Ball Hockey Stick With Curvilinear Striking Faces

Abstract

The ball hockey stick of this invention includes an elongate shaft having a blade, preferably molded from a rigid plastic, affixed at one end thereof. The blade is provided with concave ball-contacting faces to substantially eliminate the tendency for the ball to bounce or roll over the top edge. The concavity adjacent the heel of the blade is of a parabolic form which merges into the generally spherical concavity of the forward end.

Parent Case Text

This application is a continuation-in-part of my previously filed application, Ser. No. 810,177, filed Mar. 25, 1969, now abandoned.

Description

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a general view of the hockey stick embodying features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2--2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

The hockey stick 10 comprises a blade 12 pinned to a shaft 14, the shaft 14 having a handle portion 16 extending therefrom in substantially straight line relation. The blade 12 has a shank 18 in which the shaft 14 is secured by means of the pin 20; an adhesive may be used in conjunction therewith or as a substitute therefor. A neck 22 connects the shank 18 with the striking portion 24 and to provide an extended ball-contacting area.

The illustrated embodiment is a symmetrical structure, so that it may be used by either right-handed or left-handed players and to provide two ball-contacting faces for advancing the ball. The description that follows will deal with only one side of the blade 12 for simplification of reference.

The striking portion 24 is provided with a dished face 26 formed by generating an imaginary sphere on an axis through the center thereof. The dished face 26 merges with a dished area 28 in the neck 22, the dished area 28 being formed by generating an imaginary paraboloid on an axis angularly disposed to the axis of the blade 12 whereby the generator of the paraboloid, when horizontal and adjacent to the neck 22, is substantially parallel with the axis of the blade 12, as may be seen particularly from FIG. 2. The vertex of the paraboloid is adjacent to the heel of the blade 12. The maximum depths of the concavity of the dished face 26 and the dished area 28 are substantially the same.

The dished face 26 is particularly suited for providing directional control when striking a ball, as in passing a ball to a team-mate or in shooting on goal. The neck 22 provides an extended area for receiving a passed ball and for advancing, or stick-handling, the ball through the ranks of the opposing players. The upper rim 32 substantially eliminates the tendency for the ball to bounce or roll over the top edge of the blade 12 during vigorous play, as is the case with conventional hockey sticks when used to play ball hockey.

The marginal rim 30 of the striking portion 24 merges into upper and lower rims 32, 34, which define the neck 22. The rims 30, 32, 34, provide structural rigidity as well as greater control of the ball during play.

The use of a plastic such as polyethylene provides a suitably stiff blade 12, while use of the ball hockey stick is enhanced by the virtual absence of scuff marking attendent with use of such plastic during indoor or deck play. The shaft 14 may be of any suitable material, such as wood or metal tubing, and either round or rectangular in cross-section. The handle 16 is also of well known structure.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A ball hockey stick comprising a shaft and an elongated blade in which:

a. said blade has an upstanding shank portion for receiving and securing said shaft thereto;

b. said blade further having a neck portion and a striking portion with said neck portion intermediate said shank and said striking portions;

c. said neck and striking portions lying in the same plane generated by the longitudinal axis of said blade;

d. said neck portion having a dished area of parabolic configuration with the vertex of the paraboloid located adjacent to the heel of said blade;

e. said neck portion further having upper and lower rims encompassing said dished area;

f. said striking portion being substantially circular in shape within said plane and larger in diameter than said neck portion and having a dished face of concave, spherical configuration which merges with said dished area of said neck portion;

g. said dished face forming a contiguous marginal rim encompassing said striking portion and merging with said upper and lower rims of said neck portion; and

h. the depths of said dished face and said dished area being substantially equal.

2. The ball hockey stick as defined in claim 1 wherein the blade portions and configurations are symmetrical about said longitudinal axis of said blade.

3. The ball hockey stick as defined in claim 1 wherein the blade is made from plastic material.

4. The ball hockey stick as defined in claim 1 wherein said shaft is round in cross-section.

5. The ball hockey stick as defined in claim 1 wherein said shaft is rectangular in cross-section.