SPORT FLOOR SYSTEM WITH VARIABLE FORCE REDUCTION ZONES

Abstract

A sport flooring system designed and installed to reduce fatigue on a user. The sport flooring system includes a floor surface layer that is supported above a substrate layer and is designed for use in playing or practicing an athletic event or game. The floor surface layer is supported by a plurality of a first type of shock absorbing pads and a plurality of a second type of shock absorbing pads where the second type of shock absorbing are less hard and provide greater cushioning compared to the first type of shock absorbing pads. The first and second shock absorbing pads are organized to define at least one first zone and at least one second zone. The second zone provides greater cushioning to the user compared to the first zone to reduce fatigue to the user when playing or practicing on the sport flooring system.

Description

BACKGROUND

The disclosed system generally relates to a sport floor system that includes a plurality of shock absorbing pads that are fixed to the bottom surface of the floor at spaced intervals to provide force absorption during use by athletes. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a sport floor that includes shock absorbing pads that can include at least two different pad types that have different hardness to provide more or less force absorption. The two different types of shock absorbing pads can be organized to define different force absorption zones that are located to best reduce the forces felt by an athlete during extended activities or training times.

There have been various types of sport floor systems provided in the past which have employed some form of cushioning for absorbing shock. These sport floor systems provide a shock-absorbing, fatigue-reducing flooring system ideal for active sports applications, especially at training or practice facilities where athletes spend extended periods of time practicing. The construction of this type of flooring system is of a type which has the finished flooring and the subfloor sections supported at spaced intervals by elastomeric shock absorbing pads formed from resilient materials, such as but not limited to rubber or resilient foam.

It is generally known to provide shock absorbing pads or support members under a sports floor system in order to provide resiliency to the floor. In such known systems, the amount of cushioning is mainly controlled by the hardness of the material as well as the dimensions of the contact area in touch with either the underside of the subfloor or the concrete substrate.

The advantage of using a higher shock absorption material as the floor pad is that such material provides greater cushioning. However, this approach may be a disadvantage in areas of the flooring where the athlete needs to utilize the floor to create explosive actions, such as jumping and dribbling. If the floor support pads are too soft, the pads may be prone to a problem known as “compression set.” i.e., the tendency of the pad to lose its resiliency when placed under a high load for extended periods of time.

The present inventors have recognized the problems identified above and have developed the present disclosure to address these problems by creating a sport floor system that includes floor pads that provide greater cushioning in high traffic areas while providing less cushioning in lower traffic, high explosive areas to enhance the durability of the floor pads and reduce the likelihood of compression set in these areas.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a sport floor system that includes a plurality of shock absorbing pads that are fixed to the bottom surface of the floor surface at spaced intervals to provide force absorption during use by athletes. The shock absorbing pads can include at least two different types of pads that each have a different hardness to provide more or less force absorption. The two different types of force absorption pads can be organized to define different force absorption zones that are located beneath areas of the floor to best reduce the forces felt by an athlete during extended training times while also providing the desired responsiveness in other areas of the floor.

The inventors have recognized a need for a sport floor system that includes at least two different shock absorbing pads that have different hardness that can be strategically located in different force absorbing zones below the sport floor. The different force absorbing zones can be designed to provide additional cushioning in the areas where the athletes do most of their training or where the impact between the athlete and the floor is the greatest. In other areas of the sport floor, the amount of cushioning provided by the shock absorbing pads is reduced to provide the firmer floor.

The sport flooring of the present disclosure is designed to be supported on a substrate layer at an athletic facility. The substrate layer could be a concrete floor or any other type of layer that can support a floor for use in playing an athletic event or training for some type of sport and athletic event. The sport flooring system includes a floor surface layer that may include lines for the type of sport being played on the sport floor. In one exemplary, non-limiting embodiment, the sport floor could be lined for basketball and would include at least a three-point line, sidelines and endlines.

The sport floor is supported on the substrate layer by a plurality of shock absorbing pads. In accordance with the present disclosure, the shock absorbing pads would include a plurality of a first type of shock absorbing pads and a plurality of a second type of shock absorbing pads. In an exemplary embodiment, the first type of shock absorbing pad would have a first hardness and the second type of shock absorbing pads would have a second hardness that is different from the first hardness. In the exemplary embodiment, the first hardness would be greater than the second hardness such that the second type of shock absorbing pad would provide a larger amount of cushioning compared to the first type of shock absorbing pad.

The first and second type of shock absorbing pads are selectively positioned to define at least one first shock absorbing zone and at least one second shock absorbing zone that have different amount of cushioning. The first and second shock absorbing zones are selectively located beneath portions of the sport floor to provide additional cushioning in desired areas of the sport floor. In one embodiment, the second shock absorbing zone would include only the second type of shock absorbing pads and the first shock absorbing zone would include only the first type of shock absorbing pads. In this manner, the second shock absorbing zone would provide greater cushioning as compared to the first shock absorbing zone.

