JPH10192451A - Racket frame - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a racket frame whose face part is made of titanium which is light in weight, excellent in operability, high in strength and rigidity, excellent in impact resilience, and capable of matching the needs for diversified weight balances by integrating FRP with a part of or the whole part of a racket frame body. SOLUTION: This frame 1 comprises a face part 2, a shaft part 3, and a grip part 4, and the face part 2 is approximately elliptical. The racket frame 1 is composed of a hollow tube-like racket frame body 5 made of titanium, and an FRP layer 6 provided on the whole outer surface of the face part 2 and the shaft part 3 of the racket frame body 5. In the FRP layer 6, a top part and a bottom part of the face part 2 are thick while a center part of the face part 2 is thin. The strength and the rigidity of the racket frame are shared by the titanium racket frame body 5, and the FRP layer demonstrates only the function of regulating the weight balance.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a racket frame for tennis, badminton, etc., and more particularly to titanium and FRP.
(Fibre-reinforced synthetic resin).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, a racket frame such as a tennis racket frame includes a face portion to which a gut is stretched, a grip portion to be gripped by a player, and a shaft portion connecting these.

A conventional racket frame is made of metal such as FRP, aluminum, and titanium. A racket is formed by putting a gut (string) on the face of the racket frame.

[0004] A conventional tennis racket frame made of metal or fiber-reinforced synthetic resin weighs 240 g or more before the gut is stretched (that is, before the gut is stretched).

[0005]

The conventional racket frame is entirely composed of one kind of FRP, aluminum or titanium, etc. In order to adjust the weight balance, the shape of the racket frame itself is changed. There has been a limit in providing a wide variety of racket frames with different weight balances without changing the racket frame.

In particular, in the case of FRP or aluminum, it is necessary to use a material of a required amount or more in order to secure a predetermined strength and rigidity, and there is a limit in reducing the weight of the racket frame. In recent years, there has been an increasing need for lightweight rackets even among advanced players, and the weight of the racket frame is approaching its limit due to various measures to reduce the weight. For this reason, it is not possible to adopt a design method of reducing the material amount of a part of the racket frame and adding a material to another part by the amount of the floating weight to adjust the weight balance. There were restrictions on balance adjustment.

[0007] If the racket frame is made lighter by ignoring the strength and the like, naturally, the strength and rigidity of the racket frame are reduced, the bending, the torsion is large, and the rebound characteristics are also poor.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to provide a racket frame having various weight balances which is excellent in weighing, operability, strength, rigidity and resilience. Aim.

[0009]

A racquet frame according to the present invention is a racquet frame having a racquet frame body having at least a face portion made of titanium, wherein an FRP is integrated into a part or the whole of the racquet frame body. It is characterized by having.

In the present invention, at least the face portion of the racket frame main body is made of lightweight, high-strength, high-rigidity titanium, so that sufficient strength and rigidity can be obtained even when the weight of the entire racket frame is reduced. it can. By integrating the FRP into a part or the whole of the racket frame main body, the weight balance of the racket frame can be adjusted almost freely. In addition, since the weight of the racket frame body is small,
Even if the FRP is integrated, the weight of the racket frame can be made equal to or less than the conventional one.

In the present invention, "titanium" includes both pure titanium and titanium alloy.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1A is a front view of a tennis racket frame according to the first embodiment, and FIG.
(C) is sectional drawing which follows the BB line and CC line of FIG. 1 (a), respectively.

The racket frame 1 includes a face portion 2, a shaft portion 3, and a grip portion 4. The face portion 2 has a substantially elliptical shape.

The racket frame 1 is composed of a hollow tube-shaped racket frame body 5 made of titanium, and a face portion 2 and a shaft portion 3 of the racket frame body 5.
And the FRP layer 6 provided on the entire outer surface of the FRP. 7 is a gut insertion hole.

The FRP layer 6 is provided thick at the top 2t and the bottom 2b of the face 2 and thinner at the center 2c of the face 2.

