Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
HOCKE~r STICK ~ Q ~ 7 ~ ~ 7
Field of th0 Invention
.
This invention relates to a hockey stick but more particularly
5 to a fibreglass hockey stick having a detachable blade.
Back~round of the Invention
In the prior art there has been substantial amount of research
and development with the object of providing a hockey stick that would
10 retain the feel and general characteristics of a wooden hockey stick but
which would provide better strength and less breakage. More recently,
there have been developments with a view to enabling the owner of the
stick to replace a broken blade without having to replace the whole stick.
The most relevant prior art of which the inventor is aware at
the date of this application is the following:
U.S. patent 3,638,942, 02/01/72, Bassett
U.S. patent 3,677,542, 07/18/72, Michaud
U.S. patent 3,934,875, 01/27/76, Easton et al.
U.S. patent 4,076,240, 02128178, Haddad
U.S. patent 4,086,115, 04/25178, Sweet, Jr. et al.
U.S. patent 4,124,208, 11/07/78, Burns, et al.
al.
U.S. patent 4,134,587, 01/16/79, Diederich
U.S. patent 4,148,482, 04/10/79, Harwell, Jr. et al.
U.S. patent 4,159,114, 06126179, Ardell et al.
U.S. patent 4,172,594, 10/30/79, Diederich et al.
U.S. patent 4,180,413, 12125179, Diederich et al.
U.S. patent 4,200,479, 04/29/80, Ardell et al.
U.S. patent 4,343,468, 08/10/82, Lindgren et al.
2 ~ ~ 7 ~
U.S. patent 4,353,549, 10/12/82, Goupil et al.
U.S. patent 4,358,113, 11/09/82, McKinnon et al.
U.S. patent 4,537,398, 08127185, Salminen
U.S. patent 4,684,130, 08/04/87, Drolet et al.
U.S. patents 3,677,542; 4,134,587; 4,148,482; 4,159,114;
4,172,594; 4,180,413; 4,200,479; 4,353,549; 4,537,398 and 4,684,130
disclose methods of manufacturing hockey sticks with improved
characteristics due to the method of jointing the shaft to the blade, the
10 addition of strips of plastic reinforcing material in the shaft and blade and
the selection of the densities of the wood in the different parts of the
hockey stick.
More pertinent to the present invention are U.S. patents
3,638,942; 3,934,875; 4,076,240; 4,086,115; 4,124,208; 4,343,468 and
4,358,113 which are directed to hockey sticks having detachable blades.
It is also known to the applicant that a hockey stick has been
recently introduced with an aluminium shaft and a replaceable blade in
20 which the shaft is heated to expand for insertion or removal of the blade.
The blade is held into the shaft by means of the frictional force created
by the contraction of the blade when the heat is removed and by means
of glue
8 i
It will be apparent to a person skilled in the arl that much
of the research and development in this area has gone into the selection
of materials for the shaft ancl blade components of the hockey stick.
The selection of materials is important in this manufacture to provide a
hockey stick with the weight and feel similar to a wooden hockey stick
but to provide other improved physical characteristics not available from
conventional wooden sticks. It will also be apparent that a substantial
effort has gone into the development of joints to fasten a blade to a
shaft to provide sufficient strength characteristics. In the case of the
second group of patents the jointing problem is complicated by the
addition of the feature of a detachable blade.
The present invention is directed to a new combination of
materials and fastening which provides an improved hockey stick having
characteristics similar to that of a wooden hockey stick but permitting
simple detachment of the blade from the shaft for replacement.
Statement of the Invention
The present invention is a hockey stick comprising a
fibreglass shaft and a detachable blade. The shaft has a hollow
fibreglass outer shell with four walls and is approximately rectangular in
cross-section. The hollow fibreglass shell is filled with semi-rigid plastic
foam from one end of the shell to a foam end point located a short
distance from a second end of the shell. At least one wall of the shell
is pierced by at least one hole located between the foam end point and
the second end of the shell. The detachable hockey blade has a playing
5 surface and a hosel shaped to fit snugly within the second end of the
hollow shell of the shaft. At least one snap fit lug is embedded in the
hosel and spring biased to snap into the hole(s) in the wall(s) of the
hollow shell to lock the hosel in the shaft.
The word "hosel" in this specification is intended to mean a
stem or shaft extending from a heel portion at the rear of the blade
playing surfaces that continues upwards at an angle to connect with the
shaft. Generally the cross-section of the hosel will enlarge from the heel
of the blade (where it will be as thick as the blade playing surface
15 portion) until it is similar to the rectangular shape of the shaft. It will
also have a fitting portion about 9" in length which is attenuated sharply
at a shoulder. The fitting portion fits snugly within the hollow shaft. The
shoulder abuts against the second end of the shaft when it completely
inserted.
