LACROSSE STICK

Abstract

A lacrosse head comprising a base portion including a shaft socket and a ball stop. A pair of divergent arms extending from the base portion and a sidewall that extends from each of the divergent arms at a corresponding junction. The junction between each divergent arm and its associated sidewall forming a discontinuity. The head may include a rim that extends around a scoop region and a throat region of the lacrosse head. The rim may join the base portion on either side of the ball stop at a location aligned with a centerline of the shaft socket. The ball stop protrudes into the throat region between the divergent arms in order to help prevent the ball from being wedged in the throat region. The base portion may include the ball stop, wherein the ball stop is in the form of a convex protrusion.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/266,745, filed Dec. 4, 2009, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a lacrosse stick and, more particularly, to a lacrosse head having a unique sidewall and throat construction that provides improved ball handling performance and reduced weight.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Conventional lacrosse sticks generally comprise a tubular metal shaft and a molded high density composite plastic head. The tubular metal shaft and head arrangement has been in existence since at least the mid 1970's; see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,841, entitled LACROSSE STICK HAVING TUBULAR METALLIC HANDLE, issued Jul. 26, 1977, incorporated herein by reference. FIG. 1 shows a conventional lacrosse stick 100 having a conventional metal shaft 102 and a conventional head 104. Shaft 102 further has a butt end portion 106 and a head end portion 108. Head 104 includes a base 110, divergent sidewalls 112, and a lip 114.

[0004] Extending from base 110 is a shaft junction projection 116 that comprises a female socket 118 that is sized and configured to receive head end portion 108. Frequently, shaft 102 and head 104 are secured together using a pin or screw extending through both the shaft and head and secured using another pin or nut, not specifically shown, but generally known in the art. Also, as known in the art, the shaft may be pressed and/or glued into socket 118.

[0005] Despite advances in conventional lacrosse stick head design, some head designs inherently induce undesirable ball handling characteristics. For example, as can be appreciated with reference to FIG. 1, the diverging sidewall design of many conventional lacrosse heads has the undesirable effect of trapping the ball. The divergent sidewalls 112 have a tendency to wedge ball 20 therebetween. This tendency to wedge the ball can interrupt the desired release of the ball from the head, thus, interfering with the player's ability to quickly and accurately launch the ball from head 104.

[0006] Lacrosse stick heads are often molded from a plastic or composite material. In high-volume manufacturing, particularly plastics molding, it is well known that even minor reductions in material volume can have a large cost savings effect when applied over a large production run. Another drawback of conventional lacrosse head designs, such as head 104, is that the base 110 often uses a relatively large volume of plastic to provide a proper interface between the stick 102 and head 104. This large volume of plastic adds to the overall weight of the lacrosse stick.

[0007] Accordingly, there remains a need for improvement in the design of lacrosse heads to improve ball release characteristics of the head as well as to reduce weight and reduce material costs in the manufacturing of the lacrosse stick head.

SUMMARY

[0008] Provided herein is a lacrosse head comprising a base that includes a socket and a ball stop. In an embodiment, the shaft socket extends through the base portion. The base portion may also include at least one open region to reduce material usage and reduce the weight of the head.

[0009] A pair of divergent arms extend from the base portion and a sidewall extends from each of the divergent arms at a corresponding junction. The junction between each divergent arm and its associated sidewall forms a discontinuity to help reduce the tendency of the head to wedge a lacrosse ball in the throat region of the head. The pair of divergent arms extend away from one another at an angle between 75 and 105 degrees and the sidewalls diverge away from one another at an angle between 0 and 10 degrees. A lip extends transversely between the sidewalls. The lacrosse head may include a net attached to the sidewalls.

[0010] The lacrosse head may include a rim that extends around a scoop region and a throat region of the lacrosse head. In an embodiment, the rim joins the base portion on either side of the ball stop. The rim may join the base portion at a location aligned approximately with a centerline of the shaft socket.

[0011] The ball stop protrudes into the throat region between the divergent arms in order to help prevent the ball from being wedged in the throat region. In an embodiment, the base portion includes the ball stop, wherein the ball stop is in the form of a convex protrusion.

[0012] It is contemplated that the lacrosse head may comprise a base portion including a shaft socket that extends through the base portion and a rim extending around a scoop region and a throat region of the lacrosse head. The rim includes a lip that defines a portion of the scoop region. A ball stop protrudes from the base portion into the throat region. In this case, the ball stop comprises a shaft portion extending from the shaft socket into the'throat region.

