Sporting device for conveying a person over the ground

Abstract

 The sporting device, such as a grass-ski, is intended for attachment to a person's foot, or to be ridden on, for conveying a person over the ground, and comprises a guide forming an endless track, a support (14) connected to the guide for supporting a person's foot or the body of a person, and an endless ground engaging device (16, 17) mounted on the guide and moveable along the track in order to propel the sporting device along the ground. The guide comprises first and second track members (11, 12) forming respectively upper and lower runs of the track, and a removable connecting member (13) forming part of the track and interconnecting the first and second track members (11, 12).

Description

[0001] This invention relates to a sporting device intended for attachment to a person's foot, or to be ridden-on, for conveying a person over the ground.

[0002] Known sporting devices of the above type include toboggans, roller skates, snow-skis and so-called "grass-skis", the latter comprising interlinked ground-engaging members which form an endless self-laying device which circulates around an endless track on a guiding body.

[0003] In one known construction of grass-ski, the guiding body is of one-piece construction and is made of sheet metal which is bent into the required shape as to form an endless path for the ground-engaging members. By making the guiding body as a one-piece construction, different lengths of grass-ski will require correspondingly different lengths of guiding body which will have to be formed separately according to each required size of grass-ski. Therefore, separate tooling is necessary for each required size of guiding body.

[0004] Also, by virtue of the one-piece construction of the guiding body, when any particular part of the guiding body becomes damaged or unduly worn, the entire guiding body must be replaced with evident commercial disadvantage to the user'.

[0005] According to the invention there is provided a sporting device intended for attachment to a person's foot, or to be ridden-on, for conveying a person over the ground and comprising:

a guide forming an endless track;

a support connected to said guide and adapted in use to support a person's foot or the body of a person;

and an endless ground-engaging device mounted on said guide and moveable along said track in order to propel the sporting device along the ground;

[0006] in which the guide comprises first and second track members forming respectively upper and lower runs of said track in use of the sporting device, and a removable connecting member forming part of said track and interconnecting said first and second track members.

[0007] The sporting device according to the invention may take the form of a grass-ski, in which case said support is adapted to mount and support footwear of a user. However, the sporting device according to the invention may be incorporated in a body-supporting device such as a toboggan or bobsleigh, in which said support is arranged to be capable of supporting at least part of the body of the user.

[0008] When the sporting device forms part of a body supporting device having a pair of laterally spaced "runners", preferably each of the runners is constituted by a corresponding said supporting device .

[0009] Conveniently, the endless ground engaging device comprises an endless belt to which are attached, along the length thereof, a number of spaced ground engaging members which engage the ground during transit along the second track member, and are out of contact with the ground during travel along the first track member.

[0010] Preferably, a pair of connecting members are provided, one being located at each of the adjacent ends of the first and second track members.

[0011] By providing a guide which is-made-of more'than one constituent part, assembly is facilitated and also economies in the manufacture can be achieved, and particularly in the manufacture of a range of sizes of the sporting device. Thus, the first and second track members can be readily fabricated in any required length, and a common design of connecting member can be used in order to complete the assembly.

[0012] The separate parts of the guide can be designed specifically to meet particular design loads for that part concerned, thereby optimising .the overall construction. By contrast, a one-piece guide, conveniently manufactured with a substantially uniform cross-section, would be stronger than necessary in the regions of the guide which are exposed to smaller stresses in service e.g. the upper run of the track compared with the lower run.

[0013] Further, in the event of damage to the guide or undue wear, replacement of a constituent part should suffice rather than the replacement of the entire guide.

[0014] In a practical embodiment of the invention, the second track may be fabricated in a material, such as stainless steel, and with a configuration so as to provide a high load-bearing capacity, whereas the first track can such as alluminium alloy be fabricated more cheaply with materials and configuration to take the smaller loadings encountered in service.

[0015] Each connecting member, which forms a reverse loop for the track, can be made of wear-resistant material, preferably plastics material, in order to bear the loadings encountered in service by the direction-reversal of the ground-engaging members as they move between the first and second track members.

[0016] Each ground engaging member may have at least one roller which engages said track and, preferably, a pair of rollers is provided for each member which have flange portions·which engage the sides of a channel provided by said guide in order to guide the movement of the member along the track and to locate the member laterally relative to the track.

[0017] Conveniently, each of the first and second track members comprises a "top hat" section, and each ground engaging member has an inward projection which engages the underside of a corresponding flange of the top hat section in order to hold-down the member on the track. In order to minimise frictional drag on the member in service, it is preferred that each projection comprises a rotary member.

