U.S. patent application number 15/502393 was filed with the patent office on 2017-08-17 for tennis racket.
The applicant listed for this patent is BABOLAT VS. Invention is credited to Elsa GERMAIN, Emilie VALBOUSQUET.
Application Number | 20170232308 15/502393 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 52003967 |
Filed Date | 2017-08-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170232308 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
GERMAIN; Elsa ; et
al. |
August 17, 2017 |
TENNIS RACKET
Abstract
Disclosed is a tennis racket (1) including an oval frame (10)
supporting a mesh (14). The little holes or all the little holes
(140) of the mesh (14) are arranged between the geometric centre
(C) of the frame and the apex (S) of the frame.
Inventors: |
GERMAIN; Elsa; (LYON,
FR) ; VALBOUSQUET; Emilie; (LYON, FR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BABOLAT VS |
Lyon |
|
FR |
|
|
Family ID: |
52003967 |
Appl. No.: |
15/502393 |
Filed: |
August 11, 2015 |
PCT Filed: |
August 11, 2015 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2015/068411 |
371 Date: |
February 7, 2017 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/537 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 51/00 20130101;
A63B 49/02 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A63B 51/00 20060101
A63B051/00; A63B 49/02 20060101 A63B049/02 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Aug 12, 2014 |
FR |
1457772 |
Claims
1-10. (canceled)
11. A tennis racket, comprising an oval frame supporting a sieve,
wherein the or all the smallest meshes of the sieve are positioned
between the geometrical center of a frame and an apex of the
frame.
12. The racket according to claim 11, wherein the or all the
smallest meshes of the sieve define a center of the sieve, which is
positioned on an axis of symmetry of the sieve passing through the
geometrical center and the apex of the frame.
13. The racket according to claim 12, wherein a distance between
the geometrical center of the frame and the center of the sieve is
comprised between 5.5% and 53% of the distance between the
geometrical center and the apex of the frame.
14. The racket according to claim 12, wherein a single smaller mesh
is provided on the sieve.
15. The racket according to claim 14, wherein the sieve comprises
longitudinal cords parallel to the axis of symmetry of the sieve
and transverse cords perpendicular to the longitudinal cords and
wherein the smallest mesh of the sieve has a longitudinal dimension
smaller than that of the other meshes of the sieve and a transverse
dimension less than that of the other meshes of the sieve.
16. The racket according to claim 14, wherein the center of the
sieve is at the center of the smallest mesh.
17. The racket according to claim 14, wherein the sieve comprises
16 longitudinal cords and 19 transverse cords.
18. The racket according to claim 17, wherein the smallest mesh of
the sieve is defined, from the apex, between the seventh and eighth
transverse cords of the sieve.
19. The racket according to claim 17, wherein the smallest mesh of
the sieve is defined between the eighth and ninth longitudinal
cords.
20. The racket according to claim 14, wherein the meshes of the
sieve, other than the smallest mesh, are all the smaller when they
are close to the smallest mesh.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a tennis racket.
[0002] In a known way, a tennis racket comprises a handle, an oval
frame and a Y-portion which connects the handle to the frame. The
frame supports a sieve formed by the crossing of longitudinal cords
and of transverse cords. The longitudinal cords are called uprights
and the transverse cords are called ribs. The frame defines a
geometrical center on which is centered the mesh, i.e. the smallest
meshes of the sieve are positioned in the central region of the
sieve, i.e. all around the geometrical center of the frame. The
rules of tennis actually describe that the stringing should be
homogeneous as a whole and notably not less dense at the center
than at any other point.
[0003] However, studies have shown that the majority of the blows
delivered by the players are localized in a hitting area which is
positioned, when the racket is held vertically with the handle
oriented downwards, slightly above the geometrical center of the
frame. This may be explained by the fact that there is better
energy restoration in this area when the racket is moving. This
hitting area actually benefits from a greater lever arm than the
area strictly located at the geometrical center of the frame. Thus,
the area where the meshes are more narrow, i.e. where the meshes
are of smallest dimensions, is off-centered with respect to the
preferential hitting area of the players. The preferential hitting
area of the players therefore does not coincide with the optimum
yield area of the racket.
