Technical field The present invention relates to improved handle means for rackets and the like; in particular for table tennis rackets but also for other sports. The unique shape of the handle makes a very steady grip possible, at the same time as the racket blade 1 without added disadvantages can be fastened to the handle in such a position that the centre of the racket blade 1 , in gripped position and with relaxed wrist, is situ- ated below the longitudinal axis of the forearm. This means in practice a possibility to via the wrist for a so called back swing, angle the racket blade 1 downwards to a great extent, which in turn brings about great advantages particularly for table tennis game.

Prior art

For table tennis, it is well known that the height over the net for the ball, af¬ ter strike, can be higher for given speed if the ball rotates with so called topspin, and it is therefore obvious and also well known that the topspin attacking shots contri¬ butes to the security in the game. Topspin is produced by a forward-upgoing motion of the racket. In actual play, it is often desirable to be able to do the topspin strokes with a pronounced wrist motion, which contributes to the speed and power of the stroke.

Wrist motion at the forehand side is best done if the racket is held in the hand with so called penhold grip. The centre of the racket blade is then in the "initial position'', ie with relaxed wrist, situated somewhat below the longitudinal axis of the forearm. This means that the racket blade can be angled down and backwards to a great extent by the wrist before the stroke, and then fast, when the stroke takes place, be moved forward-upward. The forehand stroke is almost always done with some arm swing. This means that the wrist, for forehand strokes, describes a roughly circular curve, which in turn means that a centrifugal force influences the racket blade, striving to move the blade outward, in the perpendicular direction of the tangent. For penhold grip, the racket blade, at the beginning of the topspinning shot, is so situated (nearer the centre of rotation) that the possible wrist motion outward, corresponds with the direction the above mentioned centrifugal force stri- ves to move the racket blade in. This means in practice, that wrist motion can be executed in a natural way without strain..

The great and well known disadvantage with the penhold grip is the difficulty to execute an effective backhand shot.

The other common way to grip the racket, handshake grip, allows in contrary to penhold grip a rather unhampered backhand shot, where the racket blade by the wrist can be angled backwards and even in some degree downwards, before the stroke is executed. Unfortunately, it is before topspinning forehand shots, not pos- sible to angle the racket blade backwards and at the same time downwards by wrist motion, depending on the fact that the racket blade centre, with relaxed wrist, is si¬ tuated above the longitudinal axis of the forearm. If wrist motion forward - upward for topspinning strokes should be executed, the wrist must move the racket blade in¬ ward, towards the centre of rotation, and therefore counteract the above mentioned centrifugal force. This means that the forehand shot often cannot be executed with that desirable fast wrist motion.

For both penhold and handshake grip, rackets with a simple handle in the shape of a shaft is used. It seems not possible to find a grip around such a handle which eliminates the above described drawbacks with the grips respectively, without other disadvantages being added.

Attempts have been made to solve the problems above, by translating and/or angling the racket blade in some way relative the shaft-shaped handle, for possibility to locate the racket blade lower relative the forearm longitudinal axis, when held in initial position, at the same time as possibility should be present to use both sides of the racket blade, in similarity with the handshake grip.

In Swedish patent application 7702409-9, the racket blade have simply been translated down relative the handle, and in Swedish patent application 7403032-1 , the racket blade is both translated and angled.

No one of these attempts to solutions works acceptable, because of the fact that the racket blade cannot be lowered considerably relative the longitudinal axis of the forearm, without the disadvantage of either disturbing finger at the backhand side of the racket, or unstable grip, occurs. in US pat. 3,674,268, a racket is shown where the handle longitudinal axis is parallel to the edge of the racket blade. This solution gives in practice a too un- stable grip, particularly for backhand strokes, depending on the fact that the handle then have a tendency to rotate around its longitudinal axis relative the hand, in di¬ rection towards the inside of the forearm. A similar solution is shown in US pat. 3,239,224.

From the above it is clear that a need exists for a racket where a large and comfortable wrist backswing down - backwards is made possible, both for forehand and backhand strokes. At the same time__ certain other demands must be fulfilled; for example, the handle must make a comfortable and particularly steady grip possible, and for table tennis, the racket blade must not be situated too far away from the

hand, which among other things can give rise to lesser control and "feeling" for the stroke.

Summary of the invention The present invention has as an object to, by means of a new and unique handle, make possible a table tennis racket where the main advantages of the pen¬ hold and handshake grip is combined, without their respective disadvantages pre¬ sent, or other disadvantages arising.

