Racket structure with ball-striking racket face

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6540626
  • Patent Number
    6,540,626
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, April 3, 2002
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, April 1, 2003
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Chiu; Raleigh W.
    Agents
    • Troxell Law Office PLLC
Abstract
Racket structure with ball-striking racket face, including a racket frame having an inner and an outer frame faces respectively formed on two radially opposite sides of the racket frame. The racket frame is formed with multiple through holes forming openings on the inner and outer frame faces. Multiple hollow stringing pins are respectively coaxially fitted in the corresponding through holes. At least one strip made of resilient material with a predetermined thickness is fixedly attached to the inner frame face. The strip is formed with several perforations having a predetermined diameter and communicating with the holes of the corresponding stringing pins. The diameter of the perforation can be changed within a certain range when suffering an external force. A string having a hardness greater than that of the strip is sequentially conducted through the stringing pins and the perforations of the strip to form a checkered mesh in the racket frame. The diameter of the string is larger than the diameter of the perforation. When conducted through the perforation, the edge of the perforation is pressed by the harder string so that the diameter of the perforation is enlarged and the edge thereof tightly embraces the string.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention is related to a sport implement, and more particularly to an improved racket structure with ball-striking racket face.




There is an existent racket frame structure which is free from any stringing pins. Such racket frame structure includes a racket frame body. The inner circumference of the frame body is formed with an accommodating channel in which a trapezoid resilient member is integrally fixedly accommodated. The frame body is formed with multiple stringing holes passing through the frame body from the inner circumference to outer circumference thereof. A string is sequentially conducted through the stringing holes to form a tensioned mesh-like racket face in the frame body.




The above racket structure has no conventional stringing pin. Therefore, when conducted between the inner and outer circumferences of the frame body, the string is not guided. This leads to inconvenience in stringing operation. Moreover, in order to more easily pass the string through the resilient member, the stringing hole is often designed with a diameter larger than that of the string for facilitating stringing operation. Accordingly, the string only contacts with the resilient member and is not tightly held thereby. When the racket face strikes a ball and suffers an impact, the reaction force transmitted by the string can be hardly effectively absorbed by the resilient member. In other words, the resilient member is unable to achieve optimal buffing effect.




There is another type of racket structure composed of two halves of frame body, which are mated with each other to form the racket frame. A cushion material is sandwiched between the two halves of frame body for absorbing shock. Such structure leads to poor strength of the frame body. Moreover, it is troublesome to process and combine the two halves into the frame body and thus the production efficiency is reduced.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved racket structure with ball-striking racket face, which has excellent shock-absorbing and buffing effect.




It is a further object of the present invention to provide the above racket structure with ball-striking racket face, in which the stringing pins are truly located to facilitate stringing operation.




According to the above objects, the racket structure with ball-striking racket face includes: a racket frame including an annular frame body having an inner frame face and an outer frame face respectively formed on two radially opposite sides of the frame body, the frame body being formed with multiple through holes passing through the frame body to form corresponding openings on the inner and outer frame faces; a handle having a predetermined length, one end of the handle being connected with the racket frame; multiple hollow stringing pins respectively coaxially fitted in the corresponding through holes; at least one strip made of resilient material and having a predetermined thickness, one face of the strip being fixedly attached to the inner frame face of the racket frame, the strip being formed with several perforations having a predetermined diameter, the perforations communicating with the holes of the corresponding stringing pins, whereby the diameter of the perforation can be changed within a certain range when suffering an external force; and a string having a hardness greater than that of the strip. The string has a predetermined diameter and is sequentially conducted through the stringing pins and the corresponding perforations of the strip to form a checkered mesh in the racket frame. The diameter of the string is larger than the diameter of the perforation, whereby when the string is conducted through the perforation, the edge of the perforation is pressed by the harder string so as to enlarge the diameter of the perforation and the edge of the perforation tightly embraces the string.




The present invention can be best understood through the following description and accompanying drawings wherein:











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a sectional view taken along line


2





2


of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a sectional view according to

FIG. 2

, showing that the string is not yet conducted through the perforation of the strip;





FIG. 4

is a sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention; and





FIG. 5

is a sectional view of a third embodiment of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




Please refer to

FIGS. 1

to


3


. According to a first embodiment of the present invention, the racket structure


10


is composed of a racket frame


20


, a handle


30


, multiple hollow stringing pins


40


, a strip


50


with a certain length and a string


60


with a certain hardness.




The racket frame


20


includes an elliptic frame body


21


having an inner frame face


22


and an outer frame face


23


respectively formed on two radially opposite sides of the frame body


21


. The inner frame face


22


is formed with an accommodating channel


24


which extends along the circumference of the frame body


21


. The frame body


21


is formed with multiple through holes


25


inward extending from the outer frame face


23


to the bottom of the accommodating channel


24


.




The handle


30


has a certain length and is integrally connected with the racket frame


20


for a user to hold.




The stringing pins


40


are sequentially upright fixedly arranged on a seat plate. The pins


40


have a certain length and a hollow cross-section. The pins


40


are respectively coaxially fitted in the corresponding through holes


25


.




The strip


50


has a length approximately equal to the length of the circumference of the inner frame face. The strip


50


is made of resilient material and has a certain thickness. The strip


50


is fully inlaid in the accommodating channel


24


in flush with the inner frame face of the frame body. The strip


50


is formed with several perforations


51


having a certain diameter. The perforations


51


communicate with the holes of the corresponding pins


40


.




The string


60


is conducted through the racket frame


20


to form a tensioned racket face in the frame body


21


.




