Patent Publication Number: US-2023158722-A1

Title: Manufacturing Method and Mold for Artificial Shuttlecock

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a manufacturing method and a mold for an artificial shuttlecock. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Badminton games are common and popular ball games, and badminton players play the games by hitting a shuttlecock. A conventional shuttlecock is primarily in a structure of natural feather combined at a ball head. The natural feather is mostly goose feather or duck feather, and is bleached, selected and then made into shuttlecocks. However, the acquisition of natural feather has become increasingly difficult, and the selection process is complicated and labor consuming. Thus, there are artificial shuttlecocks commercially available, in the attempt of solving the issues of shortage of natural feather and complicated selection processes. 
     Most artificial feather is formed as soft ball skirt in substitution for natural feather, and airflow produced during hitting is born by the structure of the soft ball skirt. However, a shuttlecock made of such soft ball skirt does not provide users with satisfactory hitting sensations as shuttlecocks made of natural feather, and acceptance by users is rather limited. There are current designs of stems made of a fiber reinforced resin material, and feathers made of a light foam material. Such type of artificial shuttlecocks has a similar appearance as that of natural feather shuttlecocks, and provides hitting sensations better than those of shuttlecocks made of soft ball skirt. 
     However, artificial shuttlecocks having feathers made of a light foam material have more complicated manufacturing steps. For example, a plurality of feathers are respectively adhered to one end of a plurality of stems, and the other end of each of the stems is inserted at a ball head, so as to form a semi-finished shuttlecock having the ball head, the stems and the feathers. Next, linen yarn is wound around these stems to keep the distances between the stems constant. After winding of the linen yarn, the linen yarn needs to be tied and knotted manually, and glue is applied to the linen yarn. A connecting member of an artificial shuttlecock is formed once the glue is dried. In other words, there is need for an improvement for the complicated manufacturing steps of a connecting member of an artificial shuttlecock having feathers made of a foam material. 
     SUMMARY 
     In view of the task above, it is a primary object of the present disclosure to provide a manufacturing method and a mold for an artificial shuttlecock, in which connecting members of the artificial shuttlecock are made by a structure of a male mold and a female mode, so as to solve the issues of a complicated manufacturing process of a conventional artificial shuttlecock. 
     To achieve the object above, the present disclosure provides a manufacturing method for an artificial shuttlecock. The manufacturing method includes: providing a semi-finished shuttlecock including a ball head, a plurality of stems and a plurality of feathers, one end of each of the stems inserted at the ball head, the feathers connected to the other end of each of the sterns; placing the semi-finished shuttlecock into a male mold, the male mold including a cone frustum and a plurality of first annular grooves, the first annular grooves disposed apart on an outside of the cone frustum, the semi-finished shuttlecock placed on the outside of the cone frustum; placing the semi-finished shuttlecock and the male mold into a female mode, the female mold including a tapered slot, a plurality of second annular grooves and an injection channel, the second annular grooves disposed apart on an inner surface of the tapered slot, the injection channel communicating with the second annular grooves, each of the first annular grooves corresponding to each of the second annular grooves to form a plurality of molded grooves, the molded grooves communicating with the injection channel through the second annular grooves; and injecting a plastic material from the injection channel, the plastic material solidifying in the molded grooves to form a plurality of connecting members. 
     To achieve the object above, the present disclosure further provides a mold for manufacturing an artificial shuttlecock from a semi-finished shuttlecock. The semi-finished shuttlecock includes a ball head, a plurality of stems and a plurality of feathers. One end of each of the stems is inserted at the ball head, and the feathers are connected to the other end of each of the stems. The mold includes a male mold and a female mold. The male mold includes a cone frustum and a plurality of first annular grooves. The cone frustum has an outside, and the semi-finished shuttlecock is placed on the outside of the cone frustum. The first annular grooves are disposed apart on the outside of the cone frustum. The female mold includes a tapered slot, a plurality of second annular grooves and an injection channel. The tapered slot has an inner surface. The second annular grooves are disposed apart on the inner surface of the tapered slot. When the semi-finished shuttlecock and the male mold are placed into the female mold, each of the first annular grooves corresponds to each of the second annular grooves to form a plurality of molded grooves. The injection channel communicates with the second annular grooves, and the molded grooves communicate with the injection channel through the second annular grooves. A plastic material is injected from the injection channel, and the plastic material is solidified in the molded grooves to form a plurality of connecting members. 
