HOCKEY STICK BLADE

PALETTE DE BATON DE HOCKEY

English Abstract

There is provided a new and useful blade for use on a hockey stick. The blade
has a predetermined length, height and thickness and the blade comprises a heel end and a toe
end, longitudinally remote from the heel end. Opposing first and second faces extend from the
heel end to the toe end along the length of the blade defining a forehand and a backhand side.
A first arcuate portion extends from the heel end in a first direction of curvature so as to form
a first concave curvature in the forehand side and a second arcuate portion extends from the
first arcuate portion towards the toe end in a second direction of curvature opposite to the first
direction so as to form a second concave curvature in the backhand side.

Claims

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THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A blade for use on a hockey stick, said blade having a predetermined length,
height and thickness and said blade comprising
a heel end;
a toe end longitudinally remote from said heel end;
opposing first and second faces extending from said heel end to said toe end
along said length and defining a forehand side and a backhand side of said blade,
a first arcuate portion extending from said heel end in a first direction of
curvature so as to form a first concave curvature on said forehand side; and
a second arcuate portion extending from said first arcuate portion towards said
toe end in a second direction of curvature opposite to said first direction so as to form a second
concave curvature on said backhand side.
2. The blade of Claim 1 wherein said predetermined length is about 12.5 inches
(31.75 cm).
3. The blade of Claim 1 wherein said first arcuate portion is about 10 inches (25.4
cm) in length.

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4. The blade of Claim 1 wherein said second arcuate portion is about 5 inches
(12.7 cm) in length.
5. The blade of Claim 3 or 4 wherein said first and second concave curvatures have
a depth of curvature of about 0.5 inches (1.3 cm).
6. A hockey stick comprising:
a shaft having a top and a bottom portion;
a blade connected to said bottom portion, said blade comprising opposing faces
defining a forehand side and a backhand side and having a heel portion proximate to said
bottom portion and extending outwardly toward a toe portion and having a first arcuate section
extending from said heel portion in a first direction of curvature so as to form a concave
curvature in said forehand side and a second arcuate section extending from said first arcuate
section in a second direction of curvature, opposite to said first direction so as to form a
concave curvature in said backhand side and terminating at said toe end.
7. A blade for use on a hockey stick, said blade comprising a heel end, a toe end
and opposing faces defining a forehand side and a backhand side between said heel end and
said toe end, wherein said blade is S-shaped so as to define a concave curvature in said
forehand side proximate to said heel end and a concave curvature in said backhand side,
proximate to said toe end.

