APPARATUS FOR ATTACHMENT TO A HOCKEY STICK SHAFT

Abstract

An apparatus for attachment to a hockey stick shaft includes an elongated body having a first end, a second end and a longitudinal axis extending between the first end and the second end. A connector is provided at the second end for connecting the elongated body to a hockey stick shaft. There is a raised grip profile on the elongated body in an intermediate position between the first end and the second end. The raised grip profile defines a ring which encircles the elongated body. The ring is in an oblique angular orientation relative to longitudinal axis of the elongated body. The ring in an angular orientation fits between the thumb and index finger increasing strength and control when stick handling.

Description

FIELD

There is described an apparatus that attaches to a hockey stick shaft to allow a hockey player better control of his or her hockey stick.

BACKGROUND

The skills a hockey player must have in order to excel at the sport of hockey is the ability to control the puck and the ability to shoot. However, a hockey player wears bulky protective gloves, which makes it more difficult to demonstrate these skills. At times, even holding onto the hockey stick can be difficult.

There have been a number of apparatus that have been proposed for attachment to a hockey stick to help a hockey player hold onto the hockey stick, control the puck when stick handling or have a better shot. Examples of these apparatus include: U.S. Pat. No. 1,687,736 (Root) titled “Hockey Stick End Buffer”; U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,134 (Bieganowski) titled “Hockey Stick Handle Device”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,059 (Rigsby) titled “Hockey Stick With Adjustable Knob”; U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,753 (Gibbons) titled “Angular Hockey Stick Grip”; U.S. Pat. No. 7,288,036 (Casasanta) titled “Grip For A Hockey Stick With A Hollow Ended Shaft”; U.S. Pat. No. 8,292,762 (Clancy) titled “Hockey Stick Handle”; and U.S. Pat. No. 10,569,149 (Clarke) titled “Stick Handling Training Device and Method”.

SUMMARY

There is provided an apparatus for attachment to a hockey stick shaft. The apparatus includes an elongated body having a first end, a second end and a longitudinal axis extending between the first end and the second end. A connector is provided at the second end for connecting the elongated body to a hockey stick shaft. There is a raised grip profile on the elongated body in an intermediate position between the first end and the second end. The raised grip profile defines a ring which encircles the elongated body. The ring is in an oblique angular orientation relative to longitudinal axis of the elongated body.

The apparatus, as described above, provides an ergonomic advantage over a typical hockey stick. The ring in an angular orientation fits between the thumb and index finger increasing strength and control when stick handling.

There are different ways in which the apparatus may be connected to a hockey stick shaft. For that reason two versions will hereinafter be illustrated and described. In a first embodiment, the connector is a female aperture which overlies the hockey stick shaft. In a second embodiment, the connector is a male member which is inserted into a female aperture in a hockey stick shaft.

In order to assist the hockey player in holding on to the hockey stick, it is preferred that an enlarged knob is positioned at the first end.

In order to assist the hockey player in improving their shot, the apparatus described above may also be attached in an intermediate position on the hockey stick shaft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to be in any way limiting, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the apparatus for attachment to a hockey stick shaft, with a female connector.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the apparatus for attachment to a hockey stick shaft, with a male connector.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the apparatus for attachment to a hockey stick shaft.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the first embodiment of FIG. 1 and the third embodiment of FIG. 3 attached to a hockey stick.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the apparatus for attachment to a hockey stick shaft.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An apparatus for attachment to a hockey stick shaft will now be described with reference to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4. A first embodiment, generally identified by reference numeral 10, will be described with reference to FIG. 1. A second embodiment, generally identified by reference numeral 50, will be described with reference to FIG. 2. A third embodiment, generally identified by reference numeral 70, will be described with reference to FIG. 3. A fourth embodiment, generally identified by reference numeral 90, will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

Structure and Relationship of Parts:

Referring to FIG. 4, apparatus 10, 50 and 70 are all intended for attachment to a hockey stick 100. Apparatus 10 and 50, are intended for attachment at a remote end 102 of a hockey stick shaft 104. Apparatus 70 is intended for attachment at a midpoint on hockey stick shaft 104.

Referring to FIG. 1, apparatus 10 includes an elongated body 12 having a first end 14, a second end 16 and a longitudinal axis 18 (indicated by broken lines) extending between first end 14 and second end 16. Elongated body 12 is rectangular in cross-section and, as such, has four faces. A connector, generally indicated by reference numeral 20, is provided at second end 16. Referring to FIG. 4, connector 20 is for connecting elongated body 12 to remote end 102 of hockey stick shaft 104. There is a raised grip profile, generally indicated by reference numeral 22, on elongated body 12 in an intermediate position between first end 14 and second end 16. Raised grip profile 22 defines a ring 24 which encircles all four faces of elongated body 12. Ring 24 is in an oblique angular orientation of 45 degrees relative to longitudinal axis 18 of elongated body 12. It will be recognized that ring 24 need not be at the preferred angle of 45 degrees as any oblique angle between 30 degrees and 60 degrees would provide some utility as will hereinafter be described.

