Gut strings for tennis rackets

Description

[0001] The invention in question consists of an innovative use of gut strings for tennis rackets, to form the surface on which the tennis ball (or other ball) strikes.

[0002] Gut string s (animal or synthetic, e.g., nylon), enhanced by bonding with extremely fine powders of pigments of metal or metal salts, provide a low density which gives the strings greater elasticity and better impact absorption.
The racket can be strung with a lower tension than normal, without losing elasticity or strength; control of the ball, too, is measurably improved.

[0003] We prepare and load the strings by soaking them in the mixture described above, in a ratio of 1 kg of poeder to 5 liters of water, to form a poultice. The metal or alloy powders, with granulos smaller than 100 microns, may be of copper-zink-tin-lead-iron, or their alloys brass and bronze, in a ratio of 1 kg to waterweight, up to 5 kg. Into this mixture we dip the strips of gut (ovine, bovine or goat) which are thus loaded and then sealed, using special glues to insure their adhesion.

[0004] The next step is to wind them on a hand-mill and then dry them. The final step is to straighten the strings, making them smooth and perfectly cylindrical, of the desired diameter.

[0005] Strings with nylon centers are loaded by bonding the plastic with the metal or alloy powders. In tests made on the courts with rackets strung in this way, it became clear that the lower tension possible with loaded gut expands the area of impact (that section of the racket which exerts the greatest power on the ball), thus entailing less loss of tension and greater ease of play.

[0006] Thus these strings, able to absorb vibrations and insure a better game, offer clear advantages over traditional racket strings.

Claims

1. Loaded gut strings capable of improving the response of tennis rackets (and other rackets); made of a center of gut (ovine, bovine, or goat) or of nylon, with density increased by surrounding the string with extremely fine powders of pigment of metal or metal salts.

2. Loaded gut strings, as in 1., whose composition and construction serve to expand the area on which the ball impacts, improving control noticeably and facilitating a stronger return.

3. Loaded gut strings as in 1. and 2., whose impact surface allows the racket to be strung with a lower tension than usual, without any loss of elasticity.