Abstract:
A strap and method for use with a hockey stick, wherein the strap has an elongated main body, a first end forming a loop constructed and arranged for receiving a wrist therethrough, a hook and loop fastener system incorporated with the main body and a second end constructed and arranged for attachment to a first end of a hockey stick, wherein said strap releases the attachment arrangement upon application of a predetermined amount of force.

Description:
INDEX TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This United States Utility patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/303,755 filed on Feb. 12, 2010, the disclosure which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention provides a tether for a hockey stick that attaches the hockey stick to the wrist of a user and subsequently releases the tether arrangement upon application of a predetermined amount of force. 
     
    
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0003]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the strap attached to a hockey stick. 
           [0004]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged perspective view of the strap attached to a first end of hockey stick. 
           [0005]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged perspective view of the strap attached to a first end of the hockey stick and the wrist of a user. 
           [0006]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the strap and the hook and loop fasteners incorporated thereon. 
           [0007]      FIG. 5  is side view of one embodiment with a connector incorporated with the strap. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0008]    The hockey stick  10  has an elongated shaft  12  which comprises the majority of it&#39;s length. Shaft  12  has a first end  14  and a second end  16 . First end  14  is proximal to the user and second end  16  has a blade  18  emanating therefrom. Proximal the first end  14  a strap  20  is provided which is used to tether hockey stick  10  to the wrist  26  of a user. Strap  20  has a proximal end  40  and a distal end  45 . The distal end  45  of strap  20  would interengage with the wrist  26  of a user. The proximal end  40  of the strap  20  would interengage proximal the first end  14  of the hockey stick  10 . Therefore, the strap tether  22  is in an area along shaft  12  proximate to first end  14  where strap  20  is connected at its proximal end  40  to the hockey stick  10 . Strap  20  is secured to hockey stick  10  with a securing mechanism. In a first embodiment, as seen in  FIG. 2 , strap  20  is secured to hockey stick  10  with a bolt  28  that is bored through strap  20  and into hockey stick  10 . 
         [0009]    By using bolt  28  bored into the hockey stick  10  itself, a very strong connection is made of the strap  20  at the strap tether  22 . This strong connection would make failure of the strap  20  proximate the strap tether  22  unlikely. 
         [0010]    At the distal end  45  strap  20  forms a loop  50  by wrapping about itself allowing the hook and loop fasteners to interengage in a releasably securable fashion. As shown in  FIG. 4 , strap  20  has a first portion with loop fasteners  32  and a second portion with hook fasteners  30  that co-act to form a releasable bond. By the very nature of hook and loop fasteners in this configuration the loop  50  is variable, depending on where the strap  20  is placed together. This permits the strap  20  to make a loop  50  which may be smaller to accommodate a child or a smaller hand (not shown), or alternatively, to make a loop  50  which is larger, to accommodate a adult or a larger hand (not shown). 
         [0011]    In one embodiment, strap  20  is secured to hockey stick  10  on a first end  14  with a screw  28  passing through strap  20  and into hockey stick  10 . Strap  10  is attached to a user wrist  26  by wrapping wrist loop  50  around wrist  26 . It is understood that generally a larger hand will have a larger wrist and a smaller hand will have a smaller wrist. It is also well known for most cases that a child wrist and hand will be smaller than an adult wrist and hand. Needless to say, there are most likely examples of wrist and hand sizes going against these generalizations, but the important fact is that loop  50  is adjustable to fit any wrist and further that the hook and loop fasteners which help form loop  50  on strap  20  will come undone when a force of sufficient magnitude is applied to them. The failure of loop  50  when such force is applied disengages the strap  20  from the wrist of the user and as a result the hockey stick  10  is no longer under the control of the user. The situation where such a force is applied to disengage the stick  10  from the wrist is one where the stick  10  stuck between a defending player and the board. If the hockey stick  10  was not released the user would most likely suffer an injury. Another scenario where having the hockey stick  10  released would avoid injury would be when a hockey player takes a hit such that his hockey stick  10  is caught by any number of circumstances. 
         [0012]    For the most part, hook fastener  30  and loop fastener  32  are constructed and arranged to secure wrist strap  26  such that a person playing hockey and holding hockey stick  10  does not lose hockey stick  10  while playing. However, it can easily be seen that the present invention may play a significant role should the hockey stick  10  become positioned such that a substantial amount of force is imparted away from a user, strap  20  will unfasten along hook fastener  30  and loop fastener  32  and allow hockey stick  10  to detach from a user&#39;s wrist  26  and have the stick  10  move away from a user. The term significant amount of force, as understood herein refers to force in which the hockey stick is moved away from the user such that continued attachment may cause injury. The separation under force provides a tether device that is safer than a solid cord type tether because a solid cord type tether does not release and could cause arm injuries. 
         [0013]    In another embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 5 , strap  20  has, incorporated therein, a connecting device  34  that joins first strap portion  20   a  and second strap portion  20   b . A loop  50 A is formed to receive the wrist therein. When a predetermined amount of pressure is exerted on connecting device  34 , connecting device releases and strap  20  is separated into disconnected first strap portion  20   a  and second strap portion  20   b . In the embodiment of  FIG. 5 , it is also contemplated that the tether release will occur when significant force is exerted on strap  20  in order to prevent injury to the user. 
         [0014]    In a preferred embodiment, strap  20  has a length of 27.25 inches. Strap  20  is folded to engage hook fasteners  30  with loop fasteners  32  forming wrist loop  50 . In the folded configuration, strap  20  extends approximately 18 inches outward from stick  10 . The width of strap  20  is 1 inch. Varying the physical properties of the tether such as width and thickness, as well as the specific type of hook and loop fasteners (Number of hooks and loops per square inch, the material the hooks and loops are made from etcetera) will vary the amount of force that will be required to cause the loop  50  to fail when sufficient force is applied. The instant invention considers that any of a variety of configurations and materials may be employed to give satisfactory results. 
         [0015]    While the invention has been described in its preferred form or embodiment with some degree of particularity, it is understood that this description has been given only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction, fabrication, and use, including the combination and arrangement of parts, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.