US3915453A - Metallic racket with reinforcing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A racket apparatus including an elliptical metallic frame and a bridge having integral sockets at each end which receives portions of the frame adjacent the throat and supports the strings which are to be secured adjacent thereto in a manner to reduce breakage of the frame.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Nishimura Oct. 28, 1975 Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 415,362, Nov. 13,

1973, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 273/73 G [51] Int. Cl. A63B 49/12 [58] Field of Search 273/73 R, 73 C, 73 D, 73 E,

273/73 G, 73 H, 73 F [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 455,632 7/1891 Malings 273/73 D 1,186,283 6/1916 Coddington 273/73 G X 1,588,140 6/1926 Penny r 273/73 H 1,937,787 12/1933 Robinson..... 273/73 H 2,171,223 8/1939 Robinson 273/73 H 2,224,567 12/1940 Reach 273/73 D X 2,610,056 9/1952 Lovell 273/73 D 2,626,804 1/1953 Robinson 273/73 F 3,528,658 9/1970 Cheris et al.. 273/73 G X 3,582,073 6/1971 Melnick 273/73 D 3,612,526 10/1971 Brull 273/73 H X 3,642,283 2/1972 Wilkens.. 273/73 D X 3,664,668 5/1972 Held 273/73 H X 3,702,189 11/1972 Galich 273/73 D X 3,702,701 l1/l972 Vaughn et a1. 273/73 G X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 151,916 6/1953 Australia 273/73 D 798,744 ll/l968 Canada.... 273/73 H 736,167 9/1932 France..... 273/73 G 1,578,059 8/1969 France 273/73 G 21,648 9/1913 United Kingdom.... 273/73 D 228,650 2/1925 United Kingdom.... 273/73 H 234,021 5/1925 United Kingdom.... 273/73 D 252,480 6/1926 United Kingdom 273/73 H OTHER PUBLICATIONS The Sporting Goods Dealer, Dec. 1971, p. 141.

Primary Examiner-Richard .1. Apley Attorney, Agent, or Firm-A. Yates Dowell, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A racket apparatus including an elliptical metallic frame and a bridge having integral sockets at each end which receives portions of the frame adjacent the throat and supports the strings which are to be secured adjacent thereto in a manner to reduce breakage of the frame.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures US. Patent Oct. 28, 1975 3,915,453

METALLIC RACKET WITH REINFORCING APPARATUS CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 415,362, filed Nov. 13, 1973 and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to a metallic racket and particularly to a racket having an elliptical metallic frame which is reinforced adjacent the throat portion thereof by a bridge having integral sockets at each end which both receive the portions of the frame adjacent the throat and support the strings adjacent thereto.

2. Description of the Prior Art The field of designing and constructing game rackets such as those used in tennis and squash is a highly developed art as well as one in which a great deal of inventive effort is continually directed. One of the latest innovations in racket construction, and one which has been gaining in its acceptance within sports circles, is the metallic racket. Metallic rackets are normally manufactured using any one of a variety of metals such as steel or aluminum tubing or channeling which are appropriately shaped to form a loop or elliptical stringing frame which tapers inwardly at one end to form the throat of the racket and which may further extend away from the frame to form a portion of the racket handle. In order to complete the stringing frame, that is, interconnect the portions of the tubing or channeling which form the throat of the racket, many styles and structures of bridges have been mounted therebetween.

Bridges, however, are not simply provided to act as a portion of the stringing frame but are often designed to serve a dual function as a means for reinforcing the frame. Further, the stresses, such as those caused by the tension of the strings or those created by the impact force of a ball or those caused when the tip of the racket is accidentally hit against the ground or other solid surface, are concentrated mostly at the throat portion of the racket. Accordingly, the bridge must particularly provide for reinforcement of this area of the frame.

In an effort to increase the effectiveness of the bridge, many types and styles have been employed. Some bridges include a substantially U-shaped or curvilinear portion which is welded, glued, riveted, taped or otherwise attached or spliced to the portions of the frame adjacent the throat. In one conventional steel racket, the bridge is welded to the frame. However, it has been observed that, in some instances, the heat of the welding apparatus has caused a degeneration of the metal which may be directly responsible for a subsequent breakage of the splice or the metal frame or bridge adjacent thereto. Further in other mounting techniques in which metal is bound to metal, unwanted vibrations may be established between the metals and repeated use may be sufficient to actually loosen the splice or joint.

