U.S. patent application number 13/819699 was filed with the patent office on 2013-08-15 for artificial feather for shuttlecock and shuttlecock.
This patent application is currently assigned to YONEX KABUSHIKI KAISHA. The applicant listed for this patent is Seiya Miyazaki, Kensuke Tanaka, Wataru Yoneyama. Invention is credited to Seiya Miyazaki, Kensuke Tanaka, Wataru Yoneyama.
Application Number | 20130210564 13/819699 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45810667 |
Filed Date | 2013-08-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130210564 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Yoneyama; Wataru ; et
al. |
August 15, 2013 |
ARTIFICIAL FEATHER FOR SHUTTLECOCK AND SHUTTLECOCK
Abstract
A plurality of artificial feathers for a shuttlecock, when a
hemispherical base portion of the shuttlecock is set on a lower
side, the artificial feathers being embedded in an annular ring
form on a peripheral border of a circular top end face of the base
portion, the artificial feathers for a shuttlecock each including a
vane portion in a thin film form, corresponding to a vane, the vane
portion being provided with a reinforcement coating made of applied
resin, and a rachis portion in a bar form extending integrally and
continuously from an upper tip end to a lower distal end,
corresponding to a rachis, to imitate a natural feather, the rachis
portion being fixed to the vane portion at a vane support portion,
having the vane support portion set as an area that is fixed to the
vane portion along the tip end to a bottom end of the vane portion,
and having a calamus portion set as an area that protrudes to a
lower side of the vane portion and spans from a bottom end of the
vane support portion to the distal end, to correspond to a calamus
of the natural feather.
Inventors: |
Yoneyama; Wataru; (Saitama,
JP) ; Tanaka; Kensuke; (Saitama, JP) ;
Miyazaki; Seiya; (Saitama, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Yoneyama; Wataru
Tanaka; Kensuke
Miyazaki; Seiya |
Saitama
Saitama
Saitama |
|
JP
JP
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
YONEX KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Tokyo
JP
|
Family ID: |
45810667 |
Appl. No.: |
13/819699 |
Filed: |
September 6, 2011 |
PCT Filed: |
September 6, 2011 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP2011/070202 |
371 Date: |
April 29, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/580 ;
473/586 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 67/19 20160101;
A63B 67/187 20160101; A63B 67/18 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/580 ;
473/586 |
International
Class: |
A63B 67/18 20060101
A63B067/18 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 6, 2010 |
JP |
2010-199201 |
Claims
1. A plurality of artificial feathers for a shuttlecock, when a
hemispherical base portion of the shuttlecock is set on a lower
side, the artificial feathers being embedded in an annular ring
form on a peripheral border of a circular top end face of the base
portion, the artificial feathers for a shuttlecock each comprising:
a vane portion in a thin film form, corresponding to a vane, the
vane portion being provided with a reinforcement coating made of
applied resin; and a rachis portion in a bar form extending
integrally and continuously from an upper tip end to a lower distal
end, corresponding to a rachis, to imitate a natural feather, the
rachis portion being fixed to the vane portion at a vane support
portion, having the vane support portion set as an area that is
fixed to the vane portion along the tip end to a bottom end of the
vane portion, and having a calamus portion set as an area that
protrudes to a lower side of the vane portion and spans from a
bottom end of the vane support portion to the distal end, to
correspond to a calamus of the natural feather.
2. The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to claim 1,
wherein the vane portion is made of nonwoven fabric and the
reinforcement coating is any one of waterborne polyurethane,
waterborne polyester, waterborne polyolefin, nylon-based emulsion
and acrylic-based emulsion.
3. The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to claim 2,
wherein a unit weight of the reinforcement coating per unit area
applied to one of the vane portion is greater than or equal to 1.8
g/m.sup.2 and less than or equal to 27 g/m.sup.2.
4. The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to claim 1,
wherein the vane portion has reinforcing material made of a foam
body layered thereon and the rachis portion is sandwiched by the
vane portion and the reinforcing material at the vane supporting
portion, and the reinforcing material conforms to a planar shape of
an area where the vane portion is formed, and has a planar shape
that has a rim cut at a part where the vane portion overlaps
another adjacent vane portion in the shuttlecock.
5. The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to claim 1,
wherein the vane portion has reinforcing material made of a foam
body layered thereon and the rachis portion is sandwiched by the
vane portion and the reinforcing material at the vane supporting
portion, and the reinforcing material conforms to a planar shape of
an area where the vane portion is formed, and has a planar shape
that has a rim cut at a part where the vane portion overlaps
another adjacent vane portion in the shuttlecock and a band-like
rib that extends toward another artificial feather adjacent to a
part of the rim.
6. The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to claim 5,
wherein the rib opposes the adjacent another artificial feather and
extends from the part of the rim and obliquely upward.
7. A shuttlecock comprising the artificial feather according to
claim 1.
8. The shuttlecock according to claim 7, wherein each of the
artificial feathers, in a state embedded in the base portion in an
annular ring, when a circumferential direction of the annular ring
is set as a right-left direction, has an edge portion of one of the
right and left vane portions underlapping on a back face side of
the vane portion of the another artificial feather adjacent in the
one of the directions, and the vane portion has a slit portion
extending in an up-down direction and communicating a front and a
back of the artificial feather, while a band-like binding member
continuously penetrates the slit portion of each artificial feather
and forms an annular ring with both ends thereof fixed, to fix a
front-back relation of the underlapping of the adjacent vane
portions.
9. The shuttlecock according to claim 7, wherein each of the
artificial feathers, in a state embedded in the base portion in an
annular ring, when a circumferential direction of the annular ring
is set as a right-left direction, has an edge portion of one of the
right and left vane portions underlapping on a back face side of
the vane portion of the another artificial feather adjacent in the
one of the directions, and the vane portion has a string-like
binding member continuously penetrating and encircling each
artificial feather embedded in an annular ring from a back face
toward a front face to fix a front-back relation of the
underlapping of the adjacent vane portions.
10. The shuttlecock according to claim 7, wherein each of the
artificial feathers, in a state embedded in the base portion in an
annular ring, when a circumferential direction of the annular ring
is set as a right-left direction, has an edge portion of one of the
right and left vane portions underlapping on a back face side of
the vane portion of the another artificial feather adjacent in the
one of the directions, a protrusion is included to an edge portion
of one of the right and left directions of the vane portion and
slit portions penetrating a front and a back are formed to an area
that opposes the protrusion of an artificial feather adjacent in an
other direction of the right and left directions in an area where
the vane portion is formed, and each artificial feather has a
protrusion of an artificial feather adjacent in the other direction
inserted into its own slit portions, to fix a front-back relation
of the underlapping of the adjacent artificial feather.
11. The shuttlecock according to claim 10, wherein the slit
portions are composed of two that are placed parallel and apart
from each other, the protrusion is guided from a back face to a
front face of one of the slit portions of an artificial feather
adjacent in one direction and bent, and inserted through an other
of the slit portions, and a tip end of the protrusion is fixed in
an overlapped state at part way of the protrusion.
12. The shuttlecock according to claim 10, wherein the protrusion
is formed to protrude in one of the right and left directions and
bent downward, in an approximately L shape, the slit portions that
are formed to each artificial feather are composed of two extending
in the right-left direction and being placed in parallel one above
an other, and a protrusion of each artificial feather is guided
into an upper slit portion of the artificial feather adjacent in
the one of the directions from a back face to a front face, and
inserted into a lower slit portion from a front face to a back
face.
13. The shuttlecock according to claim 10, wherein the protrusion
is formed to protrude in one of the right and left directions and
continues to branch into two tongues, in up and down directions, in
an approximately T shape, the slit portions that are formed to each
artificial feather are composed of two extending in the right-left
direction and being placed in parallel one above an other, a
protrusion of each artificial feather has an upper tongue guided to
an upper slit portion of the artificial feather adjacent in the one
of the directions from a back face to a front face and bent
downward, and has a lower tongue guided to a lower slit portion of
the artificial feather adjacent in the one of the directions from a
back face to a front face and bent upward, and a tip end of the two
tongues of the protrusion are fixed in a state with one overlapping
the other.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to artificial feather for
badminton shuttlecocks. Specifically, the present invention relates
to an improvement technology for mainly reducing the weight and
increasing the durability of the vane portion of artificial
feather. Further, the present invention relates to shuttlecocks
using artificial feather.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] As badminton shuttlecocks, there are those using waterfowl
feather (natural feather) (natural feather shuttlecocks) and those
using artificial feather (artificial feather shuttlecocks)
artificially manufactured using nylon resin and the like, for the
feathers.
[0003] As is well known, natural feather shuttlecocks have a
structure using approximately 16 natural feathers of geese, ducks
or the like, and the ends of the stems of the feathers are embedded
into the hemispherical platform (base portion) made of cork covered
with skin. And the feather used for natural feather shuttlecocks
have a feature of the specific gravity being small and being
extremely light. For example, the specific gravity of the stem
portion is approximately 0.4 and the vane portion is approximately
0.15. Additionally, a feather has high rigidity and thereby a
unique flying performance and comfortable impression when hitting
natural feather shuttlecocks can be perceived.
[0004] However, the feather used as the material for natural
feather shuttlecocks are collected from the aforementioned
waterfowls and moreover, feathers of specific portions of the
waterfowl are suitable for shuttlecocks which does not mean that
feathers from any portion of the waterfowl can be used and thus the
amount of feather for a shuttlecock that can be collected from one
waterfowl is a miniscule number. In other words, there is a limit
to the amount of feather manufactured for use in natural feather
shuttlecocks. Further, there has been a situation of a large amount
of geese used for food that had been the main source for feather,
being disposed due to bird flu epidemic in the recent years.
