End cap of a hockey stick or other sports implement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11083941-B2
Application number	US-201916360179-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 21, 2019
Priority date	May 6, 2016
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

A hockey stick or other sports implement for a player. The hockey stick or other sports implement comprises an elongated member to be held by the player and an end cap mounted to the elongated member. The end cap comprises an end portion comprising an end of the end cap that defines a longitudinal end of the elongated member, and a hanging portion comprising a hanger to hang the hockey stick or other sports implement. The hanger is adjustable.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A hockey stick comprising:
a blade;
a shaft to be held by a player; and
a hanger configured to hang the hockey stick, the hanger being adjustable to change between a hanging state for hanging the hockey stick and a non-hanging state for using the hockey stick, at least part of the hanger being movable relative to the shaft to change the hanger between the hanging state and the non-hanging state.

2. The hockey stick of claim 1 , wherein the hockey stick is hangable by the hanger in the first state and the hockey stick is not hangable by the hanger in the second state.

3. The hockey stick of claim 2 , wherein the first state of the hanger is for displaying the hockey stick.

4. The hockey stick of claim 1 , wherein the hanger is adjustable such that the hanger is movable relative to the shaft between the first state and the second state.

5. The hockey stick of claim 4 , wherein the hanger is movable relative to the shaft between a first position corresponding to the first state in which the hockey stick is hangable by the hanger and a second position corresponding to the second state in which the hockey stick is not hangable by the hanger.

6. The hockey stick of claim 5 , wherein the hanger is exposed in the first position and concealed in the second position.

7. The hockey stick of claim 1 , wherein the hanger comprises an opening to receive a support for the hockey stick.

8. The hockey stick of claim 7 , wherein the hanger comprises a recess and the opening is disposed in the recess.

9. The hockey stick of claim 1 , wherein the shaft comprises a cavity and the hockey stick comprises an end cap mounted to the shaft, the end cap comprising:
an end portion comprising an end of the end cap that defines a longitudinal end of the hockey stick; and
a hanging portion comprising the hanger and inserted in the cavity.

10. The hockey stick of claim 9 , wherein the hanging portion comprises a retainer to retain the hanger relative to the shaft to allow the hanger to hang the hockey stick.

11. The hockey stick of claim 10 , wherein the retainer is configured to engage a longitudinal end of the shaft.

12. The hockey stick of claim 10 , wherein the retainer comprises a retaining projection projecting transversally to a longitudinal direction of the end cap.

13. The hockey stick of claim 12 , wherein the retaining projection extends on fewer than all of a plurality of lateral sides of the end cap.

14. The hockey stick of claim 13 , wherein the retaining projection extends on a single one of the lateral sides of the end cap.

15. The hockey stick of claim 10 , wherein the retainer is deformable to adjust the hanger.

16. The hockey stick of claim 9 , wherein the hanging portion extends deeper into the cavity when the hanger is in the second state than when the hanger is in the first state.

17. The hockey stick of claim 9 , wherein the shaft comprises an internal surface defining the cavity and the hanging portion comprises an attachment engaging the internal surface.

18. The hockey stick of claim 17 , wherein the attachment is a frictional attachment that frictionally engages the internal surface.

19. The hockey stick of claim 17 , wherein the attachment comprises a plurality of attachment members spaced apart from one another.

20. The hockey stick of claim 19 , wherein respective ones of the attachment members are spaced apart from one another in a longitudinal direction of the end cap.

21. The hockey stick of claim 19 , wherein the attachment comprises a core and the attachment members project from the core towards the internal surface.

22. The hockey stick of claim 21 , wherein the core tapers in a longitudinal direction of the end cap.

23. The hockey stick of claim 22 , wherein the core tapers in the longitudinal direction of the end cap away from the end portion.

24. The hockey stick of claim 9 , wherein a cross-section of the end portion normal to a longitudinal direction of the end cap is larger than a cross-section of the hanging portion normal to the longitudinal direction of the end cap.

25. The hockey stick of claim 9 , wherein a cross-section of the end portion normal to a longitudinal direction of the end cap is larger than a cross-section of the shaft normal to a longitudinal direction of the shaft.

26. The hockey stick of claim 9 , wherein the end cap comprises a base and the hanger is movable relative to the base to adjust the hanger.

27. The hockey stick of claim 26 , wherein the hanger is movable relative to the base in a longitudinal direction of the end cap.

28. The hockey stick of claim 26 , wherein the hanger is movable relative to the base between a first position in which the hockey stick is hangable by the hanger and a second position in which the hockey stick is not hangable by the hanger.

29. The hockey stick of claim 28 , wherein the hanger is exposed in the first position and concealed in the second position.

30. The hockey stick of claim 28 , wherein the base comprises a cavity and the hanger extends deeper into the cavity when the hanger is in the second position than when the hanger is in the first position.

31. The hockey stick of claim 9 , wherein the end cap is a one-piece end cap.

32. The hockey stick of claim 31 , wherein the one-piece end cap is a molded one-piece end cap.

33. The hockey stick of claim 32 , wherein the molded one-piece end cap is an injection-molded one-piece end cap.

Assignees

• Bauer Hockey Llc

Inventors

• Jean Philippe
• Vaillancourt Charles
• Caron Kardos Jean-Frederik

Classifications

• A63B60/16 Primary

  Caps; Ferrules · CPC title

• A63B59/20

  having means, e.g. pockets, netting or adhesive type surfaces, for catching or holding a ball, e.g. for lacrosse or pelota · CPC title

• A63B59/70

  with bent or angled lower parts for hitting a ball on the ground, on an ice-covered surface, or in the air, e.g. for hockey or hurling · CPC title

• A63B71/0045

  specially adapted for games played with rackets or bats (A63B60/56 takes precedence) · CPC title