A puck for use on a non-ice surface such as cement. The puck has an outer ring made from plastic or other elastic material so that it will deform slightly when the side of the puck is struck against a wall or other object. The runners extend upwardly from the upper and lower surfaces of the puck to reduce the friction of the puck against the floor surface.
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1. A puck for use on a non-ice surface, said puck having a puck body which is generally cylindrical in shape and molded from a polymer and having an upper surface, a lower surface and an outer peripheral surface and having a vertical central axis when its upper or lower surface is resting on a horizontal floor, said puck comprising:
a puck body having a plurality of runners held by said puck body, each of said runners having a shaft portion held by said puck body and the plurality of runners having heads which extend above the upper surface and below the lower surface, said runners being located near the outer peripheral surface of said puck the runner heads being positioned so that the puck rests on a plurality of the runners when on a horizontal floor, and said runners being fabricated from a polymer which has a lower coefficient of friction than the polymer from which the puck body is formed.
3. The puck of
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This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/303,589 filed on Sep. 9, 1994, now abandoned which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/150,420, filed on Nov. 10, 1993, now abandoned, which is a divisional of Ser. No. 07/949,077, filed on Sep. 22, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,275,410.
The field of the invention is sporting goods and the invention relates particularly to pucks of the type that are used on a surface other than ice.
Ice hockey has been a popular sport for many years but is, of course, limited to cold climates or artificially made ice rinks. With the advent of in-line roller skates, it is possible to skate across a non ice surface in a manner quite similar to skating on ice. It has quite naturally led to the game of roller hockey. It was found that the normal relatively hard rubber puck would not slide on a cement surface in a satisfactory manner. Furthermore, the puck could easily cause injury when striking a player.
Various styles of pucks for use on non ice surfaces have been devised. Such pucks are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,111,419; 3,997,164; 4,801,144; 3,726,526; 3,784,204; and 2,727,744. Several of these pucks have runner type devices which are rotatable such as a ball bearing intended to reduce friction and this has been found to be unsatisfactory in actual use because of the ease with which runners become frozen and inoperative due to clogging with foreign matter during play. None of the devices have the ability of unrestricted rotation. Furthermore, such devices require more material which adds to their weight.
A hollow plastic puck filled with rice became the early puck of choice. This rice filled puck, while superior to the ice hockey puck, did not slide sufficiently over the surface and therefore, a puck with a lower coefficient of friction was needed to increase speed. Also, the rice or other internal substance causes the puck to move in a somewhat unpredictable path. This is because the rice or other material shifts within the hollow puck during play. Furthermore, the outer surface of the rice puck became rough and slowed down during play. The inner design also helps to regulate the extent of deflection.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a puck for use on non ice surface which will approximate the well known hard rubber puck used on ice while maintaining both speed and accuracy.
The present invention is for a puck for use on a non ice surface such as cement asphalt or wood which puck is generally cylindrical in shape. The puck includes an outer ring, having an outer ring surface, an inner ring surface, a top and a bottom. At least three fixed runners extend upwardly from the top and downwardly from the bottom surfaces of the puck. An open area is present inwardly from the inner ring surface. The puck is fabricated from an generally elastic material so that the outer ring will deflect slightly when the puck is struck against a wall or other object. Preferably a central member is supported inwardly from the outer ring and is preferably attached thereto by several connecting members or arms.
The puck of the present invention is shown in perspective view in FIG. 1 and indicated by reference character 10. Puck 10 is generally cylindrical in shape and has an upper surface 11, and outer peripheral surface 12, and a lower surface 13. An outer ring 26 and an inner ring surface 15. A central member 14, is held to outer ring 26 by three arms 16, 17, and 18. Three runners 19, 20, and 21 extend upwardly from upper surface 11 and downwardly from lower surface 13. These runners are fabricated from a material which has a low co-efficient of friction with the non-ice surface 22 shown in
Central member 14 has a recess 23 which can contain logo or other indicia in a protected manner and adds to the appearance of the puck. Furthermore, the depth of the recess, the size of the inner area and the open space can be varied to change the overall weight of the puck to conform to the varied types of runners and to adapt to professional play or amateur play. Recess 23 is present both in the upper and lower surfaces of the central member 16 as shown in FIG. 2.
Arms 16, 17, and 18 are preferably but not necessarily curved so that the puck will tend to deflect as shown best in
An alternate embodiment puck is shown in
Various types of runners are shown in
A replaceable type of runner is shown in FIG. 9 and indicated by reference character 48. Replaceable runner 48 has a removable upper head 49 and a removable lower head 50. These have a pair of blind holes analogous to head 51 shown in FIG. 11. The blind holes are indicated by reference character 40. This permits a tool with a pair of pins to be inserted in hole 40 so that the heads can be unscrewed and replaced. The central portion 52 has a threaded portion 53 and a generally conical portion 54 including a plurality of serrations. The serrations contact the serrations 55 in the under surface of head 49 so that the head will not become unscrewed during play.
Another style of removable and replaceable runner is shown in
Typically the puck has an outside diameter between 3¼" to 3½" and is between ¾" and 1" high. The preferred weight is 3½ oz. to 4½ oz. for professional use, lighter for amateur use. As shown best in
The grooves as shown in
A runner 72 is shown in FIG. 16 and has an upper head 73 a lower head 74 a hollow shaft 75 with a central opening 76 upper head 73 has a tapered shank 77 which is tapered at 78. This unit is fabricated from a plastic such as ABS or nylon or polycarbonate or the like which has sufficient strength and a low coefficient of friction with a cement or other playing surface.
Runner 80 shown in
A cross-sectional view of a portion of outer ring 26 is shown in cross sectional view in
It is desirable that some means be available to decrease the tendency of the puck to roll along its side. Such a provision is shown in
The design of the present invention provides an unusually dynamic appearance, both during play and at rest. The amount of bounce is achieved which provides movement during play remarkably similar to that of the conventional puck used for ice hockey. The term "elastic" as used herein, is intended to convey the property of returning an original shape after deflection but does not necessarily convey a high degree of bounce. The weight of the puck can be easily varied by reducing or enlarging the width of the space between the outer ring and the central member 14 as well as the thickness of the central member.
The present embodiments of this invention are thus to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive; the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are intended to be embraced therein.
Bellehumeur, Alex R., Nehmens, II, John R., Haarlammert, Guy W.
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Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Feb 06 2006 | NEHMENS, II, JOHN R | BELLEHUMEUR, ALEX R | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 017555 | /0565 | |
Feb 06 2006 | HAARLAMMERT, GUY W | BELLEHUMEUR, ALEX R | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 017555 | /0565 | |
Feb 06 2006 | NEHMENS, II, JOHN R | DYER-BELLEHUMEUR, LINDA | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 017555 | /0565 | |
Feb 06 2006 | HAARLAMMERT, GUY W | DYER-BELLEHUMEUR, LINDA | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 017555 | /0565 |
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