WO1998028054A1

WO1998028054A1 - Leg pads for a hockey goaltender

Info

Publication number: WO1998028054A1
Application number: PCT/CA1997/000989
Authority: WO
Inventors: Brian H. Shikatani
Original assignee: Bauer Inc.
Priority date: 1996-12-20
Filing date: 1997-12-19
Publication date: 1998-07-02
Also published as: CA2193546A1; AU5472998A

Abstract

A leg pad for a hockey goaltender which better protects the tigh when the knee is bent making the inside edge of the leg and foot portions of the pad face the ice. The pad has a tigh portion (8) for covering the lower tigh, a knee portion (6) for covering the knee, a shin portion (4) for covering the shin from the knee to ankle, and a foot portion (2) for covering the foot. The pad has lateral rolls (10) in the front of the knee portion, the lateral rolls being laterally outwardly tapered. The pad also comprises a skate locking member protruding outwardly from the back of the foot portion of the pad, and a wedge (14, 16) on the inside edge of the pad. The wedge has a slope side forming an acute angle with the front surface of the pad.

Description

LEG PADS FOR A HOCKEY GOALTE DER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to protective sports equipment, and in particular but not exclusively to leg pads for a goaltender in ice hockey.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

For some years, leg pads for a goaltender have had horizontal sausage-like "rolls" covering the knee portion of the pad from the laterally inside edge of the pad towards the other laterally outer side thereof (hereinafter referred to as "lateral rolls") where they abut the outside roll of the pad (which extends from top to bottom of the pad along the outside edge thereof) . These lateral rolls are typically three in number with flex darts between them to facilitate flexing. The lateral roll lines are typically parallel and horizontal.

In conventional goaltender leg pads, the inside edge of the pad in the foot, leg and thigh portions of the pad has a concave conformation, and the foot portion of the pad is secured to the skate only by way of two straps that are fastened to the skate.

In the "butterfly" style of goaltending, when the knees are bent together and the feet splayed so as to make the inside edge of the leg and foot portions of the pad face the ice, the conformation in bending of the lateral rolls in known leg pads is such that the thigh portion of each pad is turned towards the inside, thereby exposing the exterior laterally outer portion of the thigh.

When the inside edges of the leg and foot portions of the leg pad face the ice, the concave conformation of the inside edge of the pad in the foot and leg portions of the pad is such that gaps are created that can allow the puck to slide on the ice under the inside edges of the foot and leg portions of the pad. The concave conformation of the inside edge of the pad in the thigh portion also offers little obstruction to the puck .

The above referred to straps in the foot portion securing the leg pad to the skate in fact permit the pad to slide over the skate, which is not optimal, since the goaltender requires as much control as possible over the pads, especially when executing fast and precise movements. In other words the orientation of the leg pad should at all times correspond to that of the shin of the player's leg.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a leg pad for a hockey goaltender said pad having a thigh portion for covering the lower thigh, a knee portion for covering the knee, a shin portion for covering the shin, and a foot portion for covering the foot, said pad comprising: lateral padded rolls extending transversely in the front of said knee portion, said rolls being tapered in the laterally outwards direction, said rolls being bounded by transverse joints around which said leg pad can fold, at least some of said joints converging in the laterally outwards direction to accommodate a degree of bending the thigh portion relative to the shin portion about a generally upright axis.

The converging arrangement of the joints, by enabling the leg pad upper portion to bend laterally and move about a generally upright axis, helps the thigh portion of the pad to maintain its front surface generally oriented forwardly.

Without this feature the thigh portion would have a tendency to roll inwardly thus exposing the laterally outer portion of the thigh of the player when the knee is bent e.g. as when the goaltender assumes the "butterfly" stance. The extent to which the angle of convergence between the outermost of the joints varies will depend upon the degree of movement anticipated, and typically will be in the range of about 10 degrees to about 20 degrees, most preferably about 15 degrees.

To ensure that the leg pad maintains its correct orientation relative to the goaltender' s lower leg, the underside of the pad defines a channel of inverted U-shape extending from front to back, this channel having projecting ribs adapted to straddle closely the skate of the goaltender. These ribs therefore prevent horizontal angular movements of the leg pad relative to the skate and thus relative to the front of the goaltender' s shin.

The laterally inwardly facing side surface of the thigh portion is upwardly angled outwardly, to enable close engagement with the corresponding surface of the other pad when the goaltender assumes the butterfly stance. These inside surfaces are substantially normal to the front surfaces of the thigh portion, and likewise the laterally inner surface of the shin portion is normal to the front surface of the shin portion thus avoiding creation of a "funnel" and therefore providing better puck stopping characteristics in these portions of the pads .

As noted, the lateral rolls tapered laterally outwardly inhibit the thigh portion of the pad from turning towards the inside and from exposing the exterior portion of the thigh, when the knee is bent so as to make the inside edges of the leg and foot portions of the pad face the ice.

Other features of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following specification and to the drawings .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a leg pad for hockey goaltender, showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a left side elevational view of the leg pad of FIG. 1 shown slightly bent at the knee;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the leg pad from the front and left side; FIG. 4 is an underneath view of the pad; FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view on the line V-V in FIG. 4 and showing the pad engaged in a skate; and

FIG. 6 is a front view of the leg pads in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows the goaltender leg pad as including a foot portion 2, a shin portion 4, a knee portion 6, a thigh portion 8, and a sectional outside roll 12 that runs from top to bottom of the pad along the outside edge. In front of the knee portion there are three transverse lateral rolls 10 bounded and separated by fold seams 11.

