Bamboo bat and method of manufacture

Abstract

A baseball bat including: a core section comprising a plurality of wood strips adhered to each other; and an outer section at least partially surrounding the core section, the outer section comprising a plurality of wood strips adhered to each other and to the central core section, wherein the direction of at least some of the plurality of wood strips comprising the core section are offset from the direction of at least some of the plurality of wood strips comprising the outer section. Preferably, at least some of the wood strips are bamboo.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates generally to baseball bats, and more particularly, to baseball bats fabricated from bamboo. [0003] 2. Prior Art [0004] Presently, bamboo baseball bats employ a traditional technique for their fabrication. Such a traditional technique is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIG. 1A illustrates a bamboo baseball bat blank 100 and FIG. 1B illustrates a sectional view of the blank 100 taken about line 1B-1B in FIG. 1A. The blank 100 consists of a plurality of bamboo strips 102, each of which is typically about 10 mm thick by 900 mm long. The bamboo strips 102 are glued together in the same direction (direction A) to form the blank 100, which is typically about 70 mm by 70 mm in cross-section. As shown in FIG. 1B, the strips 102 are typically adhered in a staggered pattern. The blank 100 is then processed to form a finished baseball bat. However, this traditional technique results in an unbalanced bamb...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a baseball bat that overcomes the disadvantages of previous bamboo baseball bats. The baseball bat has a core section and an outer section, with the wood strips in the outer section being adhered to the central core section and to each other. The direction of the wood strips in the core section is offset from the direction of the wood strips in the outer section. The core section is made up of alternating patterns of wood strips, and the outer section has four subsections with different wood strips arranged in either a first or second direction. The wood strips in the outer section are bamboo. The method for fabricating the baseball bat involves constructing a blank with a core section and an outer section, and processing the blank into a form of a baseball bat. The technical effects of the invention include improved performance, durability, and aesthetics.

Problems solved by technology

However, this traditional technique results in an unbalanced bamboo bat that has an uneven weight shift within the bat, which makes it prone to breakage.

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