Abstract: A dasher board assembly provides enhanced safety, such as for ice hockey rinks. The assembly is constructed so that on low height impacts a dampening material with at least one of a damping coefficient of about 1.7-3.2×104 N-s/m, a spring constant of about 1.5-3.0×106 N/m, and a loss coefficient greater than 0.15, absorbs the impact. On high height impacts both the dampening material and deflection of cantilevered generally vertical polygonal aluminum tubes absorb the impact. The assembly results in a Head Injury Criteria of less than 250 for all realistic scenarios, and a reduction of HIC values of at least 30% compared to an equivalent assembly with a rigid frame.

Abstract: A dasher board assembly, particularly well-suited for an ice hockey rink, includes a number of advantageous structures including an ice dam (ice retainer), puck rebound facilitator backing a kickplate, and a unitary rigid L-shaped anchoring device for the dasher board frame. The ice dam has a main body component and a lip upstanding from the body a distance sufficient to assist in blocking moisture movement past the dasher board and to provide an open space. The rigid L-shaped anchoring device is connected by fasteners to vertical elements of the dasher board frame, and to the ice dam body, to provide stable mounting of the frame. The puck rebound facilitator may be a buckling elastomeric tube that is essentially rigid when a hockey puck impacts the kickplate but buckles to absorb the force of impact if a hockey player strikes the dasher board.

Abstract: A dasher board assembly provides enhanced safety, such as for ice hockey rinks. The assembly is constructed so that on low height impacts a dampening material with at least one of a damping coefficient of about 1.7-3.2×104 N-s/m, a spring constant of about 1.5-3.0×106 N/m, and a loss coefficient greater than 0.15, absorbs the impact. On high height impacts both the dampening material and deflection of cantilevered generally vertical polygonal aluminum tubes absorb the impact. The assembly results in a Head Injury Criteria of less than 250 for all realistic scenarios, and a reduction of HIC values of at least 30% compared to an equivalent assembly with a rigid frame.

Abstract: A dasher board assembly, particularly well-suited for an ice hockey rink, includes a number of advantageous structures including an ice dam (ice retainer), puck rebound facilitator backing a kickplate, and a unitary rigid L-shaped anchoring device for the dasher board frame. The ice dam has a main body component and a lip upstanding from the body a distance sufficient to assist in blocking moisture movement past the dasher board and to provide an open space. The rigid L-shaped anchoring device is connected by fasteners to vertical elements of the dasher board frame, and to the ice dam body, to provide stable mounting of the frame. The puck rebound facilitator may be a buckling elastomeric tube that is essentially rigid when a hockey puck impacts the kickplate but buckles to absorb the force of impact if a hockey player strikes the dasher board.