Hockey blade with enhanced crown

Abstract

A hockey stick includes a blade and a shaft meeting at an elbow region. A crown located along the top edge of the elbow region has an increased width, an increased height, or both, relative to crowns found in existing hockey blades. This enhanced crown helps to transfer load (or energy) from the shaft to the blade in the elbow region where such transfer is limited by existing designs. It does so without sacrificing puck handling and control, since the puck-contacting faces of the blade are not affected by the presence of the crown.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A hockey-stick blade, comprising:
 a toe region;   a heel region spaced longitudinally from the toe region;   a striking region positioned between the toe region and the heel region;   a hosel extending generally upwardly from the heel region to form an elbow region with the heel region; and   a crown running longitudinally along an upper surface of the elbow region, the crown protruding laterally in a forward direction and a rearward direction relative to the longitudinal direction, wherein the crown has a greater lateral width at a mid-region of the crown than at two end regions of the crown.   
     
     
         2 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 1  wherein the crown, at the mid-region, has a lateral width of approximately 0.06 to 0.08 inches in the forward direction and a lateral width of approximately 0.06 to 0.08 inches in the rearward direction. 
     
     
         3 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 2  wherein the crown gradually narrows from the mid-region to the two end regions until it smoothly merges with blade regions neighboring the two end regions. 
     
     
         4 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 1  wherein the crown has a length in the longitudinal direction of approximately 4.0 to 5.0 inches. 
     
     
         5 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 1  wherein the crown is substantially symmetrical along its length such that its lateral width in the forward direction is substantially equal to its lateral width in the rearward direction at every position along its length. 
     
     
         6 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 1  wherein the crown has a greater height at the mid-region of the crown than at the two end regions of the crown. 
     
     
         7 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 6  wherein the height of the crown at the mid-region is approximately 0.05 to 0.07 inches. 
     
     
         8 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 7  wherein the height of the crown gradually lessens from the mid-region to the two end regions until it smoothly merges with blade regions neighboring the two end regions. 
     
     
         9 . A hockey-stick blade, comprising:
 a toe region;   a heel region spaced longitudinally from the toe region;   a striking region positioned between the toe region and the heel region;   a hosel extending generally upwardly from the heel region to form an elbow region with the heel region; and   a crown running longitudinally along an upper surface of the elbow region, the crown protruding laterally in a forward direction and a rearward direction relative to the longitudinal direction.   
     
     
         10 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 9  wherein the crown runs from an upper surface of the hosel to an upper surface of the heel region. 
     
     
         11 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 9  wherein the crown runs from an upper surface of the hosel to an upper surface of the striking region. 
     
     
         12 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 9  wherein a mid-region of the crown has a lateral width of approximately 0.06 to 0.08 inches in the forward direction and a lateral width of approximately 0.06 to 0.08 inches in the rearward direction. 
     
     
         13 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 12  wherein the crown gradually narrows from the mid-region to two end regions until it smoothly merges with blade regions neighboring the two end regions. 
     
     
         14 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 9  wherein the crown has a length in the longitudinal direction of approximately 4.0 to 5.0 inches. 
     
     
         15 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 9  wherein the crown is substantially symmetrical along its length such that its lateral width in the forward direction is substantially equal to its lateral width in the rearward direction at every position along its length. 
     
     
         16 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 9  wherein the crown has a greater height at a mid-region of the crown than at two end regions of the crown. 
     
     
         17 . The hockey-stick blade of  claim 16  wherein the height of the crown at the mid-region is approximately 0.05 to 0.07 inches. 
     
     
         18 . A hockey stick, comprising:
 a shaft;   a blade attached to or integral with the shaft, the shaft and blade forming an elbow region, wherein the blade extends longitudinally from a heel region to a toe region; and   a crown running longitudinally along an upper surface of the elbow region, the crown protruding laterally in a forward direction and a rearward direction relative to the longitudinal direction.   
     
     
         19 . The hockey stick of  claim 18  wherein the crown has a greater lateral width at a mid-region of the crown than at two end regions of the crown. 
     
     
         20 . The hockey stick of  claim 18  wherein the crown is substantially symmetrical along its length such that its lateral width in the forward direction is substantially equal to its lateral width in the rearward direction at every position along its length.