Another object is, by means of a handle with the same characteristics, im- prove other types of rackets; mainly tennis rackets, but the invention is first descri¬ bed in connection with a table tennis racket.

As a summary can be said that for the reason that the grip portion of the racket handle according to a preferred embodiment among other things is parallel to the adjacent edge of the racket blade and at the same time is equipped with a projection, aimed to rest at the back inside of the hand, a technical effect is achieved in the way that the racket may be constructed in such a way that the racket blade, in initial position, is situated considerably lower relative the forearm longitudinal axis compared to handshake grip, with retained comfortable and particularly steady grip. This makes wrist motion for topspinning strokes considerably easier, for above re- lated reasons. At the same time, in contrary to penhold grip, full access to the back¬ hand side is obtained. Yet an advantage is that the racket blade is situated as near the handle as possible, which gives opportunity to steer the racket with greatest precision and speed.

Description of the figures

Figure 1 shows a table tennis racket with a handle according to the invention in a side view. Fig 2 shows the racket in a view from below. Fig 3 shows an end view of the racket. Fig 4 and 5 shows a suitable way to hold the racket. In fig 6, 7 and 8 are alternative handle embodiments shown. In fig 9, parts of a tennis racket with a handle according to the present invention, are shown.

Description of an embodiment

The symmetry plane of the racket blade is hereby defined as a plane, parallel with the surfaces of the racket blade, and situated between those. For description of a preferred handle embodiment according to the invention, reference is made to fig 1 - 3. A racket bjade 1 , on which the rubbers (not shown) is fastened, is preferably but need not to be entirely conventional, but unlike a conven¬ tional shaft-shaped racket handle, a grip portion 2, parallel to the adjacent edge of

the racket blade 1 is present, and also a projection 3. The device as a whole is indi¬ cated 4. Grip portion 2 is fastened to the racket blade 1 , by means of bridges 8 and 10.

Projection 3, in normal cases situated so near the wrist so it is not grippable by the fingers, helps to stabilize the racket position relative the hand, both for fore¬ hand shots and particularly for backhand shots. Projection 3 is therefore one of the important parts of the present invention.

In fig 4 and 5, grip portion 2 is shown gripped by three fingers. Projection 3 rests against the thumb swelling. The forefinger rests against the upper edge of racket blade 1 , and the thumb rests against support surface 5, and rim 6. A contact surface 9 for mainly the middle finger and ring-finger finger-tips is also present. It is preferred that rest surface 9 passes softly to the grip portion 2 in the lower edge of the racket, for the reason that no intervening edge is to be present. Grip portion 2 rests against that part of the inside of the hand that is situated just below the little finger. The little finger rests against the round part of grip portion 2, at the lower part of the racket.

Three points where the racket contacts the inside of the hand can be identi¬ fied. One contact point can be said be constituted by the forefinger 's contact to the upper edge of the racket blade, indicated as point A in fig 5, even if the forefinger in this case in its whole length contacts racket blade 1. Another contact point is the part of grip portion 2, which is contacting the inside of the hand just below the little finger; point B in fig 5, and yet another contact point is situated where projection 3 contacts the thumb swelling; point C in fig 5.

The racket's contact points to the inside of the hand are thus three. A; B; C, whose can be said constitute a triangle, ABC. The racket is pressed against the in¬ side of the hand by the middle finger, ring-finger and the little finger, and by the thumb by support surface 5. It can be said that these fingers applies force inside tri¬ angle ABC, and by that, the position of the racket is static determined.

The thumb 's contact against support surface 5, produces additional grip stability, particularly for backhand shots, for which slipping of the handle in direction to the wrist is eliminated. The thumb presses also rim 6 against the side of the middle finger, at which the thumb and the side of the middle finger constitutes a pinch grip, considerably contributing to the grip stability.

For common mechanical reasons it follows, that if any part of the handle should contact the inside of the hand in some point lying inside triangle ABC, the grip stability is reduced. As large part as_ possible of the pressing force against the inside of the hand, ought therefore to be distributed to the said three contact points

A; B; C;. This means that the handle ought to be formed so, that it does not rest substantially against any point inside the triangle ABC.

In the preferred embodiment, the material at the point denoted 12 in fig. 3 is for this reason preferably only a few millimetres thick, which also has the advantage that material is saved and the weight becomes low. To save material and weight as much as possible, the preferred embodiment also has the following constructional features. The thin material leads down in a support wall denoted 13, which contri¬ butes to the total strength of the handle. On the side there are support walls 14 and 15, mainly contributing to the possibility to apply load to projection 3. Rim 6 passes into the support wall 15. Projection 3 has the shape of a bowl, with the convex side towards the hand.

