AU2006100051A4 - Sporting stick - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT Applicant: Hockey Australia Incorporated A.R.B.N. 088 988 836 Invention Title: SPORTING STICK The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to

US:

2 SPORTS STICK This invention relates to a sports stick and in particular a form of hockey stick that has been designed for use in a variation of the game of field hockey.

In recent years field hockey is played on artificial grass surfaces that are either water or sand filled. The artificial grass surfaces provide a much truer grass surface than conventional grass and often the surfaces are considerably faster. The reliability of the artificial surface has caused a number of changes over the years to both the hockey stick and hockey ball. Artificial surfaces are expensive to construct and are sometimes outside the price range of schools and rural communities.

Those that promote the game of hockey have thus come up with a simplified version of the game with very few rules and basic equipment that facilitates the playing of the sport on a wide range of indoor and outdoor surfaces including grass, sand, wooden floorboards and concrete.

It is these issues that have brought about the present invention.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a sports stick comprising an elongate handle with a laterally extending offset blade at one end, the blade having substantially flat side surfaces and a convexly profiled underside, the stick being symmetrical about a longitudinal axis to define the same profile on either side.

Preferably the upper side of the blade is concave to define an upwardly projecting toe. In a preferred embodiment the blade is comparatively large and thin having a forward projection of approximately 200mm, a H,\melindaf\keep\Speci's\P59240 Sports Stick.doc 20/01/06 3 maximum of height of 130mm and a thickness of 12mm.

In a preferred embodiment the stick is moulded in fibreglass or HDPE.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention there is provided sporting equipment that comprises a stick of the kind described above and a hollow rubber or plastic ball that is approximately 130mm in diameter.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a sports stick, Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the stick, and Figure 3 is a plan view of the stick.

The sports stick 10 that is illustrated in the accompanying drawings has been specifically designed for use in a new version of the game of hockey. The game is played with a stick that is similar to a hockey stick but has a larger head and a larger soft plastics or rubber ball that preferably has a diameter of about 130mm. It is however understood that the game can be played with other types of balls and the stick has been designed to accommodate a variety of different ball sizes.

The stick 10 is preferably moulded in fibreglass or HDPE and comprises an elongate handle 11 that merges into a laterally offset blade 12. The blade has a convex underside 13 with a concave upper surface 14 defining an upstanding toe 15. As shown in Figure 1 the stick assumes a J-like configuration which is quite common in H.\me1indaf\keep\Speci'B\P5924O Sports Stick.doc 20/01/06 -4conventional field hockey sticks.

The difference between this stick and conventional hockey sticks is the size of the blade and the fact that the stick is symmetrical about a longitudinal axis which as shown in Figure 2 shows that the blade presents the same profile on either side so that it can be used in either forehand or backhand modes for both right and left handed players. The blade has substantially flat striking surfaces 17, 18 on either side and is comparatively thin namely about half the thickness of the handle. The blade is also comparatively large having a forward projection of about 200mm and a maximum height of about 130mm. The handle is substantially circular in cross section with a diameter of 25mm tapering outwardly towards the blade to be 55mm in diameter where the handle 11 joins the blade 12. The stick 10 in this embodiment is 880mm in total length although it is understood that the length of the stick may vary.

It is also understood that the exact profile and configuration of the stick can also vary in terms of different lengths, weights, size and shape of head. Thus the head could have a more U-shape configuration than the J-shape configuration of the preferred embodiment.

Although the stick is preferably moulded in carbon fibres, glass fibres or Kevlar TM or combinations of these fibres, it is understood that the invention also embraces sticks of other materials such as HDPE, metal alloys, aluminium or wood.

The stick has been designed so that it can be used with a larger and softer ball and in the preferred embodiment a hollow, rubber or plastics ball of a diameter of approximately 130mm is envisaged. This allows the game to be played on a variety of surfaces both indoor and outdoor H-\me1indaf\keep\Speci'S\P5924O Sports Stick.doc 20/01/06 such as grass, sand, wooden floorboards or concrete. The simplicity of the rules of the game allows the game to be introduced to children and other participants without the need for the sophisticated playing surfaces that are required in the conventional game of field hockey.

H;\melindaf\keep\Speci's\P59240 Sports Stick.doc 20/01/06

Claims (4)

1. A sports stick comprising an elongate handle with a laterally extending offset blade at one end, the blade having substantially flat side surfaces and a convexly profiled underside, the stick being symmetrical about a longitudinal axis to define the same profile on either side.

2. The sports stick according to claim 1, wherein the upper side of the blade is concave to define an upwardly projecting toe.

3. The sports stick according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the blade is comparatively large and thin having a forward projection of approximately 200mm, a height of approximately 130mm and a thickness of approximately 12mm.

4. The sports stick according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the stick is moulded in fibre glass, carbon fibres or HDPE. Sporting equipment comprising a stick according to any one of the preceding claims and a hollow rubber or plastics ball that is approximately 130mm in diameter. H,\meindaf\keep\Speci'\P59240 Sports Stick.doc 20/01/06