[0001] This invention relates to a slalom gate pole of the type including a flexible joint
intermediate its ends, permitting the pole to bend from an original position and thereafter
return automatically to said original position, and two longitudinally spaced end
portions interconnected by the flexible joint, said joint including two longitudinally
spaced portions each connected to one of the two end portions of the pole, a longitudinally
oriented helical spring sandwiched between said two portions of the joint, retaining
means comprising a longitudinally oriented coil spring arranged to urge said two portions
of the joint toward one another to longitudinally compress the helical spring, said
retaining means further comprising a connecting number extending in the longitudinal
direction of said coil spring.
[0002] There are known in the art different articles having a flexible joint permitting
the article to be bent and subsequently to return to its original position. To exemplify
such an article reference is made to DE-C-124 746 which discloses a muscle training
appliance with a flexible joint. Said joint comprises two portions each connected
to a portion of the muscle training appliance and being held together by an adjustable
biassing means acting against at least one of said portions of the joint, and a helical
spring located between said portions of the joint and through which a connecting member
extends, said spring being exposed to a force of the biassing means at least when
the muscle training appliance is bent.
[0003] The helical springs used in the known flexible joints of the type described are made
of spring wires having a circular cross-section. Such springs have very small contact
surfaces between their adjacent spring turns making such springs and, thus, joints
including such springs, very instable which is very disadvantageous in connection
with slalom gate poles in view of the fact that such poles have to come to a standstill
very quickly after being bent and ought not to sway in their original position even
if they are subjected to strong wind.
[0004] The present invention is designed to overcome the above-noted disadvantages that
are attendant upon the construction and use of slalom gate poles having a flexible
joint.
[0005] This invention is characterized by a provision of a slalom gate pole having a flexible
joint of the type described, said joint being provided with a helical spring of a
spring wire having rectangular cross-section and said joint being rotatably connected
to at least one of the two portions of the joint.
[0006] In the following, an embodiment of this invention is described in greater detail
and with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a section through
a slalom gate pole with a flexible joint according to the invention and Fig. 2 is
a section through an alternative clamping means included in the flexible joint.
[0007] In Fig. 1, an article 1 is shown in the form of a slalom gate pole comprising a flexible
joint 2. The article, i.e. the slalom gate pole 1, comprises at least two portions
1 a and 1 b, between which the joint 2 is located, and which may consist of a plastic
material, but any other material, for example rubber, wood or metal, may be used for
said portions 1a, 1b. In a slalom gate pole the joint 2 is located closer to the lower
end of the pole than to the upper end thereof, as shown in Fig. 1, but the position
of the joint, of course, can be varied and must be adapted to the function and purpose
of the pole, in which the present joint 2 is comprised as an essential part.
[0008] In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the joint proper 2 comprises a joint body
3 in the form of a helical spring of a spring wire 3a with rectangular cross-section,
and two opposed mounting sleeves 4a, 4b each located on one side of the joint body
3, against which sleeves the spring 3 abuts with its ends. The mounting sleeves 4a,
4b are formed each with an outer surface 6 constituting a holder for the intended
portion 1 a or 1b, and on which the intended portion 1a, 1b can be retained detachably
by friction or by connection in another suitable and expedient way.
[0009] Through the joint body, i.e. the spring 3, and the mounting sleeves 4, a flexible
connecting member 7 extends for holding together the mounting sleeves 4 and spring
3. When not affected, the turns of said spring abut or are adjacent to each other.
Said connecting member 7 may be a chain, steel wire, for example piano wire, wire,
plastic rod, rubber wire or the like. The connecting member 7 can be enclosed by a
hose coil wound tightly, for example, of a spring steel wire or plastic wire, in order
when desired to increase the diameter of the connecting member so that no lateral
play can occur between the hollow joint body 3 and the connecting member 7.
