ENERGY ABSORBING APPARATUS FOR SPORTING GOODS

Abstract

An energy absorbing apparatus adds support on sporting equipment, such as hockey skates, to protect the user from injury. The energy absorbing apparatus for hockey skates may protect the user's foot and ankle from injury. The energy absorbing apparatus may include a shock absorbing urethane foam member that may be formed integrally in a hockey skate. In an alternate embodiment, the energy absorbing material may be disposed in an adjunct adapted to be attached to a conventional hockey skate. The energy absorbing apparatus and the alternate embodiment are both light weight and flexible. The energy absorbing material may be used in helmets, baseball jerseys and other items where absorbing energy from external forces may protect the wearer.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/228,441, filed Jul. 24, 2009, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to protective devices and, more particularly, to an energy absorbing apparatus for sporting apparatus to protect a participant from injury.

Conventional hockey skates do not have any absorbing material therewithin to absorb any impact to the foot and/or ankle. Current hockey skates only have plastic supports in a few areas for protection.

As can be seen, there is a need for improved protective devices for sporting goods, such as hockey skates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, an energy absorbing apparatus for protecting a user from an impact of an external force comprises a urethane foam absorbing material attached to an item worn by the user.

In another aspect of the present invention, a hockey skate comprises a microcellular polyurethane absorbing material, the absorbing material capable of absorbing at least about 50 percent of the total impact on an external force on a wearer of the hockey skate.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an energy absorbing hockey skate according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the hockey skate of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the hockey skate of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an energy absorbing adjunct for a hockey skate according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a hockey skate having the energy absorbing adjunct of FIG. 5 installed thereupon.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Various inventive features are described below that can each be used independently of one another or in combination with other features.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides an energy absorbing apparatus for support on sporting equipment, such as hockey skates, to protect the user from injury. The energy absorbing apparatus for hockey skates may protect the user's foot and ankle from injury. The energy absorbing apparatus may include a shock absorbing urethane foam member that may be formed integrally in a hockey skate. In an alternate embodiment, the energy absorbing material may be disposed in an adjunct adapted to be attached to a conventional hockey skate. The energy absorbing material, according to alternate embodiments of the present invention, may be used in helmets, baseball jerseys and other items where absorbing energy from external forces may protect the wearer.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, an energy absorbing hockey skate 10 may include a urethane foam absorbing piece 12 disposed about a hockey skate base 16. The urethane foam absorbing piece 12 may be covered with an outer leather component 14 to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance while holding the urethane foam absorbing piece 12 in place. The plastic pieces (not shown) present in conventional skates may be found in the energy absorbing hockey skate 10 of the present invention.

When hockey players get hit with an external force, such as with a slap shot or a puck traveling at, for example, up to 100 miles per hour, or when a hockey player gets slashed with a hockey stick, the energy absorbing hockey skate 10 may absorb these external forces and reduce or eliminate any injury to the foot or ankle of the player.

The urethane foam absorbing piece 12 may be a microcellular polyurethane, such as Cellasto® urethane foam. The urethane foam absorbing piece 12 may be from about 3 to about 10 mm thick, typically about 5 mm thick. A 5 mm thick layer of urethane foam, such as Cellesto® may absorb between about 60 to about 70 percent of the external impact force.

The energy absorbing hockey skate 10 of FIGS. 1 through 4 may be made by, for example, hockey skate manufacturers, by incorporating the urethane foam absorbing piece 12 into the design of the skate. In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, an energy absorbing adjunct 20 may be designed to fit onto a conventional skate 22, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The adjunct 20 may attach around the conventional skate 22 and may include an outer leather component 14-1 encasing a urethane foam absorbing piece 12-1. FIGS. 5 and 6 have the outer leather component 14-1 partially cut away to expose the urethane foam absorbing piece 12-1. The adjunct 20 may not include this partially cut away region. Eyelets 24 of the adjunct 20 may align with eyelets (not shown) of the conventional skate, allowing the adjunct to be held in place to the skate 22 when laces 26 are laced through the eyelets 24. Straps 28 may be positioned across a bottom region 30 of the adjunct 20 to help hold the adjunct 20 to the skate 22. The straps 28 may be elastic and may include hook and loop fasteners, such as Velcro® to create a removable adjunct 20. The urethane foam absorbing piece 12-1 may be Cellesto® urethane foam. Tests of the adjunct piece 20 have shown that it is capable of absorbing from about 61 to about 70 percent of the impact force of a hockey puck traveling at 100 miles per hour.

The urethane foam absorbing piece 12, 12-1 may not only be useful for absorbing external impacts on skates. The urethane foam absorbing piece 12, 12-1 may be used to absorb impacts or blows in a variety of sporting goods, such as helmets to protect a wearer from head injuries in sports such as football, baseball, boxing, race car driving, ATV riding, snow boarding, skiing, lacrosse, bicycling, bobsledding, rafting, wresting, and the like. The urethane foam absorbing piece 12, 12-1 may also be used in helmets for military use, medical use, and the like. Tests of a football helmet including a 25 mm piece of Cellesto® foam showed that, in impacts in excess of 100 G's, the material absorbed from about 20 to about 40 percent of the force to the head area in conjunction with the conventional material already present in commercial football helmets. In addition to the use in skates and helmets, the urethane foam absorbing piece 12, 12-1 may be used in other personal protective applications, such as in jerseys for Little League baseball players, sewn into the shirts in the front and rear to protect the players from injuries from being hit with a baseball.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. An energy absorbing apparatus for protecting a user from an impact of an external force, the apparatus comprising:

a urethane foam absorbing material attached to an item worn by the user.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the external force is from the user participating in a sport.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the item is a hockey skate and the sport is hockey.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the urethane foam absorbing material is a microcellular polyurethane.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the microcellular polyurethane is integrally formed into the hockey skate.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the microcellular polyurethane is covered with an outer covering and shaped to fit around an exterior of the hockey skate.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising:

eyelets adapted to align with eyelets of the hockey skate when the apparatus is fitted around the exterior of the hockey skate; and

at least one strap extending from a bottom portion of the apparatus, the at least one strap adapted to fit around the skate.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the item is a helmet.

9. A hockey skate comprising:

a microcellular polyurethane absorbing material, the absorbing material capable of absorbing at least about 50 percent of the total impact on an external force on a wearer of the hockey skate.

10. The hockey skate of claim 9, wherein either a) the microcellular polyurethane is integrally formed into the hockey skate, or b) the microcellular polyurethane is covered with an outer covering and shaped to fit around an exterior of the hockey skate.