Patent Publication Number: US-2007108667-A1

Title: Item with hollowed interior or open end and method for making the same

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This application is a Divisional patent application of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/976,810, filed on 1 Nov. 2004. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a hollow item with even thickness and a method for making the same.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      A conventional tubular item such as a baseball bat “A” as shown in  FIG. 5  or a shank of a golf club, is made by composite material such as carbon or glass fibers which is light and durable. The material is made to be prepreg sheets  3  which are arranged into a mold  5  as shown in  FIG. 2  and a bladder  4  is enclosed by the prepreg sheets  3 . The bladder  4  is inflated to push the prepreg sheets  3  contact against the inside of the concavity in the mold  5 . The prepreg sheets  3  are then solidified by being heated so as to form the bat “A”. The bat “A” includes a main part  1  and a handle part  2  which has smaller diameter than that of the main part  1 . However, it is noted that because of the different diameters, the bladder  4  in the prepreg sheets  3  is folded or includes wrinkles before it is inflated, such that when air is sent into he bladder  4 , the bladder  4  is inflated at different ways or patterns, the folded area forms a inward protrusion  30  in the hollow interior of the bat “A” as shown in  FIG. 5A  and some area the bladder  4  is over inflated such that the bat “A” includes an area  32  with thinner thickness. The uneven thickness of the bat “A” results in stress concentration and the bat “A” could be broken at the thinner area  32 .  
      The present invention intends to provide a hollow or semi-open item that includes even thickness and a method for making such items.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a hollow item that includes an even thickness. A method for making a hollow item, and the method comprises the following steps:  
      step 1: preparing prepreg sheets;  
      step 2: preparing a resilient mediate layer with pre-set shape and the resilient mediate layer mounted to the prepreg sheets;  
      step 3: preparing a bladder which is enclosed by the resilient mediate layer;  
      step 4: putting the assembly of the prepreg sheets, the resilient mediate layer and the bladder in step 3 into a concavity of a mold and heating the mold to solidify the prepreg sheets, and  
      step 5: removing the solidified prepreg sheets from the concavity of the mold.  
      The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  shows the steps of the method for making a hollow item;  
       FIG. 2  is a side view to show a baseball bat of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  shows a cross sectional view of baseball bat of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3A  is an end cross sectional view, taken from plane B-B in  FIG. 3 , to show the composition of the baseball bat;  
       FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view to show the baseball bat received in a mold;  
       FIG. 5  shows a cross sectional view of a conventional baseball bat;  
       FIG. 5A  shows an end cross sectional view, taken from plane A-A in  FIG. 5 , of the conventional baseball bat, and  
       FIG. 6  shows the conventional baseball bat received in a mold.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Referring to FIGS.  1  to  3  and  3 A, a method for making a hollow item, such as a baseball bat, of the present invention comprises the hollowing steps:  
      step 1: preparing prepreg sheets  30  which can be carbon or glass fibers;  
      step 2: preparing a resilient mediate layer  40  with pre-set shape and the resilient mediate layer  40  mounted to the prepreg sheets  30 ;  
      The resilient mediate layer  40  is durable to high temperature and reusable.  
      step 3: preparing a bladder  50  which is enclosed by the resilient mediate layer  40 ;  
      step 4: putting the assembly of the prepreg sheets  30 , the resilient mediate layer  40  and the bladder  50  in step 3 into a concavity of a mold  70  as shown in  FIG. 4  and inflating the bladder  50 , heating the mold  70  to solidify the prepreg sheets  30 , and  
      step 5: removing the solidified prepreg sheets  30  from the concavity of the mold  70 .  
      The inflation of the bladder  50  pushes the resilient mediate layer  40  to evenly press the prepreg sheets  30  against the inside of the concavity of the mold  70  so that the item has an outer layer of even thickness. The item includes an open end and a close end, wherein a handle portion can be connected to the open end if needed. In this embodiment, the item is a baseball bat comprising a main part  10  and a handle part  20 . It is noted that the thickness of the main part  10  and the handle part  20  is the same.  
      The prepreg sheets  30  can also be folded to have a large opening such that the item can be a helmet, or even a front fork for bicycles.  
      While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.