Bat with Resilient Sleeve for Tunable Restitution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional baseball and softball bats face challenges in maximizing performance within regulatory guidelines, as they are difficult to manufacture and tend to become 'hotter' with use, leading to safety concerns and the need for tunable designs that comply with various sanctioning bodies' standards.
Innovation Solution
A baseball or softball bat design featuring a substantially stepless rigid core with an exterior resilient sleeve, where the sleeve is press-fit or injected onto the core, allowing for adjustable performance characteristics and compliance with regulations such as BBCOR, using materials like aluminum, fiberglass, or carbon fiber, and incorporating a ring portion to enhance the sweet spot area.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If conventional aluminum or composite bats are designed to maximize restitution, then ball exit velocity increases, but the bats become too dangerous and violate safety standards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the physical properties of the bat materials and structure. Specifically, it uses a two-piece construction with an aluminum core and a composite overwrap layer, where the composite material has different elastic modulus and density parameters than the aluminum core. This composite overwrap reduces the overall coefficient of restitution of the bat, thereby reducing ball exit velocity to safe levels while maintaining structural integrity and performance within regulatory limits.
2Power
If bats are designed with double tapers to improve restitution, then power increases, but manufacturing difficulty and seam formation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the bat into distinct components: an aluminum core with specific taper geometry and a separate composite overwrap layer. This segmentation allows each component to be manufactured independently using optimized processes - the core can be extruded or formed with precise tapers, while the composite overwrap can be applied via filament winding or molding. The components are then joined together, eliminating the need for complex seam-free construction while achieving the desired restitution characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies composite materials by combining aluminum core material with a composite overwrap material (such as carbon fiber, fiberglass, or Kevlar). This composite construction allows the bat to achieve optimal mechanical properties that neither material could provide alone - the aluminum core provides structural strength and rigidity, while the composite overwrap provides tensile strength and controls restitution characteristics. The composite structure enables complex taper geometries to be manufactured more easily than in monolithic designs.
3Ease of manufacture
If bats are made with uniform material throughout, then manufacturing is simpler, but performance cannot be tuned to meet different regulatory standards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating spatial variation in material properties throughout the bat structure. The aluminum core has uniform properties, but the composite overwrap can have varying thickness, fiber orientation, and material composition at different locations along the bat barrel. This allows localized optimization of performance characteristics - for example, different fiber orientations can be used to control vibration in specific regions, or varying overwrap thickness can adjust restitution at different impact zones. The core-aluminum construction provides a consistent baseline that can be locally modified to meet different regulatory standards and performance requirements.
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 design provides superior ease of manufacture, tunable performance, and increased durability while maintaining regulatory compliance, allowing a single bat design to meet different power standards and user requirements across multiple leagues.
Implementation Method 1
an exterior resilient sleeve. The resilient sleeve can be placed onto the bat core from the handle end or the tip end and can be affixed to the barrel by injecting a material therebetween to form an inner sleeve
Implementation Method 2
injecting a material therebetween to form an inner sleeve
Data Source
AI summary
A softball or baseball bat with modified restitution characteristic is provided. The bat can comprise a substantially rigid core coupled with a single or multi-piece sleeve. The core can comprise a tip end, a barrel portion, a handle taper, and a handle. A sleeve assembly can be disposed over the barrel portion, and the sleeve assembly can comprise one or more materials capable of impact absorption. The sleeve assembly can include a ring portion positioned about a circumference of the barrel portion, an outer sleeve, and an inner sleeve disposed between the outer sleeve and the barrel portion.