Patent ID: 7160286

Claim:
A racket comprising: a racket frame comprising a racket handle portion orientated along a longitudinal axis of the racket, a racket head portion allowing for the attachment thereto of generally longitudinally directed strings and generally laterally directed strings to form a string bed of the racket, and a racket throat area joining the handle portion with the head portion; and a self-powered piezoelectric damping system comprising two transducer elements laminated to the racket frame and a first circuit located within the racket handle portion and electrically connected to the transducer elements by way of a Y-shaped flex circuit, the first circuit including at least one storage element configured to store electrical power extracted from the two transducer elements; wherein stored electrical power is transmitted back through the Y-shaped flex circuit to the transducers for conversion to mechanical power, the mechanical power being adapted to actively stiffen the racket; wherein the transducer elements each have a size of about 8 cm 2 to about 16 cm 2 ; and wherein electrical power derived from mechanical deformation of the racket is supplied back to the transducer elements, the transducer elements being mounted in a region of the racket where maximum deformation occurs.