Modular Sports Racquet Assembly for Tunable Impact Core Replacement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sports racquets, particularly paddle racquets, lack sufficient modularity and customization options, limiting the ability to vary mechanical properties such as stiffness, weight, and game sensations, and existing manufacturing methods do not allow for interchangeable components.
Innovation Solution
A modular sports racquet design with a frame, central body, and impact plates that can be permanently, semi-permanently, or releasably attached, allowing customization and replacement of components, using adhesive means, fasteners, and a monocoque structure made from composite materials like carbon fiber and Kevlar.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the rim is opened or closed at the ends to couple the impact core, then the impact core can be inserted or extracted, but the frame material experiences fatigue at the opening/closing pivot points, causing potential failure
Solution Approach 1:
The racquet is divided into separate modular components: a frame, an impact core, and impact plates. These components can be independently replaced without affecting the entire structure. The frame includes a cavity that receives the impact core, and the impact plates are coupled to the frame, allowing selective replacement of worn or damaged parts while maintaining frame integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The impact core and impact plates are extracted as separate replaceable components from the frame. The impact core can be removed from the cavity, and impact plates can be detached from the frame, allowing users to replace only the necessary components rather than the entire racquet, thus avoiding fatigue accumulation in the frame material.
2Device complexity
If the impact core is made as a single piece with both the core and impact plates, then the structure is simplified, but any damage to the core or impact plates requires complete replacement of the impact core
Solution Approach 1:
The impact core structure is segmented into two distinct components: the impact core itself (which absorbs impact) and the impact plates (which contact the ball). These are coupled together but can be independently replaced. This segmentation allows users to replace only the impact plates if they become worn, while keeping the impact core, or vice versa, rather than replacing the entire assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the impact assembly have specialized functions: the impact core provides shock absorption while the impact plates provide ball contact surfaces. By making these components separate, each can be optimized for its specific function and replaced independently based on wear patterns, allowing localized replacement rather than complete assembly replacement.
3Ease of manufacture
If the racquet is manufactured as a single-piece with fixed features, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but the player cannot customize or optimize the racquet for different playing styles
Solution Approach 1:
The racquet is designed with modular components (frame, impact core, impact plates) that can be manufactured separately using optimized processes for each component type, then assembled together. This segmentation enables customization of individual components for different playing styles while maintaining efficient manufacturing processes for each part.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame is designed with a universal cavity structure that can accommodate different impact cores and impact plate configurations. This universal interface allows the same frame to be customized with different component combinations to suit various playing styles, weight preferences, and performance requirements, while the frame itself can be manufactured using a standardized process.
Data Source
Figure 1~2A
Figure 3~4A
Figure 5~5B
AI summary
The present invention provides a sports racquet comprising a frame provided with a head portion and a handle portion, a central body couplable to a cavity provided in the head portion, and at least one impact plate couplable to an attachment region arranged in the head portion and/or couplable to the central body, preferably two impact plates couplable facing each other with respect to the head portion, wherein in the attachment region there are attachment means configured for coupling the impact plate. The invention also provides the method for manufacturing the central body and the impact plates, as well as the assembly of the racquet in the different modalities thereof.