Shockproof device in the throat of a tennis racket

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6561933
  • Patent Number
    6,561,933
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, December 4, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 13, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Chiu; Raleigh W.
Abstract
A shockproof device in the throat of a tennis racket includes a racket having a frame, a stringing surface in the frame, a throat of truncated triangular configuration under the frame and including a pair of tubular branches spacedly extending downward from the lower peripheries of the frame and a Y-shaped handle including a pair of solid branches spacedly extending upward and each having an elastic sleeve wrapped on inserted into the tubular branches in a predetermined depth and secured by adhesives, and a conical gap centrally formed in the bottom of the frame and filled up by an conical elastic projection of a sheath which wraps the frame. Thereby, the shock waves from the frame are partially hindered and absorbed by the conical elastic projection and partially absorbed by the elastic sleeves in the throat without transmitting to the handle.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to tennis racket and more particularly to a shockproof device in the throat of a tennis racket which absorbs the shock waves from the frame without transmitting to the handle of the racket.




The shockproof device in a tennis racket is very important. It prevents the shock waves from transmitting to the handle of a racket in order to protect the hand of a player and to promote the scores of the player in a competition. Generally, a hit of a tennis racket against a flying ball creates a great deal of the shock waves. If the tennis racket has no any shockproof arrangement. The shock waves will transmit to the handle of the racket that injure the hand and twist of the player and gradually cause a tennis elbow. Thus, many tennis rackets in the market have different shockproof devices. However, the result is not as expected.




SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION




The present invention has a main object to provide a shockproof device in the throat of a tennis racket to prevent the shock waves from transmitted to the handle of the racket.




Accordingly, the shockproof device in the throat of a tennis racket of the present invention comprises generally a racket having a head or frame, a stringing surface in the frame, a throat separated from a handle to form a truncated triangular configuration which has a pair of tubular branches spacedly extended downward from the frame. The handle forms a Y-shaped configuration which has a pair of branches spacedly extended upward from the handle and respectively inserted into the tubular branches of the throat in predetermined depth. An elastic sleeve is wrapped on the branches of the handle and secured by adhesives. A conical gap centrally formed in the bottom of the frame and to set the bottom of the frame apart. A sheath has a conical elastic projection centrally formed on inner surface to fill up the gap of the frame and a plurality of tubular pins spacedly projected from inner surface of the sheath to respectively insert into the horizontal string holes of the frame for permitting the strings passing through. Therefore, the shock waves will be absorbed by the sheath and the throat without transmitting to the handle.











The present invention will become more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description thereof when read in conjunction with the attached drawings.




BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view to show a tennis racket of a preferred embodiment of the present invention,





FIG. 2

is a sectional view of

FIG. 1

,





FIG. 3

is a plane view of a sheath of the present invention,





FIG. 4

is a plane view and partially sectional view to show an alternate embodiment of the present invention, and





FIG. 5

is a plane view and partially sectional view to show another alternate embodiment of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




With reference to

FIGS. 1

,


2


and


3


of the drawings, the first embodiment of the shockproof device in the throat of a tennis racket of the present invention comprises generally a racket


10


having a head or frame


11


, a stringing surface


12


inside the frame


11


, a conical gap


13


centrally formed in the bottom of the frame


11


, a sheath


14


to wrap the bottom of the frame


11


which includes a plurality of tubular pins


141


spacedly extended from the inner surface of the sheath


14


and respectively inserted into the horizontal through holes


111


of the frame


11


for passing through the strings


12


, a conical elastic projection


143


centrally projected from an inner surface of the sheath


14


which is provided to fill up the conical gap


13


of the frame


11


and a pair of lateral plates


144


perpendicular to upper and lower edges of the sheath


14


and engaged with the upper and lower surfaces of the frame


11


respectively, a throat


15


separated from the handle


16


so as to form a truncated triangular configuration which includes a pair of tubular branches


151


in predetermined depth, whereas the handle


16


formed a Y-shaped configuration which includes a pair of branches


161


each having an elastic sleeve


18


wrapped on. The branches


161


have the diameter slightly less than the inner diameter


152


of the tubular branches


151


so that the branches


161


with the elastic sleeves


18


wrapped on can be able to insert into the tubular branches


151


in predetermined depth and are secured by adhesives. On the conjunctions of the tubular branches


151


and the frame


11


, a plurality of horizontal through holes


162


are formed through the tubular branches


151


, the elastic sleeves


18


, the branches


161


and the frame


11


in order to permit the strings


12


passing through. These strings


12


have an extra function to fix the tubular branches


151


together with the elastic sleeves


18


and the branches


161


. Meanwhile, the strings


12


on the bottom of the frame


11


has also the function to fix the sheath


14


with the frame


11


.




Based on the above discussed structure, when the shock waves from the frame


11


are partially hindered and absorbed by the gap


13


and the elastic projection


143


and partially absorbed by the elastic sleeves


18


in the throat


15


without transmitting to the handle


16


. So that the hand of a player will feel comfortable when the racket hits a flying ball.