Therefore, material procurement is predicted to become more
difficult and the price of natural feather shuttlecocks to rise
further in the future.
[0005] Meanwhile, shuttlecocks with resin feather integrally formed
in an annular ring is well known as artificial feather
shuttlecocks, however, the feathers of these artificial feather
shuttlecocks do not move independently as with natural feather
shuttlecocks so that flight performance similar to natural feather
shuttlecocks is difficult to be achieved. For such reason,
artificial feather shuttlecocks imitating feather has been proposed
as described in the following PTL 1 and 2. Here, when
correspondence between portions of natural feather and portions of
artificial feather based on ornithology is made, the portions
corresponding to the vane and the rachis of natural feather will be
called vane portion and the rachis portion, respectively, the
portions corresponding to those called the basal and the calamus
that protrude from the vane as apart of the rachis will be called
the calamus portion to avoid confusion with feather. With such
preconditions, the artificial feather described in this PTL 1 has
the vane portion being a two-layer structure with a foam body layer
and a stem fixing layer with the same planar forms adhered
together, and has the rachis portion fixed between the layers so
that the calamus portion protrudes from the vane portion. Further,
the artificial feather described in PTL 2 has a structure where a
protruding portion is formed to one end of the vane portion made of
nonwoven fabric to protrude in the extending direction of the
rachis portion, and has the protruding portion embedded in the
rachis portion.
CITATION LIST
Patent Literature
[PTL 1]
[0006] International Publication No. 2010/074234 pamphlet
[PTL 2]
[0006] [0007] Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No.
2008-206970
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problem
[0008] Artificial feather for shuttlecocks require to be equipped
with various performances such as hitting impression and flying
performance similar to those of natural feather. Particularly, the
vane portion constitutes almost the whole area of a single
artificial feather so that making the characteristics of the vane
portion closely resemble those of natural feather is the most
important subject.
[0009] To be specific, vanes of natural feather used for natural
feather shuttlecocks are a collective of relatively stiff feather
(barbs) each growing from the rachis. And because of this
structure, natural feather has characteristics of such as
appropriate rigidity (shape retainability) that does not easily
deform even when flying through the air at high speed although
being thin and light.
[0010] Therefore, it is required to make studies from various
perspectives on a wide variety of conditions including materials,
structure and the like for allowing the vane portion of artificial
feather to develop the aforementioned characteristics. However, it
is extremely difficult to satisfy all of these conditions. For
example, the artificial feather described in above described PTL 1
uses foamed polyethylene for its foam body layer and this foam body
layer substantially considered as the vane portion, has layered
thereon the stem fixing layer on the entire face of the vane
portion. It is inevitable that the foam body is made thick since
the rigidity will decrease when the vane portion is of a thin film
for reducing weight. Being the case, weight reduction will be
difficult if the whole area of the vane portion is made of a foam
body. Further, foamed polyethylene has bad adherence property so
that the foam body layer and the stem fixing layer are adhered to
the wide area forming the vane portion with double-faced adhesive
tape for fixing the foam body layer and the stem fixing layer in a
layered state. Therefore, weight reduction comparable to natural
feather will be further difficult. It is a matter of course that
the shuttlecock would lose its balance reducing the directivity and
hairpin performance if the weight of the vane portion should
increase.
[0011] The artificial feather described in PTL 2 uses nonwoven
fabric to the vane portion thus weight reduction of the vane
portion can be expected. However, nonwoven fabric lacks rigidity so
that it is difficult to return to its initial shape when hit
strongly. Also, nonwoven fabric lacks durability. Specifically,
there is a probability of the fibers coming apart by being hit and
the fibers scattering. If the fibers come apart, it would be easier
for the vane portion to break. As a matter of course, the
deterioration in appearance as a product is also a problem.
[0012] The present invention has been made in view of the
aforementioned various problems that conventional artificial
feather for shuttlecocks have and an object there of is to provide
artificial feather for shuttlecocks being lightweight and having
excellent shape retainability, durability and productivity as well,
and shuttlecocks using the artificial feather.
Solution to Problem
[0013] The present invention has been made in view of the
above-mentioned problems of artificial feather for shuttlecocks and
a principal aspect of the invention is, a plurality of artificial
feathers for a shuttlecock, when a hemispherical base portion of
the shuttlecock is set on a lower side, the artificial feathers
being embedded in an annular ring form on a peripheral border of a
circular top end face of the base portion, the artificial feathers
for a shuttlecock each including a vane portion in a thin film
form, corresponding to a vane, the vane portion being provided with
a reinforcement coating made of applied resin, and a rachis portion
in a bar form extending integrally and continuously from an upper
tip end to a lower distal end, corresponding to a rachis, to
imitate a natural feather, the rachis portion being fixed to the
vane portion at a vane support portion, having the vane support
portion set as an area that is fixed to the vane portion along the
tip end to a bottom end of the vane portion, and having a calamus
portion set as an area that protrudes to a lower side of the vane
portion and spans from a bottom end of the vane support portion to
the distal end, to correspond to a calamus of the natural
feather.
Advantageous Effects of Invention
[0014] Artificial feathers for shuttlecocks according to the
present invention are lightweight and have excellent shape
retainability, and the shuttlecocks using the artificial feathers
can be expected to exhibit flying performance and hitting
impression similar to natural feather shuttlecocks. Further,
provision of shuttlecocks with excellent productivity and of
inexpensive price is possible without relying on the amount of
production of natural material. Further, the other effects of the
present invention will become apparent from the following
description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0015] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an artificial feather
shuttlecock using artificial feather according to a basic
embodiment of the present invention seen from the base part side
(lower side).
[0016] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the aforementioned
artificial feather shuttlecock using artificial feather according
to the aforementioned basic embodiment seen from above.
[0017] FIG. 3A is a perspective view for explaining the structure
of the artificial feather, each part of the artificial feather and
the relative directions according to the aforementioned basic
embodiment.
[0018] FIG. 3B is a perspective view for explaining the structure
of the artificial feather, each part of the artificial feather and
the relative directions according to the aforementioned basic
embodiment.
[0019] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the artificial feather
according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 5A shows a view of the artificial feather according to
the aforementioned first embodiment.
[0021] FIG. 5B shows a view of the artificial feather according to
the aforementioned first embodiment.
[0022] FIG. 5C shows a view of the artificial feather according to
the aforementioned first embodiment.
[0023] FIG. 6 is an external view of the shuttlecock using
artificial feather according to the aforementioned first
embodiment.
[0024] FIG. 7A is a diagram for explaining the overlapping of the
artificial feathers in the shuttlecock.
[0025] FIG. 7B is a diagram for explaining the overlapping of the
artificial feathers in the shuttlecock.
[0026] FIG. 8A is a diagram for explaining the overlapping of the
artificial feathers whose front-back relations are opposite to the
artificial feather according to the aforementioned first
embodiment.
[0027] FIG. 8B is a diagram for explaining the overlapping of the
artificial feathers whose front-back relations are opposite to the
artificial feather according to the aforementioned first
embodiment.
[0028] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the artificial feather
having a structure for reinforcing the vane portion of the
artificial feather according to the aforementioned first
embodiment.
[0029] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the artificial feather
having a different form of structure for reinforcing the
aforementioned vane portion.
[0030] FIG. 11 is an external view of the shuttlecock according to
the second embodiment of the present invention.
[0031] FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to the
aforementioned second embodiment.
[0032] FIG. 13 is an external view of the shuttlecock according to
the third embodiment of the present invention.
[0033] FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to the
aforementioned third embodiment.
[0034] FIG. 15 is an external view of the shuttlecock according to
a modified example of the aforementioned third embodiment.
[0035] FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to the modified
example of the aforementioned third embodiment.
[0036] FIG. 17A is a schematic diagram of the artificial feather
configuring the shuttlecock according to the fourth embodiment of
the present invention.
[0037] FIG. 17B is a schematic diagram of the artificial feather
configuring the shuttlecock according to the fourth embodiment of
the present invention.
[0038] FIG. 18 is an external diagram of the shuttlecock according
to the aforementioned fourth embodiment seen from below.
[0039] FIG. 19 is an external diagram of the shuttlecock according
to the aforementioned fourth embodiment seen from above.
[0040] FIG. 20A is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to the
aforementioned fourth embodiment.
[0041] FIG. 20B is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to the
aforementioned fourth embodiment.
[0042] FIG. 21 is a sectional diagram of the main portion of the
intersection inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to
the aforementioned fourth embodiment.
[0043] FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to the fifth
embodiment of the present invention.
[0044] FIG. 23 is a sectional diagram of the main portion of the
intersection inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to
the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0045] FIG. 24A is a schematic diagram of the artificial feather
configuring the shuttlecock according to the modified example of
the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0046] FIG. 24B is a schematic diagram of the artificial feather
configuring the shuttlecock according to the modified example of
the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0047] FIG. 25A is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to the modified
example of the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0048] FIG. 25B is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to the modified
example of the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0049] FIG. 26 is a sectional diagram of the main portion of the
intersection inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to
the modified example of the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0050] FIG. 27 is a schematic diagram of the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock using artificial feather
similar to that of the modified example of the aforementioned fifth
embodiment.