     According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first annular grooves are parallel to a top surface of the cone frustum. 
     According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the male mold includes a plurality of first stem grooves. The first stem grooves are disposed apart on the outside of the cone frustum, and intersect the first annular grooves. The stems of the semi-finished shuttlecock are accommodated in the first stem grooves. 
     According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the numbers of the first annular grooves and the second annular grooves are three, respectively, so as to form three molded grooves. 
     According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, distances between every two adjacent of the first annular grooves are substantially equal. 
     According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the tapered slot includes a ball head portion and a first cone portion, wherein the first cone portion is disposed adjacent to the ball head portion. The ball head of the semi-finished shuttlecock is accommodated in the ball head portion, and the second annular grooves are disposed at the first cone portion. 
     According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the tapered slot includes a second cone portion, which is disposed adjacent to the first cone portion. An inner diameter of the second cone portion is greater than an inner diameter of the first cone portion. The feathers of the semi-finished shuttlecock are accommodated in the second cone portion. 
     In continuation of the description above, in the manufacturing method and the mold for an artificial shuttlecock according to the present disclosure, the mold includes a male mold and a female mold. The male mold includes a cone frustum and a plurality of first annular grooves, and the first annular grooves are disposed apart on an outside of the cone frustum. Correspondingly, the female mold includes a tapered slot and a plurality of second annular grooves, and the second annular grooves are disposed apart at the tapered slot. When the semi-finished shuttlecock and the male mold are placed into the female mold, the first annular grooves correspond to the second annular grooves to form molded grooves. Moreover, the female mold further includes an injection channel communicating with the second annular grooves. Once a plastic material is injected from the injection channel, the plastic material is solidified in the molded grooves to form a plurality of connecting members, thereby forming the artificial shuttlecock, By forming the connecting members by means of solidifying a plastic material, steps including winding, tying, knotting and gluing of wheel lines for connecting members using a linen yarn can be eliminated, further enhancing manufacturing efficiency of artificial shuttlecocks. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a flowchart of a manufacturing method for an artificial shuttlecock according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic diagram of a semi-finished shuttlecock provided by step S 10  in  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram of a male mold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
       FIG,  4  is a schematic diagram of a female mold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  5    is a schematic diagram of a semi-finished shuttlecock and a male mold placed into a female mold in step S 30  in  FIG.  1   ; 
       FIG,  6  is a section diagram of a mold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG.  7    is an enlarged schematic diagram of a circled portion of the mold in  FIG.  6   ; and 
         FIG.  8    is a schematic diagram of an artificial shuttlecock made using the mold in  FIG.  3   . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     In order to make the structure and characteristics as well as the effectiveness of the present disclosure to be further understood and recognized, the detailed description of the present disclosure is provided as follows along with embodiments and accompanying figures. 
       FIG.  1    shows a flowchart of a manufacturing method for an artificial shuttlecock according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG.  2    shows a schematic diagram of a semi-finished shuttlecock provided by step S 10  in  FIG.  1   .  FIG.  3    shows a schematic diagram of a male mold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.  FIG.  4    shows a schematic diagram of a female mold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Refer to  FIG.  1   ,  FIG.  2   ,  FIG.  3    and  FIG.  4   . An artificial shuttlecock  9  of this embodiment is manufactured by using a mold  1 , with a manufacturing method thereof as shown in  FIG.  1   . The mold  1  of this embodiment is further described according to details of the steps below. in step S 10 , a semi-finished shuttlecock  9 ′ is provided. 
