Hockey stick with a curved shaft.

Abstract

An ice hockey stick where the shaft portion of the stick is concavely curved along the entire front face of the shaft and convexly curved along the entire back face of the shaft. The front face of the shaft is a concave surface with no points of inflection, and the back face of the shaft is a convex surface with no points of inflection. The degree of shaft curvature may vary depending on a hockey player's strength, and on the material used to construct the shaft. When a hockey player takes a shot the entire stick shaft becomes straight by the moment of impact with the puck and/or during contact with the puck thus maximizing the force applied to the puck resulting in a faster shot.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the shaft portion of an ice hockey stick. An ice hockey stick is comprised of a shaft attached to a blade and is designed to be used in conjunction with an ice hockey puck for playing the game of ice hockey. Ice hockey sticks have evolved over the years mainly in the area of stick composition as opposed to the shape of the stick. The only significant shape changes to have taken place involving ice hockey sticks are various curvatures of the blade. These shape changes were intended for better control of the puck and to more easily raise the puck off the playing surface. The only significant shape change to the shaft of an ice hockey stick that the author is aware of is a proposed angled shaft whereby the angled shaft would function to increase the force applied to pucks during shots resulting in faster shots. However, this design proposal was not embraced by the hockey stick industry. The author is also aware of a hockey stick intended for use with a ball whereby the hockey stick shaft has a curved surface along its shaft referred to as a bow. The front face or the back face of such a shaft is curved, but not both. The ball is propelled along the curved surface until it leaves the end of the stick. Thus, the curved surface is a playing surface which is intended to come into contact with the ball. In contrast an ice hockey stick shaft is not meant to come into contact with a puck in the ordinary play of the game. The blade of an ice hockey stick is intended for contact with the puck. The shaft of an ice hockey stick is only intended for holding the stick. The present invention involves a new shaft design intended to maximize the force applied to a puck when a hockey player takes a shot.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An ice hockey stick where the shaft portion of the stick is concavely curved along the entire front face of the shaft and convexly curved along the entire back face of the shaft. This design differs from an angled shaft in that no portion along the shaft length is straight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a top front face view of a conventional straight hockey stick shaft;

FIG. 2 is a top front face view of a hockey stick shaft of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top back face view of a hockey stick shaft of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a conventional hockey stick with a straight shaft and a straight blade;

FIG. 5 is a top face view of a hockey stick shaft of the present invention;

In FIG. 5, the Y-Y line represents the longitudinal axis of a conventional straight hockey stick shaft used for illustrative purposes only and form no part of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An ice hockey stick is comprised of a shaft attached to a blade. The present invention relates to the shaft portion of an ice hockey stick. The shaft has a proximal end 1 and a distal end 2 as illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3. The proximal end 1 is the end proximate the blade, and the distal end 2 is the end opposite the blade. The shaft has a front and rear face. The front face of the shaft is that face which faces in generally the same direction as the striking service of the blade. The rear face is the face opposite the front face. The shaft also has a bottom face and a top face. The bottom face 8 is that face which lays on a flat horizontal surface when the toe of the attached blade 6 points directly up as illustrated in FIG. 4. The top face is the face opposite the bottom face. The present invention involves curvature of the shaft along its entire length to yield a shaft with a concave front face with no points of inflection and a convex rear face with no points of inflection. FIG. 2 illustrates the concave surface 4 of such a shaft. FIG. 3 illustrates the convex surface 5 of such a shaft. The shaft of FIG. 2 is intended for use by a hockey player that shoots right. The shaft of FIG. 3 is intended for use by a hockey player that shoots left. FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are intended to be mirror images of each other and represent shafts that would be used by right handed shooters and left handed shooters respectively in the game of hockey. The Y-Y line of FIG. 5 represents the longitudinal axis of a straight shaft and is shown with respect to a curved shaft of the present invention. The top surfaces 3 of the present invention depicted in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 are also curved, but their surfaces are not concave or convex. The degree of curvature may vary depending on a number of factors such as a player's strength, and the material used to construct the shaft. A properly curved shaft for a particular hockey player is one that becomes straight during a forehand shot at or during the point of contact with the puck. Such a described shot using the present invention is believed by the author to maximize the force applied to a puck resulting in a faster shot. Of necessity the shaft of the present invention must be flexible as is the case with most modern conventional hockey sticks. The present invention can be manufactured from most standard shafts using standard molding and heating techniques.

In FIG. 4 a conventional hockey stick with a straight shaft and a straight blade is positioned such that the toe of the blade 6 faces up, the heel of the blade 7 faces down, the blade end of the stick faces right, and the shaft end of the stick faces left. The present invention refers to a curvature of the shaft either inwardly, or outwardly depending on whether the shaft is for a left or right handed shooter respectively.

Claims

1. An ice hockey stick where the hockey stick shaft is concave along the entire front face with no points of inflection, and where the hockey stick shaft is convex along the entire back face with no points of inflection.