USOO903383OB2 (12) United States Patent (10) Patent No.: US 9,033,830 B2 Khan (45) Date of Patent: May 19, 2015 (54) CRICKET.BAT 2,026,078 A * 12/1935 Walker ............................ 294,32 D145,524 S * 9/1946 Hoffman . ... D8, 10 (71) Applicant: Mark Khan, Little Falls, NJ (US) 4,186,9233,273,839 A * 9,2/1980 1966 GarnerBennett et ........................... al. .. 473,565 248.73 5,816,963 A * 10/1998 Brooks et al. .. ... 473,564 (72) Inventor: Mark Khan, Little Falls, NJ (US) 6,138,879 A * 10/2000 E. 22.3/78 2013,0043368 A1* 2, 2013 Hill ..... ... 248/534 (*) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this 2013/0337947 A1* 12/2013 Khan ............................ 473,565 patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 183 days. FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS (21) Appl. No.: 13/652,539 GB 2479570 A * 10/2011 OTHER PUBLICATIONS (22) Filed: Oct. 16, 2012 Web page download, UKAbswers, 2007. https://uk.answers.yahoo. (65) Prior Publication Data com/question/index?qid=200707 10044518AATm9rt, 5 pages.* Webpage download, Amazon2010, 2010, http://www.amazon.com/ US 2013/0337947 A1 Dec. 19, 2013 gp/product/B002.JPJOQY/, 2 pages.* O O Webpage download, ShiftSports, 2014. www.facebook.com/pages/ Related U.S. Application Data Shift-Sports/14357473.13365019?, 5 pages.* (60) Provisional application No. 61/660.908, filed on Jun. 18, 2012, provisional application No. 61/660,912, * cited by examiner filed on Jun. 18, 2012. Primary Examiner — Gene Kim (51) Int. Cl. Assistant Examiner — M Chambers A63B 59/18 (2006.01) (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Gearhart Law, LLC A63B 59/08 (2006.01) A63B 59/00 (2006.01) (57) ABSTRACT (52) U.S. Cl. A cricket bat in which the striking surface is off-set a distance CPC ............. A63B59/08 (2013.01); A63B59/0088 of 1-2 cm from the front-line of the handle is disclosed. The (2013.01); A63B 59/0055 (2013.01) bat may conform to the relevant Laws of Cricket, having a flat (58) Field of Classification Search striking surface; a blade made of wood, 10.8 cm or less in USPC ............. 273/407, 378, 127 R, 369,390-392: width, and when combined with a handle, made mostly of 473/407,422, 451, 457, 458,565; cane, 96.5 cm or less in length. The handle is 52% or less of 6O7/108 the bats total length. In other versions, the bat may not See application file for complete search history. conform to the Laws of Cricket, may be modular in construc tion and made of aluminum, glass or carbon fiber, a Suitable (56) References Cited plastic, or some combination of such materials. The blade and the handle may be joined by Screw-attached brackets making U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS the components interchangeable, allowing for customization D19,673 S * 3/1890 Berger ........................... D8,396 of bat size, weight, length, color and decoration. 448,550 A * 3/1891 Scott et al. ... 248.65 1945,430 A * 1/1934 Garrett ............................ 403.66 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets 205 255 11 2O5 230 f10 700 U.S. Patent May 19, 2015 Sheet 1 of 5 US 9,033,830 B2 120 15O 10 155 110 125 130 14 1.65 145 17O 160 115 1.65 135 175 100 100 175 100 FIG. 1 A FIG. 1 B 221 250 255 2O5 t 2O 11 28O 225 230 V 240 285 260 245 265 2OO S/ 275 N-1N275 200 2OO FIG. 2 A U.S. Patent May 19, 2015 Sheet 2 of 5 US 9,033,830 B2 290 N: A1 250 N. 250 27O 240 2O5 215 2OO FIG. 3 A FIG. 3B U.S. Patent May 19, 2015 Sheet 3 of 5 US 9,033,830 B2 290 4 -: ; 415 2O5 155 410 210 410 405 410 *- 70 27O 260 400 400 FIG. 4 A G FIG. 4 B FIG. 4D 525 110 410 415 17O 525 FIG. 4 F FIG. 4 E U.S. Patent May 19, 2015 Sheet 4 of 5 US 9,033,830 B2 l - 2O5 215 530 510 30 600 FIG. 6 A U.S. Patent May 19, 2015 Sheet 5 of 5 US 9,033,830 B2 2O5 -ba H 255 2O5 410 710 710 700 700 FIG. 7 A FIG. 7 B FIG. 7 C FIG. 7 D US 9,033,830 B2 1. 