     The manufacturing method for an artificial shuttlecock of this embodiment is primarily a method for manufacturing the artificial shuttlecock  9  (referring to  FIG.  1   ) from the semi-finished shuttlecock  9 ′ (as shown in  FIG.  1   ). The semi-finished shuttlecock  9 ′ includes a ball head  91 , a plurality of stems  92  and a plurality of feathers  93 . One side of the ball head  91  is a semi-spherical concave surface, and the other side is a flat surface that can be inserted by the stems  92 . The plurality of stems  92  are disposed apart at the ball head  91 , and one end of each of the stems  92  is inserted at the flat surface of the ball head  91 . The other end of each of the stems  92  is connected to the feathers  93 , that is, the feathers  93  are respectively connected to the stems  92 . In this embodiment, the stems  92  are made a carbon fiber reinforced resin material, so as to reinforce the durability of the stems  92 . More specifically, the stems  92  of this embodiment are formed by stacking unidirectional (UD) carbon fiber fabric and woven glass fiber, hence reinforcing the strength and durability of the stems  92 . 
     Preferably, the feathers  93  are connected to the stems  92  by an adhesive and are close to the stems  92 . In this embodiment, every two feathers  93  are combined with one stem  92 , that is, every two feathers  93  are connected to two opposite sides of the stem  92 , respectively. Preferably, the feathers  93  can be adhered to the stems  92 , and then the stems  92  are then inserted to the ball head  91 . 
     Furthermore, the feathers  93  of this embodiment may also be artificial feathers in substitution for natural feathers. The feathers  93  are made of a plastic material having a density between 0.9 g/cm 3  to 1.48 g/cm 3 , and the types of the plastic material may be, for example but not limited to, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polyimide (PA) and extruded polyethylene (EPE) plastic materials. Preferably, the feathers  93  are made of a combination of LDPE and LLDEP. Moreover, the overall structure of the feather  93  corresponds to the structure of the natural feather of a shuttlecock. Specifically, the feather  93  may be in a mutually symmetrical structure, and the stem  92  is a mutually symmetrical structure about an axis of symmetry, for example, a kite-shaped structure. 
     In step S 20 , the semi-finished shuttlecock  9 ′ is placed into a male mold  10 . 
     The mold  1  of this embodiment includes a male mold  10  (as shown in  FIG.  3   ) and a female mold  20  (as shown in  FIG.  4   ). The male mold  10  includes a cone frustum  11  and a plurality of first annular grooves  12 . The cone frustum  11  has an outside  111 , and the semi-finished. shuttlecock  9 ′ may be placed on the outside  111  of the cone frustum  11 . 
     The first annular grooves  12  are disposed apart on the outside  111  of the cone frustum  11 . More specifically, the first annular grooves  12  surround the outside  111  of the cone frustum  11  in a manner of being parallel to one another along the center axis of the cone frustum  11 , such that the first annular grooves  12  are also parallel to a top surface  112  of the cone frustum  11 . 
     The first annular grooves  12  are used to form a partial structure of connecting members  94  (referring to  FIG.  8   ) of the artificial shuttlecock  9 . Thus, the number of the first annular grooves  12  may be determined with reference to the number of connecting members  94  to be formed. Preferably, the number of the first annular grooves  12  of this embodiment may be three, so as to form three connecting members  93  in the subsequent steps. Preferably, distances between every two adjacent of the first annular grooves  12  are equal, and are preferably between 5 mm and 17.5 mm, which includes 5 mm and 17.5 mm. 
     Preferably, the male mold  10  further includes a plurality of first stem grooves  13 . The first stem grooves  13  are similarly disposed apart on the outside  111  of the cone frustum  11 , and intersect the first annular grooves  12 . For example, the first annular grooves  12  are horizontally disposed on the outside  111  of the cone frustum  11 , and the first stem grooves  13  are vertically disposed on the outside  111  of the cone frustum  11 , such that the first stem grooves  13  intersect the first annular grooves  12 . Because the first annular grooves  12  surround the outside  111  of the cone frustum  11 , each of the first annular grooves  12  connects to all of the first stem grooves  13 . 