Instead of being parallel as in conventional pads, the lateral rolls 10 are tapered and outwardly, convergent to the right as seen in FIG. 1. This can also be seen in FIG. 3. This configuration of the lateral rolls 10 inhibits the thigh portion 8 of the pad 1 in some situations from turning towards the inside and thus exposing the exterior portion of the lower thigh, e.g. when the knee is bent so as to make the inside edge of the shin portion 4 and of the foot portion 2 of the pad 1 face the ice. Thus, when the thigh portion 12 is bent backwards relative to the shin portion 4, the orientation of the folding seams 11 will cause the thigh portion 8 to roll laterally outwardly relative to the shin portion. This feature is beneficial since when the goaltender assumes the butterfly stance, it prevents the thigh portion 8 from rolling towards the front thus exposing the lower outer portion of the goaltender' s thigh.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inside upper surface 9 of the thigh portion 8 slopes upwardly outwardly and is relatively square to the adjacent front surface portion 16 of the thigh portion. Similarly, the inside lateral surface 5 of the shin portion 4 is square to the adjacent front surface area 14 of the shin portion. The square configuration between the surfaces 16,9; 14,5 avoids the creation of any funnel effect in these regions when the goalie's pads are brought together, and thus reduces the likelihood of a puck being deflected between these portions.

Instead of the inside edge of the shin, foot and thigh portions 4, 2, 8 of the pad having a concave configuration as in the conventional pad, illustrated as best seen in FIG. 3, leg pad 1 the surface 14, 16 form wedges adjacent the inside edge of the pad 1, the wedge 14 extending over the foot and shin portions 2, 4 of the pad 1 with a horizontal fold at the joint between portion 2 and 4, and the other wedge 16 located above the knee in the thigh portion 8 of the pad 1. The upper wedge 16 and the lower wedge 14 may even each have a sloping front surface forming an acute angle with the front of the pad 1 so that with respect to the corresponding edge 14a, 16a of the pad, the wedge surfaces 14 and 16 extend transversely and are angled somewhat rearwardly with respect to the inboard edges 14a, 16a. With the surfaces behind the wedge 14 and 16 are made of jewel density form having an inner layer of foam sold under the designation LD45 2.8 lb. Plastazota, this comprising a closed cell cross-linked polyolefin foam. The inner foam layer supporting the surfaces 14 and 16 is a 9 lb. Trocellan foam comprising a closed cell cross-linked polyethylene foam.. The figures 2.8 lbs. and 9 lbs. represent the densities of the different foams and each is the weight of a standard foam section of a size 12 inches x x 12 inches by 12 inches. When the inside edge of the leg and foot portions 4,2 of the pad 1 faces the ice, the lower wedge 14 provides improved blocking protection and additional rigidity to the pad 1. The upper wedge 16 provides improved blocking protection between the pads 1 above the knees. The improved blocking performance of the upper wedge 16 and lower edge 14 arises at least in part from the composite foam construction thereof, and also from the fact that the edges 16a and 14a are sharply defined and the surfaces 16 and 14 do not create any "funnel" effect.

As best seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the bottom of the leg pad 1 has in the foot portion 2 thereof integrally formed elongate skate locking ribs 18 that protrude outwardly therefrom. As seen in FIG. 4 these skate locking ribs 18 extend for a substantial distance in the front to back direction of the pad and engage the sides of the skate over a substantial length. As seen in FIG. 5, the ribs together with the underside of the pad defines an inverted U-shaped channel, the ribs being positioned in close engagement with the sides of the goaltender' s skate. This substantially eliminates any tendency of the leg pad to roll laterally about the player's shin. On the contrary since the orientation of the player's foot and therefore the skate boot 19 is always forwardly relative to the shin, the ribs 18 will ensure that the leg pad maintains it proper orientation at all times. The skate locking ribs 18 improve the control of the leg pad 1 by avoiding sliding of the pad 1 over the skate. The ribs 18 are formed integrally with the foot portion 4 of the pad and share a common stiff foam interior therewith as is evident from Figure 5. Many variations in the details of the invention will be obvious to those knowledgeable in the field, and all such variations are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A leg pad for a hockey goaltender said pad having a thigh portion for covering the lower thigh, a knee portion for covering the knee, a shin portion for covering the shin, and a foot portion for covering the foot, said pad comprising: lateral padded rolls extending transversely in the front of said knee portion, said rolls being tapered in the laterally outwards direction, said rolls being bounded by transverse joints around which said leg pad can fold, at least some of said joints converging in the laterally outwards direction to accommodate a degree of bending the thigh portion relative to the shin portion about a generally upright axis.

2. A leg pad as claimed in claim 1 wherein a first of said joints adjoin said thigh portion and a second of said joints adjoins said shin portion, said joints converging laterally at an included angle of between 10 and 20 degrees.

3. A leg pad as claimed in claim 2 wherein there are three said transverse rolls, and said included angle is approximately 15 degrees.

4. A leg pad as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the underside of said foot portion defines a channel of inverted U-shape and extending generally in the front-to-back direction, said channel having on opposite sides thereof integral downwardly projecting ribs which are positioned to lie in close engagement with the sides of a skate boot worn by the goaltender and have a length sufficient to inhibit angular displacement of said leg pad with respect to the shin of the goaltender' s leg.

5. A leg pad as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said thigh portion has a front face and an inboard laterally inner face that is substantially normal to said front face, said inner face being angled slightly outwardly in the upwards direction.

6. A leg pad as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said shin portion has a front face and a laterally inner face that are substantially normal to each other so as to avoid the creation of a funnel when said leg pad is juxtaposed in a vertical orientation with a similar leg pad of opposite hand.