Tubular metal bat internally reinforced with fiber and metallic composite

Abstract

The bat of the present invention has a barrel with a thinner outer shell in compressive and/or adhesive engagement with an insert laminate comprised of one or more pieces of a thin metallic (preferably titanium) sheet (or foil) and one or more sheets of a composite material. The titanium portion of the insert laminate may be on the inner-most portion of the insert, may be on the outer-most portion of the laminate, or may be in the interior of the laminate (that is, with one or more sheets of composite material on either side of it). Alternatively, the bat may simply be provided with only a titanium insert. In yet another set of embodiments, the titanium sheet may be replaced by another suitable metallic sheet. In all embodiments, the reinforcing sleeve allows the barrel portion to deflect farther when impacted by an object such as a ball without detrimental yielding (denting) and increases the rate of return of the barrel wall.

What is claimed:  
     
         1 . A bat, comprising: 
 a tubular outer shell having a handle, a barrel, and a tapered portion therebetween;    and an insert laminate at least partially bonded to the interior surface of the barrel.    
     
     
         2 . The bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate comprises one or more metallic sheets and one or more sheets of a composite material.  
     
     
         3 . The bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate comprises one or more metallic sheets and one or more sheets of a composite material, said insert laminate being in compressive engagement with the interior surface of the barrel.  
     
     
         4 . The bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate comprises a metallic sheet and two sheets of a composite material; 
 said insert laminate being formed by bonding at least a portion of the metallic sheet to the interior surface of said outer shell and subsequently bonding the composite materials to the interior surface of the metallic sheet in such a manner as to generate compressive forces between said insert laminate and said outer shell.    
     
     
         5 . The bat of  claim 4 , wherein the barrel is between 0.020 to 0.058 inches thick.  
     
     
         6 . The bat of  claim 4 , wherein the barrel is between 0.045 and 0.052 inches thick.  
     
     
         7 . The bat of  claim 4 , wherein the barrel has a constant-diameter section; and wherein the length of said insert laminate is slightly less than the length of the constant-diameter section.  
     
     
         8 . The bat of  claim 4 , wherein each sheet of composite material is oriented at approximately 90 degree angles with respect to each other.  
     
     
         9 . The bat of  claim 4 , wherein each sheet of composite material is oriented at approximately 45 degree angles with respect to the cylindrical axis of the bat.  
     
     
         10 . The bat of  claim 4 , wherein said composite material is an S-glass fiberglass and low modulus-of-elasticity graphite in a toughened resin system.  
     
     
         11 . The bat of  claim 4 , wherein said composite material is Newport 304.  
     
     
         12 . The bat of  claim 4 , wherein said composite material comprises reinforcing fibers in a bi-directional pattern in a resin matrix.  
     
     
         13 . The bat of  claim 4 , wherein the composite material comprises woven reinforcing fibers in a bi-directional pattern in a resin matrix.  
     
     
         14 . The ball bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate is bonded to the interior surface of the barrel by a series of cylindrical-shaped portions of bonding means, said portions being separated from each other.  
     
     
         15 . The ball bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate is bonded to the interior surface of the barrel by a net-like configuration of bonding means.  
     
     
         16 . The bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate is bonded to the interior surface of the barrel by a cross-hatch configuration of bonding means.  
     
     
         17 . The bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate is bonded to the interior surface of the barrel by a regularly repeating geometrical configuration of bonding means.  
     
     
         18 . The bat of  claim 2 , wherein at least two of said sheets of said insert laminate are bonded to each other by a regularly repeating geometrical configuration of bonding means.  
     
     
         19 . The bat of  claim 2 , wherein at least two of said sheets of said insert laminate are bonded to each other by a net-like configuration of bonding means.  
     
     
         20 . The bat of  claim 2 , wherein at least two of said sheets of said insert laminate are bonded to each other by a cross-hatch configuration of bonding means.  
     
     
         21 . The bat of  claim 1 , further comprising a cap covering the barrel's end, and where said insert laminate is not held in its place by contact with said cap or with the tapered portion of said outer shell.  
     
     
         22 . The bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate comprises two metallic sheets having a width greater than 50% but less than 100% of the barrel's local internal diameter, said sheets being positioned opposite each other.  
     
     
         23 . The bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate comprises two metallic sheets having a width greater than 50% but less than 100% of the barrel's local internal diameter, said sheets being positioned in radially opposing positions inside the barrel.  
     
     
         24 . The bat of  claim 1 , wherein said insert laminate comprises three metallic sheets having a width greater than 33% but less than 100% of the barrel's local internal diameter, said sheets being positioned radially inside the barrel so that at least a portion of each of said sheets overlaps with at least a portion of each of said other two sheets.  
     
     
         25 . A bat as in any one of claims  2 - 13  inclusive,  18 ,  19 ,  20 ,  22 ,  23 , or  24 , in which the metallic sheet is titanium.