Protector for protecting a skate and a user's foot
AssigneeBauer Hockey, LLC
InventorsGaetan Champagne, Jean-Francois Corbeil
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A protector for protecting a skate (e.g., an ice skate) and a foot of a user (e.g., a hockey player) against impacts, such as from pucks (e.g., during shots, which can be powerful), to reduce risks of pain or injury from such impacts, in which the protector is fastenable to the skate, is configured to cover at least part of a skate boot of the skate, and may be designed to facilitate its use, including by facilitating the user donning (i.e., putting on) and doffing (i.e., removing) the skate (e.g., while the protector is fastened to the skate boot), and/or to look like the skate boot (e.g., so as to be relatively unnoticeable such that it can seem as if it is not there).
Claims39
A protector for protecting a skate and a foot of a user against impacts, the skate comprising a skate boot defining a cavity configured to receive the user's foot, the skate boot comprising a medial side portion configured to face a medial side of the user's foot, a lateral side portion configured to face a lateral side of the user's foot, an ankle portion configured to receive an ankle of the user, a back portion configured to face a back of the user's foot including a heel of the user's foot, a sole portion configured to face a plantar surface of the user's foot, and a toe portion configured to receive toes of the user's foot, the skate comprising a skating device disposed beneath the skate boot to engage a skating surface, the protector comprising:
- a cover configured to cover and provide impact protection to at least part of the medial side portion of the skate boot, at least part of the lateral side portion of the skate boot, and at least part of the back portion of the skate boot, the cover comprising an inner side configured to face and engage the skate boot and an outer side configured to face away from the skate boot, the cover being shaped to conform to an external surface of the skate boot, the external surface of the skate boot comprises a projection, the cover comprising a plurality of formations that are formed during original manufacturing of the protector, defined by at least one of the inner side and the outer side of the cover, and at least one of projecting and receding from adjacent parts of the cover, a given one of the formations of the cover comprising a projection configured to register with the projection of the external surface of the skate boot;
- and
- a fastening system configured to fasten the protector to the skate;
- wherein the protector allows the user to don and doff the skate while the fastening system fastens the protector to the skate.
A protector for protecting a skate and a foot of a user against impacts, the skate comprising a skate boot defining a cavity configured to receive the user's foot, the skate boot comprising a medial side portion configured to face a medial side of the user's foot, a lateral side portion configured to face a lateral side of the user's foot, an ankle portion configured to receive an ankle of the user, a back portion configured to face a back of the user's foot including a heel of the user's foot, a sole portion configured to face a plantar surface of the user's foot, and a toe portion configured to receive toes of the user's foot, the skate comprising a skating device disposed beneath the skate boot to engage a skating surface, the protector comprising:
- a. a cover configured to cover and provide impact protection to at least part of the skate boot, the cover comprising a medial wall configured to cover and protect at least part of the medial side portion of the skate boot, a lateral wall configured to cover and protect at least part of the lateral side portion of the skate boot, and a back wall configured to cover and protect at least part of the back portion of the skate boot, the cover being shaped to conform to an external surface of the skate boot, the external surface of the skate boot comprising a projection, the cover including an inner side configured to face and engage the skate boot and an outer side configured to face away from the skate boot, the cover comprising a plurality of formations that are formed during original manufacturing of the protector, defined by at least one of the inner side and the outer side of the cover, and at least one of projecting and receding from adjacent parts of the cover, a given one of the formations of the cover comprising a projection configured to register with the projection of the external surface of the skate boot, the cover comprising a plurality of layers that include a plurality of materials different from one another, a first one of the layers being disposed outwardly of and stiffer than a second one of the layers;
- and
- b. a fastening system configured to fasten the protector to the skate.
A protector for protecting a skate and a foot of a user against impacts, the skate comprising a skate boot defining a cavity configured to receive the user's foot, the skate comprising a skating device disposed beneath the skate boot to engage a skating surface, the protector comprising:
- a. a cover configured to cover and provide impact protection to at least part of the skate boot, the cover comprising an inner side configured to face and engage the skate boot and an outer side configured to face away from the skate boot, the cover comprising a plurality of formations that are formed during original manufacturing of the protector, defined by at least one of the inner side and the outer side of the cover, at least one of projecting and receding from adjacent parts of the cover, an appearance of the outer side of the cover being configured to emulate an appearance of an exterior of the skate boot, a given one of the formations of the cover comprising a projection configured to register with a projection of the exterior of the skate boot;
- and
- b. a fastening system configured to fasten the protector to the skate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.