Ice-rink dasherboards lacking protruding sills

• US 8,858,348 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2010
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 1196501 ONTARIO ICN.
• Original Assignee: 1196501 Ontario Inc.
• Inventors: Riley, Terence William, Riley, Sean James
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KIEN T
• Application Number:
  US13/255,362
• Publication Number:
  US 20120001139A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,671 Days
• Field of Search: 472/88, 472/89, 472/92, 472/94, 256/1, 256/24, 256/25, 256/73
• US Class Current: 472/92
• CPC Class Codes: A63C 19/10 Ice-skating or roller-skating rinks; Slopes or trails for skiing, ski-jumping or tobogganing chutes A63G21/00; ski-lifts B61B11/00; making or maintaining surfaces of snow or ice suitable for traffic or sporting purposes E01H4/00; removing snow or ice E01H5/00; production of ice or snow F25C3/00
• CPC Class Codes: A63C 2019/085 Fences; Nets; Barriers
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49716 Converting

Abstract

A system to reduce or eliminate the sill of dasher boards on the play area side of a transparent plane is disclosed. The system features spacers and extensions which support the transparent panes in a more inward position. The system can be installed initially or used to retrofit an arena. The system is suitable for straight and curved-corner portions of the boards assembly. The system is suitable for use with panes of tempered glass or of transparent plastic.

Claims

1. Dasherboard assembly, wherein:

the assembly includes board-sections, which surround and enclose a playing-surface;

the board-sections are at least thirteen cm thick;

the assembly includes panes;

the panes are fixed on top of the board-sections;

the panes have respective inwards-facing faces;

the improvement wherein;

the assembly is characterized by the absence, as a structure, of any protrusion inwards from the inwards-facing faces of the panes;

being a protrusion which, if present, would present a significant upward-facing portion thereof to the face or head of a player who is falling down while crashing into the assembly; and

portions of the protrusions are defined as upwards-facing insofar as the portions lie at an angle of 45°

or less to the horizontal.

2. As in claim 1, wherein the upward-facing portion of the protrusion is defined as significant if the portion protrudes, in the inwards direction, more than 3.5 centimeters, measured from the inwards-facing face of the pane.

3. As in claim 1, wherein the upward-facing portion of the protrusion is defined as significant if the portion protrudes, in the inwards direction, more than 2.5 centimeters, measured from the inwards-facing face of the pane.

4. As in claim 1, wherein:

the board-sections include respective frameworks, having ice-side pads on the insides thereof;

the board-sections are so configured as to be bolted or otherwise fastened to the floor, and to each other;

the frameworks of the board-sections include respective top stringers, located at or near the tops of the frames;

the frameworks include respective pillar-support-stringers, located lower down the framework;

the assembly includes board-pillars, spacer-pillars, and pane-pillars;

the board-pillars extend down from the top stringers to the pillar-support-stringers;

the panes engage the pane-pillars and are physically supported thereby;

the spacer-pillars engage the board-pillars, and the pane-pillars engage the spacer-pillars;

the pane-pillars are supported from the board-pillars by the engagement of both with the spacer-pillars;

the structural arrangement of the pillars, and of the engagements between them, are such that the panes are physically supported by and from the frameworks; and

the dimensional configuration of the pillars is such that the pane-pillars are spaced laterally inwards relative to the board-pillars.

5. As in claim 4, wherein:

the board-sections include respective caps or sills;

the sills reside on top of the frameworks, and overlie the ice-side pads thereof;

the panes reside on top of the board-sections in that the panes rest on top of the sills;

the sills have respective upwards-facing faces thereof;

the protruding upward-facing portions comprise protruding upward-facing faces of the sills;

the board-pillars extend from above the height of the sills, down through the sills, down to the pillar-support-stringers.

6. As in claim 5, wherein the spacer-pillars and the pane-pillars rest against upwards-facing surfaces of the sills.

7. As in claim 4, wherein:

the pane-pillars are incorporated into the spacer-pillars, to form unitary-pillars; and

the unitary-pillars, in which the spacer-pillars and the pane-pillars are combined, are separate from the board-pillars.

8. As in claim 7, wherein:

the board-pillars are of a constant cross-section along their lengths;

the unitary-pillars that combine the spacer-pillars and the pane-pillars are of a constant cross-section along their lengths;

the cross-sections of the unitary-pillars are so shaped as to interlock, on a male/female basis, with the cross-sections of the board-pillars.

9. As in claim 4, wherein:

the board-pillars are of a constant cross-section along their lengths;

the spacer-pillars are of a constant cross-section along their lengths;

the pane-pillars are of a constant cross-section along their lengths;

the cross-sections of the pane-pillars are so shaped as to interlock, on a male/female basis, with the cross-sections of the spacer-pillars;

the cross-sections of the board-pillars are so shaped as to interlock, on a male/female basis, with the cross-sections of the spacer-pillars.

10. As in claim 4, wherein:

the top-stringers include respective spaced-apart top-inside-stringers and top-back-stringers;

the board-pillars, in extending down from the top-stringers to the pillar-support-stringers, pass between the top-inside-stringers and the top-back-stringers.

11. As in claim 1, wherein:

the board-sections include respective frameworks, having ice-side pads on the insides thereof;

the board-sections are so configured as to be bolted or otherwise fastened to the floor, and to each other;

the frameworks are provided with respective troughs;

the troughs are physically integrated into the frameworks; and

the troughs support the panes in that bottom margins of the panes are received within the troughs.

12. As in claim 11, wherein:

the frameworks of the board-sections include respective top stringers, located at or near the top of the frame;

the frameworks include respective pillar-support-stringers, located lower down the framework;

the troughs are physically integrated with board-pillars;

the board-pillars extend downwards from the trough and are attached to the pillar-support-stringers of the frameworks;

the board-pillars are configured, when a player crashes into the dasherboards, to transmit some of the consequent heavy stress and strain to the pillar-support-stringers and thence into the framework generally.

13. As in claim 11, wherein the trough is so integrated into the top stringer that impacts received into the trough from the glass are transmitted into the top stringer.

14. As in claim 1, wherein the dasherboard assembly is suitable for use in an ice-rink, for the sport of ice-hockey.

15. Procedure for modifying a dasherboard system of an ice-rink, including:

where the dasherboard system initially is one in which panes are supported with respect to a framework of the dasherboard by means of single-pillars; and

where an inside surface of the panes is spaced a distance D1 outwards of a point P on the dasherboard;

where frameworks of the dasherboards include respective top stringers, located at or near the tops of the frames;

where the frameworks include respective pillar-support-stringers, located lower down the framework;

where the single-pillars extend down from the top stringers to the pillar-support-stringers;

removing the panes;

providing spacer-pillars, pane-pillars, and board-pillars;

where the spacer-pillars are (a) combined with the pane-pillars to form unitary pillars;

or are (b) separate from, and assembled to, the pane-pillars;

assembling the spacer-pillars to the board-pillars;

assembling panes to the pane-pillars;

where the spacer-pillars and board-pillars are so shaped and configured that, when the spacer-pillars are assembled to the board-pillars, the said inside surface of the panes is now spaced a distance D2 outwards from the said point P on the dasherboard;

the pane-pillars now lie substantially closer to the ice, in that the distance D2 is significantly smaller than the distance D1.