Abstract: A helmet for baseball pitchers and fielders includes features to protect a player's head and face from being struck by a batted ball. The helmet optionally includes side protection, which may include cheek, jaw, temple, or chin protection. The helmet also may optionally include a face mask.

Abstract: A multi-piece chest protector includes a front section connected to side sections by straps or other connectors that provide independent and relative movement between the front section and the side sections. The front and side sections include padding for absorbing impact. Additional padding, such as shoulder pads, may optionally be removably or permanently attached to the chest protector.

Abstract: A composite hockey stick having a tubular hollow shaft and a blade is disclosed. The shaft includes a region of focused weight in the form of an overlay coating that is applied on top if the internal surfaces of the cured shaft using a coating plug. The blade includes a focused weight region that is inserted into a cavity within the cured composite blade. Methods and suitable materials for constructions of the various components of the blade and shaft are also disclosed.

Abstract: Hockey stick configurations and hockey stick blade constructs are disclosed. The blade is comprised of one or more inner core elements, surrounded by one or more walls made of reinforcing fibers or filaments disposed in a hardened matrix resin material. One or more of the inner core elements comprises an elastomer material.

Abstract: An article of footwear comprising a pliable upper component and a molded unitary support structure formed of a plurality of wall stuctures and methods of manufacturing are disclosed. Some embodiments include a sole and first and second side wall structures extending therefrom and partitioned from one another. The sole and the first and second side wall structures may be in part or entirely constructed of multiple layers of fibers having different orientations from one another and disposed in a hardened resin matrix. The pliable upper component comprises outer and inner panels that overlap the inner and outer surfaces of one or more of the side wall structures and are conjoined thereto.

Abstract: A ball bat includes a barrel having a radially inner surface. Graphics, or an indicator layer including graphics, that provide a visual indication of whether tampering, such as shaving, has occurred to the radially inner surface of the barrel are affixed to, applied to, or integral with the radially inner surface of the barrel. A transparent or translucent cap, or a cap including a window, is optionally attached to an end of the barrel to provide visual inspection of the internal graphics. The cap itself may additionally or alternatively include internal observable features, or external engraved or etched features, that make the cap difficult to replicate or counterfeit.

Abstract: A composite hockey stick having a tubular hollow shaft and a blade is disclosed. The shaft includes a region of focused weight in the form of an overlay coating that is applied on top if the internal surfaces of the cured shaft using a coating plug. The blade includes a focused weight region that is inserted into a cavity within the cured composite blade. Methods and suitable materials for constructions of the various components of the blade and shaft are also disclosed.

Abstract: A ball bat exhibits improved barrel performance in regions located away from the “sweet spot” of the bat barrel, as a result of strategic placement of interface shear control zones (“ISCZs”) in the barrel. The ball bat includes a barrel having a first region adjacent to the tapered section of the ball bat, a second region adjacent to the free end of the barrel, and a third region located between the first and second regions, that includes the sweet spot of the barrel. The first and second regions each include at least one interface shear control zone. The third region includes at least one fewer interface shear control zone than at least one of the first and second regions. ISCZs may also be strategically placed in the bat handle and/or the tapered section of the ball bat to improve the compliance and overall performance of the ball bat.

Abstract: A composite hockey stick having a tubular hollow rectangular shaft and a blade is disclosed. The shaft comprises an inner layer and an outer layer, each of the inner and outer layers are formed of uni-directional substantially continuous fibers disposed in a hardened resin matrix and wrapped and molded around a middle elastomer layer. A new manufacturing method is also disclosed in which a cured hollow tubular composite hockey stick shaft is inserted between the front and back faces of an un-cured composite hockey stick blade and the blade is then cured in a mold around the hockey stick shaft to form a unitary composite hockey stick.

Abstract: A composite ball bat includes an exposed region of transparent or translucent material, which provides a visual indication of whether delamination has occurred in the ball bat. As a result, an observer can determine, via visual inspection, whether delamination has occurred, and, if it has, can remove the bat from regulated play.

