Importance

Loading Importance Indicators...

Abstract

A dasher board system for providing a surrounding barrier for the playing surface of a hockey rink. The dasher board system includes lower dasher board sections and extended continuous transparent upper shielding elements. The lower dasher board sections are formed by pultrusion. This gives the dasher board sections a high concentration of fiberglass and a high strength-to-weight ratio. This enables the sections to be made in longer lengths and reduces assembly time. The dasher board sections include horizontal ribs formed therein during the pultrusion process. A mounting system includes supports that are mounted to the horizontal ribs to stabilize the dasher board sections. Curved dasher board sections are formed by cutting the horizontal ribs and flexing the dasher board sections in the regions of the cuts. The transparent upper shielding is formed from by unrolling an elongated length of relatively thin polycarbonate material. The shielding is coupled to wires that extend between the supports, or to the supports themselves. The wires are pulled to tension the shielding and form the upper barrier. The dasher board system can be mounted to numerous different supporting structures, including but not limited to, fence posts, raised concrete curbs, flush concrete rings, and through asphalt surfaces. Alternatively, the dasher board system can be stabilized by supports that are not fixedly mounted to a support surface to permit the dasher board system to be easily assembled and disassembled without affecting the support surface. In one arrangement, the supports can be folded into the dasher board sections to facilitate storage of the system.

Loading the Abstract Image...

First Claim