Patent ID: 7883434
Filing Date: 2011-02-08
Classification: A63B

Abstract:
1. A bat having a longitudinal axis; a tip end; a butt end; a handle portion extending from said butt end; a hitting portion, with a cross-section larger than said handle portion, extending from said tip and coupled to said handle portion, wherein at least a portion of said bat further comprises: two or more hollow tubes, each tube having a length, the tubes being coextensive along at least a part of their lengths and having facing surfaces along said part, wherein portions of said facing surfaces are fused together along fused portions so as to form an integral interior wall of the shaft, and wherein said tubes have non-facing surfaces which form external surfaces of the bat, and wherein said interior wall extends from an external surface of one hollow tube through the interior of the bat to the exterior surface of another hollow tube; wherein said facing surfaces are separated from one another at one or more locations between fused portions such that the walls of the facing surfaces at the separated locations define one or more ports which extend through the bat in a direction at least generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the ports being defined by separated, facing surfaces of the tubes, wherein said ports are formed without forming holes through either tube; and wherein the facing surfaces of the two or more tubes comprise a composite material including a plurality of fiber layers, the composite material extending continuously along said fused portions and the one or more locations at which the facing surfaces are separated to form one or more ports.