[0013] A lacrosse stick is also contemplated that includes a lacrosse head and a shaft. The head including a base portion with a shaft socket and a shaft extending into the shaft socket. In an embodiment, the shaft socket extends through the base portion. In such case, the shaft may extend through the shaft socket, wherein the ball stop is an end portion of the shaft.

[0014] The foregoing and other features, utilities, and advantages of the disclosed lacrosse stick will be apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional tubular lacrosse shaft and mating head;

[0016] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a lacrosse head according to a first exemplary embodiment;

[0017] FIG. 3 is a side view of the lacrosse head shown in FIG. 2;

[0018] FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a lacrosse head according to a second exemplary embodiment;

[0019] FIG. 5 is a side view of the lacrosse head shown in FIG. 4.

[0020] FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a lacrosse head according to a third exemplary embodiment; and

[0021] FIG. 7 is a side view of the lacrosse head shown in FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Described herein is a lacrosse stick having a unique head design with improved ball release characteristics as well as reduced material requirements for manufacturing the head. FIGS. 2 and 3 show a lacrosse stick 200 according to a first exemplary embodiment. Stick 200 includes a head 204 and a shaft 202. Head 204 includes base portion 210, which includes a female socket 218 that is sized and configured to receive shaft 202. In this case, shaft 202 has an octagonal cross-section; however, shaft 202 may have other suitable cross-sections, including but not limited to round, square, oval, and the like. Shaft 202 may comprise materials known in the art, including for example, metal tubing, composite materials, and the like. Also, base portion 210 may include a male protrusion instead of a female socket 218. In this case, shaft 202 would have a female socket.

[0023] Head 204 extends around a scoop region 215 and a throat region 211. Divergent arms 206 extend away from one another at an angle "a", which may be any angle greater than about 45 degrees but is preferably between 75 and 105 degrees. As can be appreciated in the figure, divergent arms 206 are disposed on either side of a convex ball stop 203. Elongated sidewalls 212 extend arcuately from arms 206 and connect with transverse lip 214 that extends between sidewalls 212. Head 204 includes a number of holes 209 (of which only some are shown), to which a lacrosse net (not specifically shown) may be attached in a conventional manner.

[0024] The junction between each divergent arm 206 and its associated sidewall 212 preferably creates a discontinuity 205 in the otherwise arcuate configuration of the lacrosse head frame. As shown in FIG. 2, sidewalls 212 initially extend from discontinuities 205 in approximately parallel relation to one another before arcuately extending around scoop region 215 to meet lip 214. The sidewalls 212 may initially be parallel to each other or diverge at a slight angle "b". For instance, angle "b" may range from 0 to 10 degrees, preferably. Also, sidewalls 212 are spaced apart a minimum distance "X". Minimum distance "X" should be at least slightly greater than the diameter of ball 20, which is approximately 2.5 inches.

[0025] In order to reduce material costs associated with manufacturing head 204, base portion 210 includes open regions 219 and 217 (see FIG. 3), thereby reducing the amount of material used in what is traditionally a material dense portion of a lacrosse head. Furthermore, socket 218 extends through the entire base 210, thereby removing additional material. The removal of material through open regions 217, 219 and the extension of socket 218 tends to reduce the weight of head 204. Head 204 may be comprised of plastic, composite materials, or other suitable materials as is known in the art. Efforts to reduce material use are particularly relevant where composite materials such as carbon fiber are used, as they may be relatively expensive.

[0026] Having described the construction of this unique lacrosse head, it can be appreciated that the ball handling characteristics resulting from this design are improved over traditional designs. Specifically, when ball 20 comes to rest in throat region 211, it will rest on convex ball stop 203 and at least one of the diverging arms 206. As a result, the transition, or discontinuity 205, from parallel sidewalls 112 to diverging arms 206 is below the diameter of the ball 20. Accordingly, both convex ball stop 203 and divergent arms 206 help prevent ball 20 from being wedged into region 211. Also, because sidewalls 212 are spaced apart a minimum distance that is slightly greater than the diameter of ball 20, ball 20 may pass unimpeded from throat region 211 into scoop region 215.

[0027] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a second exemplary embodiment of a lacrosse stick 300 that is similar to the first exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Accordingly, lacrosse stick 300 includes head 304 and shaft 302. As in the first embodiment, head 304 includes base portion 310 with a socket 318 for receiving shaft 302. Head 304 also includes diverging arms 306 with arcuate sidewalls 312 extending therefrom, which in turn join transverse lip 314. Base portion 310 also includes a convex ball stop 303.