[0018] The support, for a person's foot or body, may be mounted on the guide in any convenient manner, so as not to interfere with the movement of the ground-engaging members along said track. Preferably, the support is mounted on the first track member via U-shaped brackets which allow the ground engaging members to move between the limbs thereof during movement along the first track member.

[0019] One embodiment of sporting device according to the invention will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of the device;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view of the device;

Figure 3 is a side view of a ground-engaging member of the device;

Figure 4a to 4d comprises detail views of a removable connecting member which forms part of a guide track of the device;

Figures 5a to 5c comprise detail views of part of the ground engaging member shown in Figure 3; and

Figures 6a to 6f comprise detail views of further parts of the ground engaging member.

[0020] Referring now to Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, the sporting device is designated generally by reference numeral 10 and is intended for attachment to a person's foot, or to be ridden on, for conveying a person over the ground. The device 10 comprises a guide which forms an endless track and which is constituted by a first track member 11, a second track member 12, and a pair of removable connecting members 13 which form part of the track and which interconnect the first and second track members 11 and 12. The members 11 to 13 are shown only diagrammatically in Figure 1, and it will be evident that the connecting members 13 are provided at each of the adjacent ends of the track members 11 and 12 so as to couple them together , and also to form a reverse loop of the track formed by the members 11 to 13.

[0021] A support 14 is connected to the guide, in that it is mounted on the first track member 11 via a pair of U-shaped brackets 15, and the support 14 is intended to support a person's foot. Although not shown, any convenient means may be provided on the support 14 in order to hold the foot of a user thereon e.g. a fastener may be provided of the type used in securing a boot to a ski.

[0022] While the support 14 is intended to support a person's foot, it should be understood that the support 14 may be shaped and dimensioned so as to be capable of supporting at least part of the body of a person.

[0023] An endless ground-engaging device is mounted on the guide and is movable along the track provided by members 11 to 13 in order to propel the sporting device 10 along the ground. The ground-engaging device comprises a plurality of members 16 which are spaced apart throughout the length of an endless belt of the like 17. The construction and arrangement of the members 16 on the track are shown in more detail in Figures 2 and 3. Each member 16 comprises a carriage having two pairs of track- engaging rollers 18 which are shown in Figure 2 engaging a track formed by a pair of lateral flanges 19 of the first track member 11. The rollers 18 have flanges 20 which serve to locate the carriage laterally relative to the track. Although not shown, the engagement of the carriage with the lower run of the track provided by the second track member 12 will be generally similar to that shown in Figure 2, in relation to the upper run provided by the first track member 11.

[0024] In order to hold-down the carriage on the track, each carriage is provided with one or more projections which engage the opposite side of the flanges 19 to that engaged by the rollers 18. In the arrangement shown in Figures 2 and 3, a pair of lateral projections are provided which comprise radiused'rollers 21.

[0025] Each carriage is assembled with the belt 17 at a predetermined spacing from adjacent carriages on the belt, and this is achieved by providing a removable cover 22 which can be assembled with the main body of the carriage with the belt 17 located therebetween. The cover 22 is fastened to the main body of the carriage by means of a threaded fastener 23, and outward projections 24 provided on thenain body of the carriage are received in pre-formed apertures (not shown) positioned along the length of the belt 17 in order to determine the required positions of the carriages on the belt.

[0026] In addition to illustrating the engagement of a carriage with the first track member 11, Figure 2 also shows part of the support 14 which is secured to the underside of the track member 11.

[0027] Referring now to Figure 4, the construction of the removable connecting members 13 (shown only diagrammatically in Figure 1) are shown in more detail. Each connecting member 13 joins together the adjacent ends of the first and second track members 11 and 12, and also forms part of the guide track for the carriages 16 which is formed, in the case of the first and second track members 11 and 12, by means of the lateral flanges 19 thereof. Accordingly, each connecting member 13 forms a curved prolongation of the track as provided by the flanges 19. Accordingly, the rollers 18 of each carriage 16 can readily carry out direction-reversal via the connecting members 13 in order to move between the first and second track members 11 and 12.

[0028] The connecting members 13 are readily connected to, and removed from the first and 'second track members 11 and 12 in that a single bolt can be taken through aligned holes in the track members 11 and 12 and through a hole 25 provided in the connecting member 13. Accordingly, assembly of the guide, constituted by the members 11 to 13, can be achieved in simple manner. Furthermore, if any constituent part of the guide becomes damaged, or unduly worn, it should only be necessary to replace the damaged or worn part. By contrast, the provision of the known one-piece guide requires the scrapping of the entire guide in the event of damage or wear.