As previously mentioned, the bridge is also used as a portion of the stringing frame. In this respect one of the primary disadvantages of conventional metal rackets is that the throat portion of the frame which is spliced to the bridge is drilled or bored to provide holes through which the racket strings can pass or through which various rivets or pins may be inserted to effect the splice.

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Such operations which effectively remove a portion of the throat are not desirous in that a net reduction is obtained in the effective strength of the throat and the likelihood of breakage at the throat becomes an even greater possibility.

Some examples of the prior art include US. Pat. Nos. 3,612,526 to Brull; 3,702,701 to Vaughn et al.; 3,582,073 to Melnick et al.; 3,664,668 to Held; British Pat. No. 252,480 to Donald; and French Pat. No. 1,578,059 to Chervin et al.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is embodied in a metallic racket having a reinforcing bridge provided with sockets which are integrally formed at both ends thereof for receiving portions of the racket frame adjacent the throat and such bridge includes stringing passages which alone support the racket strings which are adjacent to the throat. Each socket of the bridge is connected by a rivet through the upper end thereof to the frame portion of the racket adjacent the throat and a resilient cushion is provided between the racket and each socket of the bridge.

It is the primary purpose of this invention to provide a rugged metallic racket having an improved splice between the bridge and the frame by providing a bridge which supports some of the racket strings and is secured to the frame in such a manner that no holes, bores or cuts, which might tend to create areas of weakness, are made along the throat portion of the racket.

Another object of this invention is to provide a rugged metallic racket by improving the strength of the splice between the bridge and the frame by providing two integrally connected sockets which fully envelop each portion of the frame adjacent to the throat portion and which are attached thereto by string guiding rivets.

A further object of this invention is to provide a racket in which the splice between the bridge and frame is cushioned to reduce or prevent adverse vibrations of the riveted joint and to buffer the stresses transmitted between the bridge and the frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view showing the racket of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view showing a prior art method of connecting a frame and bridge.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the bridge and the frame of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to the drawing, a generally tubular steel racket frame 10 is provided having a generally elliptical head portion H connected by downwardly curved throat portions T to a pair of generally parallel'handle forming portions G and G. An arcuate bridge 11 spans the throat and connects the opposite ends of the head portion in a manner to substantially complete the elliptical config'tiiation of the racket. A ifmg substantially non-strEiEhable string S of nylon, gilt, er the like normally i l'nterwoven under tension across the head and the bridge in a conventional manner so that a player can strike a ball.

With particular reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the arcuate bridge 11 is constructed of relatively strong material such as steel, steel alloy, aluminum or aluminum alloy, or the like, and includes a central portion 12 having a hollow generally rectangular cross-section with substantially tubular socks 13 and 13' at each end. A resilient cushion 14 of rubber, cork, thermoplastic material, or the like is located at each end of the head portion of the frame in a position to be received within and extend substantially through the sockets 13 and 13 and substantially prevent direct contact therebetween. The cushion 14 absorbs a substantial portion of the impact force normally transmitted through the bridge 1 1 to the frame when the strings contact a ball. Ordinarily the inner and outer surfaces of the head portion H of the frame are connected by a plurality of hollow grommets 15 to permit the string to be threaded therethrough and which prevent the sharp edges of the metal frame from cutting the string.

Within the hollow central portion 12 of the bridge, a plurality of openings 16 are provided for receiving the racket string. Normally the string extends downwardly through one opening, across a portion of the bridge and then upwardly through the next adjacent opening. To prevent the edges of the openings from cutting the string S, a hollow grommet or string guide tube 17, preferably constructed of thermoplastic material, is provided for each opening. The string is threaded through the guide tubes 17 and, because the string is in the central portion of the racket where most of the impact force is received, such force is partially absorbed by the cushions 14 at each end of the bridge and the amount of force transmitted to the frame is reduced.

Since the sockets l3 and 13' are in superposed relationship with the curved sections of the head portion just above the throat portion T, there has been a tendency for the superposed portions to slip relative to each other, particularly after the racket has been in service. In order to prevent such slippage, a hole 18 is drilled through the sockets 13 and 13' adjacent the outer ends thereof and through the underlying head portions of the frame, after which a hollow rivet 19 is inserted through the openings to lock the members in fixed relationship and to provide a guide for the string, as illustrated best in FIG. 3.