[0010] Instead of, or in combination with such a protection, or a protection of some other
kind around the connecting member 7 a number of stacked, relatively short distance
sleeves 40 with suitable material thickness can be arranged in the space between the
joint body 3 and the connecting member 7 in order to reduce or adapt the size of said
space. These distance sleeves 40 have an outer diameter being only slightly smaller
than the inner diameter of the joint body in order also to act as a guide for the
joint body, i.e. the spring 3, so that its different turns cannot be displaced in
lateral direction relative to each other, but are maintained in place even when the
spring 3 is bent.
[0011] The connecting member 7 is at least at one end formed as or provided with a threaded
portion 8, which carries a washer 9 and at least one nut 10. A spring 11 is clamped
between said washer 9 and the adjacent mounting sleeve 4a. At its other end portion,
the connecting member 7 is formed as or provided with a conic anchoring portion 41,
which is located in a corresponding conic seat 42 in a holder 43. Said holder rests
against a shoulder 44 formed in the mounting sleeve 4b and is located within the mounting
sleeve 4b.
[0012] In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 said other end portion of the connecting member
7 is formed as a threaded portion 45, which extends through the holder 43 and carries
the anchoring portion 41 in the form of a nut being conic at one end and having its
seat 42 in the holder 43. Said holder 43 is guided at the end of the portion 1b and
rests against the end surface of said portion with a peripheral edge surface. The
holder 43 can be formed so as with its end surface 47 to rest directly against the
end surface 48 of the mounting sleeve. By this embodiment the advantage is gained
that the tension of the spring 11 can be adjusted from outside by the nut 41 without
having to dismount the slalom gate pole, which, however, is the case at the embodiment
shown in Fig. 1.
[0013] The spring 11 comprised in the joint 2 cooperates with the connecting member 7 and
exercises a force adjustable in size, which tends to compress the spring 3 acting
as the joint body, and due to the fact that the connecting member 7 is flexibly and
movably attached relative to the pole it is rendered possible to bend said pole in
all directions against the action of the spring 11, which during the bending of the
pole is stretched additionally and being charged in order together with the spring
3 to return the slalom gate pole 1 to its original position as soon as the force bringing
about the bending ceases. During said return movement the kinetic energy is taken
up to a certain extent by the spring 11 every time it assumes the position shown in
Fig. 1, whereby no appreciable after-vibrations occur but on the other hand a certain
damping of the vibrations is obtained.
[0014] In order to additionally increase the damping of vibrations when the slalom gate
pole returns from its bent position and to effect a delay of said return movement
from a bent position, there is provided at least one elastic brake means 49 for co-operating
with the inner surface of the slalom gate pole. Each of said means 49 consists of
an elastic member, for example of rubber, and is arranged in a movable manner on the
connecting member 7 between the washer 9 and a washer 50 abutting the nut 10. Said
elastic members are so formed that they have their peripheral surface 51 contacting
the inner surface of the slalom gate pole 1 in a greater or less degree. The contact
pressure of the members against the inner surface of said pole in the original position,
i.e. in the position shown in the Figure, is adjustable by means of the nut 10 in
the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, and by means of the nut 41 in the embodiment shown
in Fig. 2.
[0015] Upon bending of the slalom gate pole, the spring 11 is compressed and increases its
spring force, whereby the brake means 49 are compressed additionally, resulting in
that the contact pressure of the brake means against the inner surface of the portion
1a increases and gives rise to increased friction between the brake means 49 and the
inner surface of the portion 1a, which friction tends to counteract the sliding occurring
between the brake means 49 and said inner surface both when the slalom gate pole is
bent and it returns from its bent position. In this position the friction forces between
the inner surface of the portion 1a a and the brake means 49 are at its greatest in
the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, and the brake means bring about a delay of the return
of the slalom gate pole from the bent position and at least at the beginning a slower
return of said pole to its original position. By this action of the brake means no
after-vibrations occur, but the pole assumes its original position almost directly.
