Ball Bat

Abstract

A ball bat includes a bat body, a first tube and a second tube. The bat body has a barrel section having an upper receiving space, a knob section opposite to the barrel section, and a handle section interconnecting the barrel and knob sections and defining a lower receiving space. The bat body includes a plurality of wooden pieces, each of which has a connecting region that is formed with an upper groove as a portion of the upper receiving space, a lower groove as a portion of the lower receiving space, and a separating part separating the upper groove from the lower groove. The first tube is disposed in the upper receiving space. The second tube is disposed in the lower receiving space.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Chinese Patent Application No. 201220456937.6, filed on Sep. 10, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a bat, more particularly to a ball bat.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventional wooden ball bats are widely adopted because of their advantages such as abundant supply of wood, low cost and simple manufacturing process. However, due to the relatively weak intrinsic structure, the wooden ball bat may be easily shattered upon hitting a ball, which results in poor hitting performance.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,573 discloses a conventional ball bat including a tubular core that has a front section and a rear section connected to the front section, and a tubular covering member that has a handle portion embracing the front section of the tubular core and a striking portion embracing the rear section of the tubular core. The handle portion and the striking portion serve respectively as the handle and the barrel of this conventional ball bat. The striking portion of the covering member is made of wood, the handle portion of the covering member is made of a foam material, and the tubular core is made of a fiber reinforced plastic material. Although such ball bat may overcome the drawback of being shattered easily, a front plug and a rear plug are needed to close respectively front and rear ends of the tubular core, which increases the complexity of the manufacturing process. In addition, shock would be transmitted from the front section to the rear section of the tubular core when this conventional ball bat hits a ball, which results in discomfort of a holder and in hitting inaccuracy.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,878,080 discloses another conventional ball bat that includes a tubular wood body, a core tube made of a fiber reinforced plastic material and tightly received in the wood body, and at least one weight provided in the core tube and longitudinally movable for adjusting the center of gravity of this conventional ball bat. A front plug and a rear plug are still needed for such conventional ball bat to close opposite ends of the wood body, respectively. The insertion of the at least one weight also increases the complexity for assembling this conventional ball bat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a ball bat that has a simple structure and that is easy to produce.

Accordingly, a ball bat of the present invention includes a bat body, a first tube and a second tube.

The bat body extends along a main axis and has a barrel section having an upper receiving space that extends along the main axis and that is defined cooperatively by a side surface extending along the main axis, and top and bottom surfaces connected respectively to opposite ends of the side surface along the main axis, a knob section opposite to the barrel section along the main axis, and a handle section interconnecting the barrel and knob sections and having a lower receiving space that is isolated from the upper receiving space, that extends along the main axis, and that is defined cooperatively by a side surface extending along the main axis, and top and bottom surfaces connected respectively to opposite ends of the side surface along the main axis.

The bat body includes a plurality of angularly-disposed wooden pieces that extend along the main axis. Each of the wooden pieces has a connecting region that is formed with an upper groove as a portion of the upper receiving space, a lower groove that forms as a portion of the lower receiving space, and a separating part that separates the upper groove from the lower groove.

The first tube is disposed in the upper receiving space and has opposite tube ends adjacent respectively to the top and bottom surfaces of the barrel section.

The second tube is disposed in the lower receiving space and has opposite tube ends adjacent respectively to the top and bottom surfaces of the barrel section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a ball bat according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a pair of raw wooden pieces and first and second tubes before being combined and shaped into the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the preferred embodiment; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment of a ball bat according to the present invention includes a bat body 10, a first tube 20 and a second tube 30.

The bat body 10 extends along a main axis (L) and has a barrel section 101, a knob section 102, and a handle section 103. The barrel section 101 has an upper receiving space 12 which extends along the main axis (L) and which is defined cooperatively by a tubular side surface 122 extending along the main axis (L) and top and bottom surfaces 121 connected respectively to opposite ends of the side surface 122 along the main axis (L). The knob section 102 is opposite to the barrel section 101 along the main axis (L). The handle section 103 interconnects the barrel section 101 and the knob section 102, and defines a lower receiving space 13 therein which is isolated from the upper receiving space 12, which extends along the main axis (L), and which is defined cooperatively by a tubular side surface 132 extending along the main axis (L) and top and bottom surfaces 131 connected respectively to opposite ends of the side surface 132 along the main axis (L). In this embodiment, the upper receiving space 12 has a diameter greater than that of the lower receiving space 13.

Specifically, the bat body 10 is integrally formed by a plurality of angularly-disposed wooden pieces 11 that extend along the main axis (L). Each of the wooden pieces 11 has a connecting region 111 that extends along the main axis (L), that is formed with an upper groove 112 as a portion of the upper receiving space 12, a lower groove 113 as a portion of the lower receiving space 13, and a separating part 114 separating the upper groove 112 from the lower groove 113. In this embodiment, the bat body 10 includes a pair of the wooden pieces 11, and the connecting region 111 of each of the wooden pieces 11 is configured as a plane.

The first tube 20 is disposed in the upper receiving space 12 and has opposite tube ends 21 adjacent respectively to the top and bottom surfaces 121 of the barrel section 101. In this embodiment, the opposite tube ends 21 of the first tube 20 abut respectively against the top and bottom surfaces 121 of the barrel section 101. The first tube 20 may be made of a fiber reinforced plastic material, other composite materials, an aluminum alloy or other metals.