[0028] In this embodiment, however, head 304 includes sidewalls 312 which have upper rim 307 surrounding the scoop region 315 and throat region 311. Rim 307 joins base 310 on either side of ball stop 303 and is aligned or slightly above the centerline of the shaft socket 318 as shown in FIG. 5. In addition to the material savings afforded by openings 319 and 317, the sidewall configuration of this embodiment further reduces the amount of material necessary to construct the head 304.

[0029] FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a third exemplary embodiment of a lacrosse stick 400 that is similar to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. Lacrosse stick 400 includes head 404 and shaft 402. Head 404 surrounds scoop region 415 and throat region 411. In this embodiment base portion 410 includes a socket 418 that extends through the base. Shaft 402 extends through socket 418 and partially into throat region 411 such that end 403 functions as a ball stop. Using the end of shaft 402 as the ball stop reduces the amount of material necessary to form head 404. In order to further reduce the amount of material used in the head, surrounding rim 407 does not extend all the way to base portion 410 as in the previous embodiments. Instead, surrounding rim 407 connects with diverging arms 406 prior to reaching the base portion, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0030] Accordingly, the disclosed lacrosse stick and lacrosse head have been described with some degree of particularity directed to certain exemplary embodiments. It should be appreciated, though, that the technology of the present application is defined by the following claims construed in light of the prior art so that certain changes, modifications, permutations, additions, and sub-combinations may be made to the exemplary embodiments without departing from the inventive concepts contained herein.

Claims

1. A lacrosse head, comprising: a base portion including a shaft socket; a pair of divergent arms extending from said base portion; a sidewall extending from each of said pair of divergent arms at a corresponding junction, wherein the junction between each said divergent arm and its associated said sidewall forms a discontinuity; a lip extending transversely between said sidewalls; and a ball stop protruding between said divergent arms.

2. The lacrosse head according to claim 1, including a net attached to said sidewalls.

3. The lacrosse head according to claim 1, wherein said pair of divergent arms extend away from one another at an angle between 75 and 105 degrees.

4. The lacrosse head according to claim 3, wherein said sidewalls diverge away from one another at an angle between 0 and 10 degrees in a throat region.

5. The lacrosse head according to claim 1, wherein said base portion includes at least one open region.

6. The lacrosse head according to claim 1, including a rim that extends around a scoop region and a throat region of the lacrosse head.

7. The lacrosse head according to claim 6, wherein said rim joins said base portion on either side of said ball stop.

8. The lacrosse head according to claim 7, wherein said rim joins said base portion at a location aligned approximately with a centerline of said shaft socket.

9. The lacrosse head according to claim 1, wherein said base portion includes said ball stop and wherein said ball stop is in the form of a convex protrusion.

10. The lacrosse head according to claim 1, wherein said shaft socket extends through said base portion.

11. A lacrosse head, comprising: a base portion including a shaft socket that extends through said base portion; a rim extending around a scoop region and a throat region of the lacrosse head, said rim including a lip that defines a portion of said scoop region; and a ball stop protruding from said base portion into said throat region.

12. The lacrosse head according to claim 11, including a net attached to said rim.

13. The lacrosse head according to claim 11, wherein said rim joins said base portion on either side of said ball stop.

14. The lacrosse head according to claim 13, wherein said base portion includes said ball stop and wherein said ball stop is in the form of a convex protrusion.

15. The lacrosse head according to claim 11, wherein said ball stop comprises a shaft portion extending from said shaft socket into said throat region.

16. A lacrosse stick, comprising: a lacrosse head including: a base portion including a shaft socket; a pair of divergent arms extending from said base portion; a sidewall extending from each of said pair of divergent arms at a corresponding junction, wherein the junction between each said divergent arm and its associated said sidewall forms a discontinuity; a lip extending transversely between said sidewalls; and a ball stop protruding between said divergent arms; and a shaft extending into said shaft socket.

17. The lacrosse stick according to claim 16, wherein said shaft socket extends through said base portion.

18. The lacrosse stick according to claim 17, wherein said base portion includes said ball stop and wherein said ball stop is in the form of a convex protrusion.

19. The lacrosse stick according to claim 17, wherein said shaft extends through said shaft socket, wherein said ball stop is an end portion of said shaft.

20. The lacrosse stick according to claim 19 including a rim that extends around a scoop region and a throat region of the lacrosse head.

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