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 hockey stick blade comprising:
an elongated member extending longitudinally from a tip section to a heel section and vertically from a top section to a bottom section to form a front facing wall and a generally opposing back facing wall, each wall defining an exterior facing surface and an interior facing surface;
said front and back facing walls being comprised of fibers disposed within a hardened matrix material;
said front and back facing walls being spaced apart at their mid-sections and merged together at their perimeter edges to define an interior cavity there between; and
wherein the exterior surface of at least one of the front or the back facing walls includes one or more incurved regions that defines an exterior cavity.
2. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , further comprising a filler material residing within at least one exterior cavity.
3. The hockey stick blade of claim 2 , wherein the filler material is dissimilar from the material that forms the wall that defines the exterior cavity within which the filler material resides.
4. The hockey stick blade of claim 2 , wherein the filler material is comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of fiberglass, urethane, epoxy, ABS, styrene, polystyrene, and resin.
5. The hockey stick blade of claim 2 , wherein the filler material completely fills at least one exterior cavity.
6. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein the interior facing surface of one of said front or back facing walls, at an incurved region, extends to the interior facing surface of the opposing wall.
7. The hockey stick blade of claim 6 , wherein the interior facing surface of one of said front or back walls, at the incurved region, extends toward and meets the interior facing surface of the opposing wall.
8. The hockey stick blade of claim 6 , wherein the interior facing surface of one of said front or back walls, at the incurved region, extends toward and adjoins the interior facing surface of the opposing wall.
9. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein both the front and back facing walls include generally opposing incurved regions that define respective exterior cavities.
10. The hockey stick blade of claim 9 , further comprising a filler material residing within the exterior cavities defined by said opposing incurved regions.
11. The hockey stick blade of claim 10 , where said filler material is dissimilar from the material that forms the wall and defines the exterior cavity within which the filler material resides.
12. The hockey stick blade of claim 10 , wherein the filler material is comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of fiberglass, urethane, epoxy, ABS, styrene, polystyrene, and resin.
13. The hockey stick blade of claim 9 , wherein the interior facing surfaces of said front and back facing walls at the generally opposed incurved regions extend toward one another.
14. The hockey stick blade of claim 9 , wherein the interior facing surfaces of said front and back facing walls at the generally opposed incurved regions extend toward and meet one another.
15. The hockey stick blade of claim 9 , wherein the interior facing surfaces of said front and back facing walls at the generally opposed incurved regions extend toward and adjoin with one another.
16. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein said front and back facing walls are comprised of at least one ply of substantially continuous fibers disposed within said hardened matrix material.
17. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein said front and back facing walls are comprised of at least one ply of aligned fibers disposed within said hardened matrix material.
18. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 , wherein said front and back facing walls are comprised of at least one ply of fibers disposed within a hardened matrix material in a first defined orientation and a second ply of fibers disposed within a hardened matrix material in a second defined orientation wherein said first and second defined orientations are different from one another.
19. The hockey stick blade of claim 1 further including at least one core component residing within said interior cavity.
20. The hockey stick blade of claim 19 , wherein at least one of the core components is formed of a foam material.
21. A hockey stick comprising:
a shaft and
a blade joined to the shaft, said blade comprising:
(a) an elongated member extending longitudinally from a tip section to a heel section and vertically from a top section to a bottom section to form a front facing wall and a generally opposing back facing wall, each wall defining an exterior facing surface and an interior facing surface;
(b) said front and back facing walls being comprised of fibers disposed within a hardened matrix material;
(c) said front and back facing walls being spaced apart at their mid-sections and merged together at their perimeter edges to define an interior cavity there between; and
(d) wherein the exterior surface of at least one of the front or the back facing walls includes one or more incurved regions that defines an exterior cavity.
22. The hockey stick of claim 21 , further comprising a filler material residing within at least one exterior cavity.
23. The hockey stick of claim 22 , wherein the filler material is dissimilar from the material that forms the wall that defines the exterior cavity within which the filler material resides.
24. The hockey stick of claim 22 , wherein the filler material is comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of fiberglass, urethane, epoxy, ABS, styrene, polystyrene, or resin.
25. The hockey stick of claim 22 , wherein the filler material completely fills at least one exterior cavity.
26. The hockey stick of claim 21 , wherein the interior facing surface of one of said front or back facing walls, at an incurved region, extends to the interior facing surface of the opposing wall.
27. The hockey stick of claim 26 , wherein the interior facing surface of one of said front or back walls, at the incurved region, extends toward and meets the interior facing surface of the opposing wall.
28. The hockey stick of claim 26 , wherein the interior facing surface of one of said front or back walls, at the incurved region, extends toward and adjoins the interior facing surface of the opposing wall.
29. The hockey stick of claim 21 , wherein both the front and back facing walls include generally opposing incurved regions that define respective exterior cavities.
30. The hockey stick of claim 29 , further comprising a filler material residing within the exterior cavities defined by said opposing incurved regions.
31. The hockey stick of claim 30 , where said filler material is dissimilar from the material that forms the wall and defines the exterior cavity within which the filler material resides.
32. The hockey stick of claim 30 , wherein the filler material is comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of fiberglass, urethane, epoxy, ABS, styrene, polystyrene, and resin.
33. The hockey stick of claim 29 , wherein the interior facing surfaces of said front and back facing walls at the generally opposed incurved regions extend toward one another.
34. The hockey stick of claim 29 , wherein the interior facing surfaces of said front and back facing walls at the generally opposed incurved regions extend toward and meet one another.
35. The hockey stick of claim 29 , wherein the interior facing surfaces of said front and back facing walls at the generally opposed incurved regions extend toward and adjoin with one another.
36. The hockey stick of claim 21 , wherein said front and back facing walls are comprised of at least one ply of substantially continuous fibers disposed within said hardened matrix material.
37. The hockey stick of claim 21 , wherein said front and back facing walls are comprised of at least one ply of aligned fibers disposed within said hardened matrix material.
38. The hockey stick of claim 21 , wherein said front and back facing walls are comprised of at least one ply of fibers disposed within a hardened matrix material in a first defined orientation and a second ply of fibers disposed within a hardened matrix material in a second defined orientation wherein said first and second defined orientations are different from one another.
39. The hockey stick of claim 21 further including at least one core component residing within said interior cavity.
40. The hockey stick of claim 39 , wherein at least one of the core components is formed of a foam material.
41. A hockey stick comprising:
a shaft and
a blade joined to the shaft, said blade comprising:
(a) an elongated member extending longitudinally from a tip section to a heel section and vertically from a top section to a bottom section to form a front facing wall and a generally opposing back facing wall, each wall defining an exterior facing surface and an interior facing surface;
(b) said front and back facing walls being comprised of fibers disposed within a hardened matrix material;
(c) said front and back facing walls being spaced apart at their mid-sections and merged together at their perimeter edges to define an interior cavity there between; and
(d) wherein the exterior surface of the back facing wall includes multiple incurved regions that define exterior cavities that are spaced apart from one another.
42. The hockey stick of claim 41 , further comprising a filler material residing within at least one of the exterior cavities.