In an illustrative, non-limiting example, if the sport floor was lined for basketball, the second shock absorbing zone, referred to as a shooting zone, would be created surrounding the three-point line. Thus, there would be additional cushioning around the three-point line as compared to the rest of the sport floor, which would be beneficial for athletes training on the sport floor.

Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate the best mode presently contemplated of carrying out the disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top view of a sport floor that defines a playing court and includes a plurality of force absorbing zones;

FIG. 2 is a section view showing at least two different types of shock absorbing pads that are located to define the force absorbing zones on the sport floor;

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of one of the shock absorbing pads used to support the sports floor;

FIG. 3B is a side view of the shock absorbing pad;

FIG. 3C is a top view of the shock absorbing pad; and

FIG. 4 is a cutaway of the sport floor showing the location of the first type of shock absorbing pads and the second type of shock absorbing pads.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a sport floor 10 constructed in accordance with the present disclosure. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the sport floor 10 is lined for use as a conventional basketball court that includes the various boundary lines 12 and court markings as is conventional. Specifically, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the sport floor 10 includes a free throw lane 14, a three-point line 16 and a restricted area 18 located directly below the hoop 20. The concept of the present disclosure will be defined with reference to the basketball court shown in FIG. 1. However, it should be understood that the concept of the present disclosure could be utilized with various other different types of sport floors that have various areas and court markings as is well-known. These different types of sport floors could include a volleyball court, a handball court, a futsal court or any other types of court that is lined or unlined.

The inventors of the present disclosure have identified that during use of a sport floor 10, especially when installed in a practice or training facility, many of the athletes focus their training time at specific locations on the sport floor 10. As an illustrative example, it has been found that college and professional basketball players spend a significant amount of their training time practicing three-point field goals from an area just past the three-point line 16. In some cases, individual athletes spend hours each day shooting shots from just outside the three-point line 16. Since the athletes spend a significant amount of time in this specific area, the present disclosure has been developed to provide additional cushioning and shock absorption in the areas or zones of the floor where the athletes spend most of their time in an attempt to reduce strain and fatigue for the athlete.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the sport floor 10 is designed to include a first enhanced force absorbing zone, referred to as a shooting zone 22, defined by the dashed lines. In the embodiment shown, the shooting zone 22 extends approximately 1-2 feet inside and 4-6 feet outside of the three-point line 16. It is contemplated that the size of the shooting zone 22 could vary depending on the needs of the users. In addition, a second enhanced force absorbing zone, referred to as an impact zone 24, is defined within the restricted area 18 defined by the semi-circular arc 26. The impact zone 24 has been found to be an area of the basketball floor where the most player-to-floor contact occurs. In addition, the impact zone 24 has also been found to be the most likely place for athlete landings after performing a layup or dunk.

The remaining portions of the basketball court outside of the enhanced force absorbing zones set forth above include a normal or typical amount of force absorption. These areas in the present disclosure are referred to as the center zone 28 and the inside-the-arc zone 30. The center court zone 28 is the area of the court that extends between the edges of the shooting zones 22 and includes the half court circle 32. The inside-the-arc zone 30 is the area of the floor inside the three-point line 16 and extending to at least the baseline 34, excluding the impact zone 24.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the enhanced force absorbing zones, including the shooting zones 22 and the impact zones 24, are each created by supporting the wood floor surface on shock absorbing pads that are formed from a relatively soft material to provide additional cushioning as compared to the other portions of the floor. The center zone 28 and the inside-the-arc zones 30 are portions of the wood flooring that are supported by shock absorbing pads formed from the same or different material that is harder than the material used in the impact zones 24 and the inside-the-arc zones 30. In this manner, two different types of force absorbing zones are created and can be positioned in desired locations beneath the sport floor 10 depending on the type of sport being played on the floor. Although the present disclosure shows and discusses that the two different force absorbing zones are created by shock absorbing pads positioned below the floor and having different cushioning properties, other mechanisms are contemplated for creating the different force absorbing zones. As an example, in an embodiment in which the floor surface is formed from a synthetic material, the thickness and/or properties of the synthetic floor material could vary over the surface area of the floor to create the different force absorbing zones. Such a contemplated embodiment would eliminate the need for different shock absorbing pads between the sport floor and the support substrate.

