Polymers in Sport and Leisure

References and Abstracts
Item 104
Urethanes Technology
16, No.3, June/July 1999, p.26-27
UK SURFERS BREAK FREE - THANKS TO
LOCAL FIRM’S NEW SURFBOARD MAKING
PROCESS
White E
Surfers in the UK now have access to what may be the
best surfboard foam available anywhere, following 18
months hard slog by a small Redruth, Cornwall-based
producer, Boatshed. And wave riders in the USA and other
regions may also be able to use the Cornwall-developed
PU material soon if Boatshed’s ideas about franchising the
technology, plus current talks on a joint venture in the USA,
are successful. Boatshed’s research and development efforts
have led to the successful development of a super-white,
highly compression resistant PU foam based on MDI,
together with a foam delivery process - all trade named
Homeblown - for making surfboard blanks. Surfboards are
hand-made from the blanks by craftsmen, and then coated
with a transparent glass fibre-reinforced polyester resin.
Details are given.
BOATSHED LTD.
EUROPEAN COMMUNITY; EUROPEAN UNION; UK;
WESTERN EUROPE
Accession no.741773
Item 105
Plastverarbeiter
49, No.10, Oct.1998, p.118-20
German
SIGNALS POINT TO GROWTH
The article is based on a paper by Bayer AG. In 1997
more than 7 million tonnes of PU were produced. 70% of
this went into four industries: furniture and mattresses,
automotive, construction and technical isolation. The
turnover of Bayer’s PU business in 1997 was DM4 billion,
an 11% increase over 1996. For the first half of 1998 a 5-
6% increase in turnover over the first half of 1997 is
expected. More than a fifth of the total European PU
consumption takes place in Germany. New developments
using PU include automotive bumpers with 1.5mm thick
PU outer layer made using RIM, snowmobile bonnets,
snowboards and inline skates.
BAYER AG
WORLD
Accession no.739964
Item 106
Machine Design
71, No.12, 17th June 1999, p.50-4
CHAMPIONS OF INNOVATION
Edited by: Parks E
Innovative designs for sports equipment are described as
they compete for the NASDAQ-AMEX Sports Product
of the Year. Described are a snowboard on wheels for
grass and asphalt surfaces, a helmet which accommodates
a ponytail, a stroke coach for baseball, a grip for baseball
bats which gives more control, and the Skyball raquet
and ball game.
USA
Accession no.739869
Item 107
Machine Design
71, No.12, 17th June 1999, p.52-3
GRAND SLAM DESIGNS
The design and manufacture is described of baseball bats,
balls and catch mits designed for younger players. The
barrel of the bat is stretch blow moulded from PETP, filled
with air and plugged with PVC. The ball is a compression
moulded rubber core with polyurethane foam on the
outside. One type of glove, the Glove Radar incorporates
a velocity sensor to measure the speed of the ball just
before it is caught, whilst another, the Lucky Catch Cap,
can be transformed from a cap to a catch mit.
ODDZ ON INC.; SPORTS SENSORS INC.
USA
Accession no.739868
Item 108
Rubber and Plastics News
28, No.18, 5th April 1999, p.38
RUBBER KEY IN DOZEN GOLF BALL
INTRODUCTIONS
Van Benthuysen R
This article highlights new golf balls filled with tungsten,
which cuts down on other fillers and makes the core of
the balls more rubber-rich. A dozen new balls have been
introduced this year by Dunlop/Maxfli and by Spalding.
Background details on both companies are also included.
SPALDING; DUNLOP/MAXFLI
USA
Accession no.739633
Item 109
Materials World
7, No.7, July 1999, p.403-5
CARBON GOES FOR GOLD IN THE 2000
OLYMPICS
Commander M
When you are sailing in a one-design class of boat,
finding the extra edge over the competition is hard.
Even so there are one or two areas where an individual
sailor can bring technology to bear to his or her
advantage. In the Laser dinghy, about the only scope
is with the tiller and tiller extension. It is now becoming
increasingly common for both these items to be made
in CFRP rather than the traditional aluminium that is
sold with every new boat.
C2 COMPOSITES
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