United States Patent im
Janes
[54] RACQUET HANDLE
[75] Inventor: Richard Janes, Scottsdale, Ariz.
[73] Assignee: GenCorp Inc., Fairlawn, Ohio
[21] Appl. No.: 815,109
[22] Filed: Dec. 30,1991
[51] Int. CI.* A63B 49/08
[52] U.S. Q 273/73 J; 273/75;
273/81 R; 273/81 B; 273/67 R
[58] Field of Search 273/73 J, 75, 81 R,
273/81 B, 67 R, 67 A, 67 B, 67 C, 67 D, 67 DA,
72 R
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
2,103,889 12/1937 Brisk* 273/81 B
2,280,382 4/1942 Davis 273/75
3,702,701 11/1972 Vaughn et al 273/73 H
4,072,312 2/1978 Kahn 273/75
4,984,793 1/1991 Chen 273/75
4,989,870 2/1991 Janes 273/73 J
5,088,734 2/1992 Glava 273/73 J
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
651817 4/1951 United Kingdom 273/81 R
Primary Examiner—V. Millin
Assistant Examiner—Raleigh W. Chiu
US005269516A
[ii] Patent Number: 5,269,516 [45] Date of Patent: Dec. 14,1993
[57] ABSTRACT
A handle pallet for a tennis racquet includes an elongated rigid underlayment member formed integrally with the racquet head in a one-step compression molding operation, to form a one-piece racquet head/handle pallet underlayment member article. The underlayment member generally is octagonal-shaped, and includes sides having a concave-shaped exterior surface and sides having a flat exterior surface, with the widths of the sides being generally uniform. Spaced elongated edges of the sides form prominent, outwardly directed ridges at each interface of pairs of said edges for indexing of the racquet orientation by the player. An elongated soft overlayment member also is octagonalshaped and is disposed on the underlayment member for shock absorption. The sides of the overlayment member each have a flat exterior surface, and the interior surface of the overlayment member is complementary in shape to the exterior surface of the underlayment member. The width of the overlayment member is variable due to the concave-shaped sides of the underlayment member, so that the handle pallet is lightweight and maintains the indexing function of the underlayment member, yet provides excellent shock absorbency for the player.
20 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