FIG. 2 is a section view taken through a portion of the sports floor 10 shown in FIG. 1. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the sport floor 10 includes a floor surface layer 38 that defines the playing surface for an athlete to train or play a sporting event. In the embodiment shown, the floor surface layer 38 is formed from a series of wood strips 40 that interlock with each other. However, the wood strips 40 could be replaced with other types of floor surface materials, such as synthetic materials, including but not limited to polyurethane. As shown in FIG. 2, the floor surface layer 38 is in turn supported by a subfloor 42. The wood strips 40 that make up the floor surface layer 38 in the shown embodiment are generally made up of hardwood strips, such as maple, that are connected together by a tongue and groove arrangement. The subfloor 42 is commonly made up of two layers of plywood connected together by a series of staples or similar fasteners 44. The upper flooring strips 40 are preferably attached to the subfloor 42 by way of the staples or fasteners 44 driven in above the tongue of the wood strips 40. Although subfloor 42 is shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2, in other systems, the subfloor 42 could be eliminated or combined with the floor surface layer 38.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, a liner 46 is shown supported on a concrete substrate layer 48. The concrete substrate layer 48 is typically a concrete floor that is created at a facility used for training and play of the sport by athletes. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, one of a series of anchor fasteners 50 are shown that provide a secure attachment between the subfloor 42 and the concrete substrate layer 48. The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 shows a permanent floor that is not designed to be removed. However, the subject matter of the present disclosure could also be used with panel floors in which a series of separate panels are removable from the concrete substrate layer 48 when desired.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the subfloor 42 is supported on the concrete substrate layer 48 by a series of shock absorbing pads. In the embodiment illustrated, the first type of shock absorbing pads is shown by reference numeral 52 and are attached to the bottom surface 53 of the subfloor 42. The first type of shock absorbing pads 52 are used to support the sport floor 10 in the center zone 28 and the inside-the-arc zone 30 as shown in FIG. 1. This first type of shock absorbing pad 52 will provide for a normal firmness of the sport floor 10 and will function as a support pad in these areas of the sport floor 10.

A second type of shock absorbing pads is shown by reference numeral 54 and are attached to the bottom surface 53 of the subfloor 42 in the areas of the sport floor 10 that define the pair of shooting zones 22 and the pair of impact zones 24. As shown in FIG. 2, the first type of shock absorbing pads 52 and the second type of shock absorbing pads 54 have a similar cross-sectional shape with a semi-circular support dome 56. Each of the two types of shock absorbing pads are secured to the bottom surface 53 of the subfloor 42 in a conventional manner.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the second type of shock absorbing pads 54 is formed from a rubber material that is a softer, lower durometer material as compared to the rubber material used to form the first type of shock absorbing pads 52. It should be understood that various durometer ranges can be selected for the two different types of shock absorbing pads and the durometer ranges for each of the two types of pads could vary depending on the size of the pads and the requirements for the floor. In accordance with the present disclosure, it is contemplated that the second type of shock absorbing pads 54 will have a lower durometer as compared to the first type of shock absorbing pads 52. In this manner, the cushioning inside of both the shooting zone 22 and the impact zone 24 will be greater than the cushioning within the center zone 28 and the pair of inside-the-arc zones 30.

In another contemplated embodiment, the two different types of shock absorbing pads 52 and 54 could be formed from a material other than rubber, such as but not limited to foam or some other resilient material that could provide cushioning for the floor. In such an embodiment, the shock absorbing pads in the shooting zone 22 and the impact zone 24 would be softer than the material used as the shock absorbing pads in the center zone 28 and the inside-the-arc zones 30.

FIGS. 3A-3C show views of one embodiment of the shock absorbing pads 52 and 54. Each type of pad includes a support dome 56 that extends from a base portion 58. The base portion 58, in turn, extends from an attachment portion 60. The attachment portion 60 is designed to create the point of attachment between the shock absorbing pad 52 or 54 and the bottom surface 53 of the subfloor 42 as is shown in FIG. 2. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3A-3C, the entire shock absorbing pad is a single piece molded element that is formed from a material that provides the desired shock absorption for the sport floor. In the embodiment shown, both of the first and second types of shock absorbing pads 52, 54 are formed from different variations of the same class of material. However, it should be understood that the two types shock absorbing pads could have different shape to create the differing amount of shock absorbing properties while still operating within the scope of the present disclosure. It is contemplated that the variation in the shock absorbing properties of the first and second types of shock absorbing pads could be created by selecting different materials, different harnesses of the same material or by selecting different shapes for the shock absorbing pads, or any combination of these variable. In each case, the two different types of shock absorbing pads will provide different amounts of cushioning in the different shock absorbing zones.

FIG. 4 is a cut-away view showing the location of the first type of shock absorbing pads 52 and the second type of shock absorbing pads 54 relative to the three-point line. The location of the two types of shock absorbing pads create the shooting zone 22 shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, only the second type of shock absorbing pads 54 are shown in the shooting zone 22. The first type of shock absorbing pads 52 are located under the rest of the sports floor 10 and are not shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity of the image.

