Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
7~7~3
FI~LD Q~ ~ E IN~ rION
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The presen~ in~lelltion relates to the sport o~ ice-hockey
and o-ther similar less formal variations, i~re particularly to a
hockey stick bla;le p~ovided with a novel safety means to prevent ~njury.
BACKGROUND OF I~E~ INVENTION
_ . . . _ _
Anycne who is at allfamiliar with the sport. of hockey, espe-
cially at the professir~ncll levels, can attest to the injuries which can,
i-lnd do, occur. Ncn LnEr~uently, injuries to the players are inflicted
by the hockey sticks they use, when for example, dlring a scramble for the
puck, -the sticks are raised a li-ttle too high. Althouqh the stick~ are
not necessarily voluntarily raised, -there is always the dan~er that the
blade portion of a stick may strike a player in the facial area and so
occasion a passibility of serious injury. Of course, the most dangerous
part of the blade is the front or toe end. This is because players use
a curved blade w~nch has a relatively thin toe portiQn and the edge thereof
is entirely unprG-,ected.
A search of ~he prior art has revealed a recognition of the
hazard of blad~c~nflicted injury. For exampl~, Canadian Patent to De
Meza (Nov. 24, 1964; 698,376) teaches the use of a " shield" adapted
to cover the ~ntire top edye of ~.he blade. Such a shield is an imprcvEment;
c~ever, the lower pc~ti~l of the toe ed~e end anc~ the lower corner of the
t~e are left entireIy ~mprotected. rS is known, that part of the blade
~an also cause injury wh~l,for example, a pl~yer falls or is already prone
~n the ice.
OBJBCTS OF I~E INVENTION .~
In view of the abvve, it is a prume object of the inventiQn
to provide a pad at the toe edge of the blade of a hcck~y stic~ whic~ is
made of resilient material and whlch entirely cc~ers the toe edge.
It i; another important object o;E this lnvention to
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provide a pad of ~he above type, which actually ~n?roves backh~nd
shots.
It is yet another imp~rtant object of this i~vention to
provide a pad of the akc~ type, which is simple in deslgn and non-
costly to produce and install.
SUMMARY OF T ~ INVENTION
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The abcve and other ~bjects and adv~ntages of the
present mvention clre realized according t`o a preferred emtod1ment
comprising a pad made of semi-xesilient material adapted tD be rigidly
secured b~ the toe end of a hockey stick blade. me material is xesilient
en~u~hto absorb most of the force of an impact yet rigid enough so that
the shooting characteristic o the blade is ~nimpaixed.
l'he pad is of the same ~idth as the fr~nt pOrtiQn of the
blade, having preferably a rDunded frQnt end projecting forwardly o
the front edge o~ thP bla~ pad is further formed with a pair of
rearwardly-extending wings separated by a vertical slot. The latter is
adapted to receive ~he front portian of the hcck~y stick blade. Pref- ¦
erably, but not essentiall'y, the ]pad wing an ~he backhand .side of the
blade has a surfaoe ~hich is shaped in such a way as bo enhance ~he
ability of a player to eK~ ute a backhand sh~t, as will be e~plai~3d
below.
Prior to the ;ecuring of the pad to the blade, two minor
alt3ration~ are preerably made to th~ blade: ~rstly, the uppe~
corner of the frQ~t edge oE the blade is cut away angularly, there~y
defining a substantially-triangular recess between the top surface
of the pad and the adjacent part of the blade. Thus, the former will
be compressed ir~ardly und~æ impact, thereby absorbing m3st of the
force of the blow. Seoandly, a fr3nt ed~e portion of th~ bh~ is
removed, SD ~that when ~the pad is in place, t~3 leng~h of the blad~
will remain the sar~. Ho~3~3r, it is to be undertsood -th~a-t these
alterations, es~3cially the second, are wt essential to ~3 proper
purp~se of the pad. For instance, instead of remDvlng th3 ~ront
portion of the blade, t~3 latter m~y be n~an-~actured ln a ~horten2d
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lenc3th.
The above will be more clearly understDod by having referral
-to the preferrec~ bodim~nt of the inventic~n, illustrated by way oE the
accc~anying drawincJs~ in l~hich:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~E D.~MWINGS
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Figure 1 is a E~rspective view of a hockey stick blade, als~
showing the pad ready to be installed;
Fi~ure 2 .is identical to the vi~w of Figure 1 but with the pad
installed;
Figure 3 is a side elevatiQn of a hockey stick blade provided
with the pad, the latter Ex~rtially sectioned at its upper corner;
Figure 4 is a top plan view of the blade of Figure 2;
Figures 5 .~ld 6 are top plan views of left-handed hockey
stick blades proviclecl with the pad, illustrating a straight bacXhand and
pranounced forehand cu~ve; and a curved backh3nd and less pranounced fore-
hand c~lrve, resp~ct.ively;
Figure 7.is si~ilar to the views of Figure 5 and 6, but depicting
a right-handed hockey stic}; blade; and
Fic3ure 8 is d to~ plan v.iew of a straic3ht blade pro~ided with the
pad.