     In step S 20 , the semi-finished shuttlecock  9 ′ is placed on the outside  111  of the cone frustum  11 , and at the same time the stems  92  of the semi-finished shuttlecock  9 ′ are respectively accommodated in the first stem grooves  13 . In other words, the first stem grooves  13  serve as limiting structures of the stems  92 . 
     In step S 30 , the semi-finished shuttlecock  9 ′ and the male mold  10  are placed into the female mold  20 . 
       FIG.  5    shows a schematic diagram of a semi-finished shuttlecock and a male mold placed into a female mold in step S 30  in  FIG.  1   .  FIG.  6    shows a section diagram of a mold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,  FIG.  7    shows an enlarged schematic diagram of a circled portion of the mold in  FIG.  6   .  FIG.  6    is also a section diagram after the male mold in  FIG.  3    is combined with the female mold in  FIG.  4   . Refer to  FIG.  4   ,  FIG.  5   ,  FIG.  6    and  FIG.  7   . In this embodiment, the fen ale mold  20  includes a tapered slot  21 , a plurality of second annular grooves  22  and an injection channel  23 . The tapered slat  21  has an inner surface  211  (as shown in  FIG.  4   ), and the second annular grooves  22  are disposed apart on the inner surface  211  of the tapered slot  21 . The arrangement positions of the second annular grooves  22  need to mutually correspond to the first annular grooves  12 , so the second annular grooves  22  surround the inner surface  211  of the tapered slot  21  in a manner of being parallel to one another along the center axis of the tapered slot  21 . Moreover, distances between every two adjacent of the second annular grooves  22  are equal to the distances between every two adjacent of the first annular grooves  21 . 
     Because the arrangement positions of the second annular grooves  22  mutually correspond to the first annular grooves  12 , each of the first annular grooves  12  can also correspond to each of the second annular grooves  22  when the male mold  10  is placed into the tapered slot  21  of the female mold  20 , so as to together form a plurality of molded grooves M, as shown in  FIG.  6    and  FIG.  7   . In other words, the number of the molded grooves M is equal to the number of the first annular grooves  12  (or the second annular grooves  22 ). In this embodiment, the numbers of the first annular grooves  12  and the second annular grooves  22  are respectively three, so three molded grooves M can be formed. Moreover, the molded grooves M are grooves for subsequently molding the connecting members  94 . 
     The injection channel  23  is for injecting a plastic material of the connecting members  94  to be formed. The injection channel  22  communicates with the second annular grooves  23 . In this embodiment, the injection channel  23  has three branch channels  231 , which respectively communicate with the second annular grooves  22 . In other words, the number of the branch channels  231  is the same as the number of the second annular grooves  22  (also the same as the numbers of the first annular grooves  12  and the molded grooves M). 
     In step S 40 , a plastic material is injected from the injection channel  23 , and the plastic material is solidified in the molded grooves M to form the plurality of connecting members  94 . 
     As described previously, the injection channel  23  communicates with the second annular grooves  22 , and the first annular grooves  12  and the second annular grooves  22  together form the molded grooves M; that is, the molded grooves M can communicate with the injection channel  23  through the second annular grooves  22 . Thus, the plastic material can be injected into the injection channel  23 , flow into the molded grooves M through the branch channels  231 , and then solidify in the molded grooves M to form the connecting members  94 . The plastic material may be, for example but not limited to, a plastic material such as Polypropylene (PP) or Polyamide (PA), so as to form the connecting members  94  made of PP or PA. 
     Because the first annular grooves  12  are disposed to intersect the first stem grooves  13  (for accommodating the stems  92 ), the first annular grooves  12  communicate with the first stem grooves  92  at the intersections. Thus, the plastic material can further flow to the intersections once being injected into the molded grooves M, and solidify on outsides of parts (intersections) of the stems  92 , further connecting the solidified and formed connecting members  94  with the stems  92 . 
