Sports Stick Handle Corner Reinforcement for Impact Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional sports equipment stick handles with uniform wall thickness lack the necessary strength and durability to withstand handle-on-handle impacts while maintaining a lightweight design for effective stick handling.
Innovation Solution
A sports equipment stick handle with a tubular member featuring a cross section where the corner thickness is greater than the adjacent walls, incorporating reinforcement portions that project inward or outward, enhancing dent resistance and stiffness without increasing overall weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the wall thickness is decreased to reduce handle weight, then the stick handling performance is improved, but the handle strength and durability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The handle cross-section features non-uniform wall thickness with reinforcement portions at corners and along edges, creating locally thicker regions that provide enhanced strength and dent resistance precisely where handle-on-handle impacts occur, while maintaining thinner walls in other areas to minimize overall weight
Solution Approach 2:
The handle employs an asymmetric cross-sectional design where the wall thickness varies around the perimeter, with specific reinforcement portions positioned at corners and edges rather than uniform distribution, optimizing the strength-to-weight ratio by placing material strategically where it is most needed for impact resistance
2Weight of moving object
If the wall thickness is decreased to reduce handle weight, then the stick handling performance is improved, but the dent resistance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The handle incorporates localized reinforcement portions at corners and edges where handle-on-handle impacts most frequently occur, providing enhanced dent resistance in these high-stress areas while keeping the overall wall thickness reduced to maintain lightweight characteristics
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement portions are pre-positioned at vulnerable locations (corners and edges) before impact occurs, creating a proactive defense structure that anticipates and resists handle-on-handle impacts and denting at these high-probability impact zones
3Object-affected harmful factors
If reinforcement portions are added to increase handle strength, then the dent resistance is improved, but the handle weight increases
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than uniformly increasing wall thickness throughout the handle, the design applies reinforcement portions only at specific locations (corners and edges) where dent resistance is most needed, minimizing the additional material required and thus limiting weight increase while maximizing protective benefit
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement portions provide localized excessive thickness at critical areas beyond what uniform wall thickness would provide, concentrating the weight investment only where it yields the highest return in dent resistance and impact protection
Data Source
AI summary
A sports equipment stick handle comprising a hollow tubular member with a cross section comprising at least a first wall and a second wall that intersect at a corner having a reinforcement portion (fillet, bead or diagonal; easement, wherein the thickness of the corner is greater than the thickness of the first and second walls. The reinforcement portion increases dent resistance, strength, and stiffness.