CA2537188A1 - Improved ringette stick - Google Patents

Abstract

A new playing device for Ringette that improves on the current stick used in play. The new stick may have identical dimensions and shape of the conventional sticks. The invention has two embodiments both featuring tip [ice end] improvements. The favored embodiment has a hardened spray-on material of outstanding robustness. The second is a glue with hard particles embedded in the glue. Both embodiments feature new tip modification that improve ring pickup and also resist wear and tip rounding with play. Each stick is appended with an exterior tip covering of superior performance. The superior quality results from the increased friction on the surface between tip and ring such that a desirable wrist shot is easily delivered. The frictional property exceeds smoothly painted wood surfaces. The new improved sticks will show better cost effectiveness therefore bringing a bonus to the playing and parenting community encompassed by the sport of ringette in Canada. The epoxy-particle version is made of marine epoxy glue with imbedded particles in the glue that do not extrude more than 1 mm beyond the ring tip flat surfaces in any direction. . In both cases improvement of the ringette shooting device [stick] properties, particularly regarding the ring lift creates a more deliverable and higher velocity shot using the conventional ringette ring. The improvement in airborne deliverability is much needed and wanted by younger age ringette players;
ages 5-14. When shooting, higher velocity through the air leads to vastly superior scoring performance and consequent enjoyment.

Description

Background.

Ringette is a winter sport played on a hockey ice surface by about 25,000 Canadian girls and women from ages 5 to 50. Although similar to hockey ringette boasts a finer art and lower body contact index than hockey. The type of stick commonly used by a player depends upon the level of play and the economic resources of player and parents.

The stick is the primary playing implement with the standard parallel hockey gear of helmet, pads, gloves and skates also being used. The idea is to score goals using a round harmless hollow ring of light weight in place of the common puck used in hockey.

The desired game attack includes the ability to use the stick in somewhat of a robust fashion that dictates a need for rugged construction. In the early ringette days, starting in 1965 and for a decade following sticks were simply made of discarded hockey sticks where the hockey stick blade is cut off evenly [bluntly so as not to form any sharp hazard to players] and the stick put to use immediately thereafter.

The last 20 year has seen the rise of specially manufactured sticks primarily with engineered tips to enhance the shooting expertise of players. This shooting expertise includes a high velocity and effective 'wrist shot'. The wrist shot is a parallel to hockey's wrist shot and hence bears the same name. High in elevation and traveling with great speed this shot challenges ringette goaltenders to be quick and athletic.

The two major stick types are now in use. One features an aluminum tip at the bottom one inch of the ice-end of the stick that by regulations is allowed to narrow to a blunt flat end with one half inch minimum thickness between two faces. At the time of writing this is the dominant stick of choice primarily due to its retail price. [Usualiy retailing at about $30 CAD, the Stinger is made by Saskatchewan Abilities Council]. One major flaw of the Stinger is the wear of the aluminum metal ice-end piece allowing rounding and loss of ability to wrist shoot with a ring. Stinger now market a replacement stick tip to combat this weakness. The Stinger aluminum end diagram is shown below in Figure 1.

This stick is durable, a bit heavy due to its laminated construction, and in time and use the aluminum end tends to round losing its attractive square ice tip end quality.

The other major stick by Ring-Jet [a Finnish Company] is a higher cost per stick [almost $ 100 CAD] with an engineered smooth plastic tip of high resistance to wear. The plastic is actually Teflon, which is a white but tough and slippery plastic. In the post year a ribbed surface has been added to the initially offered smooth tip design and approved by the Canadian ringette authority-- Ringette Canada in 2005. The sticks are light weight and made in Finland. The ribbed design is highly prized by most of the elite players and its cost alone prohibits its universal usage.

In the figure below the smooth tip [lower] is cosmetic only. The ribbed tip is effective implying that the smooth tip is, being the opposite, flawed in design. Only a year on the market some experts claim that the ribbed tip shoots in unexpected fashion often resulting in'wild' shots.

Both the improved ringette sticks presented herein are superior to the current pair of sticks just described. The improved invention described are also light weight sticks, each with a different end cover material on the bottom seven to nine inches, the ice end. For the preferred embodiment the tip has a spray on at a thickness of elastomer coating between 0.3mm and 2 mm thickness applied evenly on all faces and the tip bottom itself. The tip prior to encasement by this spray-on material treatment is natural wood or painted wood cut to a 90-degree blunt end shape. Both the spray-on elastomer and the epoxy-particle versions proposed herein dry harden and maintain the 90 degree tip property on all axes. The spray-on elastomer stick is shown in Figure 4.

In the alternate presented herein the improved embodiment stick is again coated on the bottom seven to nine inches using an alternate tip cover technology. In this case the coating is a marine epoxy glue with a mix of aluminum oxide particles that offer a roughened tip end surface. This surface improves both lift and propulsion of the ring shown in Figure 3. The epoxy-particle stick is shown in Figure 5.

As a result of not requiring the expensive plastic end with the ribbed tip [Ring-Jet] , or employ an extruded aluminum tip [Stinger] with a retaining pin, the sticks to be introduced are more cost effective and will become the dominant stick due to light weight, effectiveness with wrist shots, retail price and durability.

