Artificial Shuttlecock With Tapered Carbon-Fiber Stems for Stable Flight
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing artificial shuttlecocks fail to replicate the impact resistance, hitting speed, and hitting feeling of natural shuttlecocks, and their flight performance is inferior, necessitating an improvement in structural design.
Innovation Solution
An artificial shuttlecock design featuring a ball head, feathers with notches, and stems made of carbon fiber reinforced material, where the stems taper from a wider end connected to the ball head to a narrower end connected to the feathers, with specific width ratios to enhance aerodynamic stability and flight performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If soft ball skirts are used to replace natural feathers, then the availability and ease of manufacture improve, but the impact resistance, hitting speed, and hitting feeling deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a composite structure combining a soft ball skirt with a wire frame skeleton. The wire frame provides structural strength and impact resistance, while the soft ball skirt material maintains ease of manufacture and availability. This composite approach resolves the contradiction by integrating materials with complementary properties.
2Ease of manufacture
If plastic materials are used for feathers and stems, then the ease of manufacture improves, but the hitting feeling and flight performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a wire frame skeleton made of metal material combined with plastic soft ball skirt. The metal wire frame ensures proper flight performance and structural reliability, while the plastic material maintains ease of manufacture. This composite structure allows the artificial shuttlecock to achieve flight characteristics similar to natural feathers.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different materials to different parts of the shuttlecock structure. The wire frame skeleton uses metal material for structural integrity and flight performance, while the soft ball skirt uses plastic material for ease of manufacture. This local differentiation of material properties resolves the contradiction between ease of manufacture and flight performance.
3Reliability
If natural feathers are used, then the hitting feeling and flight performance improve, but the availability and manufacturing complexity worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates an artificial structure that copies the functional characteristics of natural feathers. The wire frame skeleton replicates the structural support function of natural feather quills, while the soft ball skirt replicates the aerodynamic properties of natural feather vane edges. This copying approach achieves natural-like hitting feeling without the availability and manufacturing issues of natural feathers.
4Strength
If a wire frame skeleton is added to the soft ball skirt, then the impact resistance and hitting speed improve, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the shuttlecock structure into two functional segments: a wire frame skeleton for structural support and impact resistance, and a soft ball skirt for aerodynamic function. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while maintaining overall simplicity. The wire frame uses a regular geometric pattern that is simple to manufacture, reducing the complexity increase.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The new design improves the aerodynamic stability and flight performance of artificial shuttlecocks to match that of natural shuttlecocks, providing a better hitting feeling and flight characteristics.
Implementation Method 1
The body is made of a carbon fiber reinforced material
Implementation Method 2
the body tapers from the end close to the ball end to the feather end, wherein the end of the body close to the ball end has a first width, and the body has a second width at the feather end
Data Source
AI summary
An artificial shuttlecock includes a ball head, a plurality of feathers, and a plurality of stems. Each of the feathers includes a notch. The notch is disposed on an outer edge of the feather. A ball head end of the stem is connected to the ball head, and a feather end is connected to the feather. The stem includes a body, which tapers from the end close to the ball end to the feather end. The end of the body close to the ball end has a first width, and the body has a second width at the feather. The first width is between 2.1 mm and 2.4 mm, and the second width is between 0.4 mm and 0.6 mm.