Patent Publication Number: US-9415284-B1

Title: Shatter-resistant bat

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     News reports of persons being seriously injured by shrapnel from an exploding baseball bat are becoming all too common. It is a primary object of the present invention to provide bats in which handles resist becoming disassociated with major portions of the barrel of a bat and thereby reduce the risk to both players and fans who have the singular misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 
     A number of efforts have been made to address this problem. In fact, the Truesdell patent U.S. Pat. No. 780,244 issued Jan. 17, 1905 indicates the problem has been known for over a century. Most, if not all of these proposed “solutions” involve removal of material from either the interior or exterior of the bat&#39;s surface, perforce weakening the bat structure. Removing wood from the bat virtually ensures that it will fail; hence, these proposed solutions amplify, while attempting to control, the problem of bats shattering into multiple pieces. Any attempt to fix this problem at the Major League Baseball (MLB) level must past muster with the MLB rules and regulations. Rule 1.10 specifies “(c) The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from its end, may be covered or treated with any material or substance to improve the grip.” The problem has been “remedied” at the little league level by converting to aluminum bats. However, metal bats are, in themselves, a dangerous weapon and there is a movement afoot to revert to wooden bats; solving the bat shattering problem will make this restoration of wooden bats at the little league level even more attractive. 
     The bat of the present invention wraps the 18″ handle portion with a nylon cord (i.e., fishing line) in a spiral configuration. The cord is preferably adhered into a groove, which is preferably formed by compressing the wood, rather than removing material, thereby strengthening the wood rather than weakening it. The respective revolutions of the spiral are spaced by a distance falling in the range between ¼″ and ½″. The reinforced bat handle is then dipped in a viscous, non-dripping epoxy and coated with recycled rubber chips. It is preferred that the rubber chips be formed from recycled, discarded auto and truck tires. Finally, the handle is sanded to form a smooth grippable surface which is contiguous with the barrel of the bat. 
     Various other features, advantages, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The preferred embodiment(s) of the present invention is/are described in conjunction with the associated drawings in which like features are indicated with like reference numerals and in which 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a treated bat blank with the spiral pattern formed on the handle; and, 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of a completed bat of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S) 
     A first embodiment of the of the present invention is depicted in  FIGS. 1-2  generally at  20 . The method of making the bat  20  of the present invention involves selecting a block of wood selected from the group consisting of maple, northern white ash, and birch. The block is then turned on a lathe, or formed into a rounded stick in some other manner to produce a bat blank no longer than 42″ in length and having a first reduced diameter portion  22  and a second enlarged diameter portion  24 , in which the larger diameter portion is no greater than 2.61″. These size restrictions apply to bats utilized in Major League Baseball. Dimensions for Little League, college, high school and elementary school baseball will vary. Once the initial blank  21  is formed, a spiral groove  26  is formed around the forward 18″ of the bat, the portion that MLB identifies as the handle portion  22 . This spiral groove is preferably formed by compressing the wood, rather than notching through removal as less material necessarily involves weakening of the bat structure. The revolutions of spiral groove  26  are preferably spaced by a distance falling in the range of between ¼″ and ½″ to a depth of 1/32″ which accommodates a 13.6 kg (30 lb test) nylon fishing line with a diameter of 0.33 mm. 
     Subsequently, the handle is coated with a non-drip epoxy. Prior to forming this first coating on the handle, a light coating of the epoxy may be brushed into the grooves to adhere the fishing line therein. Suitable epoxies include 3M bonding adhesive auto mix epoxy and Shell&#39;s 2-to-1 epoxy. While the first epoxy coating is wet, a second coating of elastomeric material is adhered to handle portion  22 . Preferably, this elastomeric coating is formed of fine shavings of recycled auto and truck tires which then, become adhered to the handle. Once the epoxy dries, the rubber elastomer coating is smoothed by sanding the surface to form a grip that is contiguous (even with) the initial end of the barrel  24 . 
     The fishing line engaged in spiral groove  26  will prevent a barrel  24  from “flying off the handle”  22  and becoming airborne shrapnel which can endanger players and fans, alike. In addition, the rubber elastomer coating  28  provides a suitable grip that will reduce the occurrences of bats slipping out of the batter&#39;s hands and becoming a dangerous projectile in the form of a complete, air-borne war club. 
     Simply as an educational side note, most problems with shattering bats result from the player holding it improperly. If balls are hit with the grain rather than across the grain, they will more than likely, endure the impact. By orienting the label of the bat so that it faces the batter, the grain of the wood will be in a proper orientation allowing the bat to be used most effectively. 
     Various changes, alternatives, and modifications will become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art after a reading of the foregoing specification. It is intended that all such changes, alternatives, and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims be considered part of the present invention.