BALL BAT INCLUDING MULTIPLE FAILURE PLANES

摘要

A composite ball bat includes multiple failure planes within a barrel wall. By including multiple failure planes in a barrel wall, the bat exhibits a drop in performance when subjected to rolling or other extreme deflection, with no temporary increase in barrel performance. Because the barrel performance does not increase, the ball bat is able to comply with performance limitations imposed by regulatory associations.

主权项

1. A ball bat extending in a longitudinal direction from a handle to a barrel, with the barrel comprising:
a plurality of composite plies, wherein the barrel includes an external surface and an internal surface such that a neutral axis defining a primary failure plane is located between the external and internal surfaces; a first feature located between the external surface and the neutral axis of the barrel creating a first additional failure zone; a second feature located between the internal surface and the neutral axis of the barrel creating a second additional failure zone, wherein at least one of the first and second features comprises a gap or a butt joint located between longitudinally neighboring composite plies.