GB2139507A - Racquets - Google Patents

Abstract

A racquet comprises a generally oval frame made from extruded aluminium, and a handle secured to the frame by means of a generally T- shaped joining member 24 having a first tubular portion 28 for receiving the handle of the racquet and a second tubular portion 26 for receiving part of the frame. The member 24 also has an integrally formed loop 46 for receiving and positioning a racquet string and may be formed from aluminium or plastics material. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Racquets This invention relates to racquets.

A typical racquet comprises an approximately oval frame, usually of wood or extruded aluminium, having a plurality of holes extending substantially radially therethrough, the stringing of the racquet being directly secured to the frame by passing individual strings thereof through the holes. Typically, a given string is passed outwardly through a respective hole in the frame and then inwardly through an adjacent hole.

However, such a racquet suffers from a number of disadvantages. For example, parts of the stringing are at least partly exposed at the radially outer surface of the frame (ie between adjacent holes in the frame), and are thus subject to damage as a result of impacts, eg with the ground.

Also the strings tend to fret against the frame, especially where they pass over the edges of the radially outer ends of the holes in the frame, this fretting eventually leading to breakage of the strings. Additionally, manufacturing costs are increased by the necessitity for drilling and deburring the holes, and providing and fitting grommets in the holes, all of which operations can be labour intensive. Most significantly, the holes in the frame tend to set up stress concentrations, so that when the frame is severely stressed, it almost invariably breaks in the region of a hole.

My co-pending United Kingdom Patent Application No. 82 00 722 (Publication No.

2 094 643), from which the present application has been divided, describes and claims a racquet in which the abovementioned disadvantages are significantly alleviated. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved joining member for joining the handle of a racquet, particularly a racquet of the kind described in the aforementioned co-pending appiication, to the frame of the racquet.

According to the invention, there is provided a joining member for joining the handle of a racquet to the frame of the racquet, the joining member comprising a first tubular portion forming a socket for receiving the handle of the racquet, and at least one second tubular portion, integral with the first tubular portion, for receiving a portion of the frame of the racquet so as to secure the frame to the handle, the second tubular portion having at least one integrally formed loop or eye positioned to be disposed, in use, within the frame of the racquet, for receiving and positioning at least one string of the stringing of the racquet.

The joining member is preferably T-shaped, and may be made from aluminium or moulded in a suitable plastics material, and the axis of the loop or eye is preferably approximately parallel to the axis of the second tubular portion.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which: Figure 1 shows a badminton racquet, incorporating a joining or securing member in accordance with the present invention for securing the handle of the racquet to the frame of the racquet; Figures 2 and 3 are enlarged front and side views respectively of the joining or securing member shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the frame of the racquet of Figure 1; and Figures 5 and 6 are side and plan views respectively of a wire string-securing member forming part of the racquet of Figure 1.

The badminton racquet of Figure 1 is indicated generally at 10, and comprises a generally toroidal frame 1 2 which is slightly oval in shape and made from a single length of extruded aluminium tubing 14 bent, eg. around a former, to produce the oval shape of the frame. The opposite ends 1 6, 1 8 of the tubing 14 abut each other, and are welded or otherwise bonded together, eg with suitable adhesive.

A slim tubular steel handle 20 extends substantially radially of the frame 12 and carries at the end remote from the frame a hand-grip (not shown) of wood or plastics. The handle 20 is typically of circular cross-section, and its diameter may either be uniform or increase slightly with increasing distance from the frame 12.

The handle 20 is secured to the frame 12 by means of an aluminium member 24, which is shown in more detail in Figures 2 and 3. The member 24 comprises first and second integrally formed tubular portions 26 and 28, of which the latter extends perpendicularly from the middle of the former. The first tubular portion 26 is shaped to receive and tightly fit around the bondedtogether ends 16, 18 of the tubing 14 of the frame, while the second tubular portion 28 extends substantially radially of the frame 12 and is shaped to receive and tightly fit around the other end of the handle 20. The ends 16, 1 8 and the other end of the handle 20 are bonded within the portions 26, 28 respectively, eg with the aforementioned adhesive.

In an alternative construction (not shown), the handle 20 is secured to the frame 12 by means of a V-shaped member, substantially as described in my co-pending United Kingdom Patent Application No. 79 22108.

The tubing 14 of the frame 12 is shown in section in Figure 4, from which it can be seen that the tubing is of substantially oval section, with the major axis of the oval shape extending perpendicularly to the plane of the frame. The wall thickness of the tubing 14 is typically of the order of 1 mm, except that the portion 30 which constitutes the internal periphery of the frame 12 when the tubing is bent as described earlier is of increased thickness to accommodate a groove 32.