[0004] These are the drawbacks for which the invention intends to
more particularly find a remedy by proposing a tennis racket with
which the best yield area coincides with the hitting area of the
players.
[0005] For this purpose, the invention relates to a tennis racket,
comprising an oval frame supporting a sieve. According to the
invention, the or all the smallest meshes of the sieve are
positioned between the geometrical center and the apex of the
frame.
[0006] By means of the invention, the meshes of the sieve
are--narrower at the preferential hitting area, as mentioned above,
of the tennis players, which provides a better yield of the racket
during a blow. This increase in the yield is expressed by an
improvement in the control, in the spin and in the power, an effect
which is obtained by acting on the spacing of the cords.
[0007] According to advantageous but non-mandatory aspects of the
invention, the tennis racket may include one or several of the
following features, taken in any technically acceptable
combination: [0008] The or all the smallest meshes of the sieve
define a center of the sieve, which is positioned on an axis of
symmetry of the sieve passing through the geometrical center and
the apex of the frame. [0009] The distance between the geometrical
center of the frame and the center of the sieve is comprised
between 5.5% and 53% of the distance between the geometrical center
and the apex of the frame. [0010] A single smaller mesh is provided
on the sieve. [0011] The sieve comprises longitudinal cords
parallel to the axis of symmetry of the sieve and transverse cords
perpendicular to the longitudinal cords, while the smallest mesh of
the sieve has a longitudinal dimension smaller than that of the
other meshes of the sieve and a transverse dimension smaller than
that of the other meshes of the sieve. [0012] The center of the
sieve is at the center of the smallest mesh. [0013] The sieve
comprises 16 longitudinal cords and 19 transverse cords. [0014] The
smallest mesh of the sieve is defined, from the apex, between the
seventh and eighth transverse cords of the sieve. [0015] The
smallest mesh of the sieve is defined between the eighth and ninth
longitudinal cords. [0016] The meshes of the sieve, other than the
smallest mesh, are all the smaller since they are close to the
smallest mesh.
[0017] The invention and other advantages thereof will become more
clearly apparent in the light of the description which follows of
an embodiment of a tennis racket according to its principle, only
given as an example and made with reference to FIG. 1, which is a
partial and front view of a tennis racket according to the
invention.
[0018] In FIG. 1, is illustrated a tennis racket 1 including a
handle not shown, a frame 10 and a Y-shaped portion 12, called a
"yoke", which connects the handle to the frame 10. The frame 10 is
an oval frame, i.e. in an elliptical shape defining a geometrical
center C. The center C is positioned at the intersection between a
major axis and a minor axis of the frame 10. The major axis is a
segment borne by a longitudinal axis X1 and the minor axis is a
segment borne by a transverse axis X2 perpendicular to the axis X1.
The frame 10 includes an apex S, which is positioned on the axis X1
opposite to the handle relatively to the center C. F refers to an
image point of the apex S by central symmetry of center C. The
major axis is a segment from the apex S to the point F. The minor
axis is a segment perpendicular to the major axis from point A to a
point B. The points A, B, S and F are positioned on the outer
contour of the frame 10.
[0019] The frame 10 supports a sieve 14 formed with a set of
longitudinal cords 14a, called uprights and of transverse cords
14b, called ribs, which cross each other. The longitudinal cords
14a extend parallel to the axis X1 and the transverse cords 14b
extend parallel to the axis X2. Moreover, the sieve 14 is
symmetrical relatively to the axis X1.
[0020] The sieve 14 comprises 16 longitudinal cords 14a and 19
transverse cords 14b. This is referred to as a stringing plane
16.times.19. By making the meshes of a stringing plane 16.times.19
more narrow, stringing planes 18.times.20 will be used, known for
providing more control, and by spacing apart the meshes of a
stringing plane 16.times.19, stringing planes 14.times.19 are used,
known for the effect which they may give to the ball. The stringing
16.times.19 therefore benefits from both of these effects, each
effect may be enhanced depending on the spacing between the cords
14a and/or 14b. A 140 refers to the smallest mesh of the sieve 14.