[0051] FIG. 28A is a schematic diagram of the artificial feather
configuring the shuttlecock according to another modified example
of the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0052] FIG. 28B is a schematic diagram of the artificial feather
configuring the shuttlecock according to another modified example
of the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0053] FIG. 29A is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to another
modified example of the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0054] FIG. 29B is a diagram for explaining the intersection
inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to another
modified example of the aforementioned fifth embodiment.
[0055] FIG. 30 is a sectional diagram of the main portion of the
intersection inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to
another modified example of the aforementioned fifth
embodiment.
MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Structure of Artificial Feather Shuttlecocks
[0056] FIGS. 1 and 2 show external views of the artificial feather
shuttlecock 1 (hereinafter shuttlecock) including the artificial
feather 10 having a basic structure common to the embodiments of
the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the
shuttlecock 1 seen from the lower side with the base part 2 at the
lower side and FIG. 2 is a perspective diagram seen from above. The
plurality (for example 16) of artificial feathers 10 resembling
natural feather are embedded in an annular ring along the
circumference of the flat upper plane of the hemispherical base
portion 2 so that the diameter becomes larger when approaching the
upper portion thereof, while being fixed together with a
string-like member (for example a cotton string) 3 to form the
skirt portion 4.
[0057] The annularly arranged artificial feathers 10 are embedded
so that parts of the adjacent artificial feather 10 overlap in a
regular pattern. In the examples shown in the figures, of the
artificial feather 10, when the face that faces the outer side of
the aforementioned skirt portion 4 is set as the front side and the
face that faces the inner side is set as the back side, and
focusing on one artificial feather 10 seen with the base portion 2
positioned on the lower side, the pertinent artificial feather 10
has its left edge of the front face underlapping the back face side
of the artificial feather 10 adjacent on the left. It is a matter
of course that the front-back relation of adjacent artificial
feather 10 is not limited to the example shown and the right edge
of the front face can be underlapping the back face side of the
artificial feather 10 adjacent on the right.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0058] When the shuttlecock is for just for leisure activities the
artificial feathers configuring the shuttlecock have importance
attached to productivity and durability. In other words, it would
be enough if they were inexpensive and durable. However, those used
in workout by athletes, and when they have an ultimate goal to be
used as an alternative to official shuttlecocks used in a
competition game, there is a need for the vane portion constituting
almost the whole area of the artificial feather, in particular, to
closely resemble the characteristics, such as, shape retainability
and impact-resistance of natural feather above achieving
lightweight as much as possible.
[0059] For example, there is a hitting method being a so-called
"hairpin shot" in badminton which is unique to natural feather
shuttlecocks. This hitting method allows the shuttlecock to fly
along a unique arc by "lifting" and hitting the shuttlecock so that
the shuttlecock is like floating while a strong rotation is applied
thereto. An artificial feather having characteristics closely
resembling those of natural feather is required to re-create the
aforementioned arc path with an artificial feather shuttlecock. It
is a matter of course that easy manufacturing needs to be allowed
in view of increase in cost of natural feather.
[0060] And based on the idea that the material and the structure of
the vane portion constituting a large area of the artificial
feather would largely influence the performance of the
shuttlecocks, the inventors concluded that the most important
conditions required to the vane portion were appropriate rigidity
(shape retainability) and excellent durability, avoided from
deforming easily even when flying through the air at high speed, in
addition to being lightweight. And first, reinforcement of some
kind were applied to the thin vane portions for improving shape
retainability and durability without inhibiting weight reduction of
the vane portion itself.
[0061] With regard to the reinforcement of the vane portion,
covering the vane portion with, for example, laminated film and the
like can be considered. However, since the specific gravity
(approximately 1.1) of the film itself is large, for example,
assuming that a common film has a thickness of 20 .mu.m and when
the common film is adhered to one side of the vane, the weight
increases by approximately 0.01 grams. Methods of adhesion such as
heat sealing cannot be used depending on the material of the vane
portion so that the weight of the adhesives for adhering the film
to the vane portion would be added. Therefore, it would be
difficult to allow the vane portion to be both lightweight and
rigid at a high level.
[0062] Therefore, shape retainability and durability of the vane
portion were secured without preventing weight reduction of the
vane portion itself by forming a film made of resin applied to the
vane portion in the embodiments corresponding to the
above-mentioned main inventions. And as the embodiment
corresponding to the invention besides the aforementioned main
invention, first, more preferable materials were defined for the
vane portion and the resin film (reinforcement film) and the vane
portion is made of nonwoven fabric and the reinforcement coating is
any one of waterborne polyurethane, waterborne polyester,
waterborne polyolefin, nylon-based emulsion and acrylic-based
emulsion. Further, a unit weight of the reinforcement coating per
unit area applied to one of the vane portion is greater than or
equal to 1.8 g/m.sup.2 and less than or equal to 27 g/m.sup.2.
[0063] The present invention is adapted to embodiments to which a
configuration for reinforcing the vane portion and a configuration
for achieving excellent flying performance were added without
accompanying a large weight increase since weight reduction and
shape retainability, and durability of the vane portion itself had
been secured in the embodiments corresponding to the main
invention. And the embodiments have the characteristics of the
following.
[0064] The vane portion has reinforcing material made of a foam
body layered thereon and the rachis portion is sandwiched by the
vane portion and the reinforcing material at the vane supporting
portion, and the reinforcing material conforms to a planar shape of
an area where the vane portion is formed, and has a planar shape
that has a rim cut at apart where the vane portion overlaps another
adjacent vane portion in the shuttlecock.
[0065] Or the aforementioned reinforcing material has the rim cut
while a strip form rib that extends toward another adjacent
artificial feather is formed to a part of the pertinent rim.
Further, the aforementioned rib portion opposes the aforementioned
another adjacent artificial feather and also extends diagonally
upward from one portion of the aforementioned rim.
[0066] Note that, a shuttlecock using an artificial feather having
any of the aforementioned characteristics is also an embodiment of
the present invention. And when an "intersection" where the
front-back relation of the adjacent vane portions are reversed
occurs when hit, to the artificial feather having the vane portion
configured with a plane, there is difficulty in bringing back the
front-back relation to the initial one with the next hit so that
there arises a problem of the flight trajectory being instable. In
other words, since the vane of natural feather is not in a film
form but a collection of feather bodies called the barbs growing
from the rachis, the barbs of the vane slides through the barbs of
the adjacent vane even when intersection occurs so that an
intersected state can easily return to its initial state while
continuing hitting.
[0067] Being the case, an embodiment of the present invention
covers a shuttlecock that includes a means for inhibiting the
intersection. And the shuttlecock includes any of the following
characteristics.
[0068] Each of the artificial feathers, in a state embedded in the
base portion in an annular ring, when a circumferential direction
of the annular ring is set as a right-left direction, has an edge
portion of one of the right and left vane portions underlapping on
a back face side of the vane portion of the another artificial
feather adjacent in the one of the directions, and the vane portion
has a slit portion extending in an up-down direction and
communicating a front and a back of the artificial feather, while a
band-like binding member continuously penetrates the slit portion
of each artificial feather and forms an annular ring with both ends
thereof fixed, to fix a front-back relation of the underlapping of
the adjacent vane portions.
[0069] Each of the artificial feathers, in a state embedded in the
base portion in an annular ring, when a circumferential direction
of the annular ring is set as a right-left direction, has an edge
portion of one of the right and left vane portions underlapping on
a back face side of the vane portion of the another artificial
feather adjacent in the one of the directions, and the vane portion
has a string-like binding member continuously penetrating and
encircling each artificial feather embedded in an annular ring from
a back face toward a front face to fix a front-back relation of the
underlapping of the adjacent vane portions.
[0070] Each of the artificial feathers, in a state embedded in the
base portion in an annular ring, when a circumferential direction
of the annular ring is set as a right-left direction, has an edge
portion of one of the right and left vane portions underlapping on
a back face side of the vane portion of the another artificial
feather adjacent in the one of the directions, a protrusion is
included to an edge portion of one of the right and left directions
of the vane portion and slit portions penetrating a front and a
back are formed to an area that opposes the protrusion of an
artificial feather adjacent in an other direction of the right and
left directions in an area where the vane portion is formed, and
each artificial feather has a protrusion of an artificial feather
adjacent in the other direction inserted into its own slit
portions, to fix a front-back relation of the underlapping of the
adjacent artificial feather.
[0071] And the slit portions are composed of two that are placed
parallel and apart from each other, the protrusion is guided from a
back face to a front face of one of the slit portions of an
artificial feather adjacent in one direction and bent, and inserted
through an other of the slit portions, and a tip end of the
protrusion is fixed in an overlapped state at part way of the
protrusion.
[0072] Alternatively, in the shuttlecock using artificial feather
including the aforementioned protrusion to the vane portion the
protrusion is formed to protrude in one of the right and left
directions and bent downward, in an approximately L shape, the slit
portions that are formed to each artificial feather are composed of
two extending in the right-left direction and being placed in
parallel one above an other, and a protrusion of each artificial
feather is guided into an upper slit portion of the artificial
feather adjacent in the one of the directions from a back face to a
front face, and inserted into a lower slit portion from a front
face to a back face.
