AU2012248903B2

AU2012248903B2 - Hockey stick

Info

Publication number: AU2012248903B2
Application number: AU2012248903A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Nikolai Rolf Carels
Original assignee: Princess Sportsgear & Traveller BV
Current assignee: Princess Sportsgear & Traveller Bv
Priority date: 2011-04-28
Filing date: 2012-01-03
Publication date: 2017-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 2032-01-03
Also published as: ZA201308995B; NL1038782C2; EP2701810A1; WO2012148262A1; ES2626292T3; EP2701810B1; AU2012248903A1

Abstract

Hockey stick (1) comprising a shaft (7), a hook (6), a back face (3), a front face (2), two side edges (4, 5) spacing the back and front faces, and one or more inlays (10) of an elastomeric material, At least one of the one or more inlays (10) comprises an inlay main body (11) of varying thickness extending over a part of a side edge, and at least one side web (12, 13) extending from, the inlay main body over at least a part of the back or front face.

Description

WO 2012/148262 PCT/NL2012/050003 1

HOCKEY STICK

The present invention relates to a hockey stick provided with one or more inlays of an elastomeric material, such as a synthetic: or natural rubber.

Hockey sticks must have sufficient strength to withstand mechanical impacts during play. To this end it has been proposed to apply a protective rubber coating to the shaft or blade of hockey sticks. WO 2005/082470, for instance, discloses an ice hockey stick with shaft edges provided with elastomeric bumpers, With some of the disclosed embodiments the elastomeric bumper is formed by a layer extending over the width of a side face of the stick at the grip, WO 2005/082470 also discloses an embodiment with a fully rubber coated cylindrical grip.

Physical properties of the shaft material limit the maximum thickness of the shaft. Therefore, thicker elastomeric inlays result in thinner shaft cores and, consequently, lower impact resistance. This is particularly the case with field hockey sticks of fibre reinforced materials. Therefore, with the system of WO 2005/082470 only relatively thin elastomeric bumpers can be used at the shaft edges. It has in practice been found that this does not result in satisfactory protection, particularly with forehand shots and backhand shots impacting the shaft at the edge facing the blade. Such impact loads form a major cause of damage or even breaking of hockey stick shafts. 2 2012248903 06 Oct 2015

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or at least ameliorate one or more of the above disadvantages, or at least provide a useful alternative.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a hockey stick comprising a shaft, a hook, a back face, a front face, two side edges spacing the back and front faces, and one or more inlays of an elastomeric material, wherein at least one of the one or more inlays comprises an inlay main body of varying thickness extending over a part of a side edge, and at least one side web extending from the inlay main body over at least a part of the back or front face, wherein the inlay comprises a first side web extending over at least a part of the front face of the hockey stick, and a second side web extending over at least a part of the back face of the hockey stick, and wherein the inlay main body comprises a thickness which gradually reduces in the direction of the side webs.

It has been found that due to this thickness gradient and due to the side webs the inlay can be made such that impact damping by the inlay is substantially enhanced locally without substantially affecting the impact strength of the sticks' core material.

In a specific embodiment, the inlay may comprise a first side web extending over at least, a part of the front face of the hockey stick, and a second side web extending over at least a part of the back face of the hockey stick. Such an inlay has a U-shaped or J-shaped cross section gripping around part of the shaft. The thick inlay main body effectively protects the

AH26(10544617_1):MSL WO 2012/148262 PCT/NL2012/050003 3 side edge of the shaft, while the thinner webs contribute to a better attachment of the inlay to the shaft.

In a more specific embodiment the side webs can have a constant thickness. The inlay main body may for instance comprise a thickness which gradually reduces in the direction of the side webs.

To allow the outer surface of the inlay to follow the contour of the hockey stick, the inlay main body can be provided with a curved outer surface. The contact surface contacting the opposed surface of the hockey stick can be fiat.

The inlay main body may for instance cover at least the lower section of the shaft side edge facing the hook. This part of the hockey stick can particularly be exposed to impact loads during play, e.g. , with back hand shots.