It should be noted that the diameter of the perforation


51


can be changed within a certain range when suffering an external force. The diameter of the string


60


is larger than that of the perforation


51


. When the string


60


is conducted through the perforation


51


, due to the hardness of the string


60


, the edge of the perforation


51


is pressed and displaced so as to enlarge the diameter of the perforation


51


. Accordingly, the edge of the perforation


51


tightly embraces the string


60


to integrally connect therewith. Moreover, when the diameter of the perforation


51


is enlarged by the string


60


and the displaced edge


511


of the perforation tightly embraces the string


60


, the density of the edge


511


is increased due to compression. Therefore, the density of the edge


511


is slightly greater than the average density of the strip


50


.




Furthermore, the edge


511


of the perforation


51


tightly embraces the string


60


to integrally connect therewith. Accordingly, the strip


50


is able to integrally distribute the force applied to the racket face formed of the string


60


. In other words, when striking the ball, the impact force applied to the racket face can be properly buffed and compensated by the strip


50


. Moreover, the edge


511


of the perforation embracing the string


60


is compressed to increase the density thereof to a certain extent. Therefore, the action force is transmitted from the string


60


through the edge


511


with higher density to the entire strip


50


. This increases the shock-absorbing ability of the strip


50


and prolongs using life of the racket.




In addition, it should be noted that by means of changing the diameter of the perforation


51


, the tightness between the string


60


and the edge of the perforation


51


can be changed. Further by means of cooperatively setting the elastic coefficient and thickness of the strip


50


, different buffing and shock-absorbing effects can be achieved. Accordingly, different requirements of different users can be optimally satisfied.





FIG. 4

shows a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the racket structure


10


′ is basically identical to the first embodiment. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the strip


50


′ further has a groove


52


′ formed on one face of the strip


50


′ facing the bottom of the accommodating channel


24


′. The groove


52


′ extends along the length of the strip


50


′, whereby the bottom of the groove


52


′ and the bottom of the accommodating channel


24


′ define therebetween a receiving space.




One end of each pin


40


′ extends out from the opening of the corresponding through hole


25


′ and is accommodated in the receiving space, whereby the respective pins


40


′ can be conveniently fitted into the corresponding through holes


25


′. Prior to stringing operation, the pins


40


′ can be preliminarily located to facilitate stringing operation. Accordingly, the string can be truly conducted through the pins


40


′ without being deflected due to deflection of the pins. The second embodiment can achieve the same function as the first embodiment.




Moreover, by means of the groove


52


′, the total weight of the strip


50


′ is reduced so as to decrease the total weight of the racket.





FIG. 5

shows a third embodiment of the present invention, in which the perforation


51


″ of the racket structure


10


″ has a diameter smaller than that of the string


60


″ as in the first embodiment. The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the inner frame face


22


″ is a smooth arch face free from the accommodating channel of the first embodiment. The strip


50


″ is directly fixedly adhered to the inner frame face


22


″. Such structure can achieve a buffing effect the same as the first embodiment. In practice, a user can additionally adhere the strip


50


″ onto a conventional racket. Depending on whether the pins


40


″ protrude from the inner frame face


22


″, strips with different cross-sectional shapes can be selected and partially or entirely attached to the inner frame face


22


″ to enhance the shock-absorbing effect of the conventional racket. The number and position of the strip


50


″ are not limited and are variable with the actual requirement. Therefore, the present invention can be widely applied to various rackets.




The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many modifications of the above embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. Racket structure with ball-striking racket face, comprising:a racket frame including an annular frame body having an inner frame face and an outer frame face respectively formed on two radially opposite sides of the frame body, the frame body being formed with multiple through holes passing through the frame body to form corresponding openings on the inner and outer frame faces; a handle having a predetermined length, one end of the handle being connected with the racket frame; multiple hollow stringing pins respectively coaxially fitted in the corresponding through holes; at least one strip made of resilient material and having a predetermined thickness, one face of the strip being fixedly attached to the inner frame face of the racket frame, the strip being formed with several perforations having a predetermined diameter, the perforations communicating with the holes of the corresponding stringing pins, whereby the diameter of the perforation can be changed within a certain range when suffering an external force; and a string having a hardness greater than that of the strip, the string having a predetermined diameter, the string being sequentially conducted through the stringing pins and the corresponding perforations of the strip to form a checkered mesh in the racket frame, the diameter of the string being larger than the diameter of the perforation, whereby when the string is conducted through the perforation, the edge of the perforation is pressed by the harder string so as to enlarge the diameter of the perforation and the edge of the perforation tightly embraces the string.
  • 2. Racket structure with ball-striking racket face as claimed in claim 1, wherein the end of each stringing pin proximal to the inner frame face is not protruded from the inner frame face.
  • 3. Racket structure with ball-striking racket face as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inner frame face of the racket frame is formed with at least one accommodating channel in which the strip is inlaid.
  • 4. Racket structure with ball-striking racket face as claimed in claim 3, wherein the strip has a groove formed on one face of the strip facing the bottom of the accommodating channel, whereby the bottom of the groove and the bottom of the accommodating channel define therebetween a receiving space in which one end of the stringing pin is accommodated.
  • 5. Racket structure with ball-striking racket face as claimed in claim 1, wherein the edge of the perforation embracing the string is compressed to enlarge the diameter of the perforation and increase the density of the edge of the perforation, whereby the density of the edge of the perforation is slightly greater than the average density of the strip.
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
4750742 Coupar Jun 1988 A
4909511 DeVille et al. Mar 1990 A
4993711 DeVille et al. Feb 1991 A
5702313 Stennett Dec 1997 A
5762570 Shaw Jun 1998 A
5980403 Simidian, II Nov 1999 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number Date Country
421950 Apr 1991 EP
2186804 Aug 1987 GB