[0016] The friction forces produced by the brake means 49 depend to some extent on the inner
diameter of the pole. By changing this diameter in one way or another along one or
more of the sliding paths of the brake means, the arising friction forces can be controlled
and adjusted according to demand and desire.
A slalom gate pole of the type including a flexible joint (3) intermediate its ends,
permitting the pole to bend from an original position and thereafter return automatically
to said original position; the pole comprising two longitudinally spaced end portions
(1a, 1b) inter-connected by said flexible joint; said joint including two longitudinally
spaced portions (4a, 4b) each connected to one of said portions of the pole, a longitudinally
oriented helical spring (3) sandwiched between said two portions of the joint (4a,
4b), retaining means comprising a longitudinally oriented coil spring (11) arranged
to urge said two portions of the joint (4a, 4b) toward one another to longitudinally
compress said helical spring (27), said retaining means further comprising a connecting
member (7) extending in the longitudinal direction of said coil spring (11), characterized
in that the helical spring (3) is of a steel wire having a rectangular cross-section,
and that said helical spring (3) is rotatably connected to at least one of the two
portions of the joint (4a, 4b).
Piquet de porte de slalom du type comprenant, en position intermédiaire entre ses
extrémités, une articulation élastique (3) permettant au piquet de fléchir par rapport
à une position de départ et de revenir ensuite automatiquement à celle-ci; piquet
comportant deux parties terminales (1a, 1b) espacées dans le sens longitudinal et
reliées entre elles par ladite articulation élastique, cette dernière comprenant deux
parties (4a, 4b) espacées dans le sens longitudinal et reliées chacune à l'une desdites
parties terminales du piquet, un ressort hélicoïdal (3) orienté longitudinalement
en sandwich entre les deux parties (4a, 4b) de ladite articulation, des moyens de
retenue comprenant un ressort à boudin (11) orienté dans le sens longitudinal et disposé
pour presser les deux parties (4a, 4b) de ladite articulation l'une contre l'autre
afin de comprimer longitudinalement ledit ressort hélicoïdal (27), lesdits moyens
de retenue comprenant en outre un membre intermédiaire (7) s'étendant dans le sens
longitudinal dudit ressort à boudin (11), caractérisé en ce que le ressort hélicoïdal
(3) est réalisé en fil d'acier de section rectangulaire et en ce que ledit ressort
hélicoïdal (3) est relié rotatif à l'une au moins des deux parties (4a, 4b) de l'articulation.
Slalomtorstange vom Type, der ein elastisches Gelenk (3) zwischen seinen Enden hat,
wodurch die Stange von einer ursprünglichen Lage gebogen und danach automatisch zur
ursprünglichen Lage zurückkehren kann, wobei die Stange zwei in der Längsrichtung
mit Zwischenräumen angeordnete, durch das erwähnte Gelenk miteinander verbundene Endteile
(1a, 1 b) hat, das Gelenk zwei in der Längsrichtung mit Zwischenräumen angeordnete
Teile (4a, 4b), die je an einen der erwähnten Stangenteile angeschlossen sind, eine
in der Längsrichtung orientierte Schraubenfeder (3), die zwischen den erwähnten zwei
Teilen des Gelenks (4a, 4b) eingelegt ist, Rückhaltemittel, die eine in der Längsrichtung
orientierte Schraubenfeder (11) enthalten, die angeordnet ist, die erwähnten zwei
Gelenkteile (4a, 4b) gegeneinander zu treiben, um die erwähnte Schraubenfeder (27)
in der Längsrichtung zusammenzudrücken, umfasst, wobei die Rückhaltemittel ferner
ein Anschlussorgan (7) umfassen, das sich in der Längsrichtung der erwähnten Schraubenfeder
(11) erstreckt, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Schraubenfeder (3) aus einem Stahldraht
von rechteckigem Querschnitt besteht, und dass die erwähnte Schraubenfeder (3) mindestens
an einen der zwei Gelenkteile (4a, 4b) rotierbar angeschlossen ist.