Specif ication Description The improved sticks to be manufactured are consistent with the requirements of the Canadian regulatory authorities [Ringette Canada] in dimensions. They are referred to as 'composite sticks that employ more than one material in their construction'. Ringette Canada Official Rules page 11.
See Figure 4. and Figure 5.

The improved sticks are cut to personal player length by sawing off the hand-end such as to fit the layer's height. The players tend to prefer either a long or short stick and they usually cut newly purchased units to satisfy their own needs.

The improved sticks to be introduced are cut the some to suit length but otherwise feature light weight and the bottom seven to nine inches made with re-engineered tip materials, either superior finish--elastomer or epoxy finishes.

The improved preferred embodiment is a stick where the lower7 to 9 inch tip region, the ice surface end when playing, is totally covered. The end material of thickness described for the elastomer can be provided in three basic colours at present; red, off white, and black. The end material is water resistant, tough and a marvel of durability. The stick tip surface thus prepared bears a roughened exterior coating which provides a friction surface with a maximum natural peak roughness dimension of less than 0.5 mm. This material outer surface presents a friction embellished surface at the ring contact point that is immensely superior to any of smooth plastic, aluminum or natural or painted wood.

A second stick embodiment is one where the lower7 to 9 inch tip region, the ice surface end when playing, is totally prepared using a marine epoxy and imbedded 1.0 mm diameter grit of aluminum oxide particles. These particles are pre-sized by screening and are placed in the glue when wet. As a result of sinking into the glue while hardening a roughened surface forms with the epoxy firmly holding the aluminum particles in place when dried. This allows particle surface contact with the ring for shooting. These particles are hard so they do not deteriorate. The surface thus prepared is maintained indefinitely in a roughened high-friction state by the existence of the aluminum oxide particle distribution in the epoxy glue.

Long wood fibers in the stick shaft guaranty a break and fracture resistant wood shaft product that will make the stick exceedingly popular.

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Claims (22)

1. The use of wood with long fibers provides a stick shaft with crack and break resistance that is a maximum using lighter weight woods.

2. The longitudinal stick whip quality created will impart great aerodynamic quality to the ring as it catapults the ring with increased velocity during the wrist shot.

3. The entire stick demonstrates superior 'whip', which is seen by ringette as contributing to higher wrist shot velocity.

4. The newly invented elastomer tip stick is lightweight.

5. The newly invented elastomer tip stick is durable and strong having said chemical composition that contribute to fracture and chip protection on the tip.

6. The elastomer stick ice tip is irreversibly covered by a surface with resistance to water, snow and impact indentations.

7. The elastomer stick ice tip has adequate flex and displays no observable aging leading to cracking or chipping.

8. The elastomer stick ice tip is covered with hard but flexible friction surfaced material that resists exterior marking and damage thus showing great durability in the playing of the games in ringette.

9. The elastomer stick ice tip cover is between 0.3 mm and 3.0 mm thick.

10. The elastomer stick ice tip end material has high impact resistance to indentation.

11. The elastomer stick ice tip end material has superior friction property over natural wood or painted wood to support said ring lift and propulsion of wrist shots.

12. The elastomer stick ice tip end material has higher friction property to support said wrist shots than the said smooth plastic tip material.

13. The elastomer stick ice tip end material has higher friction property to support said wrist shots than aluminum tip materials.

14. The epoxy stick ice tip with composite aluminum oxide particles is lightweight with primary shaft wood of pine or birch.

15. The epoxy stick ice tip with composite aluminum oxide particles and chemical composition contribute to fracture and chip prevention on the tip.

16. The epoxy stick ice tip with composite aluminum oxide particles form a permanent cover for the stick ice tip maintaining 90 degree tip geometry closely on all axes.

17. The epoxy stick ice tip with composite aluminum oxide particles has superior strength and displays no observable aging leading to cracking or chipping.

18. The epoxy stick ice tip with composite aluminum oxide particles displays a moderate abrasive surface material that resists exterior marking and damage but presents a high friction component to the ring surface and corresponding high wrist shot elevation and velocity.

19. The epoxy stick ice tip with composite aluminum oxide particles has superior friction property over natural wood or painted wood to support said ring lift and propulsion of wrist shots.

20.The epoxy stick ice tip with composite aluminum oxide particles has higher friction property to support said wrist shots than the said smooth plastic tip material.

21. The epoxy stick ice tip with composite aluminum oxide particles has higher friction property to support said wrist shots than the said extruded aluminum tip material.

22.The epoxy stick ice tip with composite aluminum oxide particles has higher friction property to support said wrist shots than the said ribbed plastic tip material end of Figure 2. upper image.

List of Figures;

Figure 1. Stinger aluminum extruded tip and retaining pin.
Figure 2. Ring-Jet Plastic Tips; ribbed top, smooth lower.
Figure 3. Conventional ring Figure 4. Elastomer tipped stick end Figure 5. Epoxy and aluminum oxide particles tipped end.
Figure 6. Elastomer Surface in Black.