This mesh 140 has a longitudinal dimension, i.e. measured parallel
to the axis X1, which is smaller than that of all the other meshes
of the sieve 14. The mesh 140 also has a transverse dimension, i.e.
measured parallel to the axis X2, which is smaller than that of all
the other meshes of the sieve 14. The mesh 140 is a rectangular
mesh and is positioned between the geometrical center C and the
apex S of the frame 10. The first and last transverse cords are
referred to with t1 and t19. The first transverse cord t1 is
positioned as close as possible to the apex S of the frame 10,
while the last transverse cord t19 is positioned as close as
possible to the point F.
[0021] The mesh 140 is defined between a seventh transverse cord t7
and an eighth transverse cord t8 of the sieve 14 from the cord t1
to the cord t19. The mesh 140 of the sieve 14 is also defined
between the eighth and ninth longitudinal cords 18 and 19 of the
sieve 14. The longitudinal dimension of the mesh 140 is comprised
between 8 mm and 14 mm, while the transverse dimension of the mesh
140 is comprised between 8 mm and 14 mm. The smallest mesh 140 of
the sieve 14 defines a center C', which is positioned on the axis
of symmetry X1 of the sieve 14, between the geometrical center C
and the apex S of the oval frame 10.
[0022] The center C' is positioned at the center of the mesh 140,
i.e. at the intersection point of both diagonals of the rectangle
forming the mesh 140. The center C' is the center of the sieve 14.
d1 refers to the distance, measured parallel to the axis X1,
between the center of the sieve C' and the geometrical center C of
the frame 10. d2 refers to the distance between the geometrical
center C and the apex S of the frame 10. The distance d1 is
comprised between 5.5% and 53%, preferably between 25% and 28% of
the distance d2.
[0023] The meshes, other than the mesh 140, of the sieve 14 are all
the smaller when they are close to the mesh 140. These other meshes
of the sieve 14 are therefore narrower on an area positioned around
the mesh 140. This area in practice corresponds to the preferential
hitting area of the players, notably professionals. It is
off-centered relatively to the geometrical center C of the frame
10, notably positioned between the center C and the apex S of the
frame 10. It encompasses about 90% of the impact points of the ball
on the sieve 14.
[0024] The hitting area thus comprises the smallest meshes of the
sieve 14. The "core" of the stringing plane of the sieve 14 is
therefore located in this hitting area. The fact that the meshing
of the sieve is narrower in this heating area allows the players to
use its racket in the area providing the best yield. For example,
the spacing between the cords 14a and/or 14b is more or less
significant in this area depending on the desired effect for the
racket. For example, narrower cords provide more control, while
less narrower cords provide more "spin", i.e. more effect imparted
to the ball.
[0025] In a non-illustrated alternative, the sieve includes several
meshes of identical dimensions and smaller than those of all the
other meshes of the sieve. For example, the smallest meshes of the
sieve may be 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or more in number. These meshes are
centered on a point approximately positioned or specifically at the
same location as the point C'. In this case, the center defined by
these meshes of minimum size may be at the center of a mesh but
also at a crossing point between two cords. In this alternative,
all the smallest meshes of the sieve are positioned between the
geometrical center C and the apex S of the frame 10.
[0026] As a non-illustrated alternative, the sieve 14 may comprise
a number of longitudinal cords 14a different from 16, for example
equal to 18 or 14, and a number of transverse cords 14b different
from 19, for example equal to 20 or 18.
[0027] According to another alternative not shown, the or the
smallest meshes of the sieve 14 are square-shaped.
[0028] According to another alternative not shown, the longitudinal
cords 14a are not strictly parallel to the axis X1.
[0029] According to another alternative not shown, the transverse
cords 14b are not strictly parallel to the axis X2.
[0030] According to another alternative not shown, the racket 1 is
a racket with a size adapted for children.
[0031] The technical features and alternatives of the embodiments
contemplated above may be combined together in order to generate
novel embodiments of the invention.
* * * * *