Patent TW-201341019-A (TW)
Title: Sports racket and method of manufacturing same
Inventor: BRANDT RICHARD A
IPC: A63B51/12
Filed: 2013-01-18
Abstract: The present disclosure provides a racket face that resist stresses without becoming unacceptably heavy. The present disclosure also provides a racket face that has more rounded corners and a shorter outer side that results in greater strength with lighter weight, an even larger sweet spot, and improved playability and appearance. The present disclosure further provides a racket face with appropriately curved corners so that the racket face has the desired strength and playability, yet the affected strings can be made to vibrate at the same frequencies as the unaffected strings. The present disclosure still further provides a racket face that has lockable grommets or LG's as integral to the racket face to maintain the equal string vibration frequencies on the shorter strings within the rounded corners. These grommets enable the setting of the tension of each string to optimize the sweet spot of the racket face. In certain preferred embodiments, the racket may be made of a metallic construction material. The metal framework or construction will not be tubular but will be such to enable seamless incorporation of the lockable grommets, to maintain narrow but strong corners, control vibrations, and create a pleasant looking and aerodynamic one-piece product. The present disclosure also provides for integral lockable grommets strong enough to secure strings with tensions up to 70 lbs, yet light enough to not adversely affect the racket weight or balance. The present disclosure further provides for the use of lockable grommets that enable implementation of an improved stringing protocol. The protocol alternates main and cross string tensioning, to sequentially eliminate any significant bowing of the frame or frame face during stringing. This allows the sides of the frame to be very light but still strong enough for stability, because the strings themselves will contribute to the stability. Thus, the strings provide additional structural support that enables the use of metal instead of carbon fiber, notwithstanding metal's lower strength to weight ratio, to obtain a strong yet light racket. The present disclosure still further provides an equivalent stringing mechanism in which all strings are tensioned simultaneously. The present disclosure yet further provides for the use of lockable grommets that enable the racket stringer to precisely set the desired tensions on each string. Thus, it is possible to further enlarge the sweet spot by providing lower tensions (higher power) on strings near the frame sides. Also, the lockable grommets will allow for simple string tension adjustment and individual string replacement. The rackets of the present disclosure, including rackets that have metallic frames with somewhat rounded corners, integrated lockable grommets, and coordinated stringing protocols, provide for sweet spots that cover nearly the entire face of the racket. The rackets can be designed to provide almost any desired weight and balance, maximal power without any loss of control, and an appearance that is unique and pleasing.