There are of course several ways to grip a racket according to the present invention, as several ways to grip a conventional racket exists. It should be noted however, that the invention relates to the handle itself, which of course can be held in any way. The essential thing is though that the grip stability and comfort as the above described, in fig 4 and 5 shown grip gives, is made possible.

An alternative grip around the handle may be that, when also the forefinger is situated between grip portion 2 and the racket blade. For grip stability, the area above the second joint of the forefinger at the forefinger outside, ought in this case rest against the edge of racket blade 1. This alternative contact point for the fore¬ finger on the edge of the racket at the backhand side, can be said replace the fore¬ finger contact point A above. A small soft pad may be added to the edge of blade 1 for increased comfort.

The location of racket blade 1 in relation to the handle, with regard to both translation and angle, can be varied to obtain different playing properties. The racket blade angle relative the gripping hand, ought to substantially correspond with the angle a handshake rackets get, gripped with handshake grip. It is not recommended, but a racket can be made adjustable.

The handle is in the embodiment shown not symmetrical relating to the symmetry plane of the racket blade, whereby left handed persons has to use a "mirrored" racket handle. In all figures, the racket is made for a right handed person. In fig 6, an alternative embodiment is shown, where the projection 3 is situ¬ ated further down and subsequently denoted 3 ', it being in contact with the back inside of the hand near the wrist but not with the thumb swelling. It has been shown appropriate, for increased stability, to complete this embodiment with yet a projec¬ tion 7, normally situated in the space between the thumb and the forefinger. Projection 7 may be added to other embodiments.

In fig 1 - 5, an embodiment has been shown where projection 3 is situated relative high, and in fig 6, the projection 3 ' is situated lower. It is obvious that the projection according to the invention may be situated in all locations near and be¬ tween, although this is not shown in the figures, and the projection may also been made so wide, that it contacts the whole back inside of the hand. Of course, one racket may have several projections, for example one in that position, shown in fi¬ gure 1 - 5, and another in the position shown in figure 6.

In fig 7 and 8, it is also shown that the bridge 8 can be excluded, but that alters in no way the spirit and scope of the invention, and it should here be pointed out that although similar and other modifications; adding and removing material in order to support fingers or to make the handle lighter or more comfortable is not di¬ rectly mentioned here, should those be considered to be in the scope of the inven¬ tion.

In fig 7 is an embodiment shown, where grip portion 2 is so short that it normally can be gripped only with two fingers. Projection 7 may be added for increa¬ sed stability (not shown).

In all embodiments above, the grip portion 2 is substantially parallel with the adjacent edge of racket blade 1 . This is not necessary, as shown in fig 8. Angle o< ought however to be small. The handle may of course be made of every conceivable material, for exam¬ ple metal, hard plastic foam ie, but thin wall plastic is preferred. The fastening to racket blade 1 can for example take place by gluing.

All embodiments shown in the figures are arranged so, that the forefinger should rest on the upper edge of racket blade 1 , or in practice on the upper edge of the rubber, which always covers racket blade 1. An elongation from the handle may however protrude in parallel with the upper edge of racket blade 1 , so the forefinger rests against this projection instead of against racket blade 1.

The handle can also be adapted for a tennis racket. The advantages for ten¬ nis game is similar those in table tennis, because topspin is also found in tennis. Even for tennis rackets, attempts have been made to locate the playing surface lo¬ wer relative a shaft formed handle in such a way that the handle longitudinal axis forms an oblique angle against the shaft. A disadvantage with this solution is that if the angle between handle and shaft decreases too much, the shaft-formed handle tends to rotate in the hand during the strokes. In fig 9 is therefore shown, in view from the forehand side, a handle embo¬ diment according to the invention, adapted for tennis. Parts 2 ", 3 ", 7 ", 8 ", and 10 " corresponds to the parts 2, 3, 7, 8 and 10 in the description above. Ho-

wever, the bridges 8 ' ' and 10 ' ' are not directly connected to the playing surface (not shown), but goes together to the racket shaft 1 1.

In this case, the forefinger does of course not rest against the playing sur¬ face, but preferably at the backhand side of the bridge 10 ", which therefore must be adapted for this. Projection 7 ' ' may possibly be made of a relatively soft material for increased comfort.

Of course can this embodiment be modified in several ways. The angle be¬ tween grip portion 2 ' ' and shaft 1 1 can be varied, and projection 7 ' ' can for ex¬ ample be excluded.