A hockey stick having a composite blade and a shaft is disclosed. The composite blade includes a heel section that is recessed relative to the front and back faces of the blade. The recessed heel section is configured to be received by a hockey stick shaft or an adapter member configured to connect the blade to the shaft. The composite blade preferably comprise a foam inner core overlaid preferably with substantially continuous fibers disposed in a matrix material and may include an internal bridge structure extending from one side of the blade to the other. The blade may also be preferably comprised of a core comprising non-continuous fibers disposed within a matrix material. In another aspect, processes for manufacturing the previously described hockey stick blade(s) are described.
1. A method for making a hockey stick blade configured to be attached to a hockey stick shaft comprising:
providing a plurality of foam inner core elements;
wrapping two or more of the inner core elements with an adhesive tape comprising one or more plies of continuous fibers imbedded in a tacky resin matrix to form tubular structures;
employing the adhesive properties of the tape to secure the tubular structures to one another to form a hockey stick blade pre-form structure;
placing the hockey stick blade pre-form structure into a mold having the desired exterior shape of a hockey stick blade;
curing the pre-form structure in the mold for a selected period of time and at a selected temperature to obtain a cured blade structure; and
removing the cured blade structure from the mold.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive tape comprises uni-directional carbon fiber tape pre-impregnated with epoxy.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive tape comprises uni-directional glass fiber tape pre-impregnated with epoxy.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive tape comprises uni-directional aramid fiber tape pre-impregnated with epoxy.
5. A method for making a hockey stick blade configured to be attached to a hockey stick shaft comprising:
providing a plurality of inner core elements;
wrapping the inner core elements with an adhesive tape comprising continuous fibers pre-impregnated with a resin matrix, to form a plurality of substructures of the blade;
employing the adhesive properties of the tape to secure the substructures to one another to form a hockey stick blade pre-form structure;
placing the hockey stick blade pre-form structure into a mold configured to impart the desired exterior shape of a hockey stick blade;
curing the blade pre-form structure in the mold for a selected period of time and at a selected temperature to cure the blade structure; and
removing the cured blade structure from the mold.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the adhesive tape comprises uni-directional carbon fibers pre-impregnated with epoxy.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the adhesive tape comprises uni-directional glass fibers pre-impregnated with epoxy.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the adhesive tape comprises uni-directional aramid fibers pre-impregnated with epoxy.
9. A method for making a hockey stick having a blade configured to be attached to a hockey stick shaft comprising:
providing a plurality of inner core elements;
wrapping one or more of the inner core elements, with an adhesive tape comprising continuous fibers pre-impregnated with a resin matrix, to form blade substructures;
forming a hockey stick blade pre-form structure by employing the adhesive properties of the tape to assist in securing the blade substructures to one another;
placing the hockey stick blade pre-form structure into a mold configured to impart the desired exterior shape of a hockey stick blade;
curing the pre-form structure in the mold for a selected period of time and at a selected temperature to cure the blade structure; and
removing the cured blade structure from the mold.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the adhesive tape comprises one or more layers uni-directional carbon fibers pre-impregnated with epoxy.
11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the adhesive tape comprises uni-directional glass fiber tape pre-impregnated with epoxy.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the adhesive tape comprises uni-directional aramid fiber tape pre-impregnated with epoxy.
13. The method of claim 9 , wherein the cured blade extends from a tip section to a heel section that is adapted to being received within an open ended slot formed within the shaft and wherein the heel region of the blade is recessed at its heel region relative to adjacent portions of blade.