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Last Updated: March 29, 2024

Claims for Patent: 8,092,882


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Summary for Patent: 8,092,882
Title:Sports equipment with resonant core bodies and method for production thereof
Abstract: Provided is a shaped body for production of sports equipment such as tennis, squash, and badminton rackets, golf clubs, hockey and ice hockey sticks and baseball bats. The shaped body includes a core of two tubular resonant bodies, running parallel to and spaced at a distance from each other and surrounded by a common covering. A spacer body with convexly curved opposed ends is arranged between the resonant bodies, whereby the mass of the resonant bodies is greater than that of the spacer body. The vibrations of the two vibrating systems, in the form of the resonance bodies, are overlaid in an advantageous manner, by means of the coupling of the resonance bodies. The invention further relates to a method for the production of the shaped body and the use of the shaped body in sports equipment.
Inventor(s): Sommer; Roland (Taichung Shien, TW)
Assignee:
Application Number:12/459,688
Patent Claims:1. A structural member to manufacture a sports equipment, in particular tennis, squash, badminton racquets, golf clubs, field hockey and ice hockey sticks and baseball bats, having two separate and discrete hollow cylindrical resonating elements arranged in parallel and having outer and inner surfaces that are each continuously convexly curved in a latitudinal cross section thereof, spaced at a distance from one another by a separate member and enclosed by a common covering with nothing interposed between the common covering and the hollow cylindrical resonating elements, and with said separate member comprising a distancing element disposed between the resonating elements, characterized in that the mass of each resonating element is greater than the mass of the distancing element, that the compressive strength of the distancing element is the highest in the direction of an axis that connects the center points of the resonating elements, and wherein the distancing element includes opposed concave ends that are conterminous with each of the respective curved outer surfaces of the resonating elements.

2. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment according to claim 1, wherein the distancing element is made of wood or a further material having a compressive strength that varies in different directions and the highest compressive strength is along fibers of the wood or the further material.

3. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the width of the resonating elements is greater than the width of the distancing element.

4. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that there are lateral through holes located in the distancing element and the covering, the holes capable of receiving strings of a webbing.

5. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment according to claim 1, wherein the sports equipment comprises a tennis racquet with a handle and frame in which said structural member forms the frame and contains within at least one of said resonating elements, mass particles that move about freely, or fluid droplets, that dampen the recoil forces and vibrations acting on the structural member, or alternatively contains on the wall of at least one said resonating element a mass support strip or a number of mass support strips for kinetically damping mass systems.

6. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that the covering is comprised of one or more layers of at least two plastic-impregnated laminar materials.

7. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that the covering has first sections on the side of the resonating element that faces away from the opposite resonating element, said first sections being connected together via two second sections, wherein the laminar materials of the first sections overlap the laminar materials of the second sections in a transition zone.

8. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment according to claim 1, wherein the structural member is disposed in the sports equipment and configured such that the resonating elements vibrate at different resonance frequencies when an object strikes the sports equipment in an intended location, and the respective resonance frequencies cancel due to interference thereby damping oscillation of the structural member and vibration of the sports equipment.

9. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment as in claim 8, wherein the resonating elements vibrating at respective resonance frequencies approximately 180 degrees out of phase and generate an interference spectrum characterized by a structural nodal behavior with no more than two node prints.

10. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment as in claim 1, further comprising a chamber disposed along the inner surface of each of the hollow cylindrical resonating elements and extending parallel thereto, each chamber containing mass particles that move about freely, or fluid droplets therein.

11. The structural member to manufacture a sports equipment as in claim 10, wherein each chamber occupies less than half of the volume defined by the inner surfaces of the hollow cylindrical resonating elements.

12. A structural member to manufacture a sports equipment, the structural member comprising two separate and discrete single layer hollow cylindrical resonating elements arranged in parallel and spaced at a distance from one another by a separate member comprising a distancing element disposed directly between the resonating elements, and a common covering disposed directly on and internally contacting only the resonating elements and the distancing element, characterized in that the mass of each resonating element is greater than the mass of the distancing element and the compressive strength of the distancing element is the highest in the direction of an axis that connects center points of the resonating elements, each of the hollow cylindrical resonating elements having inside and outside surfaces that are each continuously convexly curved in a latitudinal cross section thereof and the sports equipment being one of a tennis racquet, a squash racquet, a badminton racquet, a golf club, a field hockey stick, an ice hockey stick and a baseball bat.

13. The structural member as in claim 12, wherein the structural member is disposed in the sports equipment and configured such that when an object strikes the sports equipment in an intended location, the respective resonating elements vibrate at different respective resonance frequencies and the respective resonance frequencies cancel due to interference to reduce oscillation of the structural member and vibration of the sports equipment, and wherein each of the cylindrical resonating elements has a shape that is circular.

14. The structural member as in claim 12, wherein only the distancing element is disposed between the resonating elements.

15. A sports racquet comprising a handle, a frame, and strings disposed in a plane, the frame peripherally surrounding the strings and including a structural member having two separate and discrete hollow cylindrical resonating elements arranged in parallel, spaced at a distance from one another by a separate member comprising a distancing element disposed therebetween, the distancing element disposed along an axis connecting respective center points of the resonating elements and being generally orthogonal to the plane, each hollow cylindrical resonating element formed of a single layer of material having opposed inner and outer surfaces having the same shape and each of the inner and outer surfaces continuously convexly curved along a latitudinal cross section of the hollow cylindrical resonating element, wherein the resonating elements and distancing element are enclosed by a common covering that conformally covers the resonating elements and distancing element.

16. The sports racquet according to claim 15, wherein the distancing element includes opposed concave ends that are conterminous with respective outside cylindrical surfaces of the hollow cylindrical resonating elements.

17. The sports racquet as in claim 15, wherein the cover is formed of carbon fiber reinforced plastic and said resonating elements vibrate at respective resonance frequencies when an object strikes the sports racquet in an intended location, and the respective resonance frequencies cancel due to interference thereby damping oscillation of the structural member and vibration of the sports racquet, the respective resonance frequencies of the resonating elements not being identical.

18. The sports racquet as in claim 15, wherein the axis is substantially orthogonal to the plane.

19. The sports racquet as in claim 15, wherein the distancing element has a width less than a diameter of the resonating elements, the common cover conformally covers the structural member such that a distance between opposed exterior surfaces of the common cover along the distancing element is less than a diameter of the resonating elements, and the resonating elements vibrate at different resonance frequencies when an object strikes the sports racquet in an intended location.

20. The sports racquet as in claim 19, wherein the different resonance frequencies are approximately 180 degrees out of phase and further comprising a chamber disposed along an inner surface of each of the hollow cylindrical resonating elements and extending parallel thereto, each chamber containing mass particles that move about freely, or fluid droplets therein.

21. The sports racquet as in claim 19, wherein the mass of each resonating element is greater than the mass of the distancing element, a compressive strength of the distancing element being highest in a direction of the axis and the frame peripherally surrounds the strings and the intended location comprises the strings.

22. The sports racquet as in claim 19, wherein the cover is formed of metal fiber reinforced plastic in a resin matrix and interference between the superimposed resonating elements, produces a standing wave.

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