[0029] The first and second track members 11 and 12 are conveniently fabricated from sheet metal, and the lengths of these members can be selected according to requirements. Conveniently, the members are formed from extruded section, and the required lengths of section will be cut-off in accordance with the required overall length of the sporting device. The assembly is then readily completed by means of the connecting members 13, which can be of a common design to fit a range of lengths of sporting device.

[0030] The first and second track members 11 and 12 are preferably fabricated from a material, and in such a configuration, as to meet the anticipated design loads of each component. Evidently, in service, the lower run of the track, provided by the second track member 12, will bear greater loads than the upper run provided by the first track member 11. The connecting members 13 will be subjected in service to substantial wear-inducing loads, by virtue of the direction-reversal which the carriages undergo. Accordingly, it is preferred that the connecting members 13 should be made from suitable wear-resistant plastics material. However, even in the event of wear occurring in the connecting members 13, it will be a simple matter to provide connecting members 13 as replacement parts.

[0031] Figure 5 shows detail views of the construction of the main body of each carriage 16, and Figure 6 shows the construction of the rollers and a taper washer which are fitted in each carriage.

[0032] The embodiment of sporting device described herein with reference to the drawings is primarily intended to form a so-called grass-ski. However, it should be understood that the sporting device of the invention is applicable generally in the conveyance of a person over the ground, the device having a support for a person's foot or body, a guide forming an endless track , and an endless ground engaging device mounted on the guide and moveable along the track in order to propel the sporting device along the ground. Thus, the sporting device may form part of a body -supporting device such as a toboggan or bobsleigh, in which at least one "runner" is constituted by said sporting device. There will then be provided a body-supporting device which is usable as a sporting device in the absence of snow.

Claims

1. A sporting device intended for attachment to a person's foot, or to be ridden on, for conveying a person over the ground and comprising:

a guide forming an endless track;

a support (14) connected to said guide and adapted in use to support a person's foot or the body of a person;

and an endless ground-engaging device (16,17) mounted on said guide and movable along said track in order to propel the sporting device along the ground;

characterised in that the guide comprises first and second track members (11,12) forming respectively upper and lower runs of said track in use of the sporting device, and a removable connecting member (13) forming part of said track and interconnecting said first and second track members.

2. A sporting device according to claim 1, characterised inthat the sporting device takes the form of a grass-ski, and said support (14) is adapted to mount and support footwear of a user.

3. A sporting device according to claim 1, characterised in that the sporting device is incorporated ina a body-supporting device such as a toboggan or bobsleigh, i and said support (14) is arranged to be capable of supporting at least part of the body of a user.

4. A body supporting device incorporating a pair of sporting devices according to claim 3, characterised in that each sporting device forms one of a pair of laterally spaced "runners" of the body supporting device.

5. A sporting device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the endless ground engaging device comprises an endless belt (17) to which are attached, along the length thereof, a number of spaced ground engaging members (16) which engage the ground during transit along the second track member (12), and are out of contact with the ground during travel along the first track member.(11).

6. A sporting device according to claims 1 to 5, characterised by a pair of said connecting members (13), one being located at each of the adjacent ends of the first and second track members (11,12).

7. A sporting device according to claim 1 to 6, characterised in that the second track (12) is made of high-strength material, such as stainless steel, and with a configuration so as to provide a high load bearing capacity, and the first track (11) is made of a material, such as aluminium, and in a configuration to take the smaller loadings encountered by the first track in service.

8. A sporting device according to claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the or each connecting member (13), which forms a reverse loop for the track, is made of wear-resistant material such as plastics.

9. A sporting device according to claim 5, characterised in that each ground-engaging member (16) has a pair of rollers (18) which have flange portions (20) which engage the sides of a channel provided by said guide in order to guide the movement of the ground-engaging member (16) along the track and to locate the member laterally relative to the track.

10. A sporting device according to claim 5 or 9, characterised in that each of the first and second track members (11,12) comprises a "top hat" section, and each ground engaging member (16) has an inward projection (21) which engages the underside of a corresponding flange of the top hat section in order to hold down the member on the track.

11. A sporting device according to claim 10, characterised in that each projection (21) comprises a rotary member.

12. A sporting device according to claim 5, characterised in that said support (14) is mounted on the first track member (11) via U-shaped brackets (15) which allow the ground engaging members (16) to move between the limbs thereof during movement alongthe first track member (11).

Drawing