GB2042904A - Badminton or Squash Trainer Device - Google Patents

Abstract

The trainer comprises an upright 1 having an adjustably positionable horizontal arm (7) which supports a suspension element comprising an upper ring (15) mounted on a slot (12) of the arm, a heavy sleeve (17) crimped to the ring and a length (18) of flexible rubber secured to a shuttlecock (14) (or squash ball) and crimped in the sleeve (17). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Badminton or Squash Trainer Device This invention relates to a device to enable badminton or squash players to practice without the need for other players.

It is known for various ball games, e.g. tennis and golf, to have a tethered ball to enable a player to hit a static or moving ball without having to retrieve it from the full range of the shot made. A ball is symmetrical so that the orientation of the ball is immaterial to the shot. However, with a shuttlecock, which has only one axis of symmetry, the orientation to the racket is all important, so that a captive shuttlecock is more difficult to achieve than a captive ball. The suspension element for a captive shuttlecock thus has to provide recovery to a given orientation within a few seconds (e.g. 3 to 5 seconds) so that backhand or forehand practice can be undertaken, in addition to the other requirements of strength to withstand hard blows from a racquet, and flexibility and lightness to avoid damage to the racquet.The forces involved with hitting a squash ball are similar to those involved in badminton although the orientation problem does not arise.

The invention is therefore usable in connection with a squash practice.

In order to meet all these conflicting requirements, I provide a suspension element for a shuttlecock or squash ball, which element includes a ring or other attachment for releasably securing the element to an arm or the like, a comparatively heavy upper portion of the element attached to the ring or other attachment and a lower portion secured to the upper portion, the said lower portion consisting of flexible elastic material secured at one end to the upper element and at the other end to a shuttlecock or squash ball.

The heavy upper portion may be formed by a metal tube crimped to the ring and to the flexible elastic material.

The flexible elastic material and shuttlecock (or squash ball) are preferably permanently secured together e.g. by adhesive.

The invention will be further described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is an elevation of a preferred form of badminton training device embodying the invention; and Figure 2 is an enlarged view of a shuttlecock and suspension element.

Turning first to Figure 1, there is shown an upright member 1 attached by brackets 2 to a wall or other suitable surface 3. The upright 1 is also shown as being formed with holes 2a to receive brackets for attachment to other uprights, such as badminton net posts, volley ball posts or netball posts. In a particular form, as illustrated, the upright 1 is formed of square section tubing with a one inch side, but of course it is not limited either to this section or dimension. Slidable on the upright 1 is a sleeve 5 which carries a threaded socket 6 which receives a threaded ferrule 7a on a one inch diameter wooden rod 7. Again, it is not essential that the rod 7 should be wooden or of one inch diameter or that it should necessarily be solid.The height of the rod 7 is adjustable by sliding the sleeve 5 along the upright 1 and for this purpose the interior of the sleeve may have a coating of polytetrafluorethylene. In order to hold the sleeve 5 in the required position, a light rope is anchored at one end to an anchorage 8 on the sleeve 5, passes loosely through a ring 9 at the top of the upright and is fixed to an anchorage 10 on the socket 6. A press-in cleat 11 is attached to the upright 1 to allow easy securing of the rope with the sleeve 5 at the required ievel.

By allowing the rope to have a free run it is possible for the user to provide not oniy an upward pull on anchorage 10 but also a downward pull on anchorage 8 to reduce binding of sleeve 5 on upright 1. This operates for both upward and downward movement of the sleeve 5.

Adjacent its end remote from the socket 6, the rod 7 has a groove 12 which receives and supports a suspension element, generally indicated at 13 for a shuttlecock 14. The suspension element is illustrated in more detail in Figure 2.

It will be seen that the suspension element includes an upper loop or ring 1 5 which is, for instance, formed of nylon-covered tough rubber, and the ends of which are received, and preferably secured by adhesive, within a crimped portion 1 6 forming the upper end of a heavy metal, e.g. steel, tubular member 1 7 which forms an upper portion of the suspension element. The lower portion of the suspension element is formed by a length 18 of circular section elastic material, the lower end of which is secured by adhesive to the shuttlecock inside a circular hole punched in the rubber head 1 9 of the shuttlecock 14, which preferably has a replaceable flight portion. The upper end of the length 1 8 is received and crimped into a lower end 21 of the member 1 7.

It has been found that with such an arrangement, the shuttlecock, when hit, rotates in a generally vertical plane with the suspension element 13 and on slowing down reverts fairly quickly to the position illustrated in Figure 1 with the shuttlecock 14 correctly oriented. The use of the flexible elastic material is useful in that such material does have the ability to return the shuttlecock very quickly to its original orientation.

The weight of the member 1 7 is also a significant factor in stabilizing the shuttlecock quickly.

In the drawing, the upper portion 1 7 is approximately 6 cm long plus the ring which adds 3 to 4 cms to the overall length and the length of the lower portion would be about 1 5-24 cm, plus the length of the shuttlecock, but it is envisaged that the dimensions of these may vary and in particular the upper portion 17 may be shortened while retaining the lower portion 1 8 at the longer length.

Various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims (8)

Claims

1. A suspension element for a shuttlecock or squash ball which element includes a ring or other attachment for releasably securing the element to an arm or the like, a comparatively heavy upper portion of the element attached to the ring or other attachment and a lower portion secured to the upper portion, the said lower portion consisting of flexible elastic material secured at one end to the upper element and at the other end to a shuttlecock or squash ball.

2. A suspension element as claimed in claim 1, in which the heavy upper portion is formed by a metal tube crimped to the ring and also to the flexible elastic material.

3. A suspension element as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the flexible elastic material and shuttlecock or squash ball are permanently secured together.

4. A suspension element as claimed in claim 3, in which the elastic material is secured to the shuttlecock or squash ball by adhesive.

5. A suspension element for a shuttlecock or squash ball substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6. A badminton or squash trainer comprising an upright adapted to be secured to a wall or other support, a generally horizontal arm attached to a slider on the upright for vertical adjustment and a suspension element as claimed in any of the preceding claims mounted on the arm.

7. A trainer as claimed in claim 6, in which the arm has a slot receiving the ring of the suspension element.

8. A badminton or squash trainer substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.