FR2849783A1 - Tennis racquet, has hollow rounded edges ends that are bent on to themselves and united by base that includes two pots with ball dampers, where internal walls of pots include paper coverings and each pot has one air chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

The racquet (100) has hollow rounded edges whose two ends form ends (2, 3) of handles. The ends of the rounded edges that are bent on to themselves are united by a base. The base has two pots with ball dampers together forming the tip of the handle. The pots are handles relatively tight in the ends of the rounded edges. The internal walls of the pot have paper coverings and each pot has a chamber of balls and a chamber of air.

Description

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  A tennis racket has a frame on which a string is stretched and which is extended by a handle intended to be held in the hand by a player. The problem of the transmission of vibrations, generated by the impact of the ball on the line, to the player's arm via the racket handle is old.

  Various solutions have already been proposed to reduce the drawbacks of these vibrations, which are the cause of epicondylitis, the famous pain known as tennis-elbow.

  It has been proposed to absorb vibrations by an elastomer part slipped between the strings parallel to the axis of the racket, between the last perpendicular string and the portion of the frame close to the handle.

  It has also been proposed to introduce a resonant weight at the end of the handle to combine its resonances with those created by the ball on the handle and finally generate a compound resonance of lower frequency and therefore less harmful.

  In certain embodiments, the counterweight is replaced by a pot filled with microbeads.

  The invention in fact relates to a racket of the type made with a hollow rod (profiled rod) curved on itself. 25 For these snowshoes, the handle being produced by the union of the two ends of the rod, the second solution, of the pot of balls, to be implemented, would require the crushing of these two ends to, externally, preserve a shape of handle ergonomically, and internally, make room for the shock absorber, which would require specialized press tools.

  To avoid this, the applicant proposes the following solution.

  The invention relates to a tennis racket with a hollow rod bent over itself, the two ends of which form the end of the handle of the racket, characterized in that the ends of the rod are joined by a base comprising two shock absorbing pots with balls, the assembly forming the end of the handle.

  Since the handle is made up of the two ends of a rod, we suggest inserting two shock absorbing pots into it, and so that the insertion operation is simpler, they are joined by a base which also joins the ends of the rod . The base allows, moreover, their easier extraction.

  Advantageously, the pots are fitted relatively tightly into the ends of the rod.

  The pots can thus directly receive the vibrations arriving in the ends of the rod and damp them.

  Advantageously also, the internal walls of the pots are lined with a sound insulation coating.

  This characteristic contributes to the ergonomics of the handle.

  In addition, each pot can include a ball chamber and an air chamber.

  The invention will be better understood with the aid of the following description and the accompanying drawing in which - FIG. 1 represents a tennis racket according to the invention; - Figure 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the tip of the handle of the racket of Figure 1 and - Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a shock absorber pot detached from its base.

  With reference to FIG. 1, the tennis racket 100 is formed of a hollow rod 101 curved on itself and joined, on the one hand, by a bridge 102 to close the frame of the racket and, on the other part, by a case, not shown, to form the handle.

  An intermediate piece 103 can be inserted between the arms 2 and 3, and a cap 104 completes the end of the handle.

  The entire handle is then covered by a leather, or flu.

  Referring to Figure 2, the two ends of the rod 101 are the ends 2, 3 of the hollow tubular rod whose interior is of polygonal cross section S which is found head to tail in S2 and S3 at the end of said sleeve.

  The sections S2 and S3 receive, to bring them together, a nozzle 1 composed of a base 14 and two parallelepipedic pots 11 and 12 integral with the base, of section S'2 and S'3 substantially identical to sections S2 and S3, in fact very slightly smaller, and arranged to fit relatively tightly in the handle.

  Each of the pots 11, 12 comprises a chamber containing beads, here microbeads, 17, 18, and a chamber containing air 19, 20.

  Referring to Figure 3, the chambers 17, 18 have their walls 15 lined with a sound insulation coating to confine the noise of the balls 15 when they are in motion or in vibration.

  The pots absorb the high frequencies of the vibrations of the ends 2 and 3 of the rod forming the racket and the base absorbs the low frequencies between these ends.

  A racket has been described, the pots of which have an air chamber. Of course, it would be possible to do without it with the advantage of reducing the weight of the handle.

Claims (4)

  1.- Tennis racket with hollow rod bent over itself (101), the two ends (2, 3) of which form the end of the handle of the racket, characterized by the fact that the ends of the rod are joined by a base (14) comprising two shock absorbing pots (11, 12), the assembly forming the end piece of the handle.   2. A racket according to claim 1, in which the pots (11, 12) are fitted relatively tight in the ends (2, 3) of the rod.   3.- Snowshoe according to one of claims 1 and 2, wherein the internal walls (15) of the pots (11, 12) are lined with a coating (16) of sound insulation.   4.- Racket according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each pot (11, 12) comprises a chamber (17, 18) with balls and an air chamber (19, 20).