The groove 32 is significantly wider in its base region 34 than at its mouth 36, and serves to hold a one-piece wire string-securing member 38 which is shown in more detail in Figures 5 and 6.

Thus the string-securing member 38 comprises a single length of steel wire bent into a sinuous shape resembling castellations or crenellations in side view, and defining a plurality of U-shaped loop portions 40, of which adjacent ones are integrally joined together at the tops of the limbs of their U-shapes by connecting portions 42. The diameter of the wire making up the member 38 is less than the width of the mouth 36 of the groove 32 (Figure 2). After bending, however, the connecting portions 42 are flattened in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop portions 40, so that their width exceeds that of the mouth 36 of the groove 32 and approaches that of the base region 34.

Then, prior to the bonding together of the ends 16, 18 of the bent tubing 14 making up the frame 12, the flattened portions 42 of the stringsecuring member 38 are slid into the base region 34 of the groove 32, until the member 38 extends round substantially the whole length of the groove, and thus round substantially the whole of the internal periphery of the frame (except for the portions of the frame which fit within the tubular portion 26 of the aluminium member 24). The end portions 1 6, 18 of the tubing 14 are then bonded together within the portion 26 of the aluminium member 24, at which point the loop portions 40 project radially into the frame 12 through the mouth 36 of the groove 32, and of course lie in the plane of the frame, as shown in Figure 1.The racquet 10 can then be strung with its stringing 44 by passing the string through the loop portions 40, as also shown in Figure 1. The widths of the respective loop portions 40 are not all the same, but are selected such that the desired, eg uniform, string spacing is achieved. As can be seen in Figures 1 and 3, a single stringing loop 46 is formed integrally with the aluminium member 24, projecting radially into the frame 12 from the portion 26.

It will be appreciated that because the stringing of the racquet is supported on the wire stringsecuring member 38, which is in turn held in the groove 32, it is no longer necessary to drill holes in the tubing 14 of the frame 12. This eliminates the formation of the stress-concentrations normally associated with such holes, and enables the production of a lighter and/or stronger frame.

Several modifications can be made to the described embodiment of the invention. For example, the width of the connecting portions 42 of the wire string-securing member 38 can be increased by coating them with a suitable plastics material, e.g. nylon, instead of by crushing them.

Alternatively, the securing member 38 can be held in the groove 32 by an elongate apertured plate (not shown) whose width is just less than that of the base region 34 of the groove (but greater than that of the mouth 36 of the groove) and whose length is equal to that of the securing member 38. The apertures in this plate are shaped such that respective ones of the loop portions 40 of the securing member 38 can be pushed therethrough, and then the plate is pushed into the base region 34 of the groove 32 so that the connecting portions 42 of the securing member 38 are trapped in the groove beneath the plate, with the loop portions 40 projecting through the mouth of the groove and radially into the frame.

In a still further alternative arrangement, the connecting portions 42 of the wire securing member 38 are not increased in width, but instead, the width of the portions of the mouth of the groove 32 immediately above them (ie the portions of the mouth of the groove between the loop portions 40 of the string-securing member) is reduced, eg by crimping, after the string-securing member has been correctly positioned in the groove.

Further, it will be appreciated that although the securing member 38 is described as being a single member, it can if desired be replaced by a plurality of securing members, each comprising a loop portion 40 having portions equivalent to the connecting portions 42 on each side thereof: similarly the multi-apertured plate can be replaced by a plurality of single- or multi-apertured plates.

Moreover, the or each securing member can be coated with P.T.F.E., to reduce friction between the securing member and the stringing of the racquet.

Finally, the member 24 can be moulded in a suitable plastics material, eg nylon 66, rather than being made from aluminium.

Claims (7)

1. A joining member for joining the handle of a racquet to the frame of the racquet, the joining member comprising a first tubular portion forming a socket for receiving the handle of the racquet, and at least one second tubular portion, integral with the first tubular portion, for receiving a portion of the frame of the racquet so as to secure the frame to the handle, the second tubular portion having at least one integrally formed loop or eye positioned to be disposed, in use, within the frame of the racquet, for receiving and positioning at least one string of the stringing of the racquet.

2. A joining member as claimed in claim 1, said joining member being T-shaped.

3. A joining member as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the axis of the loop or eye is approximately parallel to the axis of the second tubular portion.

4. Ajoining member as claimed in any preceding claim, said joining member being made from aluminium.

5. Ajoining member as claimed in any preceding claim, said joining member being moulded in a suitable plastics material.

6. A joining member for joining the handle of a racquet to the frame of a racquet, the joining member being substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

7. A racquet incorporating a joining member in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 6.