Tennis racquet with replaceable playing surface

Abstract

A tennis racquet with a replaceable playing surface includes a frame, a cartridge, and a cartridge-lock with at least one key. The frame defines a cartridge support groove, a front upper half-oval bridge and a back upper half-oval bridge. Each bridge includes a head-guard. The front bridge with its head-guard and the back bridge with its head-guard define a planar passage way between the bridges. The cartridge includes a rim threaded with a string. The string defines a playing surface. The cartridge is shaped for removable snug fit in the support groove and in the planar passageway, such that when a replacement cartridge is snug within the frame, and when the at least one key is entered into the at least one key-aperture, the replacement cartridge is locked to the frame.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A tennis racquet with a replaceable playing surface, comprising:
 a frame having a handle and, an oval head attached to the handle, wherein the frame defines and at least one key-aperture, 
 wherein the oval head includes a lower half-oval frame-portion that defines a cartridge support groove, 
 wherein the oval head includes an upper half-oval frame-portion that defines a front upper half-oval bridge and a back upper half-oval bridge, 
 wherein the front upper half-oval bridge includes a front head-guard, 
 wherein the back upper half-oval bridge includes a back head-guard, and the front head-guard and the back head-guard being components of a head-guard lock; 
 wherein the front upper half-oval bridge with its and the front head-guard and the back upper half-oval bridge with its and the back head-guard define a planar passage way passageway; 
 a cartridge having a rim threaded with string, 
 wherein the string defines a playing surface, and 
 wherein the cartridge is adapted for insertion into, and for removal from, the planar passage way passageway; and 
 a cartridge-lock, including at least one key, wherein the at least one key is shaped for entry into the at least one key-aperture to lock the cartridge into the frame; 
 such that a the cartridge within the frame may be manually removed from the frame and replaced by a replacement cartridge without the use of tools an additional tool in addition to the cartridge-lock and the at least one key. 
 
     
     
       2. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 1 , wherein the cartridge-lock is a mid-frame cartridge-lock, each the at least one key-aperture is a mid-frame key-aperture, and each the at least one key is adapted to pass through a the mid-frame key-aperture of the cartridge and a corresponding key-aperture of the frame. 
     
     
       3. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 1 , wherein a lower portion of the cartridge rim includes a tongue defining at least one cartridge key-aperture. 
     
     
       4. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 3 , wherein the lower half-oval cartridge support groove includes a deep groove portion adapted to accept the tongue. 
     
     
       5. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 4 , wherein the tongue defines a plurality of cartridge key-apertures, wherein the lower half-oval frame-portion defines a corresponding plurality of mid-frame key-apertures, and wherein the cartridge-lock includes a rail, a first end of the rail is attached to the frame, and a second end of the rail defines a stop. 
     
     
       6. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 5 , wherein the tongue defines a rail-clearance slot. 
     
     
       7. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 6 , wherein the cartridge-lock further includes a key-assembly comprising a key-mount and an attached plurality of keys; wherein the key-assembly is mounted to the rail for sliding movement to and fro along the rail; wherein the cartridge-lock further includes a compression spring located on the rail between the key-mount and the stop, and wherein each key of the key-assembly corresponds to one associated cartridge key-aperture and one associated mid-frame key-aperture. 
     
     
       8. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 7 , wherein the cartridge is shaped for snug fit with the planar passageway and the lower half-oval cartridge support groove when cartridge is inserted into the planar passageway. 
     
     
       9. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 8 , further comprising an upper pull-plate and a lower pull-plate, each pull-plate having an outer gripping surface. 
     
     
       10. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 8 , further comprising a pull-cap having an outer gripping surface. 
     
     
       11. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 1 , wherein the cartridge-lock comprises a head-guard lock and comprises a head-guard key. 
     
     
       12. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 11 , wherein the head-guard key includes a key-release pull-tab. 
     
     
       13. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 12 , wherein the head-guard key is an elongated, substantially planar strip. 
     
     
       14. A The tennis racquet according to  claim 13 , wherein the head-guard key is further shaped to have first and second enlarged edges to fit within first and second shaped-grooves of front and back head-guards respectively. 
     
     
       15. A cartridge suitable for use with a racquet having a frame with a head having an upper portion with a planar passageway and a lower portion with a groove, the head being sized for receiving the cartridge, the lower portion of the head having a cartridge-lock for manually engaging and disengaging the cartridge without use of a tool other than the cartridge-lock to facilitate releasable engagement of the cartridge with the frame, the cartridge comprising:
 a rim that is strung with string which defines a playing surface;   a tongue that extends from the rim and comprises at least one retaining feature; and   the rim being receivable within the passageway of the upper portion of the head and the groove in the lower portion of the head such that the at least one retaining feature is alignable with the cartridge-lock,
 when the cartridge-lock is received by the at least one retaining feature of the cartridge, the cartridge is locked to the frame, and 
 when the cartridge-lock is withdrawn from the at least one retaining feature of the cartridge, the at least one retaining feature of the cartridge is releasable from the cartridge-lock to facilitate removal of the cartridge from the frame. 
   
     
     
       16. The cartridge according to claim 15, wherein the at least one retaining feature of the cartridge comprises a plurality of apertures and the tongue is received within a deepest point of the groove in the frame, and the plurality of apertures of the at least one retaining feature receive keys of the cartridge-lock to lock the cartridge to the frame. 
     
     
       17. The cartridge according to claim 15, wherein the rim of the cartridge is passed through the passageway and the tongue is received in the groove in the frame such that, when the at least one retaining feature is aligned with the cartridge-lock, the at least one retaining feature engages the cartridge-lock to lock the cartridge to the frame. 
     
     
       18. A tennis racquet with a replaceable playing surface, the tennis racquet comprising:
 a frame has a head portion and a handle portion that is integral with the head portion;   a cartridge having a rim that is strung with a string which defines the playing surface, the cartridge having a tongue, the tongue extends from the rim and has at least one retaining aperture;   the head portion of the frame having at least one planar passageway that is sized to receive the cartridge and facilitate releasable engagement of the cartridge with the frame;   the frame has at least one locking feature which is adjustable between an engaged position and a disengaged position, the at least one locking feature of the frame, when in the engaged position, is received by the at least one retaining aperture of the tongue to lock the cartridge to the frame, and the at least one locking feature of the frame, when in the disengaged position, is withdrawn the at least one retaining aperture of the tongue to unlock the cartridge from the frame facilitating removal thereof; and   the at least one locking feature of the frame being manually adjustable without use of an additional tool to release the cartridge from the frame and facilitate replacement of the cartridge with another cartridge.   
     
     
       19. The tennis racquet according to claim 18, wherein the at least one locking feature of the frame is a mid-frame cartridge-lock that comprises a spring and at least one key, the spring of the mid-frame cartridge-lock biases the at least one key which is received within the at least one retaining aperture to lock the cartridge to the frame, the at least one key is removable from the at least one retaining aperture by hand without use of a tool to unlock the cartridge and facilitate removal of the cartridge from the frame through the passageway, the additional tool being defined as a component that is distinct from the at least one locking feature of the frame. 
     
     
       20. The tennis racquet according to claim 19, wherein the frame further comprises a head-guard cartridge-lock having front and back head guards, each of the front and the back head guards comprises a slot and are secured to the head portion of the frame on opposite sides of the passageway such that the slots of the front and the back head guards face each other and the passageway extends between the front and the back head guards, the head-guard cartridge-lock has a strip that is received by the slots of both the front and the back head guards to close the passageway and lock the cartridge in the frame when received therein.