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 comprising:
providing a plurality of inner core elements;
wrapping one or more of the inner core elements with an adhesive tape comprising one or more plies of fibers coated with a tacky resin matrix;
employing the adhesive properties of the tape to position the inner core elements relative to one another to form a blade pre-form structure;
placing the blade pre-form structure into a mold having the desired exterior shape of a hockey stick blade; and
curing the pre-form structure in the mold.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hockey stick blade is configured to be detachably coupled to a hockey stick shaft.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hockey stick blade is configured to be permanently attached to a hockey stick shaft.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hockey stick blade is permanently attached to a hockey stick shaft.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said mold is configured to impart one or more exterior cavities on the outer surface of the blade.
6. The method of claim 2 , further comprising the step of removing the cured blade from the mold and filling said one or more exterior cavities with a filler material.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said filler material is selected from the group consisting of fiberglass, urethane, epoxy, ABS, styrene, polystyrene, carbon, aramid and resin.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein said filler material completely fills at least one exterior cavity.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said mold is configured to impart opposing exterior cavities on opposing outer surfaces of the blade.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein one of said opposing exterior cavities on opposing outer surfaces of the blade is an incurved region.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of said plies of fibers is comprised of directionally aligned fibers.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein said adhesive tape is comprised a first ply of fibers oriented in a first defined orientation and a second ply of fibers oriented in a second defined direction different than the first defined orientation.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the inner core elements is formed of a foam material.
14. A method for making a hockey stick blade comprising:
providing a plurality of inner core elements;
wrapping the inner core elements with an adhesive tape comprising fibers pre-impregnated with a resin matrix to form a plurality of substructures of the blade;
employing the adhesive properties of the tape to position the substructures relative 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; and
curing the blade pre-form structure in the mold.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the hockey stick blade is configured to be detachably coupled to a hockey stick shaft.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the hockey stick blade is configured to be permanently attached to a hockey stick shaft.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the hockey stick blade is permanently attached to a hockey stick shaft.
18. The method of claim 14 , wherein said mold is configured to impart one or more exterior cavities on the outer surface of the blade.
19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising the step of removing the cured blade from the mold and filling said one or more exterior cavities with a filler material.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein said filler material is selected from the group consisting of fiberglass, urethane, epoxy, ABS, styrene, polystyrene, carbon, aramid and resin.
21. The method of claim 19 , wherein said filler material completely fills at least one exterior cavity.
22. The method of claim 14 , wherein said mold is configured to impart opposing exterior cavities on opposing outer surfaces of the blade.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein one of said opposing exterior cavities on opposing outer surfaces of the blade is an incurved region.
24. The method of claim 14 , wherein one or more of said plies of fibers is comprised of directionally aligned fibers.
25. The method of claim 14 , wherein said adhesive tape is comprised a first ply of fibers oriented in a first defined orientation and a second ply of fibers oriented in a second defined direction different than the first defined orientation.
26. The method of claim 14 , wherein at least one of the inner core elements is formed of a foam material.
27. A method for making a hockey stick having a blade:
providing a plurality of inner core elements;
wrapping one or more of the inner core elements, with an adhesive tape comprising a fiber substrate pre-impregnated with a tacky resin matrix, to form blade substructures;
forming a blade pre-form structure by employing the adhesive properties of the tape to position the blade substructures relative 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; and
curing the pre-form structure in the mold.
28. The method of claim 27 , wherein the hockey stick blade is configured to be detachably coupled to a hockey stick shaft.
29. The method of claim 27 , wherein the hockey stick blade is configured to be permanently attached to a hockey stick shaft.
30. The method of claim 27 , wherein the hockey stick blade is permanently attached to a hockey stick shaft.
31. The method of claim 27 , wherein said mold is configured to impart one or more exterior cavities on the outer surface of the blade.
32. The method of claim 31 , further comprising the step of removing the cured blade from the mold and filling said one or more exterior cavities with a filler material.
33. The method of claim 32 , wherein said filler material is selected from the group consisting of fiberglass, urethane, epoxy, ABS, styrene, polystyrene, carbon, aramid and resin.
34. The method of claim 32 , wherein said filler material completely fills at least one exterior cavity.
35. The method of claim 27 , wherein said mold is configured to impart opposing exterior cavities on opposing outer surfaces of the blade.
36. The method of claim 35 , wherein one of said opposing exterior cavities on opposing outer surfaces of the blade is an incurved region.
37. The method of claim 27 , wherein one or more of said plies of fibers is comprised of directionally aligned fibers.
38. The method of claim 27 , wherein said adhesive tape is comprised a first ply of fibers oriented in a first defined orientation and a second ply of fibers oriented in a second defined direction different than the first defined orientation.
39. The method of claim 27 , wherein at least one of the inner core elements is formed of a foam material.