The second tube 30 is disposed in the lower receiving space 13 and has opposite tube ends 31 adjacent respectively to the top and bottom surfaces 131 of the handle section 103. In this embodiment, the opposite tube ends 31 of the second tube 30 abut respectively against the top and bottom surfaces 131 of the handle section 103. The second tube 30 may be made of a fiber reinforced plastic material, other composite materials, an aluminum alloy or other metals. In this embodiment, the first tube 20 has an outer diameter that is greater than that of the second tube 30, and the first and second tubes 20, 30 are fittingly and respectively retained in the upper and lower receiving spaces 12, 13.

Further referring to FIG. 2, to make the preferred embodiment of the ball bat according to the present invention, a pair of raw wooden pieces 100, the first tube 20 and the second tube 30 are prepared. Each of the raw wooden pieces 100 has the planar connecting region 111 that is formed with the upper groove 112 and the lower groove 113. The first tube 20 and the second tube 30 are then placed respectively into the upper groove 112 and the lower groove 113 of one of the raw wooden pieces 111, followed by combining the raw wooden pieces 111 through adhering the connecting regions 111 with each other and shaping the raw wooden pieces 100 into the wooden pieces 11 so as to obtain the ball bat of the present invention.

Further referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the finished wooden pieces 11 of the preferred embodiment further has a barrel portion that defines the upper groove 112 and that has a semicircular cross-section, a handle portion that defines the lower groove 113 and that has a semi-elliptic cross-section (see FIG. 4), and a knob portion that extends from the handle portion along a knob axis (K) which is oblique to the main axis (L), and that has a semi-elliptic cross-section on an imaginary plane (P) which is perpendicular to the knob axis (K). The barrel portions of the wooden pieces 11 integrally form the barrel section 101 of the bat body 10, the handle portions of the wooden pieces 11 integrally form the handle section 103 of the bat body 10, and the knob portions of the wooden pieces 11 integrally form the knob section 102 of the bat body 10. The configuration of the knob section 102 allows a larger contact area for a palm edge of a holder, thereby increasing stability while holding the ball bat.

To sum up, the preferred embodiment of the ball bat according to the present invention has the following advantages:

(1) the first tube 20 and the second tube 30 are made of light-weight materials, thereby resulting in reduced overall weight and better hitting performance of the ball bat;

(2) the first tube 20 and the second tube 30 are disposed and positioned respectively in the upper receiving space 12 and the lower receiving space 13, so that no plug is needed compared to the prior art, thereby resulting in a simpler manufacturing process;

(3) the upper receiving space 12 and the lower receiving space 13 are mutually isolated by the separating parts 114 of the wooden pieces 11, so as to prevent transfer of vibrancy from the first tube 20 to the second tube 30 when the ball bat hits a ball, which can reduce discomfort of a holder while holding the ball bat and increase the hitting accuracy; and

(4) the positions of the separating parts 114 of the wooden pieces 11 are adjustable by defining the axial length of the upper and lower grooves 112,113, such that the center of gravity of the ball bat is adjustable.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.

Claims

1. A ball bat comprising: a bat body that extends along a main axis and that has a barrel section having an upper receiving space that extends along the main axis and that is defined cooperatively by a side surface extending along the main axis and top and bottom surfaces connected respectively to opposite ends of said side surface along the main axis,a knob section opposite to said barrel section along the main axis, anda handle section interconnecting said barrel and knob sections and having a lower receiving space that is isolated from said upper receiving space, that extends along the main axis, and that is defined cooperatively by a side surface extending along the main axis and top and bottom surfaces connected respectively to opposite ends of said side surface along the main axis,said bat body including a plurality of angularly-disposed wooden pieces that extend along the main axis, each of said wooden pieces having a connecting region that is formed with an upper groove as a portion of said upper receiving space, a lower groove as a portion of said lower receiving space, and a separating part that separates said upper groove from said lower groove;a first tube that is disposed in said upper receiving space and that has opposite tube ends adjacent respectively to said top and bottom surfaces of said barrel section; anda second tube that is disposed in said lower receiving space and that has opposite tube ends adjacent respectively to said top and bottom surfaces of said handle section.

2. The ball bat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bat body includes a pair of said wooden pieces, said connecting region of each of said wooden pieces being configured as a plane.

3. The ball bat as claimed in claim 2, wherein each of said wooden pieces further has: a barrel portion that defines said upper groove and that has a semicircular cross-section;a handle portion that defines said lower groove and that has a semi-elliptic cross-section; anda knob portion that extends from said handle portion along a knob axis which is oblique to the main axis, and that has a semi-elliptic cross-section.

4. The ball bat as claimed in claim 2, wherein said upper receiving space has a diameter that is greater than that of said lower receiving space, said first tube having an outer diameter that is greater than that of said second tube.

5. The ball bat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first tube is made of one of a fiber reinforced plastic material and an aluminum alloy.

6. The ball bat as claimed in claim 5, wherein said second tube is made of one of a fiber reinforced plastic material and an aluminum alloy.

7. The ball bat as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second tube is made of one of a fiber reinforced plastic material and an aluminum alloy.