Abstract: A hockey stick having a composite blade and a shaft is disclosed. The composite blade includes a heel section that is recessed relative to the front and back faces of the blade. The recessed heel section is configured to be received by a hockey stick shaft or an adapter member configured to connect the blade to the shaft. The composite blade preferably comprise a foam inner core overlaid preferably with substantially continuous fibers disposed in a matrix material and may include an internal bridge structure extending from one side of the blade to the other. The blade may also be preferably comprised of a core comprising non-continuous fibers disposed within a matrix material. In another aspect, processes for manufacturing the previously described hockey stick blade(s) are described.

Abstract: A hockey stick having a composite blade and a shaft is disclosed. The composite blade includes a heel section that is recessed relative to the front and back faces of the blade. The recessed heel section is configured to be received by a hockey stick shaft or an adapter member configured to connect the blade to the shaft. The composite blade preferably comprise a foam inner core overlaid preferably with substantially continuous fibers disposed in a matrix material and may include an internal bridge structure extending from one side of the blade to the other. The blade may also be preferably comprised of a core comprising non-continuous fibers disposed within a matrix material. In another aspect, processes for manufacturing the previously described hockey stick blade(s) are described.

Abstract: A multi-piece ball bat includes a first section including a hitting portion, and a second section including a handle portion. A flexible joint connects the first section to the second section. The flexible joint may be a structural joint, such as a spring member, a mechanical locking joint, or a pneumatic or hydraulic joint, or it may be a non-uniform and/or non-continuous elastomeric joint.

Abstract: A ball bat exhibits improved barrel performance in regions located away from the “sweet spot” of the bat barrel, as a result of strategic placement of interface shear control zones (“ISCZs”) in the barrel. The ball bat includes a barrel having a first region adjacent to the tapered section of the ball bat, a second region adjacent to the free end of the barrel, and a third region located between the first and second regions, that includes the sweet spot of the barrel. The first and second regions each include at least one interface shear control zone. The third region includes at least one fewer interface shear control zone than at least one of the first and second regions. ISCZs may also be strategically placed in the bat handle and/or the tapered section of the ball bat to improve the compliance and overall performance of the ball bat.

Abstract: A ball bat includes one or more focused flexure regions located predominantly or entirely in the transition section between the barrel and the handle of the ball bat. One or more of the focused flexure regions may additionally or alternatively be located partially or entirely in the barrel and/or the handle of the ball bat. The one or more focused flexure regions each include a radially inner structural region and a radially outer dampening region for reducing the local axial stiffness, and improving the flexure, of the ball bat at the location of the focused flexure region.

Abstract: A ball bat includes multiple layers of one or more composite materials. One or more “integral shock attenuation” (“ISA”) regions, which have a substantially lower axial stiffness than neighboring regions in the bat, are provided to attenuate shock waves resulting from an “off-center” hit. ISA regions may be incorporated into the transition region, the handle, and/or the barrel of the ball bat to provide vibration damping, shock attenuation, stiffness control, increased flexure, and/or improved feel.

Abstract: A hockey stick comprising a blade and a shaft adapted to being joined together. The blade portion having an upper portion and a lower portion and a face. The upper portion being comprised of a defined region having a reduced width dimension in a direction that extends generally perpendicular from the face of the blade when measured relative to regions in the upper portion of the blade that border either side of the defined region. The defined region may also be comprised of a reduced longitudinal bending stiffness in a direction that extends generally perpendicular from the face of the blade when measured relative to regions in the upper portion of the blade that border either side of the defined region.

Abstract: A ball catching and delivery head including a frame and a base for a lacrosse stick is provided. In addition to a socket for receiving a handle, the base includes a cavity for receiving a flexible cartridge and also trusses laterally located relative to the base that terminally connect with the frame and the base. The frame is vertically flexible relative to the base and the extent to which the frame is so flexible is dependent upon the cartridge flexibility and compressibility. The trusses prevent lateral movements of the frame relative to the base. Different cartridges made of different materials may be substituted for one another to achieve different flexing characteristics.