Tennis racket

Claim 1

A tennis racket frame consisting essentially of a flat, single piece, unitary, and light weight plastic foam material central core having the contour of a finished tennis racket frame and including an elongated handle, an integral continuously oval head part, and an integral intermediate throat part integrally interconnecting the handle and oval part, a pair of plastic material reinforcing webs bounding said core contour along the inner and outer peripheral edges thereof, said web reinforced core being sandwiched between a pair of similarly shaped, single piece, unitary, and flat aluminum plates, said core, webs, and plates being bonded together by means including a thin layer of elastomeric material between said web reinforced core and plates, said oval part comprising the stringing plane of said frame, said aluminum plates being parallel to said stringing plane and having a contour similar to the contour of said web reinforced core and coextensive therewith, and said reinforcing webs being perpendicular to said stringing plane, the throat part of said frame having an elongated and generally triangular shape which is aligned with the lengthwise axis of said frame and being merged with the handle and oval part along a gradual curvature, a concentric elongated generally triangular shaped cutout formed in said throat part through said plates and core, and a cross section through said frame at the handle, throat and oval parts being rectangular in shape and being bounded on opposite exterior sides thereof by said plates and webs with said core enclosed therein, the thickness of said plates and webs being thin relative to the thickness of said core, and a hand grip cover for the butt end of said frame.