Shock absorber for sports floor
View Patent ↗A shock absorber for a sports floor assembly. The shock absorber has a base portion and a truncated pyramid portion. The base portion is formed of an elastomeric material and is connectable to a sub-flooring of the floor assembly with the second side positioned adjacent to the sub-flooring. The pyramid portion extends from the first side of the base portion. The pyramid portion is formed of an elastomeric material and has stepped sides.
1. A floor assembly, comprising:
a plurality of strips of material cooperating to form a floor surface;
a sub-flooring positioned beneath the strips of material to support the strips of material; and
a plurality of shock absorbers positioned between the sub-flooring and a rigid support base to support the sub-flooring in a spaced apart relation with respect to the rigid support base, each of the shock absorbers comprising:
a base portion having a first side and an opposing second side, the base portion formed of an elastomeric material; and
a pyramid portion extending from the first side of the base portion, the pyramid portion formed of a single elastomeric material and having stepped sides,
wherein the stepped sides of the pyramid portion of the shock absorbers are dimensioned such that the strips of material, the sub-flooring, and the shock absorbers cooperate to provide the floor assembly with shock absorbing characteristics that enable the floor assembly to absorb at least about fifty-three percent of an impact force applied to the playing surface while maintaining a firmness that limits vertical deflection of the playing surface to be at most about 2.3 mm and produces a ball response off the playing surface of at least about ninety percent.
2. The floor assembly of claim 1 wherein the pyramid portion has four stepped sides.
3. The floor assembly of claim 1 wherein the pyramid portion is truncated.
4. The floor assembly of claim 1 wherein the base portion has a substantially square configuration.
5. The floor assembly of claim 1 wherein the pyramid portion is a substantially square pyramid.
6. The floor assembly of claim 1 wherein the stepped sides are defined by a plurality of steps, and wherein each of the steps of the stepped sides is contiguous with a corresponding step of an adjacent side.
7. The floor assembly of claim 1 wherein the durometer Shore hardness of the base portion and the pyramid portion is approximately 65.
8. The floor assembly of claim 1 wherein each of the shock absorbers is connected to the sub-flooring of the floor assembly with the second side of the base portion positioned adjacent to the sub-flooring.
9. The floor assembly of claim 1 wherein each of the shock absorbers further comprises a pair of connector tabs extending from the base portion, the connector tabs are connected to the sub-flooring with the second side of the base portion positioned adjacent to the sub-flooring.