The present invention relates to sports goods and more particularly, to a racket with improved strength and low air resistance.

A conventional racket, such as badminton racket, tennis racket or squash racket, includes a head frame, a connecting portion extending from the head frame, and a handle fastened to a free end of the connecting portion. The cross section of the head frame has an approximately rectangular shape. Thus the air resistance of the head frame during waving the racket is not small. Besides, the head frame is the part most likely to be broken by external force since the head frame bears the tension of the net. Therefore, it is an important topic in this technique area as how to enhance the structure strength of the head frame.

The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is one object of the present invention to provide a racket with improved structure strength and low air resistance.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a racket, which is pretty easy to manipulate.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a racket with a longer lifetime.

To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the racket includes a head frame, a connecting portion extending from the head frame, and a handle fastened to a free end of the connecting portion. The head frame is provided with an inner circumference surface, an outer circumference surface and two annular surfaces connecting between the inner circumference surface and the outer circumference surface. The annular surfaces are provided with a plurality of concavities adjacent to the inner circumference surface such that an edge of the inner circumference surface has a waved shape.

• FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a side view of part of the first embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 3 is a sectional view along line 3-3 in FIG. 2.
• FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line 4-4 in FIG. 2.
• FIG. 5 is a side view of part of a second embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 6 is a side view of part of a third embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 7 is a perspective view of part of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
• FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1, a racket 10 in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention comprises a head frame 20, a connecting portion 30 extending from the head frame 20, and a handle (not shown) fastened to a distal end 31 of the connecting portion 30. The racket 10 of the first embodiment of the present invention is a badminton racket and the connecting portion 30 is a straight rod.

The features of the present invention is that the head frame 20 has an inner circumference surface 22, an outer circumference surface 25 and two annular surfaces 26 connecting between the inner circumference surface 22 and the outer circumference surface 25. The two annular surfaces 26 are respectively provided with a plurality of concavities 27 adjacent to the inner circumference surface 22 such that an edge of the inner circumference surface 22 has a waved shape. The concavities 27 of the two annular surfaces 26 correspond to each other in a pair manner, as shown in FIG 2, such that a neck 23 of the inner circumference surface 22 is formed between each pair of the corresponding concavities 27 and a plurality of wide heads 24 are formed between the necks 23. The inner circumference surface 22 is a smooth annular surface with interlaced wider heads 24 and narrower necks 23 such that the inner circumference surface 22 has a calabash-like shape. FIGS. 3-4 show the cross-section of the head frame 20 respectively along the head 24 and the neck 23. The head frame 20 is provided with a plurality of holes 28 located between the necks 23.

Since the concavities 27 are located between the two annular surfaces 26 and the inner circumference surface 22, the area facing the wind during waving the racket 10 is decreased, so as to diminish the air resistance to make it easy to manipulate the racket 10. Furthermore, the structure strength of the head frame 20 is improved since the surrounding wall 29 of the head frame 20 is meandrous such that the racket 10 has an elongated lifetime.

The spirit of the present invention can be applied to similar products, such as tennis racket, squash racket, etc. The structure of the head frame has a lot of alternatives, too. Several examples are given below. A racket 40 in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 5. The head frame 41 of the racket 40 is provided with a plurality of holes 42 located at the necks 46 of the inner circumference surface 44. A racket 50 in accordance with the third embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 6. The concavities 54 of the two annular surfaces 52 are arranged in a staggered manner such that the inner circumference surface 56 has a continuous S-shape. A racket 60 in accordance with the fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 7. The concavities 64 of the two annular surfaces 62 are provided merely along several sections of the head frame 66. Only one of the two annular surfaces 62 is provided with the concavities 64 in specific section S. A tennis racket 70 in accordance with the fifth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 8. The two annular surfaces 74 are provided with a plurality of concavities 76 corresponding to each other in a pair manner in specific section S of the head frame 72. A squash racket 80 in accordance with the sixth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 9. The two annular surfaces 84 are provided with a plurality of concavities 86 corresponding to each other in a pair manner in specific section S of the head frame 82.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.