[0073] The protrusion is formed to protrude in one of the right and
left directions and continues to branch into two tongues, in up and
down directions, in an approximately T shape, the slit portions
that are formed to each artificial feather are composed of two
extending in the right-left direction and being placed in parallel
one above an other, a protrusion of each artificial feather has an
upper tongue guided to an upper slit portion of the artificial
feather adjacent in the one of the directions from a back face to a
front face and bent downward, and has a lower tongue guided to a
lower slit portion of the artificial feather adjacent in the one of
the directions from a back face to a front face and bent upward,
and a tip end of the two tongues of the protrusion are fixed in a
state with one overlapping the other.
[0074] Basic Structure of Artificial Feather
[0075] FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the artificial feather
10 having a structure common to the embodiments of the present
invention. The artificial feather 10 employs a structure where the
vane portion 12 made in thin film-state has a bar-like rachis
portion 20 adhered or affixed thereto by melting and the like by
injection molding. Further, the artificial feather 10 of the
present embodiment has a structure with a reinforcement film formed
on the surface layer by applying resin to the front face of the
vane portion 12 made of nonwoven fabric or a resin molded product,
in other words regardless of the front-back sides of the film-state
to achieve weight reduction, has shape retainability and durability
at the same time. In other words, the reinforcement coating of the
present embodiment is different from film material that is coated
using adhesives but is formed on the surface of the vane portion 12
by applying resin dissolved in a solvent and allowing the solvent
to volatilize thereafter. And the reinforced film formed in this
way is, of course, extremely light and extremely thin compared to
film. Table 1 hereunder shows the characteristics of various resins
as reinforcement coating, for reference.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 REINFORCING CUTTING CUTTING MATERIAL
STRENGTH (N) ELONGATION (%) WITHOUT 1.000 1.000 COATING VINYL
ACETATE 1.146 1.489 METHOXYMETHYL 1.614 2.907 NYLON COPOLYMER 1.614
0.639 NYLON WATERBORNE 1.729 5.046 POLYURETHANE
[0076] The resins in Table 1 had a weight increase of 0.05 grams by
layering the resins to the initial vane portion 12 which converted
was 9 g/m.sup.2 of weight increase per unit area. The film
thickness and the concentration with regard to the solvent at the
time of the application process are assumed to be adjusted. Various
application methods such as the dipping method, spraying method and
the roll coating method can be employed for forming the
reinforcement coating.
[0077] Table 1 shows the cutting strength (N) and the cutting
elongation (%) in relative values when assuming the vane portion 12
without reinforcement coating is one. As shown in this Table 1,
both the cutting strength (N) and the cutting elongation (%) were
confirmed to improve by providing a reinforcement coating besides
some exceptions. Waterborne polyurethane was particularly found to
exhibit excellent cutting strength (N) and cutting elongation (%).
Additionally, it can be expected that the burden on the environment
during manufacturing the artificial feathers (10) can be relieved
since waterborne polyurethane does not use organic solvents. Note
that it is presumed that the reinforcing material is not limited to
waterborne polyurethane and waterborne polyester, waterborne
polyolefin, nylon-based emulsion, and acrylic-based emulsion having
properties similar to this waterborne polyurethane can be
applied.
[0078] Further, when nonwoven cloth is used for the vane portion
12, a reinforcement coating to the surface of the fibers
configuring the nonwoven fabric is provided to improve the rigidity
of the fiber itself and thus excellent shape retainability is
expected to be exhibited. The rachis portion 20 needs to support
the vane portion 12 and maintain the entire shape of the artificial
feather 10 while having impact-resistance that can resist the
impact when being hit and having rigidity. Therefore, for example,
polyamide (nylon), polyamide reinforced with glass fiber (glass
fiber reinforced polyamide) or various resins such as PBT, ABS, PC
and the like can be used as material configuring the rachis portion
20.
[0079] Directions and Positional Relationships of Artificial
Feather and Names of Each Parts
[0080] First, with regard to the artificial feather 10 of the
embodiments of the present invention, names of various parts and
the up, down, right and left directions and the front and back
relations will be defined based on the artificial feather 10 in a
state mounted to the base portion 2 of the shuttlecock 1. Here,
names of the various parts, directions and the front-back relation
will be defined based on FIG. 3.
[0081] In FIG. 3, the rachis portion 20 extends from the top end of
the vane portion 12 toward the bottom thereof. And for the sake of
convenience, the top end 21 of the rachis portion 20 will be called
the "tip end" and the bottom mend 22 the "distal end", and in each
parts of the artificial feather 10 such as the vane portion 12 and
the rachis portion 20, the face that faces the outer side of the
shuttlecock 1 will be called the "front face" 13 and the face that
faces the inner side of the shuttlecock 1 the "back face" 14.
Further, the direction, within the plane of the vane portion 12,
orthogonal to the direction in which the rachis portion 20 extends
will be called the right-left direction. And, when the top and
bottom are defined as explained above, the right and left
directions are defined seen from the front face 13. Therefore, in
the example shown, the rachis portion 20 is fixed to the back face
14 of the vane portion 12 in a state protruding therefrom. Further,
this means, with the shuttlecock 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, with the
base portion 2 facing downward, the front face 13 of the left side
rim of the artificial feather 10 on the right side seen from the
outer side is underlapped beneath the back face 14 side of the
right side rim of the artificial feather 10 on the left side.
[0082] With regard to the rachis portion 20, the area in the rachis
portion 20 fixed to the vane portion 12 will be called the vane
supporting portion 23 and the area protruding downward of the vane
portion 12 will be called the calamus portion 24. Note that in the
example shown in FIG. 3, the position of the tip end 21 of the
rachis portion 20 approximately coincides with the position of the
tip of the vane portion 12, however, the tip end 21 of the rachis
portion 20 may be below the tip of the vane portion 12. Further,
although the artificial feather 10 of the shuttlecock 1 shown in
FIGS. 1 and 2 had a structure where the rachis portion 20 was fixed
to the back side 14 of the vane portion 12, the structure can be
such that the rachis portion 20 is fixed to the front side 13 of
the vane portion 12. And specific embodiments such as those having
a configuration for improving the durability and rigidity and
embodiments according to the structure for inhibiting the
aforementioned intersection of the artificial feathers 10 in the
shuttlecock 1 of the aforementioned basic embodiment of the present
invention will be given in the following.
First Embodiment
[0083] The first embodiment of the present invention has an
artificial feather that has a configuration for further improving
the durability and rigidity of the aforementioned artificial
feather 10 having a structure common to the embodiments of the
present invention. FIGS. 4, 5A, 5B and 5C show the structure of the
artificial feather 10a according to the first embodiment of the
present invention. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the artificial
feather according to the first embodiment seen from the upper front
face 13 side and FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C respectively show a planar
view of the front face 13 of the artificial feather 10a, a planar
view of the back side 14, and a front view of the artificial
feather 10a seen from the tip end 21 side of the rachis portion 20.
The artificial feather 10a according to the first embodiment has
the aforementioned reinforcement coating formed by coating to the
vane portion 12 in a thin film form, and reinforcing material 15
made of a foam body (foamed polyethylene and the like) adhered to
the vane portion 12 in a layered state with adhesive or
double-faced adhesive tape. And the rachis portion 20 is in a fixed
state between the vane portion 12 and the reinforcing material 15
in a sandwiched state.
[0084] Note that as a manufacturing method of the artificial
feather 10a according to the first embodiment, for example the
following may be adopted. After continuous injection molding by
two-color molding or insert molding of the vane portion 12 and the
rachis portion 20 or the reinforcing material 15 and the rachis
portion, the vane portion 12 and the reinforcing material 15 are
fixed together by a further two-color molding or insert molding to
form a molded product that has the vane portion 12 and the
reinforcing material 15 layered while sandwiching the rachis
portion 20 between the layers. The reinforcing material may be
layered by adhering to the vane portion 12 with such as adhesive
and double-faced adhesive tape after injection molding of the vane
portion 12 and the rachis portion 20 into an integrally molded
product. The reinforcement coating may be formed on the front face
of the vane portion 12 before injection molding or may be formed
during or after molding to the exterior of the artificial feather
10a. In any event, an artificial feather 10a should at least have
formed a reinforcement coating on the vane portion 12, have the
rachis portion 20 in a sandwiched state between layers of the vane
portion 12 and the reinforcing material 15, and have an external
shape where the rachis portion 20 is not externally exposed in the
vane supporting portion 23.
[0085] Note that, in the first embodiment shown here, the base
material of the vane portion 12 uses nonwoven fabric that is
lightweight and thin and that can reproduce a planar shape closely
resembling a vane of natural feather just by cutting, and the vane
portion 12 has reinforcement coating made of waterborne
polyurethane formed to the nonwoven fabric. Thereby, the vane
portion 12 is expected to have an effect of improved high rigidity.
Further, the problem of the fibers of the nonwoven fabric coming
apart when hit, unique to nonwoven fabric, is also solved. And in
the first embodiment, the vane portion 12 is prevented from
breaking by absorbing the impact when the vane portion 12 is
strongly hit without greatly disturbing the weight reduction by a
layered structure of the vane portion 12 and the reinforcing
material 15 made of a foam body.
[0086] However, the characteristics of the artificial feather 10a
of the first embodiment is not the layered structure with such vane
portion 12 and reinforcing material 15 of a foam body but in the
layered shape made with the vane portion 12 and the reinforcing
material 15. Specifically, the reinforcing material 15 is not
uniformly layered to coincide with the planar shape of the vane
portion 12 but when the adjacent artificial feathers 10a in the
shuttlecock overlaps one another, the side that has laid thereon
the vane portion 12 of another artificial feather 10 has the rim
cut at the inner side. Thereby, the weight can be reduced compared
with the case when the reinforcing material 15 is layered on the
entire area of the vane portion 12. FIG. 6 shows an external view
of the shuttlecock 1a using artificial feather 10a of the first
embodiment. In this example, the reinforcing material 15 is layered
on the front side of the vane portion 12.
