Artificial feather for shuttlecock and shuttlecock

Abstract

A plurality of artificial feathers for a shuttlecock, when a hemispherical base portion of the shuttlecock is set on a lower side, the artificial feathers being embedded in an annular ring form on a peripheral border of a circular top end face of the base portion, the artificial feathers for a shuttlecock each including a vane portion in a thin film form, corresponding to a vane, the vane portion being provided with a reinforcement coating made of applied resin, and a rachis portion in a bar form extending integrally and continuously from an upper tip end to a lower distal end, corresponding to a rachis, to imitate a natural feather, the rachis portion being fixed to the vane portion at a vane support portion, having the vane support portion set as an area that is fixed to the vane portion along the tip end to a bottom end of the vane portion, and having a calamus portion set as an area that protrudes to a lower side of the vane portion and spans from a bottom end of the vane support portion to the distal end, to correspond to a calamus of the natural feather.

1 . A plurality of artificial feathers for a shuttlecock, when a hemispherical base portion of the shuttlecock is set on a lower side, the artificial feathers being embedded in an annular ring form on a peripheral border of a circular top end face of the base portion, the artificial feathers for a shuttlecock each comprising:
 a vane portion in a thin film form, corresponding to a vane, the vane portion being provided with a reinforcement coating made of applied resin; and   a rachis portion in a bar form extending integrally and continuously from an upper tip end to a lower distal end, corresponding to a rachis, to imitate a natural feather,   the rachis portion being fixed to the vane portion at a vane support portion, having the vane support portion set as an area that is fixed to the vane portion along the tip end to a bottom end of the vane portion, and having a calamus portion set as an area that protrudes to a lower side of the vane portion and spans from a bottom end of the vane support portion to the distal end, to correspond to a calamus of the natural feather.   
     
     
         2 . The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the vane portion is made of nonwoven fabric and the reinforcement coating is any one of waterborne polyurethane, waterborne polyester, waterborne polyolefin, nylon-based emulsion and acrylic-based emulsion.   
     
     
         3 . The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to  claim 2 , wherein
 a unit weight of the reinforcement coating per unit area applied to one of the vane portion is greater than or equal to 1.8 g/m 2  and less than or equal to 27 g/m 2 .   
     
     
         4 . The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the vane portion has reinforcing material made of a foam body layered thereon and the rachis portion is sandwiched by the vane portion and the reinforcing material at the vane supporting portion, and   the reinforcing material conforms to a planar shape of an area where the vane portion is formed, and has a planar shape that has a rim cut at a part where the vane portion overlaps another adjacent vane portion in the shuttlecock.   
     
     
         5 . The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to  claim 1 , wherein
 the vane portion has reinforcing material made of a foam body layered thereon and the rachis portion is sandwiched by the vane portion and the reinforcing material at the vane supporting portion, and   the reinforcing material conforms to a planar shape of an area where the vane portion is formed, and has a planar shape that has a rim cut at a part where the vane portion overlaps another adjacent vane portion in the shuttlecock and a band-like rib that extends toward another artificial feather adjacent to a part of the rim.   
     
     
         6 . The artificial feather for a shuttlecock according to  claim 5 , wherein
 the rib opposes the adjacent another artificial feather and extends from the part of the rim and obliquely upward.   
     
     
         7 . A shuttlecock comprising the artificial feather according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         8 . The shuttlecock according to  claim 7 , wherein
 each of the artificial feathers, in a state embedded in the base portion in an annular ring, when a circumferential direction of the annular ring is set as a right-left direction, has an edge portion of one of the right and left vane portions underlapping on a back face side of the vane portion of the another artificial feather adjacent in the one of the directions, and   the vane portion has a slit portion extending in an up-down direction and communicating a front and a back of the artificial feather, while a band-like binding member continuously penetrates the slit portion of each artificial feather and forms an annular ring with both ends thereof fixed, to fix a front-back relation of the underlapping of the adjacent vane portions.   
     
     
         9 . The shuttlecock according to  claim 7 , wherein
 each of the artificial feathers, in a state embedded in the base portion in an annular ring, when a circumferential direction of the annular ring is set as a right-left direction, has an edge portion of one of the right and left vane portions underlapping on a back face side of the vane portion of the another artificial feather adjacent in the one of the directions, and   the vane portion has a string-like binding member continuously penetrating and encircling each artificial feather embedded in an annular ring from a back face toward a front face to fix a front-back relation of the underlapping of the adjacent vane portions.   
     
     
         10 . The shuttlecock according to  claim 7 , wherein
 each of the artificial feathers, in a state embedded in the base portion in an annular ring, when a circumferential direction of the annular ring is set as a right-left direction, has an edge portion of one of the right and left vane portions underlapping on a back face side of the vane portion of the another artificial feather adjacent in the one of the directions,   a protrusion is included to an edge portion of one of the right and left directions of the vane portion and slit portions penetrating a front and a back are formed to an area that opposes the protrusion of an artificial feather adjacent in an other direction of the right and left directions in an area where the vane portion is formed, and   each artificial feather has a protrusion of an artificial feather adjacent in the other direction inserted into its own slit portions, to fix a front-back relation of the underlapping of the adjacent artificial feather.   
     
     
         11 . The shuttlecock according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the slit portions are composed of two that are placed parallel and apart from each other, the protrusion is guided from a back face to a front face of one of the slit portions of an artificial feather adjacent in one direction and bent, and inserted through an other of the slit portions, and a tip end of the protrusion is fixed in an overlapped state at part way of the protrusion.   
     
     
         12 . The shuttlecock according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the protrusion is formed to protrude in one of the right and left directions and bent downward, in an approximately L shape,   the slit portions that are formed to each artificial feather are composed of two extending in the right-left direction and being placed in parallel one above an other, and   a protrusion of each artificial feather is guided into an upper slit portion of the artificial feather adjacent in the one of the directions from a back face to a front face, and inserted into a lower slit portion from a front face to a back face.   
     
     
         13 . The shuttlecock according to  claim 10 , wherein
 the protrusion is formed to protrude in one of the right and left directions and continues to branch into two tongues, in up and down directions, in an approximately T shape,   the slit portions that are formed to each artificial feather are composed of two extending in the right-left direction and being placed in parallel one above an other,   a protrusion of each artificial feather has an upper tongue guided to an upper slit portion of the artificial feather adjacent in the one of the directions from a back face to a front face and bent downward, and has a lower tongue guided to a lower slit portion of the artificial feather adjacent in the one of the directions from a back face to a front face and bent upward, and   a tip end of the two tongues of the protrusion are fixed in a state with one overlapping the other.