Hockey Stick Tether

Abstract

A strap and method for use with a hockey stick, wherein the strap has an elongated main body, a first end forming a loop constructed and arranged for receiving a wrist therethrough, a hook and loop fastener system incorporated with the main body and a second end constructed and arranged for attachment to a first end of a hockey stick, wherein said strap releases the attachment arrangement upon application of a predetermined amount of force.

Description

INDEX TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This United States Utility patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/303,755 filed on Feb. 12, 2010, the disclosure which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a tether for a hockey stick that attaches the hockey stick to the wrist of a user and subsequently releases the tether arrangement upon application of a predetermined amount of force.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the strap attached to a hockey stick.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the strap attached to a first end of hockey stick.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the strap attached to a first end of the hockey stick and the wrist of a user.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the strap and the hook and loop fasteners incorporated thereon.

FIG. 5 is side view of one embodiment with a connector incorporated with the strap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The hockey stick 10 has an elongated shaft 12 which comprises the majority of it's length. Shaft 12 has a first end 14 and a second end 16. First end 14 is proximal to the user and second end 16 has a blade 18 emanating therefrom. Proximal the first end 14 a strap 20 is provided which is used to tether hockey stick 10 to the wrist 26 of a user. Strap 20 has a proximal end 40 and a distal end 45. The distal end 45 of strap 20 would interengage with the wrist 26 of a user. The proximal end 40 of the strap 20 would interengage proximal the first end 14 of the hockey stick 10. Therefore, the strap tether 22 is in an area along shaft 12 proximate to first end 14 where strap 20 is connected at its proximal end 40 to the hockey stick 10. Strap 20 is secured to hockey stick 10 with a securing mechanism. In a first embodiment, as seen in FIG. 2, strap 20 is secured to hockey stick 10 with a bolt 28 that is bored through strap 20 and into hockey stick 10.

By using bolt 28 bored into the hockey stick 10 itself, a very strong connection is made of the strap 20 at the strap tether 22. This strong connection would make failure of the strap 20 proximate the strap tether 22 unlikely.

At the distal end 45 strap 20 forms a loop 50 by wrapping about itself allowing the hook and loop fasteners to interengage in a releasably securable fashion. As shown in FIG. 4, strap 20 has a first portion with loop fasteners 32 and a second portion with hook fasteners 30 that co-act to form a releasable bond. By the very nature of hook and loop fasteners in this configuration the loop 50 is variable, depending on where the strap 20 is placed together. This permits the strap 20 to make a loop 50 which may be smaller to accommodate a child or a smaller hand (not shown), or alternatively, to make a loop 50 which is larger, to accommodate a adult or a larger hand (not shown).

In one embodiment, strap 20 is secured to hockey stick 10 on a first end 14 with a screw 28 passing through strap 20 and into hockey stick 10. Strap 10 is attached to a user wrist 26 by wrapping wrist loop 50 around wrist 26. It is understood that generally a larger hand will have a larger wrist and a smaller hand will have a smaller wrist. It is also well known for most cases that a child wrist and hand will be smaller than an adult wrist and hand. Needless to say, there are most likely examples of wrist and hand sizes going against these generalizations, but the important fact is that loop 50 is adjustable to fit any wrist and further that the hook and loop fasteners which help form loop 50 on strap 20 will come undone when a force of sufficient magnitude is applied to them. The failure of loop 50 when such force is applied disengages the strap 20 from the wrist of the user and as a result the hockey stick 10 is no longer under the control of the user. The situation where such a force is applied to disengage the stick 10 from the wrist is one where the stick 10 stuck between a defending player and the board. If the hockey stick 10 was not released the user would most likely suffer an injury. Another scenario where having the hockey stick 10 released would avoid injury would be when a hockey player takes a hit such that his hockey stick 10 is caught by any number of circumstances.

