This invention relates to an artificial shuttlecock and processes of manufacturing same. The artificial feather shuttlecock which comprises 16 artificial fethers each consisting of a plastics fiber central axis and feather vanes made of woven or non-woven cloth; and a foamed PU cork for mounting the 16 artificial fethers thereon.

From the beginning of badminton game in the end of the 19th century until the establishment of international badminton organization in 1934, badminton game has been popular all over the world. As the striking point is only confined to the cork, the feathers thereof are usually arranged in a conical shape with the tail end much wider than the top end so as to increase the air resistance of a shuttlecock top end during the game. Because of its light weight and slow motion, the shuttlecock falls down sbruptly when the propelling force and the air resistance are equal. The unusual flying track of the shuttlecock makes it far different from other balls. Conventionally, a best shuttlecock was usually made of 16 bird feather disposed in order on a rubber base. As shown in Figure 1, the conventional process for making a natural feather shuttlecock is to evenly stick 16 natural feathers 11 on the planar surface 13 of a cork 12. By twisting the strings 15 around the central axis 14 of the feathers 11 and sticking together the ends of the strings 15 and the joints between the planar surface 13 and the ends of the central axis 14, a complete shuttlecock 10 is hereby accomplished. However, the natural feathers obtained from the duck or goose are subject to time limitation for fowls are grown slowly, and to complicated processes because they have to be bleached, sterilized and proofed against moth. Moreover, the feathers have to be selected according to the obliquity of the barbs before putting 16 feathers with the same oblique bars. for one complete shuttlecock. With the outstanding processing technique at the present time, the rate of defectiveness (such as insufficient flying, over flying speed, etc.,) of the natural feather shuttlecocks is 10 percent or even more. Owing to the above facts, not only does the manufacturing process of a natural feather shuttlecock take much time but also the cost is relatively high. In addition, as the natural feather is easily subject to damage, several dozen of shuttlecocks are usually required in one single game making the supply of natural feather shuttlecocks in great demand.

Recently, under the experiment of shuttlecock manufacturers, the modified substitute plastics shuttlecock has been adopted with the approval of the badminton association. The known plastics molded shuttlecock shown in Figure 2 includes a feather portion 21 which is molded as a single unit and a cork portion 22. When the lower part of the feather portion 21 is sticked to the rim of a recess 23 of the cork portion 22, a plastic molded shuttlecock 20 is accomplished. Although the manufacturing cost is greatly reduced, the use efficiency of the plastics shuttlecock is relatively poor as compared with the natural feather shuttlecock. Meanwhile, the plastics molded shuttlecock not only lacks the property of the natural feather shuttlecock but also gets damaged easily due to its fragile construction.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an artificial feather shuttlecock with features and construction similar to that of the natural feather shuttlecock.

A further object of this invention is to provide a shuttlecock of which the feather vane is made of fiber of either woven or non-woven cloth and the central axis of the feather are made of a compound of plastics fibers while the cork is made of foamed polyurethane (PU). All the materials required are easy to obtain, and the cost of production is greatly reduced. Moreover, as the manufacturing process is much simplified, mass production can be managed with uniform quality and minimum defect.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a shuttlecock of which the feather vanes are made of fiber of either white woven or non-woven cloth so that no bleaching operation is. required. On the other hand,. the light weight, high-temperature proof, non-splitting, good elasticity and toughness of the shuttlecock prolong its use life as compared with the natural feather shuttlecock and the plastic molded shuttlecock.

,Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become clearer and more understandble 'in the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of the conventional natural feather.shuttlecock;
• Figure 2 is a perspective view of the known plastics molded shuttlecock;
• Figure 3 is an exploded plan view of a single artificial feather of this invention;
• Figure 4 is a plan view of a single artificial feather of this invention; and
• Figure 5 is a perspective view of an artificial feather shuttlecock of this invention.

Referring to Figure 3, an artificial feather of this invention consists of a feather vane 31 and central axis 32. To produce the feather vane 31, woven or non-woven cloth is punched and pressed to form vane- shaped threads. The central axis 32 is made of plastics fiber compound by an injecting mold.

The second process to produce a complete artificial feather 30 as shown in Figure 4 comprises the steps that the vane 31 is firstly placed in the feather vane portion of a plastics mold, and a compound of plastics fiber is injected into the central axis portion of the plastic mold to form a central axis 32, and the tail portion of the axis 32 is sticked to the vane 31 thereof so as to form a single complete artificial feather 30. As the melting temperature of the plastics fiber for making the axis 32 is much lower than that of the fiber of woven or non-woven cloth, no melting on the vane 31 will occur during the injecting operation.

The preferred embodiment as illustrated in Figure 5 is a complete artificial feather shuttlecock 40 the producting process of which includes the insertion of 16 artificial feathers 30 into the planar surface 41 of the cork which is made of foamed polyurethane (PU) by a cork mold. By removing the cork mold, twisting around the axis 32 with strings 42, and sticking together the ends of the strings 42, a complete artificial feather shuttlecock 40 is finished accordingly.

While this invention has been particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings thereof, it will be understood that various changes or modifications may be made therefrom without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.