As described above, since the entire racket frame body 5 is made of titanium and has a hollow tube shape,
The racket frame body 5 is lightweight, high strength, and high rigidity.

The racket frame body 5 has an FRP layer 6
Is provided so as to be thicker at the top portion 2t and the bottom portion 2b of the face portion, so that the sweet area of the face portion 2 is large in the racket long axis direction. The strength and rigidity of the racket frame are held by the titanium racket frame body 5, and the FRP layer only needs to exhibit the function of adjusting the weight balance, and the layer thickness is small enough. Therefore, FR
Even if the P layer 6 is added, the weight of the entire racket frame is 23.
0 g or less (for example, 200 to 220 g).

In this embodiment, since the exposed surface of titanium is entirely covered with FRP, by adopting FRP layers of various colors, products with a wide variety of appearance and design can be marketed. It is also possible to provide.

In the above embodiment, the entire exposed titanium surface is covered with the FRP layer 6. However, as shown in FIG. 1 (d), the FRP layer 6 may not be provided in part and the titanium may be exposed. .

Further, the FRP layer is provided only on some of the inner peripheral surface 11, the outer peripheral surface 12, the front surface 13, and the rear surface 14 of the face portion indicated by reference numerals 11 to 14 in FIG. Is also good. For example, the FRP layer may be provided only on a part of the inner peripheral surface 11 or the outer peripheral surface 12.

In the above embodiment, the FRP layer 6 of the top portion 2t and the bottom portion 2b of the face portion 2 is thicker than the center portion 2c.
Is thicker than the top 2t and the bottom portion 2b, the sweet area in the width direction can be increased.

In the present invention, the FRP layer 6 of the top part 2t is made thicker than the center part 2c and the bottom part 2b, and conversely, the FRP layer 6 of the shaft part 3 and the bottom part 2b is made thicker than the center part 2c and the top part t. By increasing the thickness, the position of the center of gravity of the racket can be adjusted.

In order to integrate the FRP layer with the titanium racket frame main body, it is preferable to overlap the FRP prepreg on the racket frame main body and heat-treat the two together.

As the synthetic resin constituting the FRP, epoxy resin, nylon and the like are preferable, but epoxy resin is preferable in view of strength, durability and price. When a soft resin is used, a vibration absorbing effect can be obtained.

As the reinforcing fiber, carbon fiber, boron fiber, alumina fiber, ultrafine iron wire, Ti-Si-C-
O-based fibers (trade name Tyranno fibers), aromatic polyamide fibers, aromatic polyester fibers, ultra high molecular weight polyethylene fibers, and the like can be used, but carbon fibers are also preferable from the viewpoint of cost.

In order to form a racket frame main body using a titanium tube, a titanium tube is bent into a racket frame shape. Next, a racket frame is formed by forming a grip portion on the racket frame body. Polyurethane is preferable for the grip portion. It is preferable to use a β-type titanium alloy as titanium.

The thickness of the titanium tube is set to 0.2 to
By setting the thickness to 0.6 mm, preferably 0.3 to 0.5 mm, the strength and rigidity of the racket frame can be made sufficiently high, and high rebound can be obtained. Further, by setting the tennis racket frame before gut stretching to 230 g or less (preferably 180 to 230 g, particularly 200 to 220 g), the racket frame is lightweight and operable.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the position of the center of gravity and the weight distribution of the racket frame can be selected widely, and a racket frame that meets various needs for weight balance can be provided. Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a racket frame which is lightweight, has good operability, has good resilience performance, has high frame rigidity, and can withstand a high-speed ball of an advanced player.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a front view of a tennis racket frame according to an embodiment. (B), (c) and (d) are cross-sectional views of a part of the tennis racket frame.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 racket frame 2 face 3 shaft 4 grip 5 racket frame body 6 FRP layer 7 gut insertion hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A racket frame having a racket frame main body having at least a face portion made of titanium, wherein a FRP is integrated into a part or the whole of the racket frame main body. 2. A racket frame according to claim 1, wherein the racket frame body is entirely formed of a titanium hollow tube, and FRP is integrated with a part of the racket frame body.