Wilson Sporting Goods Co.

Willie H McMillan

William D Severa

Donald G Loeffler

Po-Jen Cheng

Gerald J LeVault

Hoop portions of a sports racquet

A sports racquet including a frame, a string bed, and at least one cantilevered member. The frame includes a head portion coupled to a handle portion. The head portion includes a distal region, first and second side regions, and a proximal region. A string bed is formed of a plurality of cross string segments and a plurality of main string segments. The cantilevered member has a first section coupled to one of the regions, such that at least one point on the first section remains substantially fixed in relation to the region to which the first section is coupled, and a second section that is deflectable relative to the region to which the first section is coupled. At least one of the string segments is operably engaged with the member, such that when a ball impacts the string segment, the second section deflects inward toward the string bed.

Racquet having cantilevered hoop portions

A tennis racquet is provided with increased resistance against twisting of the racquet frame by increasing the width of the frame just above the area where the yoke and Y-shaped arms of the throat merge with the U-shaped upper portion of the head. The width of the frame in that area is preferably at least 0.600 inch, and more preferably about 0.640 inch. The ratio of the width and the height is about 0.54. The increased resistance to twisting permits the frame to be wider, thereby increasing the maximum width of the strings, reducing the difference between the maximum string width and maximum string length, and increasing the polar moment of inertia of the racquet.

Tennis racquet

A game racquet includes a frame having an elongated shaft which provides a handle and a hoop-shaped head which supports a generally planar string bed. The head includes a lower portion attached to the shaft, a pair of opposed side portions, and an upper portion. Each of the side portions and the upper portion has a hollow tubular cross section having an outer wall and an inner wall. The inner wall of each of the side and upper portions is provided with a plurality of elongated slots which extend perpendicularly to the plane of the strings, and each of the outer walls is provided with a plurality of circular openings which are aligned with the slots and which lie in the plane of the strings. A grommet strip extends along each of the side portions of the head, and a bumper strip extends along the upper portion of the head. Each of the grommet strips and the bumper strip includes a tubular sleeve for each of the circular openings which is aligned with a slot which extends through the circular opening and which terminates outwardly of the aligned slot.

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Bolingbrook, IL, United States of America

Willie H McMillan