HOCKEY-STICK BLADE WITH TAILORED PERFORMANCE REGIONS

• US 20150045154A1
• Filed: 08/09/2013
• Published: 02/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bauer Hockey, LLC
• Original Assignee: Easton Sports Incorporated (BRG Sports, Inc.)
• Inventors: Pearson, Robert T., Mountain, Michael, Snow, Michael L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,248,356 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 473/563
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2102/22 Field hockey
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2102/24 Ice hockey
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 59/70 with bent or angled lower parts for hitting a ball on the ground, on an ice-covered surface, or in the air, e.g. for hockey or hurling
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 60/00 Details or accessories of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like

Abstract

A hockey-stick includes a blade and a shaft. The blade includes a heel region, a toe region spaced longitudinally from the heel region, and a mid-region located between the heel region and the toe region. The blade optionally also includes a hosel to which the shaft is attached. One or more tuning rods or similar structures are positioned in the blade to increase the blade'"'"'s stiffness to substantially match the stiffness of the shaft. The tuning rods are optionally located in the mid-region of the blade and may extend into the hosel and, in some cases, into the shaft or the toe region.

Claims

1. A hockey-stick blade, comprising:

a heel region;

a toe region spaced from the heel region in a longitudinal direction;

a mid-region located between the heel region and the toe region;

at least one core element located at least in the mid-region;

at least one tuning rod positioned on the at least one core element.

2. The hockey-stick blade of claim 1 wherein the at least one tuning rod runs along adjacent edges of two vertically spaced core elements.

3. The hockey-stick blade of claim 2 wherein the two vertically spaced core elements each include a front face and a rear face, wherein a first tuning rod runs along adjacent edges of the front faces of the two core elements, and a second tuning rod runs along adjacent edges of the rear faces of the two core elements.

4. The hockey-stick blade of claim 1 wherein a first tuning rod and a second tuning rod are positioned on the at least one core element.

5. The hockey-stick blade of claim 4 wherein the first tuning rod is positioned on a front face of the core element, and the second tuning rod is positioned on a rear face of the core element.

6. The hockey-stick blade of claim 1 wherein at least first, second, and third vertically spaced core elements are located at least in the mid-region of the blade, wherein a first tuning rod runs along adjacent edges of the first and second vertically spaced core elements, and a second tuning rod runs along adjacent edges of the second and third vertically spaced core elements.

7. The hockey-stick blade of claim 6 wherein the first, second, and third vertically spaced core elements extend from the toe region to the heel region of the blade, and wherein the first and second tuning rods run from the mid-region to the heel region of the blade.

8. The hockey-stick blade of claim 1 wherein the at least one core element extends into the toe region of the blade, and further comprising at least one reinforcing element positioned on a toe region of the at least one core element.

9. The hockey-stick blade of claim 8 wherein at least two reinforcing elements are positioned on the toe region of the at least one core element.

10. The hockey-stick blade of claim 8 wherein at least first and second vertically spaced core elements are located at least in the toe region of the blade, wherein a first reinforcing element is positioned on a toe region of the first core element, and a second reinforcing element is positioned on a toe region of the second core element.

11. The hockey-stick blade of claim 1 wherein the blade includes at least a first core element and a second core element, wherein a first tuning rod is positioned on a front face of the first core element and a second tuning rod is positioned on a front face of the second core element.

12. The hockey-stick blade of claim 11 wherein the blade further includes at least a third core element, wherein a third tuning rod is positioned on a front face of the third core element.

13. A hockey stick, comprising:

a shaft having a first flex;

a blade attached to the shaft, the blade comprising;

a front-facing wall attached to a rear-facing wall, with a cavity defined between the front-facing and rear-facing walls;

at least one core element in the cavity; and

at least one tuning element positioned on the at least one core element, wherein the at least one tuning element stiffens the blade to give the blade a second flex that is substantially equal to the first flex.

14. The hockey-stick blade of claim 13 wherein the blade includes at least a first core element and a second core element, and wherein a first tuning element is positioned on the first core element and a second tuning element is positioned on the second core element.

15. The hockey-stick blade of claim 14 wherein the first and second tuning elements are positioned on front faces of the first and second core elements, respectively.

16. The hockey-stick blade of claim 14 wherein the blade further includes at least a third core element, wherein a third tuning rod is positioned on a front face of the third core element.

17. The hockey-stick blade of claim 13 wherein the blade includes a toe region, a heel region, and a mid-region positioned between the toe region and the heel region, wherein the at least one core element extends from the toe region to the heel region, and wherein the at least one tuning rod is positioned on the core element at least in the mid-region.

18. The hockey-stick blade of claim 17 wherein the at least one tuning rod is positioned on the core element from the mid-region to the heel region.

19. A hockey-stick blade including a front face and a rear face spaced from the front face in a lateral direction, comprising:

a heel region;

a toe region spaced from the heel region in a longitudinal direction;

a mid-region located between the heel region and the toe region; and

means for stiffening at least the mid-region to substantially match the flex of the blade to the flex of a particular hockey-stick shaft.

20. The hockey-stick blade of claim 19 wherein the stiffening means stiffens at least the mid-region and the heel region of the blade.