Two piece sports racquet

Abstract

A composite sports racquet includes a head portion which is formed by an upper frame half and a lower frame half. Each frame half is a tubular frame section, and includes a generally flat wall. The two walls are bonded to one another to form a unitary head portion, whereby the first and second walls form internal frame ribs oriented generally parallel to the string bed plane and extending continuously around the head portion. The upper and lower frame halves are preferably pre-molded individually and thereafter glued to one another. Alternatively, one of the frame halves can be pre-molded, with the other frame half thereafter molded onto the pre-molded half Preferably, the first and second walls include a plurality of channel portions which, when the racquet halves are joined, define the string holes. Preferably, the channel portions are contoured at the outer frame surface to form curved bearing surfaces for string entry. Also, if desired, the string holes can be molded so as to extend parallel to the string ends, rather than perpendicular to the racquet frame as is generally done with drilled string holes. Preferably, the string holes have a dimension, in a direction perpendicular to the string bed plane, which is substantially greater than the diameter of standard racquet strings, so that the strings are supported only on the outer portion of the frame, thereby extending the effective string length.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.