Patent ID: 7909713
Filing Date: 2011-03-22
Classification: A63B

Abstract:
1. A shaft for a sports stick, comprising two hollow tubes, each tube having a length, the tubes being coextensive and having facing surfaces along their length; wherein portions of said facing surfaces are fused together along fused portions to form an integral interior wall of the shaft, and wherein said tubes have non-facing surfaces which form external surfaces of the shaft; wherein the external surface of one tube adjoins the external surface of the other tube on opposite sides of said shaft to define a hollow interior of the shaft, and wherein said interior wall extends from adjoining external surfaces of said hollow tubes on one side of said shaft, through the hollow interior of the shaft, to adjoining exterior surfaces of said hollow tubes on an opposite side of said shaft; wherein said facing surfaces are separated from one another at one or more locations between fused portions such that the walls of the facing surfaces at the separated locations define one or more apertures which extend through the shaft in a direction at least generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, the apertures being defined by separated, facing surfaces of the tubes, wherein said apertures are formed without forming holes through either tube; and wherein the facing surfaces of the two or more tubes comprise a composite material including a plurality of fiber layers, the composite material extending continuously along said fused portions and the one or more locations at which the facing surfaces are separated to form one or more apertures.