Abstract:
An exemplary hockey puck includes a gyroscope within an outer shell. An exemplary method of controlling movement of a hockey puck includes holding a gyroscope within an outer housing of a hockey puck.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/929,713, which was filed on 21 Jan. 2014 and is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    This disclosure relates generally to a hockey puck and, more particularly, to a street or inline hockey puck. 
         [0003]    Sports are played on many surfaces. As an example, the playing surface for ice hockey is ice. Other types of hockey are played on other playing surfaces. Inline or street hockey, in contrast to ice hockey, is played on playing surfaces other than ice, such as asphalt, plastic, or concrete. The athletes may move across those playing surfaces during a game using inline roller skates. Inline hockey allows athletes to practices hockey skills when ice is not available. Athletes often desire to mimic ice hockey movements when playing inline hockey. 
         [0004]    Pucks used for ice hockey are typically rubber. A relatively high sliding friction between rubber pucks and inline hockey playing surfaces prevents rubber pucks from frequent use in street hockey. Simply, a rubber puck does not slide effectively on street surfaces. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, specific pucks for street hockey have been developed. Existing street hockey pucks can be difficult to handle and may undesirably move in a way that differs from a rubber puck movement in ice hockey. Undesirable movements can include the inline hockey puck bouncing. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    A hockey puck according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, a gyroscope within an outer shell. 
         [0007]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of the foregoing hockey puck, the outer shell is cylindrical and extends lengthwise along an axis, the gyroscope rotatable relative to the outer shell about the axis. 
         [0008]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing hockey pucks, the gyroscope includes a plurality of inertial pins within a gyroscope housing. 
         [0009]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing hockey pucks, the plurality of inertial pins are distributed annularly about the axis, the plurality of inertial pins each includes a stem portion extending toward the axis from an enlarged head. 
         [0010]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing hockey pucks, the enlarged head is positioned radially inside a radially outermost surface of the gyroscope housing. 
         [0011]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing hockey pucks, the inertial pins are received within a radially extending slot of the gyroscope housing and the inertial pins are radially slidable relative to the gyroscope housing. 
         [0012]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing hockey pucks, the hockey puck further includes a pivot nub extending from one of the gyroscope housing or the outer housing that is received within a recess in the other of the gyroscope housing or the outer housing. The pivot nub contacts a side of the recess to limit radial movement of the gyroscope housing relative to the outer housing. 
         [0013]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing hockey pucks, the gyroscope is received within a cavity of the outer housing. The gyroscope is moveable axially within the cavity relative to the outer housing. The gyroscope contacts the outer housing to block the pivot nub from fully withdrawing from the recess. 
         [0014]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing hockey pucks, the outer shell completely covers the gyroscope. 
         [0015]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing hockey pucks, the hockey puck further includes a plurality of glide pins securing a first portion of the outer housing to a second portion of the outer housing, the gyroscope housed within a cavity provided by the first portion and the second portion. 
         [0016]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing hockey pucks, each glide pin within the plurality of glide pins includes a head protruding axially past an outermost axially facing surface of the first portion or the second portion. 
         [0017]    A method of controlling movement of a hockey puck according to an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure includes, among other things, holding a gyroscope within an outer housing of a hockey puck. 
         [0018]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of the foregoing method, the method further includes spinning the gyroscope about an axis, the spinning relative to the outer housing. 
         [0019]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing methods, the spinning causes inertial pins of the gyroscope to slide radially outward relative to a gyroscope housing of the gyroscope. 
         [0020]    In a further non-limiting embodiment of any of the foregoing methods, the outer housing completely covers the gyroscope. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]    Various features will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the disclosed non-limiting embodiments. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows: 
           [0022]      FIG. 1  shows an example inline hockey puck. 
           [0023]      FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of the inline hockey puck of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0024]      FIG. 3  shows another exploded view of the inline hockey puck of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0025]      FIG. 4  shows another view of the inline hockey puck of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0026]      FIG. 5  shows a female guide pin of the  FIG. 1  puck. 
           [0027]      FIG. 6  shows another view of the female guide pin of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0028]      FIG. 7  shows a portion of a gyroscope housing of the  FIG. 1  puck. 
           [0029]      FIG. 8  shows another portion of the gyroscope housing of the  FIG. 1  puck. 
           [0030]      FIG. 9  shows a portion of an outer housing of the  FIG. 1  puck. 
           [0031]      FIG. 10  shows an inertial pin of the  FIG. 1  puck. 
           [0032]      FIG. 11  shows another view of the inertial pin of the  FIG. 9 . 
           [0033]      FIG. 12  shows a male guide pin of the  FIG. 1  puck. 
           [0034]      FIG. 13  shows a section view of a nub of the gyroscope housing of  FIG. 7  within a recess in the outer housing of  FIG. 9 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0035]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 to 4 , in one example, a puck  10  incorporates elements that reduce the excessive bouncing. The puck  10  includes internal elements  20  within an outer housing  30  or shell. The internal elements  20  that operate with rotational and inline events that are out of phase with the primary impact and rotational events of outer housing  30  of the puck  10 . Additionally, a latent rotational inertia generated by portions of the internal elements  20  facilitates keeping the puck  10  flat on the playing surface. 
