Games using tangible projectile – Player held and powered – nonmechanical projector – per se,... – Racket or paddle; accessory therefor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-15
2001-07-03
Chiu, Raleigh W. (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Player held and powered, nonmechanical projector, per se,...
Racket or paddle; accessory therefor
C473S537000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06254500
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rackets for tennis, badminton or other similar games, particularly to rackets having weights provided on a portion of the frame thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Rackets provided with weights are publicly disclosed in Japanese unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 54-41364. This type of racket has a frame made from foam synthetic resin, and has weights made from aluminum, titanium or other similar material. These weights are fixed onto the lateral sides of a head-frame so as to oppose each other across the sweet spot of the racket. The frame and the weights are both covered with fiber-reinforced material. With this structure, the mass of the frame can be concentrated at the sweet spot, which results in mitigation of shock transmitted to the handle upon striking a ball, and offers a pleasant feeling upon striking of a ball.
Generally, the weight of such a part is limited to be less than a few grams. Thus, if metal having a large weight per unit area is to be used as the weight, as is the case with conventional rackets, the position to which the weight is fixed had to be limited to a small area. Therefore, even though the shock being transmitted to the handle can be mitigated, these weights could not contribute much to stabilizing the face of the head-frame and reducing the amount of bending deformation.
Further, in conventional cases, the weights had to be covered with cylindrically-knitted fiber reinforced material upon fixing, in order to realize firm attachment. This covering procedure was extremely laborious. It is also possible to flatten the conventional metal weights into thin strips and fix them to the frame. In this case, however, the repetitive bending of the frame caused by the shock imparted upon each ball-strike impairs the bond between the metal weight and the frame, owing to the large difference in ratio of extension of the metal and the fiber reinforced resin-made frame. Thus, it is not possible to integrally maintain the weight and the frame as one body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the above-mentioned and other problems, it is an object of this invention to provide a racket which is capable of mitigating the shock transmitted to the handle, improving the stability of the face of the head-frame, and enhancing the ability to damp the vibration imparted to the head-frame upon striking, by fixing weights onto the lateral sides of the frame in a manner so as to extend over a rather wide area thereof.
Another object of this invention is to provide a racket in which the weights can be easily attached to the surface of the fiber reinforced resin-made frame, and in which the bond between the weights and the frame is not impaired by the repetitive bending of the frame.
A racket according to one aspect of the present invention has meshed pieces integrally attached to the surface of lateral sides of a racket frame so that the meshed pieces are opposed to each other across the sweet spot of the racket. The meshed piece is made from titanium and has a predetermined shape.
Although the specific gravity of titanium is 4.53, which is considerably larger than that of aluminum, which is 2.7, since the titanium weights are formed to have a mesh structure, they can be attached along a rather wide area of the lateral sides of the frame (in the longitudinal direction,) in a manner so that the sweet spot of the racket is interposed therebetween. In other words, the area per unit weight to which the meshed piece is attached can be enlarged. Thus, not only is it possible to provide the conventional shock-mitigating characteristics, the toughness of titanium also makes it possible to reduce the amount of bending of the head-frame, improve the stability of the face of the frame, and enhance the ability in damping the vibration imparted to the head-frame upon impact.
In addition to the fact that titanium has an extremely large extension ratio (23%) compared to other titanium alloys, the mesh structure further enhances the extension characteristic of this titanium-made member. Therefore, the meshed piece can be bent and deformed with the frame even if it is attached along a rather wide area of the frame in the longitudinal direction. Further, upon bonding the meshed piece to the frame with the resin used for molding, the resin can penetrate through the multitude of small openings of the meshed piece. Therefore, the weight can be easily and securely attached to the frame.
Preferably, the meshed piece is wrapped around the whole periphery of the frame. With this structure, the toughness of the whole section of the head-frame can be increased, and the vibration-damping characteristic can be further improved.
The racket frame is preferably of the type used for tennis, and each of the meshed pieces attached thereto weighs from 0.7 to 2.0 grams.
Further, the racket frame is preferably of the type used for badminton, and each of the meshed pieces attached thereto weighs from 0.2 to 0.5 grams.
As many different embodiments of this invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described hereinafter.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3755037 (1973-08-01), Erwin et al.
patent: 4283050 (1981-08-01), Nagamoto
patent: 5935028 (1999-08-01), Lo
patent: 1436755 (1976-05-01), None
patent: 54-41364 (1979-03-01), None
patent: 61-127766 (1986-08-01), None
patent: 4-5793 (1992-01-01), None
patent: 9-215780 (1997-08-01), None
patent: 11-290484 (1999-10-01), None
Chiu Raleigh W.
Wenderoth , Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
Yonex Kabushiki Kaisha
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