In addition, although the embodiment of FIG. 1 is described as creating two shooting zones 22 and two impact zones 24, it should be understood that various other different zones could be created on the floor shown in FIG. 1. In addition, when the sport floor 10 is not a basketball court, different training zones could be developed. As an illustrative example, if the sport court of the present disclosure were utilized for volleyball, additional cushioning could be positioned at or near the net where most of the spiking activity takes place. Such enhanced cushioning will reduce the impact felt by a volleyball hitter during practicing of spikes.

This written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.

Claims

1. A sport flooring system supported on a substrate layer for use by a user, comprising: a sport floor comprising a floor surface layer;a plurality of a first type of shock absorbing pads to support the subfloor layer on the substrate layer, the first type of shock absorbing pads having a first hardness; anda plurality of a second type of shock absorbing pads to support the subfloor layer on the substrate layer, the second type of shock absorbing pads having a second hardness that is less than the first hardness,wherein the plurality of the first and second types of shock absorbing pads are positioned to defined at least one first zone and at least one second zone, wherein the second zone includes the second type of shock absorbing pad to provide greater cushioning to the user compared to the first zone which includes the first type of shock absorbing pad.

2. The sport flooring system of claim 1 wherein the floor surface layer is formed from wood.

3. The sport flooring system of claim 1 wherein the at least one first zone and the at least one second zone are located based on the sporting game.

4. The sport flooring system of claim 1 wherein the sport flooring system includes a plurality of first zones and a plurality of second zones.

5. The sport flooring system of claim 3 wherein the floor surface layer is lined for basketball and includes a three-point line, wherein at least one of the plurality of second zones defines a shooting zone that includes the three point line.

6. The sport flooring system of claim 4 wherein floor surface layer includes a restricted area, wherein at least one of the plurality of second zones defines an impact zone that includes the restricted area.

7. The sport flooring system of claim 5 wherein floor surface layer includes a restricted area, wherein at least one of the plurality of second zones defines an impact zone that includes the restricted area.

8. The sport flooring system of claim 1 wherein the first type of shock absorbing pads and the second type of shock absorbing pads are formed from the same type of resilient material and have the same shape.

9. The sport flooring system of claim 8 wherein the first type of shock absorbing pads have a durometer rating that is greater than the durometer rating of the second type of shock absorbing pads.

10. A sport flooring system supported on a substrate layer for use by a user when playing or training for a game, comprising: a wood sport floor comprising a wood floor surface layer and a subfloor layer;a plurality of a first type of shock absorbing pads attached to the subfloor layer to support the subfloor layer on the substrate layer, the first type of shock absorbing pads having a first hardness; anda plurality of a second type of shock absorbing pads attached to the subfloor layer to support the subfloor layer on the substrate layer, the second type of shock absorbing pads having a second hardness that is less than the first hardness,wherein the plurality of the first and second types of shock absorbing pads are positioned to defined at least one first zone and at least one second zone, wherein the second zone includes only the second type of shock absorbing pad to provide greater cushioning to the user compared to the first zone which includes only the first type of shock absorbing pad.

11. The sport flooring system of claim 10 wherein the at least one first zone and the at least one second zone are located based on the sporting game.

12. The sport flooring system of claim 10 wherein the sport flooring system includes a plurality of first zones and a plurality of second zones.

13. The sport flooring system of claim 10 wherein the first type of shock absorbing pads and the second type of shock absorbing pads are formed from the same type of resilient material and have the same shape.

14. The sport flooring system of claim 13 wherein the first type of shock absorbing pads have a durometer rating that is greater than the durometer rating of the second type of shock absorbing pads.

15. The sport flooring system of claim 13 wherein each of the first and second types of shock absorbing pads include a semi-dome outer surface that contacts the substrate layer.

16. A sport flooring system supported on a substrate layer for use by a user during training or practice, comprising: a sport floor comprising a floor surface;a first zone located within a first predefined area of the floor surface, wherein the first zone has a first level of shock absorption; anda second zone located within a second predefined area of the floor surface, wherein the second zone has a second level of shock absorption that is greater than the first level of shock absorption.

17. The sport flooring system of claim 16 wherein the sport flooring system includes a plurality of first zones and a plurality of second zones.

18. The sport flooring system of claim 16 wherein the first zone and the second zone are located based on the sporting game.

19. The sport flooring system of claim 16 wherein the sport floor is lined for a sport or for training and the first and second zones are located based on the lining.

20. The sport flooring system of claim 16 wherein the sport floor includes a floor surface layer and the first and second zones are created by properties of the floor surface layer.