U.S. patent application number 14/200486 was filed with the patent office on 2014-09-11 for training pad.
This patent application is currently assigned to ACON FINLAND OY TD. The applicant listed for this patent is ACON FINLAND OY TD. Invention is credited to Tarmo SALLINEN.
Application Number | 20140256476 14/200486 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 49578035 |
Filed Date | 2014-09-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140256476 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SALLINEN; Tarmo |
September 11, 2014 |
TRAINING PAD
Abstract
A training pad, which is a planar pad having a surface and a
bottom surface, and which comprises of two or several pad units,
whereby at each time two pad units can be folded against each other
by a hinge point connecting them, in which the hinge is a groove,
the angles of the cross section of which groove exceed 90 degrees
and in which hinge point the material thickness at the bottom of
the groove is 1-1.6 mm.
Inventors: |
SALLINEN; Tarmo; (Kontio,
FI) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ACON FINLAND OY TD |
Oulu |
|
FI |
|
|
Assignee: |
ACON FINLAND OY TD
Oulu
FI
|
Family ID: |
49578035 |
Appl. No.: |
14/200486 |
Filed: |
March 7, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/446 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 2210/50 20130101;
A63B 69/0026 20130101; A63B 21/4037 20151001 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/446 |
International
Class: |
A63B 69/00 20060101
A63B069/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 11, 2013 |
FI |
U20134059 |
Claims
1. A training pad comprising a planar pad having a first surface
and a bottom surface separated by a thickness, and which comprises
two or more pad units, wherein at least two pad units are connected
by a hinge and can be folded against each other by the hinge point
connecting them, wherein the hinge comprises a groove, wherein the
angles of a cross section of the groove exceed 90 degrees and
wherein the groove has a material thickness at a bottom thereof of
1-1.6 mm.
2. The training pad according to claim 1, further at least two
openings for carry handles, which openings extend through the
thickness of the pad and adapted for moving the pad, which openings
for carry handles are concentric when the pad is folded.
3. The training pad according to claim 2, wherein the opening for
the carry handles is located in the middle of an edge at an end of
the pad unit, wherein the openings for the carry handles are
located on a same straight line of one long side of the pad, and
are equally spaced from each other.
4. The training pad according to claim 1, wherein the cross section
of the groove is V-, U-, W- or X-shaped.
5. The training pad according to claim 1, further comprising a
detachably fastened rubbery passing band, which is fastened to the
pad by posts, which have an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the
tightness of the passing band.
6. The training pad according to claim 1, wherein surface of the
training pad is sufficiently slippery that surface of the training
pad matches ice conditions in which the pad is used.
Description
[0001] This application claims benefit of Finnish Utility Model
Application No. U20134059, filed 11 Mar. 2013, the entire content
of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
BACKGROUND
[0002] 1. Field
[0003] Disclosed herein is a training pad equipped with a folding
mechanism, which folding mechanism enables the folding of the pad
units of the training pad against each other.
[0004] The training pad is used for training different ball sports
and handling skills of sports equipment. The training pad is
particularly used for training shooting in ice hockey and
furthermore for training general puck handling skills. The slippery
surface of the training pad creates more realistic training
conditions as the surface of the training pad matches the ice
conditions considerably better than the traditionally used plywood
and chipboard pads. The slippery surface of the pad also reduces
wearing of the sticks
[0005] 2. Description of Related Art
[0006] Known training pad are planar continuous boards. A problem
related to known training pads is their size. As the size of the
training pad increases moving, handling and storing them becomes
problematic.
SUMMARY
[0007] In an embodiment described herein, the problems caused by
the increase in size of the training pad are eliminated by a
folding mechanism of the training pad. With the aid of the folding
mechanism the training pad can be folded into a smaller size,
making moving, handling and storing thereof easier.
[0008] In an embodiment described herein, a hinge point functions
as the folding mechanism of the training pad dividing the planar
pad into pad units or sub pads. The hinge in the hinge point is a
groove, the angles of the cross-section of the groove exceed 90
degrees, whereby no large tension is created in the folding angles
when folding the pad. Consequently the folding angle remains intact
and no tension cracks are created. Advantageously, the greatest
width on the surface level of this pad is in the same range as the
thickness of the entire pad, e.g., 5 mm is the greatest width of
the groove for a 5 mm thick pad. The cross-section of the hinge of
the groove is advantageously V-shaped. The cross-section can also
be U-, W- or X-shaped.
[0009] The thickness of the hinge point also affects the
foldability and flexibility of the pad. If the thickness of the
hinge point is too small, the joint is not durable. If the
thickness of the hinge point is too great, the foldability of the
pad units becomes stiff, consequently making folding the pad more
difficult, and a folded pad will not remain in transporting
position but is twisted open, thereby even causing cracks and
reducing the durability of the joint. The folding mechanism of the
training pad also functions in freezing conditions, although the
material used for the training pad hardens in cold conditions. The
material thickness for the hinge point at the bottom of the groove
is 1-1.6 mm, advantageously 1.3 mm.
[0010] The training pad in an embodiment described herein comprises
of two or several pad units, of which two pad units at each time
can be folded against each other by the hinge point connecting
them. Thus, the large sized training pad can be folded into a
smaller size, whereby moving, handling and storing it is easier.
