Laminated reinforcing facing for a game racket

Claim 2

A reinforcing facing for a game racket, adapted to be bonded to the face of a racket shell; said facing having a closed loop frame area, a throat area and an elongated handle area extending away from said throat area, all of said head frame, throat and handle area lying substantially along a single plane; said facing comprising: a body portion having the configuration of said facing and having a first surface of predetermined configuration adapted to engage a correspondingly shaped. surface of the racket face to which the facing is to be bonded; said body portion having a substantially U -shaped cross-section configuration in the frame area of said facing, modified through the throat area to a substantially rectangular crosssection in the handle area; said body portion comprising a plurality of substantially parallel high Young''s modulus fibers in a synthetic resin matrix; said fibers in said body portion comprising a continuous tow extending up through the handle area, through the throat area, aroung the frame area, back through the throat area and back down the handle area; at least one layer of cloth made up of high Young''s modulus fibers in a synthetic resin matrix bonded to a second surface of said body portion opposite to said first surface; said cloth having from 0 to about 50 percent woof fibers and from 50 to 100 percent warp fibers.

Claim 3

The facing according to claim 1 wherein each layer of said cloth comprises a subsTantially single layer of substantially parallel contiguous fibers.

Claim 4

The facing according to claim 2 wherein at least two of said fiber cloth layers are bonded to said body portion, the fibers in each of said layers oriented at an angle of at least about 45* to the fibers in the next adjacent layer in the frame area and at an angle of at least about 30* to the fibers in the next adjacent layer in the handle area, the fibers in all cloth layers in the handle area lying at angles of no more than about 60* to the centerline of the handle, where the 0* line is substantially the handle centerline.

Claim 5

The facing according to claim 2 wherein four of said cloth layers are bonded to said body portion, the fibers in succeeding layers in the frame and upper throat portion being oriented at angles of about 0*, 90*, 0* and 90*, and in the lower throat and handle portion being oriented at angles of about 0*, +30*, 0*, and -30*, where the handle centerline is the 0 line.

Claim 6

The facing according to claim 1 wherein said cloth comprises about 50 percent warp and about 50 percent woof fibers woven with warp and woof at an angle of substantially 90* to each other.

Claim 7

The facing according to claim 1 wherin the fibers in said body portion and said cloth layers have a Young''s modulus of from about 20 X 106 to about 80 X 106 psi and a density of from about 0.05 to about 0.09 lb/in3 and are selected from the group consisting of graphite, boron, high-strength synthetic resins and mixtures thereof.

Claim 8

The facing according to claim 1 wherein the synthetic resin matrix for said body portion and said cloth layers is selected from the group consisting of epoxy, polyester and phenolic resins.

Claim 9

A reinforcing facing for a game racket, said facing having a closed loop frame area, a throat area, and an elongated handle area extending away from said throat area, all of said head frame, throat and handle areas lying substantially along a single plane, said facing comprising: a body portion having a first surface of predetermined configuration adapted to engage a correspondingly shaped surface of a racket comprising substantially parallel high Young''s modulus fibers embedded in a synthetic resin; said fibers in said body portion extending up through said handle area, through said throat area, around said frame area, back through the throat area and back down through the handle area; four layers of high Young''s modulus fibers impregnated with a synthetic resin, each layer comprising a substantially single layer of substantially parallel contiguous fibers; said four stacked fiber layers bonded to said body portion to form a unitary facing, the fibers in succeeding layers in the frame and upper throat portions being oriented at angles of 0*, 90*, 0* and 90*, and in the lower throat and handle portions being oriented at angles of 0*, +30*, 0* and -30*, to the handle centerline where the 0* line lies substantially along the handle centerline.