Optionally, the inlay comprises a field contact section extending over at least a part of a field contact zone of the hook. Such a field contact section of the inlay may for example have a gradually varying thickness, e.g., the thickness may gradually be reduced in the direction of the side webs. This results in a more convenient contact between the hook and the field during· play.

The inlays can have two or more inlay main bodies. For instance, the inlay comprises a first inlay main body covering at least the lower section of the shaft side edge facing the hook, and a second inlay main body covering at least a field contact zone of the hook, wherein the inlay comprises a web extending over the back face of the hockey WO 2012/148262 PCT/NL2012/050003 4 stick to connect both inlay main bodies and wherein, the web has a lesser thickness than the inlay main bodies. In such an embodiment, the web connecting the two inlay main bodies can ror exampre cover at least the back side of the hook.

Good impact resistance is obtained if the inlay main body has a tmcKness ot i - b mm, e.g., about 2,5 --- 3,5 mm, whereas the side extensions have a thickness of 0,5 - 2 mm, e.g., about 0,t - 1,2 ram. Other thicknesses can also be nsed, if so desired. rne imays can be shaped to oe flush with the surface of the nockey stick, at so desired. This can for example be achieved wy positioning tne inlay m a matching recess in the hockey stick. the in rays are made ot an elastomeric materia]., for example, thermoset elastomeric urethane, thermoset elastomeric dicyciopeniadiene, thermoplastic elastomers, thermoplastic urethanes, or thermoplastic rubbers, such as styrene modified tnermoplastic rubbers. Good results are obtained with 2K thermoplastic rubbers, e.g., having a Shore hardness of 90 or more. Fiber reinforced rubber, such as carbon rubber, can also be used. Optionally some parts of the inlay can be made ot a different elastomeric material than the rest of the inlay. ror instance, an inlay section covering a field contact zone ot the hook may be made of an elastomer, e.g., a thermoplastic rubber with a. higher hardness. This is to reduce wear and to reduce slowing down of the stick by field contact, WO 2012/148262 PCT/NL2012/050003 5

Optionally, the inlay or inlays can be applied on the hockey stick by directly moulding the inlays onto the stick, for instance by reaction injection moulding. Alternatively, adhesives can be used to fixate the inlay(s). Other suitable techniques can also be used, if sc desired.

The invention is particularly suitable for use with field hockey sticks of a fiber reinforced composite material, but can also be used for other types of field or ice hockey sticks if so desired.

The invention will be further explained under reference to exempiary embodiments shown by the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1; snows in front view an exemplary embodiment of a hockey stick according to the invention;

Figure 2: shows the back view of the hockey stick of Figure 1;

Figure 5i shows the hockey stick of Figure 1 in cross section along line A··A;

Figure 4: snows the hockey stick of Figure 1 in cross section along line B-~B;

Figure 5; shows a perspective view of a second exemplary embodiment of a hockey stick;

Figure 6: shows a further view of the hockey stick of Figure 5;

Figure 7; shows a front view of the hockey stick of Figure 5;

Figure S: shows a cross section along line B-B in Figure 7;

Figure 9: shows a cross section along line Α-Ά in Figure 7.

Figures 1 and 2 shows a hockey stick 1, e.q,, made of a fibre reinforced composite material. The hockey stick 1 has a flat WO 2012/148262 PCT/NL2012/050003 6 front side 2, a convex back side 3, and two rounded longitudinal edges 4, 5 joining and spacing the front and back sides 2, 3. The hockey stick 1 has a substantially cylindrical grip (not shown) at its top end, a hook 6 at its lower end., and a shaft 7 extending between the hook and the grip. From grip to hook the front side of the shaft 7 grip gradually flattens, while the back side 3 remains rounded.