         [0036]    The example outer housing  30  includes an upper portion  32   u  and a lower portion  321 . The portions  32   u  and  321  can be symmetric or nest into each other. 
         [0037]    These upper portion  32   u  and  321  can be bonded together via chemical bonding or ultrasonic welding. The outer housing  30  can be made of a polymer material. 
         [0038]    This example forms the outer housing  30  with two portions  32   u  and  321 . More than two portions may be used to form the outer housing  30  in other examples. 
         [0039]    The outer housing  30  forms the external facing surface of the puck  10 . The outer housing  30  provides the primary surfaces contacted by a hockey stick. 
         [0040]    The outer housing  30  provides a circular cavity that receives the internal elements  20 . The outer housing  30  completely covers the internal elements  20  in this example. 
         [0041]    In this example, the internal elements  20  include a gyroscope  40 . The gyroscope includes a gyroscope housing  42  and inertial pins  44 . 
         [0042]    The gyroscope housing  42  includes an upper portion  42   u  and lower portion  421 . The portions  42   u  and  421  can either be symmetric, or nested into each other. 
         [0043]    When the puck  10  is assembled, the gyroscope housing  42  can rotate or spin relative to the outer housing  30  about an axis X within the circular cavity. The outer housing  30  is cylindrical and extends lengthwise along the axis X. The gyroscope housing  42  and internal elements  20  can rotated within the cavity relative to the outer housing  30 . The example gyroscope housing  42  can be made of a polymer or some other type, or types, of material. 
         [0044]    The inertial pins  44  are distributed annularly about the axis X. Twelve of the pins  44  are used in this example but other numbers could be used. The pins  44  may, or may not, be bonded to each other. The internal pins  44  include a stem portion  44   s  extending radially toward the axis X from a head portion  44   h.    
         [0045]    Referring now to  FIGS. 5 to 13  with continuing reference to  FIGS. 1 to 4 , the internal pins  44  and gyroscope housing  42  are restrained by the pivot nubs  46  that protrude from the gyroscope housing  42  and fit into a recess within the outer housing  30 . The nubs  46  are designed such that the fit into the outer housing  30  allows for rotation of the gyroscope housing  42  about the axis X relative to the outer housing  30 . The pivot nubs  46  contact the sides of the recess to limit radial movement of the gyroscope housing  42  relative to the outer housing  30 . 
         [0046]    The fit of the pivot nubs  46  within the respective recesses allows some axial movement of the gyroscope housing  42  and pins  44  along the axis X relative to the outer housing  30 , and for some radial movement of the gyroscope housing  42  and pins  44  relative to the outer housing  30 . Contact between the gyroscope housing  42  and the outer housing  30  blocks the pivot nubs  46  from withdrawing from the respective recess. 
         [0047]    In another example, the gyroscope housing  42  includes a recess that receives a pivot nub extending from the outer housing  30 . 
         [0048]    The inertial pins  44  are positioned within recesses in the gyroscope housing  42 . The recesses allow for primarily radial movement of the pins  44  relative to the axis X and the gyroscope housing  42 . The inertial pins  44  are radially slideable relative to the gyroscope housing  42  in this example. 
         [0049]    Other movement of the inertial pins  44  relative to the gyroscope housing  42  depend on the tolerances selected for the gyroscope housing  42  to inertia pin  44  fit. 
         [0050]    The example inertial pins  44  have two primary functions, 
         [0051]    First, the pins  44  provide dampening to impact events, such as a stick strike, by using their radial position to slightly adjust the timing of the compression and rebound of the puck  10 . The example pins  44  prolong the compression phase of an impact event, and then reduce the ability of energy to be added back to the rebound phase of an impact event by reducing the ability of stored energy to “push back” on the internal elements  20  of the puck. 
         [0052]    Second, the inertial pins  44  add rotational inertia to the gyroscope  40  allowing all the inertial pins  44  to slide radially outward as the gyroscope  40  gains rotational speed. This helps maintain a gyroscope effect to help the puck  10  stay flat to the playing surface. 
         [0053]    The inertial pins  44  can be made of polymer material, or some other type of material. 
         [0054]    In this example, glide pins  50  are included in the puck  10  to reduce sliding friction during play. There are two types of glide pins  50 : male  50   m  and female  50   f . The male guide pins  50   m  each engage one of the female guide pins  50   f  when the puck  10  is assembled. The example male guide pins  50   m  snap fit to the female guide pins  50   f.    
         [0055]    The male guide pins  50   m  include heads  60   m , and the female guide pins  50   f  include heads  60   f . The heads  60   m  protrude axially beyond the outermost surface of the lower housing  321 , and the heads  60   f  protrude axially beyond the axially outermost surface of the upper housing  32   u . The heads  60   m  of the guide pins  50  are exposed. Depending on how the puck  10  is oriented, the heads  60   m  or  60   f  contact the playing surface to reduce the sliding friction to the playing surface. 
         [0056]    The guide pins  50  can be made of a polymer material that provides low friction and durability. The guide pins  50  could be made of other materials 
         [0057]    In some examples, the guide pins  50  could be used to secure the portion  32   u  to the portion  321 . 
         [0058]    The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this disclosure. Thus, the scope of legal protection given to this disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.