Claim 10

A reinforcing facing for a game racket, said facing having a closed loop frame area, a throat area, and an elongated handle area extending away from said throat area, all of said head frame, throat and handle areas lying substantially along a single plane, said facing comprising: a body portion having a first surface of predetermined configuration adapted to engage a correspondingly shaped surface of a racket comprising substantially parallel high Young''s modulus fibers embedded in a synthetic resin; said fibers in said body portion extending up through said handle area, through said throat area, around said frame area, back through the throat area and back down through the handle area; four layers of high Young''s modulus fibers impregnated with a synthetic resin, each layer comprising a substantially single layer of substantially parallel contiguous fibers; said four stacked fiber layers bonded to said body portion to form a unitary facing, the fibers in succeeding layers in the frame and upper throat portions being oriented at angles of 0*, 90*, 0* and 90*, and in the lower throat and handle portions being oriented at angles of 0*, +30*, 0* and -30*, to the handle centerline where the 0* line lies substantially along the handle centerline.

Claim 11

The facing according to claim 8 wherein said facing body has a substantially U -shaped cross-section configuration in the frame area of said facing, modified through the throat area of said facing to a substantially rectangular cross-section configuration in the handle area of said facing.

Claim 12

The facing according to claim 8 wherein said fibers comprise graphite fibers having a Young''s modulus of from about 20 X 106 to about 80 X 106 psi.

Claim 13

The facing according to claim 8 wherein said resins are selected from the group consisting of epoxy, polyimide, polyester and phenolic resins.

Claim 14

A reinforcing facing having a closed loop frame area, a throat area, and an elongated handle area extending away from sAid throat area, all of said head frame, throat and handle areas lying substantially along a single plane; said facing comprising: a body portion having a first surface of predetermined configuration adapted to engage a correspondingly shaped surface of a racket comprising a plurality of substantially continuous, substantially parallel graphite fibers having a Young''s modulus of from about 20 X 106 to about 80 X 106 psi impregnated with a synthetic resin; said body portion fibers extending substantially continuously up through the handle area, through the throat area, around the frame area, back through the throat area and back down the handle; at least two layers of graphite fibers having a Young''s moudulus of from about 20 X 106 to about 80 X 106 psi, each layer comprising a substantially single layer of substantially parallel fibers impregnated with a synthetic resin; the fibers in adjacent layers in the frame area oriented at an angle of at least about 45* to each other and in the handle area at an angle of at least about 30* to each other, but not more than about 60* to the handle centerline, where the 0* line lies substantially along the handle centerline, and said at least two fibers layers and body portion bonded together to form a unitary facing of fibers embedded in a hardened synthetic resin matrix.

Claim 15

A reinforcing facing having a closed loop frame area, a throat area, and an elongated handle area extending away from sAid throat area, all of said head frame, throat and handle areas lying substantially along a single plane; said facing comprising: a body portion having a first surface of predetermined configuration adapted to engage a correspondingly shaped surface of a racket comprising a plurality of substantially continuous, substantially parallel graphite fibers having a Young''s modulus of from about 20 X 106 to about 80 X 106 psi impregnated with a synthetic resin; said body portion fibers extending substantially continuously up through the handle area, through the throat area, around the frame area, back through the throat area and back down the handle; at least two layers of graphite fibers having a Young''s moudulus of from about 20 X 106 to about 80 X 106 psi, each layer comprising a substantially single layer of substantially parallel fibers impregnated with a synthetic resin; the fibers in adjacent layers in the frame area oriented at an angle of at least about 45* to each other and in the handle area at an angle of at least about 30* to each other, but not more than about 60* to the handle centerline, where the 0* line lies substantially along the handle centerline, and said at least two fibers layers and body portion bonded together to form a unitary facing of fibers embedded in a hardened synthetic resin matrix.

Claim 16

The facing according to claim 12 wherein said facing body has a substantially U -shaped cross-section configuration in the frame area of said facing, modified through the throat area of said facing to a substantially rectangular cross-section configuration in the handle area of said facing.

Claim 17

The facing according to claim 13 wherein said resins are selected from the group consisting of epoxy, polyimide, polyester and phenolic resins.

Claim 18

The facing according to claim 13 wherein four of said fiber layers are bonded to said fiber body, the fibers in succeeding layers in the frame and upper throat portion being oriented at angles of 0*, 90*, 0* and 90*, and in the lower throat and handle portion being oriented at angles of 20*, ''30*, 0* and -30*, to the handle centerline.