Description

1015CA 02264299 1999-03-02TITLE OF THE INVENTIONHOCKEY STICK BLADEFIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to an improved blade for use on a hockey stick or the like.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCurrent designs. for hockey stick blades are concerned with increasing puckhandling (or ball handling in street hockey) control on the forehand side over the controloffered by the traditional flat blade stick. Hence the current C—shaped design or structure ofthe blade has a concave curvature, which is all on the forehand side. This is true for eitherright-handed or left-handed sticks. Even goaltenders sticks now have a concave curvature onthe forehand side.The concave curvature on the forehand side of the blade results in a convexcurve on the backhand side. This convex curvature increases the difficulty of handling thepuck (or ball in street hockey) on the backhand side. Thus it is more difficult to receive andcontrol a pass on the backhand side or to pass or shoot from the backhand side as comparedto the concave forehand side. Even normal stick handling of the puck or ball, which involvesregular movements of the puck or ball between the forehand and backhand is more difficult onthe convex side with a C—shaped curve stick, as compared with the traditional flat blade stick.Lastly, face—offs are often taken with the backhand side of the blade and therefore, the current101520CA 02264299 1999-03-02C—shape has an adverse effect on the ability to control the puck or ball from the face-off. Asa result, a player, when taking a face-off, will often reverse the positioning of the player’shands on the stick so that the concave side of the blade comes into contact with the puck or ball(instead of the convex side). This requires that once the face-off is complete, the p1ayer’shands must be switched back to the normal orientation, during which time the player does nothave full use of the stick.There have been proposals in the past to address the difficulties associated withthe C—shaped blade by introducing an S—shaped blade or a blade which is bifurcated at its toeend. Unfortunately, these proposals do not provide a stick blade which solves the problemsof the C—shaped blade in an acceptable manner to hockey players in that the blade designs donot improve control on the backhand side in regular play or the designs would actuallyinterfere with the use of the stick in normal playing conditions. For example, the applicantsare aware of one design of an S—shaped blade, described in Canadian Patent 1,305,733 ofMelby, issued July 28, 1992 (corresponding to U.S. Patent 4,664,379, issued May 12, 1987)which is judged ineffective for use in normal playing conditions because the forehand andbackhand concave portions of the blade are located at the wrong ends of the blade. In addition,the following references describe attempts to improve the C—shaped blade design which sufferfrom the deficiencies noted above:Canadian Patent 850,516 of Dawe, issued September 1, 1970;Canadian Paten1: 873,488 of Franck and Allen, issued June 15, 1971; andCanadian Patent: 1,325,440 of Hughes, issued December 21, 1993.1015CA 02264299 1999-03-02SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is thus an object of the present invention to provide, on a hockey stick, a bladewhich provides increased puck handling ability on the backhand side, without adverselyaffecting control on the forehand side.In one aspect of the invention, there is provided a blade for use on a hockeystick. The blade has a predetermined length, height and thickness and comprises a heel endand a toe end longitudinally remote from the heel end. Opposing first and second faces extendfrom the heel end to the toe end along the length defining a forehand side and a backhand side.A first arcuate portion extends from the heel end in a first direction of curvature so as to forma first concave curvature in the forehand side and a second arcuate portion extends from thefirst arcuate portion towards the toe end in a second direction of curvature opposite to the firstdirection so as to form a second concave curvature in the backhand side.In another aspect of the invention, the blade comprises a heel end, a toe end andopposing faces defining a forehand side and a backhand side between the heel end and the toeend. The blade is S—shaped so as to define a concave curvature in the forehand side proximateto the heel end and a concave curvature in the backhand side, proximate to the toe end.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThese and other advantages of the invention will become apparent upon readingthe following detailed description and upon referring to the drawings in which:—101520CA 02264299 1999-03-02FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a hockey stick incorporating the blade of thepresent invention;FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the presentinvention;FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the blade of the present invention; andFIGURE 4 is a perspective view of another alternate embodiment of the presentinvention.While the invention will be described in conjunction with illustratedembodiments, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the invention to suchembodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications andequivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theappended claims.