[0087] The distinguishing layer shape of the vane portion 12 and
the reinforcing material 15 in the artificial feather 10a of the
first embodiment can dramatically improve the durability and the
impact absorbency of a single vane portion 12 alone without greatly
prohibiting weight reduction, and also has an effect of further
closely resembling the flight performance and the flight path of
natural feather shuttlecocks. Description of the performance of the
shuttlecock using the artificial feather 10a of the first
embodiment will be given below.
[0088] FIGS. 7A and 7B are schematic diagrams showing the
overlapping state of the adjacent artificial feathers (10a, 10b).
FIG. 7A shows the overlapping state of the artificial feathers 10b
of the shuttlecock that uses the artificial feather 10b having
layered reinforcing material 15 on the entire surface of the vane
portion 12, and FIG. 7B shows the overlapping state of the
artificial feathers 10a of the shuttlecock 1a that uses the
artificial feather 10a of the first embodiment. Note that in these
FIGS. 7A and 7B, the states of the artificial feathers (10a, 10b)
are shown when the shuttlecock is seen from above.
[0089] Here, the part where the adjacent artificial feathers (10a,
10b) overlap each other is set as the overlapping area 30 and the
part where they do not overlap is set as the sole area 40. And in
the overlapping area 30, when the artificial feathers (10a, 10b)
positioned on the inner side of the shuttlecock among the adjacent
artificial feathers (10a, 10b) are set as the "inner side"
artificial feathers (10a, 10b), the total thickness of the rims of
two artificial feathers 10b in the overlapping area 30 becomes
twice the thickness of the sole area 40 with a shuttlecock using
artificial feather 10b having layered thereon the reinforcing
material 15 on the entire surface of the vane portion 12, shown in
FIG. 7A. And the reinforcing material 15 is thicker compared to the
vane portion 12 and the difference between the thickness of the
overlapping area 30 and the sole area 40 becomes quite large
compared to a natural feather shuttlecock. That is, since a natural
feather shuttlecock has the vane portion configured with only thin
barbs even at the overlapping area 30, the difference between the
thicknesses of the sole area 40 and the overlapping area 30 is
minimal so that the thickness of the skirt area 4 is approximately
continuous and uniform. However, in the shuttlecock using
artificial feather 10b shown in FIG. 7A, the thicknesses of each of
the artificial feathers 10b has a uniform thickness with the
reinforcing material 15 layered on the entire face of the vane
portion 12 and the discontinuity of the thickness at the skirt
portion 4 becomes apparent so that there is a possibility that the
flight performance and the flight path would differ from those of
natural feather shuttlecocks.
[0090] Whereas with the shuttlecock 1a using artificial feather 10a
of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 7B, the total thickness of
the rim of the two inner and outer artificial feathers 10a in the
overlapping area 30 is approximately the same as the thickness at
the sole area 40. To be precise, only a thickness of the thin vane
portion 12. Therefore, with the shuttlecock 1a using the artificial
feather 10a of the first embodiment, there are thin parts with only
the vane portion 12 and thick parts with reinforcing material 15
layered in each of the artificial feathers 10a, however, the skirt
portion 4 as a whole, has approximately the same thickness and the
thickness does not become discontinuous at the skirt portion 4. For
this reason, flight performance and the flight path thereof can be
expected to closely resemble those of natural feather
shuttlecocks.
[0091] With regard to the front-back relations in the artificial
feather 10a, it is a matter of course that the reinforcing material
15 may be positioned on the front face 13 side and the vane portion
12 may be positioned on the front face 13 side. FIGS. 8A and 8B
show the artificial feather 10c having the vane portion 12
positioned on the front face 13 side and the reinforcing material
15 positioned on the back face 14 side. FIGS. 8A and 8B show the
adjacent artificial feathers 10c in an overlapping state when the
shuttlecock is seen from above. FIG. 8A shows a state where part
that does not have a reinforcing material layered on the vane
portion 12, underlapping on the inner side at the overlapping area
30, and FIG. 8B shows a state where the part that has the
reinforcing material layered on the vane portion 12 underlapping on
the inner side at the overlapping area 30.
[0092] By the way, the vane portion 12 is not directly hit with the
artificial feather 10a having the reinforcing material 15
positioned on the front face 13 side, shown in FIG. 7B above.
Certainly, the configuration using nonwoven fabric to the vane
portion 12 is resisted from the fibers coming apart with the
reinforcement coating, however, the fibers can be almost absolutely
prevented from falling apart by positioning the reinforcing
material 15 on the front face 13 side. Further, the breaking of the
vane portion 12 can be surely prevented even if the base material
of the vane portion 12 is not nonwoven fabric, by positioning the
reinforcing material 15 made of excellent impact absorbing foam
body on the front face 13 side so that impact at hitting is avoided
from being directly applied to the vane portion 12.
[0093] Whereas the artificial feather 10c having the vane portion
12 positioned on the front side, shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B have
excellent appearance since the reinforcing material 15 is
positioned on the back face 14 side and the level difference
between the portion having the reinforcing material 15 layered on
the vane portion 12, and the portion that does not have layered the
reinforcing material 15 cannot be seen from the shuttlecock
exterior. Further, it can be understood that intersection is
resisted from occurring with a shuttlecock using the artificial
feather 10c having the reinforcing material 15 on the back face 14
side compared to the shuttlecock 1a using artificial feather 10a
having the reinforcing material 15 on the front face 13 side.
[0094] Specifically, as shown in the hollow arrows in FIGS. 8A and
8B, the part of the vane portion 12 that does not have reinforcing
material 15 layered is forced to bend to the front face 13 side at
the overlapping area 30 when hit. Although the vane portion 12
would move to the right-left directions and not only in the
front-back directions when being hit, a part 15e of the edge of the
reinforcing material 15 in the overlapping area 30 supports the
vane portion 12 reducing the bending in the example shown in FIG.
8A. And a state where the spaces widen between the vane portions 12
in the overlapping area 30 occurs in the example shown in FIG. 8B.
As a result, intersection is resisted from occurring. In any case,
the front-back relation in the artificial feather 10a should be
determined accordingly depending on the demand, that is, the
appearance, durability, probability of intersection occurring and
the like, for the shuttlecock as a product.
<Weight of Reinforcement Coating>
[0095] As described above, the artificial feather 10 having formed
reinforcement coating on the vane portion 12 was confirmed to have
both improved cutting strength and the cutting elongation of the
vane portion 12. And the shuttlecock using artificial feathers
(10a, 10c) having the reinforcing material 15 cut at the
overlapping area while the reinforcing material 15 is layered on
the vane portion 12 is expected to have further improved durability
without deteriorating the flight performance.
[0096] Next, the conditions for improving the durability and flight
performance were studied. Specifically, when a large amount of
resin to be the reinforcement coating is used for the artificial
feathers (10a, 10c) to improve the durability, the weight of a
single artificial feather (10a, 10c) body would increase and thus
there is a possibility that the flight performance would
deteriorate. On the other hand, when the amount of resin is
decreased to reduce the weight of the artificial feathers (10, 10a,
10c), the durability would deteriorate. Being the case, various
nonwoven fabric having different weights of waterborne polyurethane
per unit area applied were prepared and the cutting strength and
the cutting elongation of each nonwoven fabric were measured.
Additionally, artificial feathers 10c having reinforcing material
15 layered on the back face 14 side of the vane portion 12, using
the above various nonwoven fabrics for the vane portion, were made,
and the artificial feathers 10c were arranged as shown in FIG. 8A
to make a shuttlecock. Thereafter, the durability of the artificial
feather 10c and the flight performance of the shuttlecock were
evaluated by actually hitting the shuttlecock. In other words, a
shuttlecock with the vane portion 12 exposed to the front face 13
side was hit in this evaluation method to evaluate the durability
and flight performance under a condition where the artificial
feather 10c was easier to be damaged.
[0097] Note that, with regard to durability, two badminton players
being the monitors alternately hit the shuttlecock 100 times each,
summing to a total of 200 times, by the high clear method where the
shuttlecock is hit high and away which allows the vane portion 12
to be damaged easily. Thereafter, evaluation was made by visually
examining the vane portion 12 on whether or not there were fluffs
created.
[0098] And with regard to flight performance, five badminton
players being the monitors hit various shuttlecocks with different
artificial feather structures by the well known hairpin shot and
had the monitors evaluate whether or not the shuttlecock could be
controlled to fly along a path that were intended by the monitors.
Specifically, the shuttlecock using artificial feather that did not
have reinforcement coating formed was set as the reference value of
three, and evaluation was performed into three steps being one when
the shuttlecock could not be controlled, two when controlling was
rather difficult and three when it was the same as the reference by
subjective evaluation, and the average value of the five monitors
were used as the evaluation result.