FIGURES
In the drawings which illustrate the preferred embodiment of
this invention,
2~;7~9
Figure 1 is an illustration of the two piece hockey stick of this
invention;
Figure 2 is an illustration of the manner of attachment of the
blade to the shaft;
Figure 3 is a detail illustrating the fastening pin and catch of
the preferred embodiment of this invention;
Figure 4 is a cross section of the fibreglass hockey stick shaft
of the preferred embodiment of this invention.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment
In the figures which illustrate the preferred embodiment of this
invention, like numerals indicate like elements.
The hockey stick 1 of this invention comprises a shaft 2 and
a blade 3. In cross-section, as shown in Fig. 4, the shaft 2 is a
fibreglass box beam 4 filled with a polyurethane foam 5 throughout the
length of the shaft 2 except in the vicinity of the attachment end 6
(sometimes referred to as the "second end") of the shaft 2 which is left
open to receive the blade 3.
The fibreglass box beam shaft provides excellent strength and
wear characteristics and provides a feel closer to that of wood than
metal, such as aluminium for example. It will also be appreciated that
the flexibility and strength characteristics of the shaft may be readily
3 ri
adapted by changing the wall thickness of the box beam 4 and by
varying the characteristics of the polyure~hane foam 5. Accordingly, this
construction provides a manufacturer with the ability to manufacture a
range of hockey stick shafts which have different characteristics of
strength, flexibility and weight but which outwardly look exactly similar.
The blade 3 comprises a playing surface portion 10 and a
hosel 11. The hosel 11 in the preferred embodiment has an outer
dimension similar to the outer dimension of the shaft 2. The attachment
10 end 12 of the blade is attenuated to fit within the attachment end 6 of
the shaft 2. A shoulder 13 abuts against the end of the shaft 2 upon
attachment. Disposed in one side of the attachment end 12 is a spring
biased pin 14. The attachment end of the shaft 6 has a hole 15
positioned to overlie the pin 14 when the blade is inserted into the shaft.
15 The spring biased pin 14 then protrudes into hole 15 in order to fasten
the two parts together.
Figure 3 illustrates a detail of the fastening pin 14 when the
two parts are attached. As illustrated in Figure 3, the fastening pin 14
20 is spring biased by spring 20. The spring 20 and pin 14 combination
are inserted in a drilled well 21 and seated against a plug 22 inserted
into the well 21 after the spring 20. The top of the well 21 has an
inwardly depending lip 31 adapted to act as a stop against shoulder 30
2 ~ 3 ~
of the pin so as to limit the outward projection of the pin 14 so that its
top surface lies flush with the top surface of the attachment end 6 of
the shaft 2. When it is desired to separate the two parts, a tool such
as a screwdriver may be used to depress the pin 14 into the well 21
5 below the inside surface of the attachment end 6 of the shaft 2. With
the pin 14 thus depressed, the attachment end 6 of shaft 2 may be slid
backwards over the top surface of pin 14 to retain it in well 21. The
tool used to depress the pin 14 may then be removed and the shaft 2
and the blade 3 may be pulled apart. When one wishes to attach a
10 new blade 3, the attachment end 12 of the blade 3 is inserted within the
attachment end 6 of the shaft 2 and advanced until the pin 14 abuts
against the end of the shaft 2. A tool may then be used to depress pin
14 until it is flush with the surface of the attachment end 12 of the
blade 3. The blade may then be pushed further into the shaft 2 until
the pin 14 snap fits into the hole 15 under the force of the spring 20.
The blade 3 of the hockey stick of this invention may be
manufactured as an ordinary wooden blade of a traditional hockey stick
except having the characteristics of the hosel as described above.
20 Therefore, it is possible for the hockey player to have all the advantages
of a wooden blade for playing hockey but permitting the hockey player
to quickly replace the blade should it become broken.
3~
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that it would
be also possible to use the attaching mechanism of this invention with
blades of other construction such as plastic blades. It would also be
possible to use blades different than those used in ice hockey, e.g. those
5 used for street hockey or for floor hockey. It would therefore be
possible for a player using the hockey stick of this invention to use a
wooden blade for ice hockey, to remove that blade and replace it with
a plastic blade for road hockey or to replace it with a blade more
suitable for floor hockey.
It will be appreciated that the above description is intended
to be illustrative of the features of the preferred embodiment of this
invention. The claims set out below define the full scope of the
invention.
