Abstract: A sports racket frame including a head portion and a handle portion formed from unidirectional high strength fibers impregnated with thermoplastic resin in the form of a sheet containing a plurality of adjacent strips in which the unidirection of the fibers in the strips are at different angles. The strips are made from unidirectional composite thermoplastic tape, and the sheet is rolled into an elongated hollow tube. Yoke components are also constructed from the composite material and the rolled hollow tube and yoke components are formed in the shape of a racket frame.

Abstract: A circular loom comprises weft ribbon shuttle assemblies and a control system for detecting the position of one of the shuttle assemblies at spaced points about the periphery of the loom, and then presetting warp ribbon-setting air cylinders in advance of each of the shuttle assemblies for subsequent passage of the shuttle assemblies through the resultant warp sheds without engaging the warp ribbons. Electrical brakes control warp and weft tension in a uniform manner. The shuttle assemblies are driven by a gearing from a motor mounted independently of the shuttle assemblies. In a fabric-forming position, each weft ribbon slides transversely under a fabric-forming ring with the longitudinally moving warp shed and into the plane of the formed fabric in engagement with an annular inner surface of the ring, essentially without any twist about a transverse axis of the weft.

Abstract: Continuous flat unidirectional flat ribbons, which have been precut from an impregnated fiber reinforced-matrix composite tape so as to have a substantially greater width than thickness, are interlaced in over-and-under relationship in 0 degree and 90 degree directions into the form of a continuous, multi-directional seamless tube. The tube may be cut into tubular sections, which then are subjected to temporary heat and pressure so that the matrix fuses the interlaced ribbons to form an integral tube. The elongated seamless tube also may be cut into planar sections and used to form integral members of planar or contoured construction. The integral members may be formed of a single layer of the interlaced material, or of laminated construction from multiple layers of the interlaced material, with the ribbons of each layer either extending parallel, at an angle other than 0 degrees/90 degrees, aligned, or offset, with respect to the ribbons in the other layer(s).

Abstract: A hinged knee brace assembly includes upper and lower mounting members positionable above and below a wearer's knee, respectively. The mounting members include projecting connector link portions joined together along a transverse bending axis of the knee, on opposite sides thereof, by respective hinges. Each hinge comprises a stop plate member including a circumferentially extending track and a lug plate member having a projecting lug receivable in the track and engageable with stop surfaces at opposite ends thereof, to limit knee-bending movement. A first retaining member of each hinge has a noncircular projecting hub which projects through corresponding apertures in the lug plate member and the adjacent connector link portion of the lower mounting member to cause the lug plate member and connector link to move as a unit.

Abstract: Continuous flat unidirectional flat ribbons, which have been precut from an impregnated fiber reinforced-matrix composite tape so as to have a substantially greater width than thickness, are interlaced in over-and-under relationship in 0 degree and 90 degree directions into the form of a continuous, multi-directional seamless tube. The tube may be cut into tubular sections, which then are subjected to temporary heat and pressure so that the matrix fuses the interlaced ribbons to form an integral tube. The elongated seamless tube also may be cut into planar sections and used to form integral members of planar or contoured construction. The integral members may be formed of a single layer of the interlaced material, or of laminated construction form multiple layers of the interlaced material, with the ribbons of each layer either extending parallel, at an angle other than 0/90 degrees, aligned, or offset, with respect to the ribbons in the other layer(s).

Abstract: A solid three-dimensional article is formed from a liquid medium by initially coating a layer of the liquid medium on an apertured support plate. An initial cross-section or profile of the article then is formed by solidifying the liquid medium, or at least a portion thereof, on the support plate. An expandable member at a bottom of a container for holding a supply of the liquid medium, then is expanded an incremental amount to raise the level of the liquid medium in the container upward through the apertured support plate to a level above the support plate so as to form a meniscus around the solidified cross-section or profile of the article. The solidified cross-section or profile of the article then is coated with an additional layer of the liquid medium, causing the meniscus to break and the just-added liquid medium layer and the previous liquid medium to merge, whereupon the additional layer is essentially immediately solidified to form another cross-section or profile of the article.