Patent Application
20150144226
The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
The present disclosure relates to a process for manufacturing wooden baseball bat billets, baseball bats and billiard/snooker cues.
Most professional baseball leagues use wooden baseball bats during play. A major danger in the use of the wooden baseball bats is that they can break when they strike a pitched baseball, typically at the narrow handle part of the bat. This break is often clean and causes the bat to break in two pieces, where the momentum of the broken piece combined with the impact of the baseball causes the broken piece to go flying at a high speed towards other players or even the spectators. The broken end has jagged sharp edges and can cause serious injury if it strikes a person.
Therefore, only wooden baseball bats made from a single piece of wood of selective types and within a narrow range of specifications for dimensions and weight are permitted to be used in the major league games. Any type of modification to these bats, like using metal, plastic or reinforcements, is unwelcome because it may change the way in which the bat swings or the way the bat interacts with the ball or its effect thereof, thereby providing the batter with an advantage or a disadvantage with respect to other batters using conventional wooden bats. In the past several efforts have been made to strengthen the wooden baseball bats against breakage. Many of these modifications include applying a surface coating to the bat or gluing the radial pieces of wood together, which affects the striking surface of the bat, thereby altering how the bat interacts with a pitched baseball, and thus affecting the game of baseball.
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a method for manufacturing wooden billets for turning the baseball bat and wooden baseball bats, that conform to the specifications, dimensions, and hitting properties of wooden baseball bats used in the major leagues.
Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a method for manufacturing wooden billets for baseball bat and baseball bat turned out of the billet which does not break into a handle portion and a projectile portion, which may injure players or spectators.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a method for manufacturing wooden billets and wooden baseball bats, which are standardized and durable with high-strength, flexibility and improved performance.
One more object of the present disclosure is to provide a method for manufacturing billiard/snooker cues.
Other objects and advantages in the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures, which are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
In accordance with the present disclosure, there is provided a process for manufacturing wooden baseball bat billets, wooden baseball bats and billiard/snooker cues, said process comprising the following steps:
Typically, in accordance with the present disclosure, the process comprises cooling the processed wood prior to shaping.
Preferably, in accordance with the present disclosure, the process comprises drying the processed wood prior to shaping by a process selected from traditional drying and vacuum drying, to adjust the final uniform weight of the wooden billet, baseball bat and billiard/snooker cues.
Typically, in accordance with the present disclosure, wherein the wood is selected from English willow, Kashmir willow, North American Hardwoods, Hard Maple, American Northern White Ash and the like. Preferably, the hardwoods and willow are green wood. More preferably, the willow has moisture content between 30-70%.
The disclosure will now be described with the help of the non-limiting accompanying drawings, in which,
The disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which do not limit the scope and ambit of the disclosure. The description provided is purely by way of example and illustration.
The present disclosure envisages a process for producing wooden baseball bat billets, baseball bats and billiard/snooker cues having improved flexibility, durability, power and strength. The process of the present disclosure involves natural, artistic and mechanically controlled processes over the North American Hardwoods and willow for producing the wooden billets, baseball bats and the billiard/snooker cues. The billets are round sticks having a thickness of about 2.5 inches to 3.5 inches and length about 36 inches to 39 inches, from which the baseball bat is turned. The billet can also be one of the products sold to bat manufacturers in volume. The process of the present disclosure further avoids any risk of blue stain in the hardwoods and willow used for bats/cues while cold storage, steaming or heating for fumigation purposes. The present disclosure aims at providing processes over the willow/hardwood/cane used for making wooden billets, baseball bats and billiard cues for the purpose of producing uniform performance standardization, improvement, durability, strength, acceptability, anti-breakage and flexibility, so as to enhance the overall satisfaction of the bat/cue by the players on a national as well as international level.
The Northern American hardwoods and willow 100 are illustrated in
The scanned hardwoods and willow (A) are heated at or more than 100° C. and then passed through longitudinal compression processes, which are adapted according to the hardwoods and willow characteristics. The scanned hardwoods and willow (A) are softened by heating/steaming. The steaming step 200 is illustrated in
In the strengthening step 400, the standardized hardwoods and willow (C) are compressed along the length, width and thickness, particularly along the length of the standardized hardwoods and willow (C), as shown by arrows 402. The strengthening step 400 comprises fixing the hardwoods and willow along the sides by means of a hydraulic cylinder that presses the hardwoods and willow along the length. This process gives an even compression throughout the entire length. The compression process is automatically controlled by a PLC control unit. The strengthening step 400 causes the axial fibres in the hardwoods and willow to cross-link, thereby strengthening the hardwoods and willow to produce processed hardwoods and willow (D), which can be shaped.
The processed hardwoods and willow (D) may be cooled or dried or can be directly machined for shaping into billets for the baseball bats or baseball bats or billiard/snooker cues. The drying can be done by a process selected from traditional drying or vacuum drying, to adjust the final uniform weight of the wooden billet, baseball bat and billiard/snooker cue.
A process for manufacturing wooden billets, baseball bats and billiard/snooker cues, as described in the present disclosure has several technical advantages including but not limited to the realization of:
Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the disclosure to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.
Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.
The numerical values mentioned for the various physical parameters, dimensions or quantities are only approximations and it is envisaged that the values higher/lower than the numerical values assigned to the parameters, dimensions or quantities fall within the scope of the disclosure, unless there is a statement in the specification specific to the contrary.
In view of the wide variety of embodiments to which the principles of the present disclosure can be applied, it should be understood that the illustrated embodiments are exemplary only. While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the particular features of this disclosure, it will be appreciated that various modifications can be made, and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principle of the disclosure. These and other modifications in the nature of the disclosure or the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2114/MUM/2012 | Jul 2012 | IN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IN2013/000441 | 7/17/2013 | WO | 00 |