Referring to

FIG. 4

, a second embodiment of the present invention is provided. In this embodiment the structure and function are mostly similar to the first embodiment as described in

FIGS. 1

to


3


. The only difference is that the sheath


14


is omitted, and a pair of support rods


27


are added to connect between the bottom of the frame


11


and the tubular branches


151


of the throat


15


. Each of the support rods


27


has a horizontal through hole


271


to facilitate the passing through of the string


12


. The conical gap


13


still has the function to hinder the shock waves in the frame


11


and the support rods


27


are provided as the reinforcement in the throat


15


.




Referring to

FIG. 5

, a third embodiment of the present invention is provided. The structure and function of this embodiment are principally no difference from the second embodiment. Only the support rods


27


is omitted and instead of is a pair of triangular reinforcement plates


37


integrated with the bottom of the frame


11


and the tubular branches


151


respectively and are positioned at the conjunction of the frame


11


and the tubular branches


151


. For the passing through of the strings


12


, a plurality of horizontal thru holes


371


are also formed through the tubular branches


151


, the elastic sleeves


18


, the branches


161


, the reinforcement plates


37


and the frame


11


.




The specification relating to the above embodiments should be construed as exemplary rather than as limitative of the present invention, with many variations and modifications being readily attainable by a person of average skill in the art without departing from the spirit or scope thereof as defined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.



Claims
  • 1. A shockproof device in the throat of a tennis racket comprising:a racket having a frame, a stringing surface inside said frame and a conical gap centrally formed in bottom of said frame; a pair of tubular branches spacedly extending downward from lower peripheries of said frame to define a throat of truncated triangular configuration; a Y-shaped handle having a pair of branches spacedly extending upward and inserted into said tubular branches respectively in predetermined depth and secured by adhesives; a pair of elastic sleeves respectively wrapped on the front portion of said branches of said handle inside said tubular branches of said throat; a plurality of horizontal through holes spacedly formed in conjunctions of said frame and said tubular branches through said tubular branches, said elastic sleeves, said branches of the handle and said frame to permit passing through of strings; a sheath engaged the bottom of said frame having a conical elastic projection centrally extending upward from a inner surface of said sheath to fill up said conical gap of said frame, a plurality of tubular pins spacedly extending upward to respectively insert into said horizontal through holes of said frame for passing through said strings and a pair of lateral plates engaged with upper and lower surface of said frame; whereby shockwaves from said frame are partially hindered and absorbed by said conical elastic projection and partially absorbed by said elastic sleeves in said throat.
  • 2. The shockproof device as recited in claim 1 wherein said branches of said handle have an outer diameter slightly less than inner diameter of said tubular branches.
  • 3. A shockproof device in the throat of a tennis racket comprising:a racket having a frame, a stringing surface inside said frame and a conical gap centrally formed in bottom of said frame; a pair tubular branches spacedly extending downward from lower peripheries of said frame to define a throat of truncated triangular configuration; a Y-shaped handle having a pair of branches spacedly extending upward each including an elastic sleeve wrapped on front portion and inserted into said tubular branches in predetermined depth and secured by adhesives; a plurality of horizontal through holes spacedly formed in conjunctions of said frame and said tubular branches through said tubular branches, said elastic sleeves, said branches of said handle and said frame to permit passing through of strings; a pair of support rods spacedly connected between said frame and said tubular branches abutting said conjunctions for reinforcement purpose.
  • 4. The shockproof device as recited in claim 3 wherein said branches of said handle have an outer diameter slightly less than inner diameter of said tubular branches.
  • 5. A shockproof device in a throat of a tennis racket comprising:a racket having a frame, a stringing surface inside said frame and a conical gap centrally formed in bottom of said frame; a pair of tubular branches spacedly extending downward from lower peripheries of said frame to define a throat of truncated triangular configuration; a Y-shaped handle having a pair of branches spacedly extending upward each including an elastic sleeve wrapped on front portion and inserted into said tubular branches in predetermined depth and secured by adhesives; a pair of reinforcement plates respectively integrated with said frame and said tubular branches abutting conjunctions of said frame and said tubular branches; a plurality of horizontal through holes spacedly formed in said conjunctions through said tubular branches, said elastic sleeves, said branches of said handle, said reinforcement plates and said frame to permit passing through of said strings.
  • 6. The shockproof device as recited in claim 5 wherein said branches of said handle have an outer diameter slightly less than inner diameter of said tubular branches.
Parent Case Info

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/987,783, filed Nov. 16, 2001.

US Referenced Citations (5)
Number Name Date Kind
4765620 Janes Aug 1988 A
4828260 Todd May 1989 A
4889338 Keijiro Dec 1989 A
5350173 DiCerbo Sep 1994 A
5779572 Dicerbo Jul 1998 A
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number Date Country
605166 Nov 1934 DE
221688 May 1987 EP
420966 Dec 1934 GB
Continuation in Parts (1)
Number Date Country
Parent 09/987783 Nov 2001 US
Child 10/000164 US