiliency which is sought.

Other possible fillers include plastics foam. Further inserts into the tube may be provided if necessary to provide suitable balance or weighting.

Referring to figures 2 and 3, a bat handle is shown in which a different form of attachment to the bat blade is provided. In this case, member 10 of the same shape and form as the bottom end of the previously known handle is spliced into the blade 6 of the bat in the usual way. Suitable material for this member 10 would be a wood such as ash or a plastics material. However, this member 10 is provided only with a projecting portion or knob 11 around which the tube 2 can be pushed. The wooden element 10 is suitably cut back at 15 so as to produce a smooth joint with the tube 2. The member 10 is suitably provided with a diametral slit 12 into which a wedge 14 can be driven so as to expand the upper end of the member 10 and cause it to grip the sides of the tube. This can be achieved through the still open upper end of the tube 2.Adhesives and force fitting of the tube may be additionally used to increase the strength of the fixing.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, the open end of the tube can be closed by other suitable means such as by spinning over the ends of the tube. Where desired, instead of providing a tube as such, the outer end of the tube may be closed during the formation of the tube in a moulding operation. Otherwise the tube is preferably extruded.

The tube need not of course be of plastics material but may be made from metal of light weight, such as an aluminium alloy. The tube may be of any suitable cross section such as circular, oval polygonal etc.

Furthermore the tube may be tapered from one end to the other or as desired. Other methods may be employed for attachment of the handle to the blade, for example using combinations of force fit, adhesives, wedging pinning etc. While the outside the tube itself may be used as the exterior of the handle, in which case it may be embossed or otherwise worked to provide a good grip, a sleeve of suitable material such as rubber, may be provided around the handle. For cheaper versions of the handle, the filling may be omitted.

While the invention has been described in relation to cricket bats, it has to be understood that it applies to handles for other sporting equipment such as hockey sticks.

From the above it will be seen that the described handle provides a relatively inexpensive handle for cricket bats and the like in which the desired resilience can be achieved and can indeed be adjusted by the use of suitable fillers in the hollow tube.

Claims

1. A cricket bat and like handle comprising a hollow tube which it attached at one end to the blade or hitting part of the bat or the like and which is closed at the other end.

2. A handle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tube is produced from plastics material.

3. A handle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tube is produced from a light metal alloy.

4. A handle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tube is attached to the bat or the like by inserting it into a suitably diametered bore in the blade or hitting part of the bat or the like.

5. A handle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a short element is attached to the blade or hitting part ofthe bat or the like by a conventional splicing technique, the element having a protruding portion or knob around which the hollow tube fits.

6. A handle as claimed in claim 5, wherein the short element is made from wood.

7. A handle as claimed in claim 6, wherein the short element is made from plastics material.

8. A handle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the tube is filled with a filling material.

9. A handle as claimed in claim 8, wherein the filling material is sawdust.

10. A handle as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the amount offilling andlor its compactions is varied to vary the resilience of the handle.

11. A handle as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein thetube is retained in position by an expandable element situated within the tube.

12. A handle as claimed in claim 11, wherein the expandable element comprises a member of substantially the same diameter as the inner diameter of the tube, the member having a diametral slot into which a wedge can be driven.

13. A cricket bat and like handle substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.