2 CRICKET.BAT casual sport amongst groups of friends. The organized indoor cricket competitions are typically governed by the rules pro CLAIM OF PRIORITY mulgated by the World Indoor Cricket Federation. These stipulate, for instance, that bats must be made of wood and This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 61/660908 5 have a maximum height of 96.5 cm and a maximum width of entitled “Off-set handle cricket bat filed on Jun. 18, 2012, 10.8 cm, i.e., the same materials and maximum dimensions as and to U.S. Ser. No. 61/660,912 entitled “Modular Construc in traditional cricket, though indoor cricket bats tend to be tion Cricket Bat System filed Jun. 18, 2012 the contents of lighter as the ball used is typically a modified standard cricket both of which are hereby fully incorporated herein by refer ball having a softer center. Outside of organized tournaments, CCC. 10 however, the equipment used may be at the discretion of the players. FIELD OF THE INVENTION Street cricket is a form of cricket played informally, gen erally by children in which a street (or School playground, or The invention relates to a cricket bat, and more particularly park) forms the pitch and playing area. The game is generally to cricket bats having a striking Surface offset forward from a 15 played with a tennis ball instead of a cricketball, though older front line of a handle, and to cricket bats constructed from children or adults may play with a tennis ball covered in modular wood and non-wood materials. plastic tape, to make it a bit harder, or even half-covered with tape, allowing the ball to Swing. Bats used may range from BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION regulation bats to hand fashioned planks of wood. Backyard cricket is an even more informal form of cricket, The game of Cricket is a traditional British past time, usually played by adults during the early stages of a barbecue having roots that go back as far as King Edward II (1307 when the fire is just warming up. Many of the same rules of 1327), although the earliest definitive reference to cricket street cricket and similar equipment may be used. occurs in a 1598 court record mentioning that “creckett was Beach cricket is essentially either street cricket or backyard played on common ground in Guilford, Surry by Schoolboys. 25 cricket with the additional feature of a playing surface ideal The first recorded accounts of adults playing cricket occur in for spectacular diving catches. Fielding in the Surf is a coveted the early 1600s, with one account being a coroner's court position on hot days. record of the death of a cricket player, Jasper Vinall, who was Several forms of modified cricket have been developed killed while fielding when he was struck on the headby a ball. with the intention of allowing children to develop sporting The verdict was death by “misadventure'. 30 skills These include continuous cricket, which is really a Cricket is now the primary Summer sport in most of the family of related games, all characterized by the rule that countries that constituted the Victorian British Empire, batsmen may not be run out, but the bowler may bowl the ball including Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, the West as soon as he is ready, without waiting for the batsmen to be Indies, South Africa and the British Isles. ready, or even to have completed a run. This sort of cricket is Cricket is a bat-and-ball game, with the dimensions and 35 usually played in a mad frenzy. The ball is typically a tennis construction of the bat being of particular concern. Since its or cork ball, and the bats are any suitable bats that are avail formation in 1787, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has able. been recognized as the sole authority for drawing up the French cricket is perhaps the most informal of all, and may governing rules of cricket, known as the Laws of Cricket. be played with just a single cricket bat, made of no specific Law 6 and Appendix E of the Laws of Cricket govern the 40 materials and having no specific dimensions, and a tennis materials and dimensions of a cricket bat. The currently appli ball. There are typically no pitch and no wickets. The batsman cable edition of the relevant laws are attached as Appendix A must stand with his feet planted together on the ground and and B, and are both hereby incorporated by reference into this not move them if the feet move or he falls over he is out. The application. These laws state, amongst other matters, that a aim of the fielders is to hit the batsman’s legs—doing so cricket bat is to be made of two parts: the handle and the blade, 45 results in him being out. and that the combined length of the blade and the handle shall be no more than 38 inches (965mm), and the width of the bat DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART shall be no more than 4.25 inches (108 mm). A typical cricket bat weighs between 1.1 to 1.4 kg, but there is no standard The relevant prior art includes: limiting the weight.