There are different ways in which apparatus 10 may be connected to remote end 102 of hockey stick shaft 104. Referring to FIG. 1, connector 20 is illustrated as being in the form of a female aperture 26 at second end 16 of elongated body 12 which overlies hockey stick shaft 104. Referring to FIG. 2, with second embodiment 50, connector 20 is illustrated as being a male member 28 which protrudes from second end 16 of elongated body 12 and which is adapted to be inserted into a female aperture in hockey stick shaft 104.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in order to assist a hockey player in holding on to hockey stick 100, it is preferred that an enlarged knob 30 is positioned at first end 14.

Referring to FIG. 3, in order to assist the hockey player in improving their shot, third embodiment 70 may be positioned in an intermediate position on hockey stick shaft 104.

Operation:

Referring to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4, first embodiment 10, second embodiment 50 and third embodiment 70 provides an ergonomic advantage over use of hockey stick 100 without them. The oblique angle of ring 24 portion of raised grip profile 22 creates a beneficial ergonomic shape for gripping, creating more power, control and agility for a player handling hockey stick 100. Ring 24 fits between the thumb and index finger of the hockey player.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, first embodiment 10 is mounted at remote top end 102 of hockey stick 100. Ring 24 of raised grip profile 22, angles upwardly from hockey stick shaft 104. Ring 24 fits with the heal of the hand, the palm of the hands rests on the angled slope creating a saddling effect for the hand, a firmer connection of the hand to hockey stick 100 and a larger gripping area. The fingers of the hand wrap around hockey stick 100 finishing with the finger tips wrapping around or entwining with ring 24 of raised grip profile 22 at the bottom or underneath side of hockey stick 100. It will be understood that second embodiment 50 illustrated in FIG. 2 functions in the same manner as first embodiment 10 and has been included to show that at remote top end 102 of hockey stick shaft 104, a male member 28 can be used as a connector 20 as an alternative to female aperture 26.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, third embodiment 70 is intended to be mounted at a midway point of shaft 104 of hockey stick 100 for use by a lower of the hockey player's hands. Ring 24 of raised grip profile 22 angles up off the elongated body toward the blade of hockey stick 100. The thumb and the index finger wrap around ring 24 at the top, the middle finger, ring finger and little finger entwine with ring 24 from below. The oblique angles are beneficial ergonomic angles which create more power and agility for face offs. The players lower hand is positioned in it's normal gripping position to create a stronger more controlled “pushing” motion for the face off. The thumb and the index finger wrap around top to ring 24 and the middle finger, ring finger and little finger entwine ring from below. When the player's lower hand is reversed a stronger more controlled “pull back” motion for the faceoff is created. The palm of the lower hand is positioned on the top of the unit with the base of the proximal phalanx of the little finger positioned on the top of ring 24. The little finger, ring finger, middle finger and index finger are positioned on the front side of the stick with the thumb positioned on the back side of hockey stick shaft 104.

Referring to FIG. 5, fourth embodiment 90 has been chosen for illustration as it demonstrates that, although raised grip profile 22 must be in an oblique angular orientation relative to longitudinal axis 18 of elongated body 12 and must project from all four faces of elongated body 12, raised grip profile 22 need not be a ring.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

The scope of the claims should not be limited by the illustrated embodiments set forth as examples, but should be given the broadest interpretation consistent with a purposive construction of the claims in view of the description as a whole.

Claims

1. An apparatus for attachment to a hockey stick shaft, comprising:

an elongated body having a first end, a second end, a longitudinal axis extending between the first end and the second end and four faces;

a connector at the second end for connecting the elongated body to a hockey stick shaft;

a raised grip profile on the elongated body in an intermediate position between the first end and the second end, the raised grip profile being in an oblique angular orientation relative to longitudinal axis of the elongated body and being on each of the four faces.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the raised grip profile defines a ring which encircles that elongated body.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein an enlarged knob is positioned at the first end.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the connector is a male member which is inserted into a female aperture in a hockey stick shaft.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the connector is a female aperture which overlies the hockey stick shaft.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the oblique angular orientation of the ring is between 30 and 60 degrees relative to longitudinal axis of the elongated body.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the oblique angular orientation of the ring is 45 degrees.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, in combination with a hockey stick and wherein the elongated body is positioned at a remote end of a hockey stick shaft.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, in combination with a hockey stick and wherein the elongated body is positioned in an intermediate position on the hockey stick elongated shaft.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, in combination with a hockey stick and wherein a first apparatus has the elongated body positioned at a remote end of a hockey stick shaft and a second apparatus has the elongated body positioned in an intermediate position on the hockey stick shaft.