[0099] Table 2 shows the cutting strength and the cutting
elongation of the vane portion 12 alone relative to a weight
(g/m.sup.2) of reinforcement coating per unit area, and the
evaluation results on durability and flight performance of the
shuttlecock. Additionally, Table 3 shows the evaluation on the
flight performance of the various shuttlecocks that were made by
the five monitors.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 FLIGHT WEIGHT CUTTING CUTTING PERFORMANCE OF
LOAD STRENGTH ELONGATION (COMPREHENSIVE DURABILITY SAMPLE
(g/m.sup.2) (N) (%) EVALUATION) (FLUFF) a 0.0 1.000 1.000 GOOD YES
b 1.8 1.102 2.103 GOOD NO c 3.6 1.342 3.543 GOOD NO d 5.4 1.564
4.187 GOOD NO e 9.0 1.729 5.046 GOOD NO f 14.4 2.075 6.064 GOOD NO
g 18.0 2.114 6.509 FAIR NO h 23.4 2.321 6.590 FAIR NO i 27.0 2.304
6.723 POOR NO
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 MONITORS COMPREHENSIVE SAMPLE A B C D E
AVERAGE EVALUATION a 3 3 3 3 3 3.0 GOOD b 3 3 3 3 3 3.0 GOOD c 3 3
2 3 3 2.8 GOOD d 3 2 2 3 3 2.6 GOOD e 3 2 2 3 3 2.6 GOOD f 3 3 2 2
3 2.6 GOOD g 3 3 2 2 2 2.2 FAIR h 2 2 1 2 2 1.8 FAIR i 2 1 1 1 2
1.4 POOR
[0100] Table 2 shows cutting strength (N) and the cutting
elongation (%) of each of the samples a to i and the evaluation
results on flight performance and durability of the shuttlecock
made using samples a to i, where the artificial feather that does
not have formed reinforcement coating on the vane portion 12 is set
as sample a and eight types of artificial feathers having different
amounts of resin applied per unit area (g/m.sup.2) were set as
samples b to i. Note that, the comprehensive evaluation on the
flight performance were "poor" when the average evaluation result
of the five monitors A to E shown in Table 3 was 1.0 and over and
under 1.5, "fair" when 1.5 and over and under 2.5 and "good" when
2.5 and over and 3 and under. And with regard to the pass/fail
determination, the shuttlecock was judged to pass if it is suitable
for practical use. "Fair" shows that the flight performance of the
shuttlecock does not pose a problem when used as a shuttlecock for
workout and "good" shows that the flight performance of the
shuttlecock is such that the shuttlecock can be used in a
competition game. Therefore, Table 2 shows that the shuttlecock
using artificial feather 10c having applied thereon reinforcement
coating of 1.8 g/m.sup.2 and more as well as layered thereon
reinforcing material 15 made of a foam body on the back side 14 did
not have fluffs created, and had favorable durability and further
was understood that the flight performance was of a level that
would not pose a problem in actual use when the amount of
reinforcement coating applied was less than 27.0 g/m.sup.2.
<Reinforcement of the Vane Portion in the Overlapping
Area>
[0101] By the way, when there is fear of strength lacking at the
part where the reinforcing material 15 is not layered in the vane
portion 12, instead of making the shape with one of the right and
left outlines of the vane portion 12 cut, the reinforcing material
15 can be simply made such that a part of the rim is cut to form a
strip extending toward the adjacent other artificial feather 10 so
to make the extended portion function as a rib that supports the
film-like vane portion 12. FIG. 9 shows the artificial feather 10d
with a structure where the reinforcing material 15 includes a rib
15r layered on the vane portion 12. In this FIG. 9, the
arrangements of the adjacent artificial feathers 10d in the
shuttlecock is shown in a state seen from the front face 13 side or
the back face 14 side. The number of ribs 15r formed is two as
shown in this FIG. 9, but may be one or may three or more. In any
case, the width and the number of the ribs 15r should be set taking
into consideration the deterioration of the flight performance due
to the thickness becoming discontinuous at the overlapping area and
the strength of the vane portion 12.
[0102] Further as shown in this FIG. 9, in a case the artificial
feathers 10d are arranged so that the surface layer of the rib 15r
opposes the surface layer of the adjacent artificial feather 10d,
that is, when the rib 15r is on the front face 13 side, the
artificial feathers 10d are arranged on the back face 14 side of
the adjacent artificial feather 10d at the overlapping area 30. And
in a case the rib 15r is on the back face 14, that is, when the rib
15r is arranged on the front face 13 side of the adjacent
artificial feather 10d at the overlapping area 30, a height
difference between the surface of the rib 15r and the surface of
the vane portion 12 will be made even if the two adjacent
artificial feathers 10d come into contact with each other at the
overlapping area 30 so that a space through which air flows when
the shuttlecock flies will be formed to the overlapping area 30. In
other words, airflow during flying will not be blocked so that a
probability of the shuttlecock flying along an irregular path would
decrease.
[0103] Further, with the use of the level difference created at the
overlapping area due to this rib 15r, airflow flowing in the
direction from below to above can be actively created. FIG. 10
shows an example of the artificial feather 10e having the form of
the ribs 15r devised. In this example, ribs 15r in strip forms
extend obliquely from below to above from the cut rim of the
reinforcing material 15 toward the adjacent artificial feather 10e.
Thereby, as shown in the hollow arrows in the figure, air from
below flows smoothly along the form of this rib 15r obliquely
toward above so that the airflow is not prohibited and a force for
rotating the shuttlecock is generated. Therefore the shuttlecock
flies along a path closely resembling that of a natural
shuttlecock.
Second Embodiment
[0104] As described above, when an "intersection" is created in the
shuttlecock, it is difficult to make the intersection come back to
the initial state on its own. Being the case, a shuttlecock having
a structure in which an intersection is unlikely to occur will be
given as the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11
shows a state of the shuttlecock 1b according to the second
embodiment of the present invention seen from the bottom toward
obliquely above. FIG. 12 shows an enlarged view of a part the
shuttlecock 1b of FIG. 11 seen from above. This shuttlecock 1b
includes artificial feathers 10c shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, that is,
includes artificial feathers 10c that has the reinforcing material
15 layered on the back face 14 side. Further in this example, the
area that does not have the reinforcing material 15 layered is
arranged to be exposed to the front face 13 in the overlapping area
30. And as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the string-like binding member
60 circles around the skirt portion 4 of the shuttlecock 1b while
penetrating each of the artificial feathers 10c. Note that, the two
ends of the binding member 60 can be appropriately fixed by having
them tied or adhered together. In this way the shuttlecock 1b of
the second embodiment has the binding member 60 interposed between
two artificial feathers 10c adjacent to each other in the
overlapping area 30 to restrain intersection from occurring.
Furthermore, the vane portions 12 of each of the artificial
feathers 10c has reinforcement coating formed so that the vane
portion 12 would not tear starting from the point through which the
thin string-like binding member 60 penetrates even when a strong
impact is applied to the artificial feather 10c by hitting the
shuttlecock 1c. Furthermore, the rachis portion 20 would not be
bent with the encircled portion as the point of support since the
string-like binding member 60 is not wound around the rachis
portion 20.
[0105] Note that, when fixing together the two ends of the binding
member 60, having the two ends tied to the rachis portion 20 may be
considered from the viewpoint of simplicity of the work, however
even in this case, since the rachis portion 20 besides the one that
has the end portions of the binding member 60 tied thereto does not
have the binding member 60 wound therearound, the rachis portion 20
that has tied thereto the end portions of the binding member 60 can
also move freely. Therefore, the rachis portion 20 would not be
bent even when the two ends of the binding member 60 are tied to
the rachis portion 20. In other words, it can be understood that
the structure of the rachis portion 20 of the artificial feather
10c adjacent to the artificial feather 10c that has tied thereto
the binding member 60 to the rachis portion 20, does not have a
part where the binding member 60 is wound therearound and thus is
prevented from the problem of the rachis portion 20 that has the
ends of the binding member 60 wound around being bent.
Third Embodiment
[0106] In the second embodiment, a string-like binding member 60
encircled the skirt portion 4 while penetrating through the
artificial feathers 10c to prevent intersection. The third
embodiment of the present invention is a shuttlecock having another
structure for preventing the intersection. FIG. 13 shows the
shuttlecock 1c according to the third embodiment of the present
invention seen obliquely from above. FIG. 14 shows apart of the
sectional view seen when cutting the shuttlecock at the dot-dash
line 100 in FIG. 13. And this shuttlecock 1c has artificial
feathers 10f having reinforcing materials 15 layered on the vane
portions 12. Note that, similar to the artificial feather 10a shown
in FIG. 6, here the shuttlecock 1c having artificial feathers 10f
with reinforcing material 15 layered on the front face 13 side is
shown.
[0107] In the third embodiment, the artificial feathers 10f have
slit portions 50 that extend in the up-down direction while
communicating the front and the back formed to the areas where the
reinforcing material 15 is not formed in the vane portions 12. And
the band-like binding member 61 while penetrating the slit portions
50 encircles the skirt portion 4 of the shuttlecock 1c, and is
formed into an annular ring by an appropriate method such as
adhesion by heating or adhesion using adhesives to fix the ends of
the binding member 61, as well.
[0108] Specifically, the binding member 61 penetrates through the
slit portion 50 from the back face 14 to the front face 13 side of
the inner artificial feather 10f at the overlapping area 30 of the
adjacent artificial feathers 10f. And the binding member 61
penetrates through the slit portion 50 of the artificial feather
10c adjacent to the relevant inner artificial feather 10c. Thereby,
the binding member 61 continuously penetrates the overlapping area
30 of each artificial feather 10f to bind the adjacent artificial
feathers 10f together.