Advantageously, there are two hinge points, whereby the training
pad comprises of three pad units, which are folded against each
other to about one pad unit in size.
[0011] In an embodiment described herein, the training pad has at
least two openings for carry handles going through the pad, which
facilitate moving and handling the pad. The openings for carry
handles are located on the same straight line on one long side of
the pad equally spaced and they are located in the middle of edge
at the end of the pad unit. The openings for carry handles are
concentric when folding the pad. There are advantageously as many
openings for carry handles as pad units.
[0012] In an embodiment disclosed herein, a rubbery passing band
has detachably been fastened to the training pad, which passing
band is fastened to the pad by posts having an adjusting mechanism
for the tightness of the rubber band. Shooting a moving puck, puck
handling skills and receiving a pass can be trained with the aid of
the passing band. The passing band has advantageously been
detachably fastened to the edge at one end of the pad.
[0013] The characteristics of a training pad according to an
embodiment of the invention are more precisely below; in
particular, an embodiment relates to a training pad (1), which is a
planar pad having a surface (6) and a bottom surface, and which
comprises of two or several pad units (3), whereby at each time two
pad units (3) can be folded against each other by a hinge point (2)
connecting them, in which the hinge is a groove (5), the angles of
the cross section of which groove exceed 90 degrees and in which
hinge point (2) the material thickness at the bottom of the groove
(5) is 1-1.6 mm.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
[0014] The embodiments of the invention are described by way of
example by reference to the enclosed figures, in which:
[0015] FIG. 1 schematically shows a training pad according to an
embodiment of the invention,
[0016] FIG. 2 schematically shows the cross section of the groove
of the hinge in the training pad which is advantageously
V-shaped,
[0017] FIG. 3 shows schematically the cross section of the groove
of the hinge in the training pad which is U-shaped,
[0018] FIG. 4 shows schematically the cross section of the groove
of the hinge in the training pad which is W-shaped,
[0019] FIG. 5 shows schematically the cross section of the groove
of the hinge in the training pad which is X-shaped,
[0020] FIG. 6 shows schematically folding of the training pad,
and
[0021] FIG. 7 shows schematically a training pad according to an
embodiment of the invention to which a rubbery passing band has
been fastened.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS
[0022] In the example of an embodiment according to the invention
as shown in FIG. 1 the folding of the training pad 1 is realized by
way of two folding mechanisms of the training pad. The hinge point
2 functions as a folding mechanism dividing the planar pad into pad
units 3. Furthermore, the training pad 1 has three openings for
carry handles 4 going through the pad. The openings 4 for carry
handles are located on the same straight line on one long side of
the pad equally spaced and they are located in the middle of the
edge at the end of the pad units 3. The number of the openings 4
for carry handles 4 and the pad units 3 is advantageously the
same.
[0023] The FIGS. 2-5 show the hinge point 2, in which the hinge is
the groove 5. The groove 5 divides the planar pad of the training
pad 1 into smaller pads 3. The angles of the cross section of the
groove 5 exceed 90 degrees, whereby too great a tension is avoided
in the folding angles as the pad of the training pad is folded.
Advantageously, the greatest width d1 of the groove 5 at the
surface level 6 of the pad is in the same range as the thickness d2
of the entire pad. The material thickness d3 of the hinge point 2
at the bottom groove 5 is 1-1.6 mm, advantageously 1.3 mm. The most
advantageous cross section of the groove 5 shown in FIG. 2 is
V-shaped. In this embodiment the requirement of over 90 degrees has
been met by a widened V-shaped cross section having the length d4
at the bottom of the groove 5 and two folding angles. In a
completely V-shaped cross section in which there is no width at the
bottom of the groove 5 and one folding angle, an angle smaller than
90 degrees is easily created which might cause too great a tension
when folded in the folding angle.
[0024] Alternative cross sections are shown in FIGS. 3-5 which can
be U-, W- or X-shaped, respectively. An X-shaped cross section also
has a groove 5 on the inside of the fold, in which case it must be
taken into account that the width of bottom of the groove 5 has a
certain minimum length d5, as otherwise the adjacent corners hit
each other too early and the pad is not completely folded against
each other.
[0025] The FIG. 6 shows an embodiment according to the invention of
the folding of the training pad 1. The training pad comprises of
three pad units 3, of which at each time two pad units 3 can be
folded against each other by the hinge point 2 connecting them.
Thus, the size of the training pad is altered to a deck of about
one pad unit 3 in size. There are advantageously two hinge points
2, whereby the training pad comprises of three pad units. The
openings 4 for the carry handles are concentric when the pad is
folded.
[0026] The FIG. 7 shows a training pad 1, to which a rubbery
passing band has detachably been fastened. The passing band 7 is
fastened to the pad using posts 8, having an adjusting mechanism
for the tightness of the passing band 7. In the embodiment
according to FIG. 7, the passing band is detachably fastened to one
edge at the end of the training pad, but the passing band 7 can
also be fastened to other parts, as well, and there can be several
passing bands.
[0027] It should be noted with regard to the embodiment according
to the invention presented in the figures and described above that
it should not be construed as limiting the invention in any way. It
is apparent to someone skilled in the art in view of the present
specification to modify and adjust the embodiment presented in the
figures in various ways. The scope of protection of the invention
is determined solely according to what is defined in the enclosed
claims.
* * * * *