The hockey stick 1 comprises an inlay 10 of an elastomeric material, such as a thermoplastic rubber. The inlay 10 comprises an. inlay main body 11 with a thickness varying from a maximum of about 3 mm to a minimum of about 1 mm. The main body 11 extends along a major part of the longitudinal edge 5 of the shaft 7 facing the hook 6. Over the length of the inlay main body 11 the inlay 10 has a ϋ-shaped cross section, with a back web 12 extending over about half the width of the back face, and a front web 13 extending over almost the full fiat front side 2. The back web 12 and the front web 13 have a thickness of about 1 mm. The back web 12 and the inlay main body 11 of the inlay 10 stop near the hook 6. The front web 13 also comprises a section 11 which extends over the flat front side of the hook 6 to provide improved ball control. This section 14 of the front web 13 can have a larger thickness than the other parts of the front web 13,

The inlay 10 is sunk in a correspondingly shaped recess 15 in the hockey stick 1. The depth of the recess 15 is such that the inlay 10 is fully flush with the hockey stick surface.

The transition between the inlay main body 11 arid the front ana back webs 12, 13 is not visible from the outside when the inlay is attached within the recess 15. WO 2012/148262 PCT/NL2012/050003 7

Figures 5 ---9 show a second embodiment of a hockey stick 20, The hockey stick 20 comprises an inlay 21 of varying thickness positioned in a matching recess in the hickey stick 20, The inlay 21 comprises a first inlay main body 22 covering the lower section 23 of the shaft side edge facing the hook 24, and a second inlay main body 25 covering at least a field contact zone 26 of the hook 24. The second inlay main body 25 may be made of a harder material than the first inlay main body 21, The inlay 21 also comprises a web 27 of an essentially constant thickness extending over the front face 28 of the hockey stick 20 to connect both inlay main bodies 22, 25, A side web 29 extends over a part of the back side 30 of the shaft with a curved outline 31.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A hockey stick comprising a shaft, a hook, a back face, a front face, two side edges spacing the back and front faces, and one or more inlays of an elastomeric material, wherein at least one of the one or more inlays comprises an inlay main body of varying thickness extending over a part of a side edge, and at least one side web extending from the inlay main body over at least a part of the back or front face, wherein the inlay comprises a first side web extending over at least a part of the front face of the hockey stick, and a second side web extending over at least a part of the back face of the hockey stick, and wherein the inlay main body comprises a thickness which gradually reduces in the direction of the side webs.
2. The hockey stick according to claim 1, wherein the side webs have a constant thickness.
3. The hockey stick according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inlay main body has a curved outer surface and a flat contact surface contacting the opposed surface of the hockey stick.
4. The hockey stick according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inlay extends over a lower section of the shaft side edge facing the hook.
5. The hockey stick according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inlay extends over at least a part of the hook.
6. The hockey stick according to claim 5, wherein the inlay comprises a field contact section extending over at least a part of a field contact zone of the hook.
7. The hockey stick according to claim 6, wherein the field contact section of the inlay has a gradually varying thickness.
8. The hockey stick according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the inlay comprises a first inlay main body covering at least the lower section of the shaft side edge facing the hook, and a second inlay main body covering at least a field contact zone of the hook, wherein the inlay comprises a web extending over the front face of the hockey stick to connect both inlay main bodies,
9. The hockey stick according to claim 8, wherein the web connecting the two inlay main bodies covers at least the front side of the hook.
10. The hockey stick according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inlay main body has a thickness of 1 - 5 mm, whereas the side webs have a thickness of 0.5 - 2 mm.
11. The hockey stick according to claim 10, wherein the inlay main body has a thickness of about 2.5 - 3.5 mm.
12. The hockey stick according to claim 10, wherein the side webs have a thickness of about 0.8 - 1.2 mm.
13. The hockey stick according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more inlays are flush with the surface of the hockey stick.
14. The hockey stick according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the inlays are made of a 2K thermoplastic rubber.
15. The hockey stick according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hockey stick is made of a fibre reinforced composite material. Princess Sportsgear & Traveller B.V. Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON & FERGUSON