For the most part, hook fastener 30 and loop fastener 32 are constructed and arranged to secure wrist strap 26 such that a person playing hockey and holding hockey stick 10 does not lose hockey stick 10 while playing. However, it can easily be seen that the present invention may play a significant role should the hockey stick 10 become positioned such that a substantial amount of force is imparted away from a user, strap 20 will unfasten along hook fastener 30 and loop fastener 32 and allow hockey stick 10 to detach from a user's wrist 26 and have the stick 10 move away from a user. The term significant amount of force, as understood herein refers to force in which the hockey stick is moved away from the user such that continued attachment may cause injury. The separation under force provides a tether device that is safer than a solid cord type tether because a solid cord type tether does not release and could cause arm injuries.

In another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, strap 20 has, incorporated therein, a connecting device 34 that joins first strap portion 20a and second strap portion 20b. A loop 50A is formed to receive the wrist therein. When a predetermined amount of pressure is exerted on connecting device 34, connecting device releases and strap 20 is separated into disconnected first strap portion 20a and second strap portion 20b. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, it is also contemplated that the tether release will occur when significant force is exerted on strap 20 in order to prevent injury to the user.

In a preferred embodiment, strap 20 has a length of 27.25 inches. Strap 20 is folded to engage hook fasteners 30 with loop fasteners 32 forming wrist loop 50. In the folded configuration, strap 20 extends approximately 18 inches outward from stick 10. The width of strap 20 is 1 inch. Varying the physical properties of the tether such as width and thickness, as well as the specific type of hook and loop fasteners (Number of hooks and loops per square inch, the material the hooks and loops are made from etcetera) will vary the amount of force that will be required to cause the loop 50 to fail when sufficient force is applied. The instant invention considers that any of a variety of configurations and materials may be employed to give satisfactory results.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form or embodiment with some degree of particularity, it is understood that this description has been given only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction, fabrication, and use, including the combination and arrangement of parts, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A strap for use with a hockey stick comprising:

a. an elongated main body;

b. a first end forming a loop constructed and arranged for receiving a wrist therethrough;

c. a hook and loop fastener system incorporated with said main body; and

d. a second end constructed and arranged for attachment to a first end of a hockey stick whereby when said strap comes under a level of physical force which may cause injury to a hockey player, said loop comes undone freeing the wrist from said strap and preventing the possible injury.

2. A strap for use with a hockey stick as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second end of said strap is secured to said first end of said hockey stick with a connection means, wherein said connection means would not fail when exposed to the level of physical force which would disrupt said loop.

3. A strap for use with a hockey stick as claimed in claim 2 wherein said loop may have a size which is chosen by the hockey player, whereby a child may choose said loop to be smaller to accommodate the child's wrist.

4. A strap for use with a hockey stick as claimed in claim 3 wherein said loop may have a size which is chosen by the hockey player, whereby an adult may choose said loop to be larger to accommodate the adult's wrist.

5. A strap for use with a hockey stick as claimed in claim 4 wherein the level of physical force which would disrupt said loop and free the hockey players wrist from said strap is chosen to be larger for an adult.

6. A strap for use with a hockey stick as claimed in claim 5 wherein the level of physical force which would disrupt said loop and free the hockey players wrist from said strap is chosen to be smaller for a child.

7. A tether for a hockey stick comprising; a strap with a proximal side and a distal side, said proximal side including connection means, said connection means substantially connecting said proximal side to a top portion of a hockey stick, said distal side of said strap including a loop, said loop formed from the distal side of said strap and further being of a diameter to accommodate a hockey players wrist therethrough, whereby when said hockey player's wrist is in said loop said hockey player is confined to said hockey stick.

8. A tether for a hockey stick as claimed in claim 7 whereby said loop is not permanently attached to the hockey players wrist.

9. A tether for a hockey stick as claimed in claim 8 whereby when said hockey stick is exposed to a force which may cause injury to the hockey player, said loop becomes unfastened and permits the hockey player to be separated from said hockey stick, whereby possible injury is avoided.

10. A method for tethering a hockey stick to the wrist of a user comprising the steps of:

providing a hockey stick;

providing a tether with a release mechanism;

attaching one end of said tether to the wrist of a user; and attaching a second end of said tether to a first end of a hockey stick forming a tether arrangement.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein said release mechanism is constructed and arranged to release said tether arrangement when said tether is subjected to a predetermined amount of force.