[0109] In the third embodiment, even when the artificial feather
10f on the inside or the outside at the overlapping area 30 is
biased inward the shuttlecock id by being hit and an intersection
should nearly occur, an intersection is difficult to occur since
the binding member 61 continuously penetrates the artificial
feathers 10f. For example in FIG. 14, when the artificial feather
10f-1 on the inner side at one overlapping area 30 is biased in the
arrow F1 direction, since the binding member 61 produces friction
when penetrating through the slit portion 50-1 of the artificial
feather 10f-1 on the inside, the binding member 61 is pulled in
this arrow F1 direction resulting with the binding member 61 being
pulled in the arrow F2 direction. Since the binding member 61 also
produces friction when penetrating through the slit portion 50-2 of
the artificial feather 10f-2 on the outside, the artificial feather
10f-2 on the outside has a force applied in the arrow F2 direction
to the slit portion 50. And since the artificial feather 10f-2 has
the rachis portion 20 attached to the base portion 2, the
artificial feather 10f-2 is biased to rotate in the arrow F3
direction with this rachis portion 20 as the center. As a result,
the artificial feather 10f-1 on the inside and the artificial
feather 10f-2 on the outside are biased in a direction that
separates the two enabling to almost certainly prevent intersection
from occurring at the overlapping area 30. Further, when the
artificial feather 10f-2 on the outside is biased in the arrow F4
direction, the artificial feather 10f-2 on the outside abuts
against the artificial feather 10f-1 on the inside at the
overlapping area 30 and biases this artificial feather 10f-1 on the
inside in the arrow F1 direction. As a result intersection is
prevented in a similar manner.
[0110] Note that in the third embodiment, the binding member 61 is
guided to the front face 13 side at the overlapping area 30 so that
the binding member 60 can be hardly seen from the outside the
shuttlecock 1c. Therefore, there is also a benefit of the
appearance not being largely spoiled. Note that, appropriate
material such as a resin film or fiber material can be employed as
the binding member 61 as long as the specific gravity is small.
Nonwoven fabric same as the vane portion 12 is used as the binding
member 61 in this example. And by using material same as the vane
portion 12 allows the shuttlecock to have a uniform appearance and
has succeeded in possessing an appearance further closely
resembling that of natural feather shuttlecocks. It is a matter of
course that reinforcement coating may be coated on also the binding
member 61.
Modified Example
[0111] FIG. 15 is a schematic view of the shuttlecock 1d according
to a modified example of the third embodiment and shows the
shuttlecock 1d in a state seen from the bottom toward obliquely
above. FIG. 16 shows apart of the sectional view seen when cutting
the shuttlecock at the dot-dash line 101 in FIG. 15. As shown in
these figures, slit portions 50 are formed to the portions where
the reinforcing material 15 is layered on the vane portion 12 in
this modified example. Further, the slit portions 50 are on the
right side of the sole areas 40 with regard to the rachis portion
20. In other words, the binding member 61, after being guided from
the back face 14 toward the front face 13 through a slit portion 50
of one artificial feather 10g, crosses the rachis portion 20 at
this front face 13. And the binding member 61 reaches the back face
14 of the adjacent artificial feather 10g to be guided to the front
face 13 of the adjacent artificial feather 10g through the slit
portion 50, in a similar manner.
[0112] In this modified example, since a band-like binding member
61 having width intervenes across from a slit portion 50 of its own
to the right edge 16 at the back face 14 of the artificial feather
10g on the outside at the overlapping area 30, the front face 13 of
the artificial feather 10g on the outside would not creep under the
back face 14 side of the pertinent artificial feather 10g on the
inside from the left edge 17 of the artificial feather 10g on the
inside. In other words, intersection is prevented from
occurring.
Fourth Embodiment
[0113] The shuttlecock according to the fourth embodiment of the
present invention has a characteristic in a structure that prevents
intersection similar to the second and third embodiments. FIGS. 17A
and 17B are schematic diagrams of the artificial feather 10h used
for the shuttlecock according to the fourth embodiment. FIGS. 17A
and 17B respectively show planar views of the front face 13 and the
back face 14 of the artificial feather 10h. The figures here show
an example where the reinforcing material 15 of a foam body is
layered on the front face 13 side of the vane portion 12. Further,
FIGS. 18 and 19 show the external diagrams of the shuttlecock 1e of
the fourth embodiment. FIG. 18 shows a perspective view of the
shuttlecock 1e seen from the bottom toward obliquely above and FIG.
19 shows a perspective view seen from above.
[0114] As shown in FIG. 17, the artificial feather 10h used for the
shuttlecock 1e of the fourth embodiment has a structure where the
reinforcing material 15 is in a shape with the left side rim cut,
seen form the front face 13, layered on the front face 13 side of
the vane portion 12 and an approximately L shaped protrusion 70 is
formed to the left side edge portion of the vane portion 12, to
protrude to the left from above and then bent downward. And the
protrusion 70 is positioned on the back face 14 side of another
artificial feather 10h on the left at the overlapping area 30.
[0115] Two slit portions (81, 82) extending in the right-left
direction and arranged parallel one over the other are formed in
the overlapping area 30 on the right side of the artificial
feathers 10h. In the example shown, the slit portions (81, 82)
penetrate both the vane portion 12 and the reinforcing material 15
that are in a layered state. And as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the
shuttlecock 1e of the fourth embodiment has the protrusions 70 of
the artificial feathers 10h inserted into the slit portions (81,
82) of the adjacent artificial feather 10h to prevent
intersection.
[0116] FIGS. 20A and 20B show diagrams for explaining the
intersection inhibiting structure by the aforementioned protrusion
70 and the slit portions (81, 82) of the adjacent artificial
feathers 10h. FIG. 20A is a view of the overlapping state of the
adjacent artificial feathers 10h seen from the front face 13 and
FIG. 20B is a view thereof seen from the back face 14. Further,
FIG. 21 shows a sectional diagram taken along line a-a of FIG. 20.
As shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, when focusing on one artificial
feather 10h-1, the protrusion 70 of this artificial feather 10h-1
is guided to the upper slit portion 81 from the back face 14 to the
front face 13 of the artificial feather 10h-2 adjacent on the left
and further inserted into the lower slit portion 82 from the front
face 13 and to the back face 14 thereof. In this way, the
front-back relations of the adjacent artificial feathers (10h-1,
10h-2) are fixed.
[0117] Note that the fourth embodiment is not limited to the
example described above and, for example, there can be an
intersection inhibiting structure where one slit portion extending
in the up-down direction is formed with the protrusion protruding
in the left direction and inserting the protrusion into the slit
portion. Also, taking into consideration the possibility that the
protrusion may come out of the slit portion when hit, two slit
portions extending in the up-down direction parallel in the
right-left direction may be formed to guide a protrusion from the
back face to the front face of the slit portion on the right and
thereafter inserting the tip end of the protrusion into the slit
portion on the left side making the protrusion protrude to the back
face side of the adjacent artificial feather.
[0118] In any case, the shuttlecock according to the fourth
embodiment has a characteristic of preventing intersection from
occurring with a structure where a protrusion formed on one of the
right or left edge of the vane portion is inserted into a slit
portion of the artificial feather adjacent on the front face side,
in the overlapping area between the adjacent artificial
feathers.
Fifth Embodiment
[0119] In the shuttlecock 1e of the aforementioned fourth
embodiment, the shape of the vane portion 12 itself has an
intersection inhibiting structure. Therefore, there is no need to
use a string-like or a band-like binding member (60, 61) and fix
the ends of the binding member (60, 61) to form an annular ring as
in the second and third embodiments. Being the case, the cost for
the binding member (60, 61) can be saved compared to the second and
third embodiments. On the other hand, the structure for inhibiting
intersection being realized by inserting the protrusion 70 into the
slit portions (81, 82) does not dismiss the possibility of the
inserted protrusion 70 falling out of the slit portions (81, 82)
when hit. Therefore, a shuttlecock having a structure where the
protrusion 70 does not fall out from the slit portions will be
given as the fifth embodiment.
[0120] FIG. 22 shows a schematic diagram of the intersection
inhibiting structure in a shuttlecock according to the fifth
embodiment. The fifth embodiment uses an artificial feather 10h
same as that used in the fourth embodiment and FIG. 22 shows the
adjacent artificial feathers 10h in an overlapping state seen from
the back face 14. Additionally, FIG. 23 shows a sectional diagram
taken along line b-b of FIG. 22. Similar to the fourth embodiment,
the fifth embodiment has the tip end 70a of the protrusion 70
inserted through the upper slit portion 81 to be guided from the
back face 14 to the front face 13 and thereafter guided to the back
face 14 side from the lower slit portion 82. However, in the fifth
embodiment, the tip end 70a of the protrusion 70 protruding
downward from the lower slit portion 82 is bent upward and the tip
end 70a side and the base end 70b side of the protrusion 70 are
fixed in a layered state.
[0121] Note that the protrusion 70 may be first inserted through
the lower slit portion 82 and inserted through the upper slit
portion 81 thereafter. In this case, the tip end 70a of the
protrusion 70 will be layered on the front face 13 side of the base
end 70b. Further, in the fourth and fifth embodiments, the
intersection inhibiting structure was explained with the artificial
feather 10h having the reinforcing material 15 layered on the front
face 13 side, however, the front-back relation between the vane
portion 12 and the reinforcing material 15 may be reversed.
