PICKLEBALL PADDLE WITH SEGMENTED CORES

Abstract

A pickleball paddle with segmented cores, comprising a plate body and a grip body, the plate body has a core, a frame and two surface layers, the frame is disposed on a periphery of the core, the core defines at least two ball-striking response parts adjacent to each other, a segment gap is formed between any two of the ball-striking response parts, the two surface layers are spaced apart from each other and respectively assembled on the core and the frame, and the grip body is formed from a bottom side of the frame of the plate body. Thereby, the core of the plate body is capable of deforming easily through the segment gaps between the ball-striking response parts, which is conducive to controlling a duration that a pickleball stays on the plate body, and also conducive to controlling a rotational force of the plate body on the pickleball.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a pickleball paddle with segmented cores.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pickleball is a sport played with a paddle and is becoming very popular rapidly. It has always been the goal of manufacturers to pursue manufacturing a paddle capable of improving the performance of the user and strengthening the confidence of the user.

Please refer to FIG. 1 for a schematic diagram of US Patent Publication No. US10377093B2, which discloses the pickleball paddle provided with the core C made of carbon fiber material. However, due to application of a large area of hard carbon fiber material, the core C has high stiffness, small deflection, low flexion, and high coefficient of restitution (COR). As a result, it is difficult for the core C to deform, which is not conducive to controlling a duration that a pickleball stays on the pickleball paddle, nor is it conducive to controlling a rotational force of the pickleball paddle on the pickleball.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a pickleball paddle with segmented cores to solve the problems mentioned above in the prior art.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a pickleball paddle with segmented cores provided comprises a plate body comprising: a core, the core defines at least two ball-striking response parts adjacent to each other, a segment gap is formed between any two of the at least two ball-striking response parts; a frame, the frame is disposed on a periphery of the core; and two surface layers, the two surface layers are spaced apart from each other and respectively assembled on the core and the frame, and the two surface layers correspond to the at least two ball-striking response parts.

Numerous objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a conventional pickleball paddle;

FIG. 2 is a plan assembled view of a first embodiment of a pickleball paddle with segmented cores of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an assembled sectional view of the pickleball paddle with the segmented cores of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a partial exploded view of the pickleball paddle with the segmented cores of the invention;

FIG. 5 is another partial exploded view of the pickleball paddle with the segmented cores of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial enlarged view of the pickleball paddle with the segmented cores of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a plan assembled view of a second embodiment of the pickleball paddle with the segmented cores of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention provides a pickleball paddle with segmented cores. The invention takes a pickleball paddle as an example, but the pickleball paddle is also applicable to paddles of different sizes, such as table tennis paddle or beach paddle.

Please refer to FIG. 2 to FIG. 5 at the same time, a pickleball paddle 10 comprises a plate body 20 and a grip body 30, the plate body 20 comprises a core 21 and a frame 22, and the frame 22 is disposed on a periphery of the core 21.

Wherein the core 21 defines at least two ball-striking response parts 21A adjacent to each other. The invention uses the five ball-striking response parts 21A as an embodiment, but is not limited to the number disclosed above. A segment gap 21B is further formed between any two of the ball-striking response parts 21A, a size of the segment gap 21B depends on whether any two of the ball-striking response parts 21A are arranged densely or sparsely.

Thereby, the core 21 is capable of deforming easily through the segment gaps 21B between the ball-striking response parts 21A. Deformation is achieved by reducing a stiffness, increasing a deflection, enhancing a flexion, and reducing a coefficient of restitution (COR), in order to control a duration that a pickleball stays on the plate body 20, and also to control a rotational force of the plate body 20 on the pickleball.

When a number of the segment gap 21B is more than 2 (inclusive), forming directions of any two of the segment gaps 21B are selected from either intersecting or non-intersecting or a combination thereof, and the forming direction refers to an arrow direction X in FIG. 2.

Each of the ball-striking response parts 21A is further provided with a plurality of components 21A1 that are polygonal columnar, cylindrical, semi-cylindrical, curved columnar, or deformation of the aforementioned columnar shapes. The component 21A1 has a first response parameter. The first response parameter can be stiffness, but is not limited to stiffness (for example, one or a combination of deflection, flexion and coefficient of restitution related to stiffness). The components 21A1 are arranged with one another. Any one of the components 21A1 extends between corresponding frame edges of the frame 22. Wherein the components 21A1 are arranged longitudinally with one another as one embodiment, or the components 21A1 are arranged transversely with one another as another embodiment, or the components 21A1 are arranged obliquely with one another as yet another embodiment, but the components 21A1 are not limited to either the longitudinal arrangement, the transverse arrangement or the oblique arrangement disclosed above or a combination thereof.

A component gap 21A2 is further provided between any two of the components 21A1, a size of the component gap 21A2 depends on whether any two of the components 21A1 are arranged densely or sparsely.

Each of the components 21A1 is made of either honeycomb structure or rib structure, but the components 21A1 are not limited thereto. For the honeycomb structure, please refer to FIG. 1 of US Patent Publication No. US20180104555A1, for the rib structure, please refer to FIG. 7 of US Patent Publication No. US10377093B2, the aforementioned patents are for reference only, and are not intended to limit the components 21A1. In addition, each of the components 21A1 is made of either carbon fiber material, hard plastic material or hard foam material, but the components 21A1 are not limited thereto.

