US 12,251,608 B2Granted

Ball bats with inner barrel structures

AssigneeRawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc.

InventorsFrederic St-Laurent, Michael Haas, Ian Montgomery, Rebecca S. O'Hara, Linda Hunt, Douglas Wade Heimer

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Representative embodiments of the present technology include a bat having a barrel shell and a frame structure. The barrel shell may include a barrel region of the bat and part of a tapered region of the bat. The frame structure may include a first portion positioned outside the barrel shell and a second portion positioned inside the barrel shell. In some embodiments, a distal end of the frame structure is in the barrel region but is longitudinally spaced from a distal end of the barrel shell. In some embodiments, the distal end of the frame structure is longitudinally spaced from an end cap of the bat. The barrel shell may flex or pivot relative to the second portion of the frame structure. In some embodiments, the only connection between the frame structure and the barrel shell within the barrel shell may be within the tapered region.

Claims22

Dependent claims

A bat extending along a longitudinal axis between a proximal end of the bat and a distal end of the bat, the bat comprising:

a barrel shell extending along the longitudinal axis between a proximal end of the barrel shell and a distal end of the barrel shell, the barrel shell including a barrel region of the bat and at least part of a tapered region of the bat;
and
a frame structure extending along the longitudinal axis, the frame structure including a first portion that is positioned outside the barrel shell and a second portion that is concentrically positioned inside the barrel shell, wherein the first portion includes a handle region of the bat;
and
an end cap attached to the distal end of the barrel shell;
wherein:
(a) the frame structure extends within the barrel shell, toward the distal end of the barrel shell, beyond the tapered region, and into the barrel region;
(b) the frame structure is longitudinally spaced apart from the end cap;
(c) the frame structure comprises a first tapered portion and a second tapered portion, wherein (i) each of the first tapered portion and the second tapered portion is positioned within the tapered region of the bat, (ii) the first tapered portion tapers away from the longitudinal axis from the proximal end of the barrel shell to the second tapered portion, and (iii) the second tapered portion tapers toward the longitudinal axis from the first tapered portion toward a distal end of the frame structure;
(d) the first tapered portion includes an inner diameter that varies along the longitudinal axis;
and
(e) the only connection between the frame structure and the barrel shell within the barrel shell is a connection between the first tapered portion of the frame structure and an inner tapered portion of the barrel shell, wherein a portion of the frame structure including the second tapered portion and the distal end of the frame structure is cantilevered from the first tapered portion.

9 more elements

A bat extending along a longitudinal axis between a proximal end of the bat and a distal end of the bat, the bat comprising:

a barrel shell extending along the longitudinal axis between a proximal end of the barrel shell and a distal end of the barrel shell, the barrel shell including a barrel region of the bat and at least part of a tapered region of the bat;
and
a frame structure extending along the longitudinal axis, the frame structure including a first portion that is positioned outside the barrel shell and a second portion that is concentrically positioned inside the barrel shell, wherein the first portion includes a handle region of the bat and the second portion includes a distal end of the frame structure;
wherein:
(a) the frame structure extends into the barrel region;
(b) the frame structure comprises a first tapered portion positioned inside the barrel shell and in the tapered region of the bat, wherein the first tapered portion tapers outwardly between a first outer diameter of the frame structure to a second outer diameter of the frame structure, wherein the first outer diameter is smaller than the second outer diameter;
(c) the frame structure further comprises a second tapered portion inside the barrel shell that narrows along the longitudinal axis from the second outer diameter of the frame structure toward the distal end of the frame structure;
(d) the first tapered portion is attached to a tapered portion of the barrel shell;
(e) a part of the second portion of the frame structure extending between the first tapered portion and the distal end of the frame structure is spaced apart from the barrel shell by an annular gap that is positioned between the part of the second portion and the barrel shell, wherein the second tapered portion forms a proximal end of the annular gap, and the gap extends to the distal end of the frame structure;
and
(f) the distal end of the frame structure is longitudinally spaced apart from the distal end of the barrel shell.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/647,433Filed 7 Jan 2022
Published: US 2023/0218963 A113 Jul 2023
Granted: 18 Mar 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification13 codes

A63B 60/54
Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like: with means for damping vibrations
A63B 59/50
Bats, rackets, or the like, not covered by groups A63B49/00 - A63B57/00: substantially rod-shaped bats for hitting a ball in the air, e.g. for…
A63B 59/56
Substantially rod-shaped bats for hitting a ball in the air, e.g. for baseball: characterised by the head
A63B 60/16
Handles: caps; Ferrules