Ice-hockey goal frame with puck deflector

• US 20040214667A1
• Filed: 04/28/2004
• Published: 10/28/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 1196501 Ontario Inc.
• Original Assignee: 1196501 Ontario Inc.
• Inventors: Riley, Terence William
• Granted Patent: US 7,121,965 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 473/478
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2102/24 Ice hockey
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 63/004 Goals of the type used for football, handball, hockey or the like

Abstract

The puck-deflector is a one-piece moulding in polyurethane, having a sloping apron for deflecting the puck up and into the net. The puck-deflector fits around the bottom pipe of the goalframe, and prevents incoming pucks from striking the bottom pipe, and rebounding back out over the goal-line.

Claims

1. Hockey goalframe apparatus, wherein:

the apparatus is structurally suitable for use during the game of ice-hockey, on an ice-rink;

the apparatus includes a goalframe, of metal, which includes a bottom-pipe;

the apparatus includes a puck-deflector, which is so arranged in front of the bottom-pipe as to prevent the bottom-pipe from being directly struck by an incoming puck;

the puck-deflector includes a front-edge, which is defined as that edge of the puck-deflector that is first impacted by an incoming puck that is in contact with the surface of the ice;

the puck-deflector, at least in respect of the said front-edge, is made from a plastic material;

the plastic material has the characteristic of being as dead, from the standpoint of its lack of resilient recovery after being deformed by an impact, as polyurethane.

2. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plastic material is polyurethane.

3. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein the puck-deflector has been formed as a moulding in the plastic material.

4. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the puck-deflector has been formed as a moulding in polyurethane;

in making the moulding, hot polyurethane melt was poured into a mould, at a temperature of more than sixty-five deg-C.;

and the melt was maintained at a temperature of more than seventy deg-C., in the mould, over a period of several hours, before cooling.

5. Apparatus of claim 2, wherein the polyurethane material includes fillers, mixed into the material, the resulting filled material being structurally tougher, but not more resilient, than the same material unfilled.

6. Apparatus of claim 2, wherein the polyurethane material is unfilled.

7. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein;

the goalframe apparatus includes a net;

the puck-deflector includes an apron;

the apron lies in front of the bottom pipe, and is extensive enough, as to its dimensions and position, to prevent an incoming puck from striking the bottom-pipe;

the apron includes an angled upper surface, which is so configured that when an incoming puck strikes the said surface the puck is deflected upwards into the mesh of the net.

8. Apparatus of claim 7, wherein the angled upper surface is inclined at an angle such that, when a point on the surface is struck by an incoming puck, the surface at that point is no steeper than thirty-five degrees to the horizontal.

9. Apparatus of claim 8, wherein the angled upper surface extends forwards and downwards from the bottom-pipe to a point that is within about five millimetres of the ice surface.

10. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

in respect of every point on the apron that could be struck by an incoming puck, and which lies more than a height HA above the ice surface, the apron at that point lies sloping at an angle-A to the horizontal;

the height HA is less than ten millimetres;

the angle-A is less than forty degrees.

11. Apparatus of claim 10, wherein the height HA is less than five millimetres.

12. Apparatus of claim 10, wherein the angle-A is less than thirty-five degrees.

13. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the apron has a front-edge, which faces towards an incoming puck, and which contains the forward-most extremity of the apron;

in profile of the front-edge of the apron, the front edge is radiused such that the forward-most tip of the front edge is at least two and no more than five millimetres off the ice surface.

14. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

every point on the forward edge of the apron that is less than the height HB above the ice-surface lies sloping either at a steeper angle than forty degrees or lies sloping in the opposite sense from the slope on the upper angled surface of the apron;

the height HB is less than five millimetres.

15. Apparatus of claim 14, wherein the height HB is less than two millimetres.

16. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the puck-deflector includes an attachment region, which includes an under-pipe portion, a behind-pipe portion, and a front-pipe portion;

the said portions are so configured that, when assembled onto the bottom-pipe from underneath, they act to grip the bottom-pipe, and thereby to attach the puck-deflector to the goalframe.

17. Apparatus of claim 16, wherein the puck-deflector, including the apron and the attachment region, is done as a one-piece polyurethane moulding.

18. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein the material of the puck-deflector is so prepared and formed as to have a hardness of between durometer-55 and durometer-85, shore-A.

19. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein the puck-deflector includes an abutment shoulder, which, in use, serves to prevent the front-edge from lifting off the ice-surface.

20. Apparatus of claim 19, wherein the abutment shoulder abuts against a ripple-bar on the bottom pipe.

21. Apparatus of claim 19, wherein the abutment shoulder abuts against the ice-surface behind the bottom pipe.

22. Apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the front-edge of the puck-deflector, being that edge of the puck-deflector that is first impacted by an incoming puck that is in contact with the surface of the ice, is of an impact-deadening structure;

the front-edge impact-deadening structure is of such form that the structure is able to deflect, under impact from the puck, over a sufficient distance, and with sufficient resistance to deflection, as to absorb substantially all the kinetic energy of the incoming puck;

whereby a puck striking the front-edge impact-deadening structure is brought substantially to rest, substantially without bouncing back.

23. Apparatus of claim 22, wherein the front-edge impact-deadening structure has the form of a thin-walled hollow enclosure.

24. Apparatus of claim 23, wherein the goalframe includes a backpipe, and the said front-edge impact-deadening structure is included in a portion of the puck-deflector applied to the backpipe.

25. Apparatus of claim 4, wherein

the goalframe apparatus includes a net;

the puck-deflector includes an apron;

the apron lies in front of the bottom pipe, and is extensive enough, as to its dimensions and position, to prevent an incoming puck from striking the bottom-pipe;

the apron includes an angled upper surface, which is so configured that when an incoming puck strikes the said surface the puck is deflected upwards into the mesh of the net;

the angled upper surface is inclined at an angle such that, when a point on the surface is struck by an incoming puck, the surface at that point is no steeper than thirty-five degrees to the horizontal;

the angled upper surface extends forwards and downwards from the bottom-pipe to a point that is within about five millimetres of the ice surface;

in respect of every point on the apron that could be struck by an incoming puck, and which lies more than a height HA above the ice surface, the apron at that point lies sloping at an angle-A to the horizontal;

the height HA is less than ten millimetres;

the angle-A is less than forty degrees.

the apron has a front-edge, which faces towards an incoming puck, and which contains the forward-most extremity of the apron;

in profile of the front-edge of the apron, the front edge is radiused such that the forward-most tip of the front edge is at least two and no more than five millimetres off the ice surface;

every point on the forward edge of the apron that is less than the height HB above the ice-surface lies sloping either at a steeper angle than forty degrees or lies sloping in the opposite sense from the slope on the upper angled surface of the apron;

the height HB is less than five millimetres;

the puck-deflector includes an attachment region, which includes an under-pipe portion, a behind-pipe portion, and a front-pipe portion;

the said portions are so configured that, when assembled onto the bottom-pipe from underneath, they act to grip the bottom-pipe, and thereby to attach the puck-deflector to the goalframe;

the puck-deflector, including the apron and the attachment region, is done as a one-piece polyurethane moulding;

the material of the puck-deflector is so prepared and formed as to have a hardness of between durometer-55 and durometer-85, shore-A.

26. Puck-deflector, wherein:

the puck-deflector is structurally suitable for fitment to the bottom pipe of a hockey goalframe, and when so fitted is structurally suitable for use during the game of ice-hockey, on an ice-rink;

the puck-deflector is so structured as to prevent the bottom-pipe from being directly struck by an incoming puck;

the puck-deflector includes a front-edge, which is defined as that edge of the puck-deflector that is first impacted by an incoming puck that is in contact with the surface of the ice;

the puck-deflector, at least in respect of the said front-edge, is made from a plastic material;

the plastic material has the characteristic of being as dead, from the standpoint of its lack of resilient recovery after being deformed by an impact, as pour-moulded polyurethane;

the puck-deflector includes an attachment region, which includes an under-pipe portion, a behind-pipe portion, and a front-pipe portion;

the said portions are so configured that, when assembled onto the bottom-pipe of the goalframe from underneath, they act to grip the bottom-pipe, and thereby to attach the puck-deflector to the goalframe.

27. A mould for pour-moulding the puck-deflector of claim 26 in polyurethane, where the mould is separable into three mould-components.