The frame 22 has a second response parameter. The second response parameter can be stiffness, but is not limited to stiffness (for example, one or a combination of deflection, flexion and coefficient of restitution related to stiffness). The frame 22 is made of either polyethylene (PE) or ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer, but is not limited thereto.

Therefore, the first response parameter of the component 21A1 and the second response parameter of the frame 22 are different from each other, and further different materials are used for making the component 21A1 and the frame 22 to have different stiffnesses. In the invention, the first response parameter of the component 21A1 being greater than the second response parameter of the frame 22 is used as an embodiment, that is, a stiffness of the component 21A1 is greater than a stiffness of the frame 22 is used as an embodiment, but the invention is not limited to the above-disclosed embodiment.

The plate body 20 further comprises two surface layers 23 spaced apart from each other. Each of the surface layers 23 is respectively assembled on the core 21 and the frame 22, each of the surface layers 23 is respectively further assembled on the component 21A1 of the ball-striking response part 21A of the core 21 and the frame 22. The two surface layers 23 are made of either a carbon fiber or a glass fiber, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The grip body 30 is formed from a bottom side of the frame 22 of the plate body 20, and can be formed by extending longitudinally or by connecting longitudinally. The longitudinal direction refers to an arrow direction Y in FIG. 2. The grip body 30 and the plate body 20 can be made of a same material or can be made of different materials. Width and thickness of the grip body 30 are different from those of the plate body 20, variations in width and thickness are provided for a user to grip comfortably.

The grip body 30 is further assembling with a handle 31, a further embodiment of the aforementioned assembling is sleeving, but is not limited to sleeving. The handle 31 is made of a synthetic rubber, but is not limited thereto. The handle 31 enables the user to control the plate body 20 more stably.

Please refer to FIG. 6, the segment gap 21B of the core 21 is further provided with a filler 21B1, the filler 21B1 has a coefficient of elasticity, the coefficient of elasticity depends on the user's demands, and differences in the coefficient of elasticity will cause changes in ball-striking sound. The filler 21B1 is further a rubber band with the coefficient of elasticity.

Please refer to FIG. 7. Differences between the second embodiment and the first embodiment lie in the ball-striking response parts 21A, a number of components 21A1′ of each of the ball-striking response parts 21A can be 1, and the components 21A1′ do not need to be arranged with one another. Moreover, each of the ball-striking response parts 21A can be provided with either the components 21A1 or the components 21A1′, or a combination thereof. Any two of the components 21A1, 21A1′ adjacent to each other are made of either honeycomb structure or rib structure, but the components 21A1, 21A1′ are not limited thereto. Any two of the components 21A1, 21A1′ adjacent to each other are made of either carbon fiber material, hard plastic material or hard foam material, but the components 21A1, 21A1′ are not limited thereto.

Descriptions of “first” and “second” mentioned in the invention are used for distinction and do not represent a sequence.

IN SUMMARY

the core 21 of the invention is capable of deforming easily through combination of the ball-striking response parts 21A and the segment gaps 21B, deformation is achieved by reducing a stiffness, increasing a deflection, enhancing a flexion, and reducing a coefficient of restitution (COR), in order to control a duration that a pickleball stays on the plate body 20, and also to control a rotational force of the plate body 20 on the pickleball.

The benefits and advantages which may be provided by the present invention have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. These benefits and advantages, and any elements or limitations that may cause them to occur or to become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features of any or all of the embodiments.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention not be limited by this detailed description, but by the claims and the equivalents to the claims appended hereto.

Claims

1. A pickleball paddle with segmented cores, comprising a plate body, the plate body comprising: a core, the core defining at least two ball-striking response parts adjacent to each other, a segment gap being formed between any two of the at least two ball-striking response parts;a frame, the frame being disposed on a periphery of the core; and

2. The pickleball paddle with the segmented cores as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least two ball-striking response parts are further provided with a plurality of components, the components have the first response parameters, the components are arranged with one another, the components extend between corresponding frame edges of the frame, and the two surface layers are assembled on the components of the core.

3. The pickleball paddle with the segmented cores as claimed in claim 2, wherein the components are either arranged longitudinally with one another, or arranged transversely with one another, or arranged obliquely with one another, or arranged with one another in a combination of the above arrangements, a component gap is further provided between any two of the components, the components are made of either honeycomb structure or rib structure, the components are made of either carbon fiber material, hard plastic material or hard foam material.

4. The pickleball paddle with the segmented cores as claimed in claim 2, wherein the frame has a second response parameter, the components with the first response parameters and the frame with the second response parameter are made of different materials, the first response parameter and the second response parameter are stiffness.

5. The pickleball paddle with the segmented cores as claimed in claim 1, wherein the frame is made of either polyethylene (PE) or ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer, and the two surface layers are made of either a carbon fiber or a glass fiber.

6. The pickleball paddle with the segmented cores as claimed in claim 1, wherein further comprising a grip body, the grip body being formed by extending longitudinally or by connecting longitudinally from a bottom side of the frame of the plate body, the grip body being further assembled with a handle, and the handle being made of a synthetic rubber.

7. The pickleball paddle with the segmented cores as claimed in claim 1, wherein forming directions of any two of the segment gaps are selected from either intersecting or non-intersecting or a combination thereof.

8. The pickleball paddle with the segmented cores as claimed in claim 1, wherein the segment gap is further provided with a filler, the filler has a coefficient of elasticity, and the filler is further a rubber band with the coefficient of elasticity.