Perforated Padel Racket Head With Reinforcing Core Insert
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional padel rackets are expensive, complex to construct, and difficult to recycle due to their composite material composition, which requires costly pyrolysis, and have a high ratio of solid material to holes, affecting recyclability and performance.
Innovation Solution
A padel racket design featuring a head part with two ball-hitting parts made of different materials, one with through-going openings and a core member that extends into these openings, creating a planar ball-striking surface with varying coefficients of friction for enhanced performance and reduced wind resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional composite materials (fibreglass or carbon fibre) are used to construct padel rackets, then the rackets achieve necessary stiffness and meet official requirements, but the construction process becomes complex and expensive with high need for human interaction
Solution Approach 1:
The racket head is divided into separate components: a frame structure and a core member that is inserted into the frame. This segmentation allows each part to be manufactured independently using simpler processes, then assembled together to achieve the required stiffness without complex construction procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a composite structure combining the frame and core member, where the core member is inserted into the frame to create a rigid assembly. This composite approach achieves the necessary stiffness while allowing each component to be made from simpler, more manufacturable materials.
2Reliability
If traditional composite materials are used for padel rackets, then performance requirements are met, but recycling becomes difficult and costly requiring pyrolysis process
Solution Approach 1:
The core member is designed to be a removable component that can be extracted from the frame for recycling purposes. This design enables the recovery and reuse of materials without requiring energy-intensive pyrolysis processes, making the racket more environmentally friendly and cost-effective to recycle.
3Strength
If the blade has high ratio of solid material to holes (holes make up less than 30% of area), then blade stiffness is maintained, but material costs increase and recyclability decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The blade structure is segmented into the frame and the insertable core member. This allows optimization of material distribution, concentrating solid material where structurally necessary in the frame while allowing the core member to fill the internal volume, achieving stiffness with reduced overall material quantity.
Solution Approach 2:
The design accepts and utilizes the porous nature of the blade structure with through-going openings, rather than attempting to solidify the entire blade. The core member inserted into the frame works effectively with the porous structure to maintain stiffness while reducing material quantity.
4Strength
If expensive materials are utilized to construct high-quality padel rackets, then necessary stiffness and official requirements are met, but manufacturing cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
Dividing the racket into frame and core member components allows each to be manufactured separately using less expensive materials and processes, then assembled to achieve the required stiffness. This avoids the need for expensive monolithic composite construction.
Solution Approach 2:
The design allows for the use of more cost-effective materials in both the frame and core member compared to traditional expensive composite materials, while still achieving the necessary performance through their combined structural interaction.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5A~6
AI summary
A padel racket (1) comprising a handle part (3), a neck part (5) and a head part (7) comprising a first ball-hitting part (11) and a second ball hitting part (13), where the first ball-hitting part is opposite to the second ball-hitting part, where the first ball-hitting part and/or second ball-hitting part has/have a first inner surface facing a central part of the head part and a first outer surface facing away from a central part of the head part, where the first ball-hitting part is constructed from a first material, where the first ball-hitting part and/or the second ball hitting part comprise(s) one or more through-going openings (15), and where each through-going opening defines an opening volume; and a core member (19) constructed from a second material, where the core member faces the first inner surface of the first ball-hitting part and/or the first inner surface of the second ball-hitting part, where the core member comprises a protruding part (57) having a protrusion volume, where the protruding part extends into the opening volume in a direction from the central part of the head and in an direction towards the first outer surface and filling at least part of the opening volume, and where the protrusion defines a second outer surface.