     Preferably, the female mold  20  may also include a plurality of second stem grooves  24 , which are disposed apart on the inner surface  211  of the tapered slot  21  and intersect the second annular grooves  22 , as shown in  FIG.  4   . The stems  92  of the semi-finished product  9 ′ may be accommodated. in spaces formed by the first stem grooves  13  and the second stem grooves  24 , allowing the solidified and formed connecting members  94  to evenly envelop the outsides of the stems  92   
     Preferably, the tapered slot  21  further includes a ball head portion  25 , a first cone portion  26  and the second cone portion  27 . The first cone portion  26  is disposed adjacent to the ball head portion  25 , and the second cone portion  27  is disposed adjacent to the first cone portion  26 . That is, the first cone portion  26  is located between the ball head portion  25  and the second cone portion  27 . Referring to  FIG.  4   ,  FIG.  5    and  FIG.  6   , the ball head  91  of the semi-finished shuttlecock  9 ′ is accommodated in the ball head portion  25 , and the second annular grooves  22  and the second stem grooves  24  are both disposed at the first cone portion  26 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , an inner diameter of the second cone portion  27  is greater than an inner diameter of the first cone portion  26 . That is, the second cone portion  27  expands toward an outside of the tapered slot  21 , such that the feathers  93  of the semi-finished shuttlecock  9 ′ can be accommodated in the second cone portion  27 . Preferably, the male mold  10  further includes a cylindrical portion  14 , which is disposed adjacent to the cone frustum  11  and may correspond to the second cone portion  27  of the female mold  20 . The feathers  93  may be accommodated between the cylindrical portion  14  and the second cone portion  27 . 
     In step S 50 , the artificial shuttlecock  9  is removed from the mold  1 . 
       FIG.  8    shows a schematic diagram of an artificial shuttlecock made using the mold in  FIG.  3   . Refer to  FIG.  8   . The artificial shuttlecock  9  is manufactured after the connecting members  94  are formed from the solidified plastic material in the molded grooves M (step S 40 ). Lastly, the artificial shuttlecock  9  is removed from the mold I, as shown in  FIG.  8   . 
     By forming the connecting members  94  by means of solidifying and molding a plastic material, steps including winding, tying, knotting and gluing of wheel lines for connecting members using a linen yarn can be eliminated, further enhancing manufacturing efficiency of the artificial shuttlecock  9 . 
     Moreover, the last step of the manufacturing method for the artificial shuttlecock  9  is applying an adhesive to the entire of the artificial shuttlecock  9 , and thus time is needed to wait for the adhesive to dry. In this embodiment, because the stems  92  are made of a carbon fiber reinforced resin material and the connecting members  94  are made of a solidified plastic material, an adhesive may be applied to the entire artificial shuttlecock  9  by using a light curing adhesive (for example, UV adhesive), similarly enhancing the manufacturing efficiency of the artificial shuttlecock  9 . 
     In continuation of the description above, in the manufacturing method and the mold for an artificial shuttlecock according to the present disclosure, the mold includes a male mold and a female mold. The male mold includes a cone frustum and a plurality of first annular grooves, and the first annular grooves are disposed apart on an outside of the cone frustum. Correspondingly, the male mold includes a tapered slot and a plurality of second annular grooves, and the second annular grooves are disposed apart at the tapered slot. When the semi-finished shuttlecock and the male mold are placed into the female mold, the first annular grooves correspond to the second annular grooves to form molded grooves. Moreover, the female mold further includes an injection channel communicating with the second annular grooves. Once a plastic material is injected from the injection channel, the plastic material is solidified in the molded grooves to form a plurality of connecting members, thereby forming the artificial shuttlecock. By forming the connecting members by means of solidifying a plastic material, steps including winding, tying, knotting and gluing of wheel lines for connecting members using a linen yarn can be eliminated, further enhancing manufacturing efficiency of artificial shuttlecocks. 
     It should be noted that many of the above-mentioned embodiments are given as examples for description, and the scope of the present invention should be limited to the scope of the following claims and not limited by the above embodiments.