Modified Example
[0122] In the fifth embodiment, the tip end 70a side and the base
end 70b side of the L-shape protrusion 70 inserted through the two
slit portions (81, 82) were fixed, however, the shape and the like
of the protrusion 70 is not limited to this example. In the
following, several modified examples of the fifth embodiment whose
shapes of the protrusion, the locations where the slit portions are
formed or the directions in which they are formed differ will be
given.
[0123] FIGS. 24A and 24B show modified examples of the fifth
embodiment. These FIGS. 24A and 24B show the artificial feather 10i
having the reinforcing material 15 layered on the back face 14 and
FIG. 24A shows a planar view seen from the front face 13 side
whereas FIG. 24B shows a planar view seen from the back face 14
side. A protrusion 71 extending linearly in the right-left
direction is formed with the rim of a portion that does not have
the reinforcing material 15 layered thereon in the vane portion 12
set as the base end 71b. Further, the area where the vane portion
12 and the reinforcing material 15 are layered has slit portions
(83, 84) formed on the right and left sides of the rachis portion
20 each extending in the up-down direction and arranged parallel to
one another with one on the right and the other on the left.
[0124] FIGS. 25A and 25B show schematic diagrams of the
intersection inhibiting structure of the shuttlecock according to
this modified example. FIG. 25A is a view of the overlapping state
of the adjacent artificial feathers 10i seen from the front face 13
and FIG. 20B is a view thereof seen from the back face 14. Further,
FIG. 26A shows a sectional diagram taken along line c-c of FIG. 25.
In the example shown, the tip end 71a of the protrusion 71 is
inserted through the left slit portion 83 to be guided from the
back face 14 to the front face 13 and thereafter inserted through
the right slit portion 84 to have the tip end 71a of the protrusion
71 guided from the front face 13 to the back face 14. Further, the
tip end 71a of the protrusion 71 protruding from the right slit
portion 84 is bent to the left and the tip end 71a side and the
base end 71b side of the protrusion 71 are fixed in a layered
state.
[0125] Note that, as shown in FIG. 26B, the protrusion 71 may have
the tip end 71a first inserted through the right slit portion 84
and inserted through the left slit portion 83 thereafter and then
the tip end 71a and the base end 71b fixed in a layered state.
Further, as shown in FIG. 27, the positions in the up-down
direction where the protrusion 71 and the slit portions (83, 84)
are formed may be changed and the up-down relation of the
protrusion 70 and the slit portions (83, 84) may be reversed
between the adjacent artificial feathers (10j-10j). Thereby, when
the adjacent artificial feathers 10j move in the right-left
directions when hit, the force applied in the right-left direction
is generated in the different up-down locations. Therefore the
force is dispersed and thus the possibility of the tip end 71a and
the base end 71b of the protrusion 71 fixed together separating and
the protrusion 71 breaking will become low.
Other Modified Examples
[0126] FIGS. 28A and 28B are schematic diagrams of the artificial
feather 10k used for the shuttlecock according to another modified
example of the fifth embodiment. These FIGS. 28A and 28B
respectively show planar diagrams of the front face 13 and the back
face 14 of the artificial feather 10k. In these figures also, the
reinforcing material 15 of a foam body is layered on the vane
portion 12. Here an example is shown where this reinforcing
material 15 is layered on the front face 13 side. As shown in FIGS.
28A and 28B, in another modified example of the fifth embodiment
the protrusions 72 of the artificial feathers 10k are not in a form
of an L shape nor linear but in a form of an approximately T shape
protruding to continue toward the left and branching into two
tongues (72a, 72b) in the up and down directions. The slit portions
(85, 86) are the same as those in the fourth embodiment and are
formed of two, one above the other, and in approximately parallel
while extending in the right-left directions.
[0127] FIGS. 29A, 29B and 30 show schematic diagrams of the
intersection inhibiting structure of the artificial feather 10k
according to another modified example of the fifth embodiment. FIG.
29A shows the adjacent artificial feathers 10k in an overlapping
state seen from the front face 13 and FIG. 29B shows the same seen
from the back face 14. FIG. 30 shows a sectional diagram taken
along line d-d of FIGS. 29A and 29B. In FIGS. 29A, 29B and 30, when
focusing on one artificial feather 10k-1, the protrusion 72 of this
artificial feather 10k-1 has the upper tongue 72a guided to the
upper slit portion 85 of the left adjacent artificial feather 10k-2
from the back face 14 to the front face 13 and bent downward. The
lower tongue 72b is guided to the lower slit portion 86 of the same
left adjacent artificial feather 10k-2 from the back face 14 to the
front face 13 and bent upward. Further, the tip end portions 73 of
the two tongues (72a, 72b) of the protrusion 72 are fixed in a
state with one overlapping the other.
Regarding the Second to Fifth Embodiments
[0128] The shuttlecocks (1b to 1d) of the second and third
embodiments inhibits intersection from occurring with a structure
that has the binding member 60 in a thin string-like form or in a
band-like form with some width penetrating the vane portion 12 of
the artificial feathers (10c, 10d, 10e, 10f). In the fourth and
fifth embodiments, intersection is inhibited from occurring by
inserting the protrusions (70 to 72) into the slit portions (81 to
86) formed to the vane portion 12. And the second to fifth
embodiments employ a structure having reinforcement coating formed
on the vane portion 12 being the basic structure of the artificial
feather 10 shown as the first embodiment. Therefore, the vane
portion 12 would not tear starting from the part where the
string-like binding member 60 penetrates or the end points of the
slit portions (50, 81 to 86) where the band-like binding member 61
or the protrusions (70 to 72) penetrate even if the shuttlecock is
repeatedly hit in a state where the string-like binding member 60
is penetrating or a band-like binding member 61 or protrusions (70
to 72) are penetrating through the slit portions (50, 81 to 86),
respectively. In other words, an intersection inhibiting structure
using binding members (60, 61) or protrusions (70 to 72) are
realized by forming reinforcement coating on the vane portion
12.
[0129] Further, a string-like binding member 60 penetrates the vane
portion 12 at a point in the second embodiment whereas the
band-like binding member 61 and the protrusions (70 to 72) are
inserted through the linear slit portions (50, 81 to 86) formed to
the vane portion 12, to inhibit intersection in the third to fifth
embodiments. Therefore in the third to fifth embodiments, the vane
portion 12 would not be twisted due the shuttlecock being strongly
hit so that the vane portion 12 rotates with a point as the axis.
And there is an extremely low probability of an intersection
occurring that is unique to the case where a string-like binding
member 60 is used.
[0130] Specifically, with a string-like binding member 60, when the
circulating position thereof is too far from the tip end of the
vane portion 12 and the tip end of the vane portion 12 moves
considerably when hit, the upper part of the vane portion 12 would
be twisted so that a problem of an intersection would occur at the
upper part of the vane portion 12 even if an intersection does not
occur to the position where the binding member 60 penetrates. For
example, when a string-like binding member 60 is used in a
shuttlecock using artificial feather imitating natural feather,
commonly, intersection due to twisting of the aforementioned vane
portion 12 is likely to occur when the encircling position of the
string-like binding member 60 is not within 18 mm from the tip end
of the vane portion 12. In contrast, a band-like binding member 61
or protrusions (61, 70 to 72) having width linearly penetrate the
vane portion 12 of the shuttlecock (10c to 10k) to support the vane
portion 12 in a plane in the shuttlecock (1c, 1d, 10e, 10f) of the
third and fourth embodiments and the shuttlecock of the fifth
embodiment. Thereby, intersection due to twisting of the vane
portion 12 is almost certainly inhibited.
[0131] Whereas in a case intersection is inhibited by a string-like
binding member 60 as in the second embodiment, the artificial
feathers 10c configuring the shuttlecock 1b are supported by a
point allowing the artificial feathers 10c to move freely to a
certain extent around the point so that the flight performance is
superior to the shuttlecock having an intersection inhibiting
structure using band-like binding member 61 and protrusions (70 to
72). It is a matter of course that the shuttlecocks according to
the second to the fifth embodiments have the movements of each of
their vane portions 12 made easier certainly improving the flight
performance compared to conventional shuttlecocks having a
string-like binding member encircling the rachis portion 20 to be
wound therearound.
[0132] Further, there is a possibility of the rachis portion 20
breaking when the shuttlecock is hit hard with the thin string
acting as the fulcrum in a case the string-like binding member is
wound around the rachis portion 20, however, such possibility does
not exist in the second embodiment since the string-like binding
member 60 is merely penetrating the front and back of the vane
portion 12. The band-like binding member 61 having width linearly
supporting the vane portion 12 in the third embodiment allows
impact to be dispersed so that the possibility of the rachis
portion 20 breaking due to the binding member 60 is almost none.
Since the protrusions (70 to 72) do not run across the rachis
portion 20 in the fourth and fifth embodiments, breaking of the
rachis portion 20 due to the protrusions (70 to 72) does not occur
in principle.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
[0133] The present invention can be applied to shuttlecocks used in
badminton.
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0134] 1, 1a, 1c, 1d shuttlecock, 2 base portion, 3 string-like
member, 4 skirt portion, 10, 10a-10k artificial feather, 12 vane
portion, 13 front face, 14 back face, 15 reinforcing material, 20
rachis portion, 30 overlapping area, 40 sole area, 50 slit portion,
60 string-like binding member, 61 band-like binding member, 70-72
protrusions, 72a, 72b tongues of T shaped protrusion, 81, 85 upper
slit portions, 82, 86 lower slit portions, 83 left slit portion, 84
right slit portion
* * * * *