. Like numerals refer to like elements throughout the drawings.
DErAlLED DESCRIPTION OF TH~ PREFERRED EMBODIM~r
The pres nt invention ccmprises a hc~key stick 1 haYing a blade
2 which can be straight ~Fi.gure 3) or curved for a left-~nded p.layer --
(Figures 5 and 6) or curvecl for a rk3ht-handed player (Figure 7), in the
known manner. C~lerally sE~k:~ng, it is t`ne front portic~n of the blade
which is curved a~--ording to a player's indlv.idua~L preference.
ReferriLng ncxw to F:Lgures 1 to 4, t~re is shown a blade 2 having
opposite main faces, a c ~ ~1 front end pcrtLon 2' and a s-traight toe ed~e 3
nonnal t~ the lcr.gitudinal clXiS oE blade 2.
m is toe edge 3 is ~adapted to be cc~lpletely cover0d hy a pad 4
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~ ~ ~3~t~ ~
whic~n is n~ade o semi-rigid, semi-resilient material, such as
rubber, nylon or foam. Pad 4 has a front body portion 5, which i~
exteriorly rounded, flat upper and lower ~Id surfaces 6 and 7 respect-
ively and a paii^ of rec~rwardly-extending wings 8 and 9. The latter are
separated by a longitudinal slot 10.
As clearly ~c~wn in the figures, pad 4 is rigidly secured, by
glue or any other s~ithbLe koncl~ng means, to the front portian of blade
2, entirely surrounding ~ne s~ne. Eody portion 5 is t`nic~er than the
front portion 2' of blade 2 and wings 8 and 9 taper fran kody portion 5
towards their free ends to II~L~ with the main faces of the blade 2.
Preferably, the wing 9, i.e. ~ne wing on the backhand side of the
blade, is longer tnan the other wing 8. As shc~n in Figures 4, 5, and
7, wing 9 renders the ba~hand side of blade 2 substantially straight,
thereby greatly improvi~c~ the ability of a player to shoot fran the back-
hand. Alternate:~, Fig~ e 8 depicts a curved bac~hand (concavely
curved) which, it has be~n found, also improves backhand shcoting. mus,
pad 4 provides ~n imprav~ backhand accorcling to a player's personal
preference.
Preferably, the frc,nt to2 edge 3 of the blade 2 is sho~tened
~C~ to compensate for the increased length of a blade providecl with pad 4.
Hc~ever, as m~nticned abc~ve,the blade 2 itself could be pro~uced in a
preshortened length to meet the`standards of professic)nal hockey Rule
Cc~missions.
To further ensure protection from a hit by the upper corner 15
of blc~de 2 the former is angularly cut away, as seen in Figu,res 1 and 3,
th~ereby forming a triancr~llar c~vit~ t-~ereat. Thus, when a player recelve~
a blow rom tha~ portion of the stick blade, pad 4 is compressed inwardly
at the cavit~ t~ effectively cush~on the blow.
It will be l~oted th~t the distance between end surfaces 6 and 7, that
is ,he ~une a~ ttle width as blac1e 2, suL~h that surfaces 6 and 7 are flush
with the t~p and botu~m e,.,~s 11 cmd 12 of bLade 2, respectively.
It will also be no~d ~t the sanx~ r~ad 4ccm be usecl Ec-~r either
,,~ a riyht-~nded )r le~t-h~ded hockey stlck, as neeclecl by simply flippin~
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it upside clown; ard that pacl ~ n~ly be of vcæyin~ thickness according
to the d~ree of curvature desired, as suggested by Figures'5 and t;.
I-t has also heen folmd that a blade 2, provided with F~d 4, is
very efficient fo~ freeing a pUG~ Erozen agains-t the boards of~ an arena
by an adv~rsary, i.e. for 1l 'digging" the puck out. This is accomplished
by the relativ~ly Llrge Elat surfaces 6 and 7.
Although t~le above advantages are within the scope of the
invention, the prime purpos;e is to prevent injury by lade 2; the relatively
,afe and extensive slrfaces of pad 4 serve to safely c~bsorb blows.
Other advanta-~es wi~in the scope of th~ inv~ltion are: improved
forehand shots and imjr~vecl face-off control; adaptability for vc~riations of
ice-hockey, such as ~'soft shoe hockey", which is played on a surface o~her
t~n ioe and without skates. For such varlations, it is ~nvisioned bo
provide a slightly-harder material for pad 4, because the puck used in such
sport i5 s~fter~
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