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSIn the following; description, similar features in the drawings have been givensimilar reference numerals.Turning to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a blade 2 suitable for use on ahockey stick 4, for ice hockey, floor hockey or street hockey. The blade 2 may bemanufactured as an integral part of the stick 4 or may be manufactured separately andpurchased to be attached to a shaft 6 of an existing stick 4. Regardless, the shaft 6 of the stick4 has a top portion 8 and a bottom portion 10, in a conventional fashion. The blade 2 extends101520CA 02264299 1999-03-02from the bottom portion 10 of the shaft 6. In normal parlance, the end of the blade 2proximate to the bottom portion 10 is referred to as the heel end 12 and the other end of theblade 2, remote from the heel end 12 is the toe end 14. The blade 2 thus defines opposing firstand second faces 16 and 18. The blade 2 preferably has a predetermined length "1", height "h"and thickness "t".In accordance with the present invention, the blade 2 has an elongated S—shapefrom its heel end 12 to its toe end 14. That S-shape is defined by a first arcuate portion 20extending from the heel end 12 and a second arcuate portion 22 extending from the first arcuateportion 20 in a direction of curvature opposite to the direction of curvature of that first arcuateportion 20.In Figure 1, the stick 4 illustrated is for a right—handed shot. The opposing faces16 and 18 thus define a forehand side 30 and a backhand side 32 respectively. The first arcuateportion 20 defines a concave curvature in the forehand side 30 extending from the heel end 12.Consequently, the second arcuate portion 22 defines a concave curvature in the backhand face32, proximate to the toe end 14 of the blade 2.The blade 2 illustrated in Figure 2 is for a left—handed shot so that the forehandside 40 and the backhand side 42 are reversed from the configuration of the blade 2 in Figure1. For a blade with this orientation, therefore, the S—shape curve is reversed in direction sothat the first arcuate portion 20 still defines a concave curvature in the forehand side extendingfrom the heel end 12 and the second arcuate portion 22 defines the concave curvature in thebackhand side 42, proximate to the toe end 14 of the blade 2.101520CA 02264299 1999-03-02The rules for dimensions of hockey sticks and blades are set by the governingbodies of the various hockey leagues or associations, such as the National Hockey League(NHL) and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) and those dimensions areconsequently quite standardized. For example, the CAHA rules dictate that the blade for astick for a position player shall not exceed 12.5 inches (31.75 cm) in length "l" and shall bebetween 2 inches (5.08 cm) and 3 inches (7.62 cm) in height "h". In addition, the curvatureof the blade shall not exceed 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) between the blade and any line drawn froma fixed point on the heel end of the blade to the toe end of the blade.Working within the above dimensions to optimize performance of the blade 2on both the forehand side 30 and backhand side 32, as seen in Figure 3, the first arcuateportion 20 is preferably about 10 inches (25.4 cm) in length "L1" and the second arcuateportion 22 is about 5 inches (12.7 cm) in length "L2". In each case, the depth of curvature"d" from a line drawn between the heel end 12 and the toe end 14 (as depicted by the phantomlines) and the blade 2 is preferably .5 inches (1.27 cm). It will be noted by those skilled in theart that in order to measure the curvature on the forehand side within the meaning of the rules,the line is drawn between the heel end 12 and any point along the convex curvature in theforehand side 30 resulting from the second arcuate portion 22, rather than a point at the toe end14 itself. A similar procedure may be employed to measure the concave curvature in thebackhand side 32, except that the line is drawn between the toe 14 and any point along theconvex curvature in the backhand side 32.Figure 4 illustrates an embodiment of the blade 50 for use on a goalkeeper’sstick 52 (shown as a left—handed shot). As with the embodiments illustrated in Figures 1 and101520CA 02264299 1999-03-022, the blade 50 has an elongated S—shape with the first arcuate portion 54 defining a concavecurvature in the forehand side: 56, extending from the heel end 58, and the second arcuateportion 60 defining a concave curvature in the backhand side 62, proximate to the toe end 64,all within current regulations as expressed above. The goalkeeper may thus benefit from theadvantages described above which result from the curvature at the toe end 64 of the blade 50,on the backhand side.Regardless of whether a right—handed or left—handed hockey stick is used, theplayer (not shown) will benefit from having a concave curvature on the backhand side 32 (or42) of the blade 2, at the toe end 14, in face—off situations, in receiving and controlling a passof the puck (not shown) on the backhand side 32 (or 42) and in directing the puck by way ofa pass or a shot from the backhand side 32 (or 42). In normal use, a forehand shot or passwould be preferably from the first arcuate portion 20 and a backhand shot or pass would bepreferably from the second arcuate portion 22. As shown by the dimensional breakdown ofthe blade in Figure 3, however, this benefit is provided to the player without losing asignificant amount of blade space on the forehand side 30 (or 40) of the blade 2, as comparedwith conventional stick blades (not shown) which cannot, by regulation, exceed 12.5 inches(31.75 cm) in length. The blade 2 of the present invention thus provides a superior alternativeto the conventional stick blade for ice hockey, street hockey, floor hockey or other types ofrecreational hockey.Thus, it is apparent that there has been provided in accordance with theinvention a hockey stick blade that fully satisfies the objects, aims and advantages set forthabove. While the invention has been described in conjunction with illustrated embodimentsCA 02264299 1999-03-02thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent tothose skilled in the art in 1igh.t of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended toembrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations as fall within the spirit and broadscope of the invention.

Representative Drawing