It should be noted that the hole 18 through which the rivet 19 secures the bridge to the frame is made through the portion of the frame which is just above the reversely curved throat portion. Further, each of the sockets includes a raised stringing or tunnel portion 20 through which the racket string S is strung. The raised portion 20 is integrally formed with each of the socket portions 13 and 13' and includes stringing holes 21 in which are disposed flexible grommets or stringing guides 22 which prevent the edges of the holes 21 from cutting the string. Also, although the raised portion 20 is shown in FIG. 3 as extending along the socket portion a distance sufficient for allowing two stringing holes 21 to be properly spaced therein, the length thereof may be extended to allow for additional string holes 21.

The primary purpose of the raised portions 20 is to permit the string to be maintained by the socket portion of the bridge without having to drill, cut or otherwise weaken any portion of the racket throat in order to provide a support for the string. Therefore, not only are some of the stresses which are transmitted to the throat through the bridge absorbed or buffered by the cushion 14, but the amount of stress which the throat can safely resist is increased as there is no weakening of the throat as is usual to provide support or openings for the string.

Referring now to the prior art illustrated in FIG. 2, since the bridge 25 and the socket 26 are constituted separately, sliding has often occurred in the socket after the racket has been used over a long period. Also the holes 27 for the string which extend through the throat have weakened the area in which the greatest stresses are transmitted.

As previously described, with applicants structure in which the bridge includes integrally formed tubular sockets which are riveted to the frame at a point above the throat, the sliding or relative movement between the sockets, frame and bridge is not incurred even after the racket has been used for extended periods of time. Further, the throat portion of the racket is not weakened by string holes or other openings or reduced portions and therefore is capable of sustaining increased stresses.

I claim:

1. A strung game racket comprising a generally elliptical head portion connected by a pair of downwardly and reversely curved throat arm portions to a handle portion, said throat arm portions being imperforate, an arcuate bridge member spanning the throat and connecting opposite ends of said head portion to complete the elliptical configuration thereof, said bridge member having a relatively narrow central portion with at least an upper surface and an enlarged tubular socket integrally formed at each end, said central portion having a plurality of openings extending therethrough for receiving the racket stringing, each of said tubular sockets receiving the lowermost curved section of said head portion and the upper portion of said throat arms, means mounted between said tubular sockets and said head and throat arm portions for cushioning and absorbing the impact force transmitted through the bridge member to said head and throat arm portions, a single hollow rivet extending through and adjacent to .each of the outer ends only of said tubular sockets,

through said cushioning means and through said lower most curved section of said head portion to lock said bridge member thereto and for receiving stringing therethrough, the upper surface of each of said tubular sockets being integrally formed with a raised string guide portion intermediate two upper surface only string holes whereby a string looped through these latter holes will engage the undersurface of said raised portion in spaced relation to said upper portion of said throat arms, and with said upper surface string holes and said raised portion being located between the endmost central portion string holes and said hollow rivets.

2. The structure of claim 1 including a plurality of grommets extending through said head and said bridge member for receiving said stringing.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which at least said head and throat arm portions are made of metal.

Claims (3)

1. A strung game racket comprising a generally elliptical head portion connected by a pair of downwardly and reversely curved throat arm portions to a handle portion, said throat arm portions being imperforate, an arcuate bridge member spanning the throat and connecting opposite ends of said head portion to complete the elliptical configuration thereof, said bridge member having a relatively narrow central portion with at least an upper surface and an enlarged tubular socket integrally formed at each end, said central portion having a plurality of openings extending therethrough for receiving the racket stringing, each of said tubular sockets receiving the lowermost curved section of said head portion and the upper portion of said throat arms, means mounted between said tubular sockets and said head and throat arm portions for cushioning and absorbing the impact force transmitted through the bridge member to said head and throat arm portions, a single hollow rivet extending through and adjacent to each of the outer ends only of said tubular sockets, through said cushioning means and through said lower most curved section of said head portion to lock said bridge member thereto and for receiving stringing therethrough, the upper surface of each of said tubular sockets being integrally formed with a raised string guide portion intermediate two upper surface only string holes whereby a string looped through these latter holes will engage the undersurface of said raised portion in spaced relation to said upper portion of said throat arms, and with said upper surface string holes and said raised portion being located between the endmost central portion string holes and said hollow rivets.

2. The structure of claim 1 including a plurality of grommets extending through said head and said bridge member for receiving said stringing.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which at least said head and throat arm portions are made of metal.

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