AU8207091A - Retractable leash - Google Patents

Description

RETRACTABLE LEASH

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an attachment device for connecting a rider/operator with a vehicle or craft such as surfboard, sailboard, kneeboard, bodyboard, surf ski, skateboard or the like. More particularly the present invention relates to a device for adjusting the length of exposed cord tethering the rider to the vehicle or craft being used. Background Art

The use of water-craft for leisure time is rapidly increasing in popularity and the diversity of water-craft has correspondingly increased. The traditional water-craft such as surfboards, kneeboards and bodyboards have now been joined by surf skis and most recently sailboards.

A particular advantage of water-craft is that when the operator/rider falls from the craft injury is sometimes minimised by the "soft landing" in the water. It is often necessary, however, for the operator to swim some way to retrieve the craft after he/she has fallen off. Particularly when used in the surf or turbulent water conditions, it is common for the craft to be swept some distance away from the operator/rider. This inconvenience is usually overcome by connecting the rider, to the water craft so that when the rider falls from the craft, it may be easily retrieved. In the past, several different types of connection devices have been proposed, one of the most popular being the so-called "leg-rope". The leg-rope is attached to the rider usually by means of a Velcro hook and eye fastener and is connected, at the other end, to the water-craft. When the rider falls from the craft, the craft may simply be retrieved by the rider pulling on the leg-rope and bringing the craft towards him/her.

Whilst the connection of the rider to the craft prevents complete separation of the two, it does tend to create some sa ty problems as, when the rider f lls from the craft, he is still in close proximity to the water-craft and may collide with the craft if not aware of its location. This is particularly true of surf boards, kneeboards, etc. in large surf when both the rider and board may be forced underwater, the rider tumbling around and having no idea of where his craft is at any one time. In order to prevent such collisions it has been proposed to lengthen the leg-rope, however, such a long leg-rope tends to drag in the water upsetting the rider's balance and inter ering with the rider's movement on and along the craft.

In order to prevent the rope dragging in the water when the rider is operating the craft while still having a rope long enough to prevent collision between the rider and the craft if the rider falls off, it has been previously proposed to construct the rope from an elastic material, usually a rubber or plastics based cord, which stretches due to the forces exerted on both the rider and the craft when they are separated. This type of leg-rope has created a further safety hazard as, when the wave turbulence passes the rider and the craft, the leg rope reforms to its original shorter length pulling the water craft toward the rider at some speed. Unless the rider is aware of the craft's movement, collision between rider and craft is inevitable. It is usual for a highly buoyant water-craft to reach the surface before the rider and the craft is therefore heading toward the rider before he/she reaches the surface. It is not uncommon in this situation for the craft to collide with the rider.

Similarly when land vehicles such as skateboards etc. are used and the rider falls off, which is a frequent occurrence, the skateboard may continue to travel, in the direction just before the rider has fallen off, for some time until it collides with .n object to stop its progress. The rider may have to travel some distance to retrieve his mount. Additionally, such unhindered movement of a skateboard or the like may cause damage to the surrounding environment, e.g. windows, doors, or other persons.

It has also been previously proposed to mount a housing on the upper surface of a surfboard for example, as shown in U.S. Patent No 4938725 which retracts the surfboard leash when the rider is on the surfboard. Such a housing, however not only interferes with movement of the rider on the surfboard since it protrudes from the upper surface but it requires a cross-bar on the board for attachment of the housing. If a board does not have such a cross bar, the board must be altered to install such a cross bar and mount the housing.

Clearly there is a need for a safe and reliable method of tethering a vehicle or craft to its operator/ rider which does not interfere with operation by the rider of the craft, allows easy separation of the rider from the craft to avoid collision and requires no alteration of the vehicle or craft.

In an effort to ameliorate the disadvantages of the prior art it is proposed to provide a device for tethering a vehicle or craft to an operator/ ider which provides the public with the choice over prior art devices and which, at least in the preferred embodiments, adjusts the length of exposed cord connecting an operator/rider to a vehicle or craft. Disclosure of Invention

In a first aspect, the present invention consists in a device for adjusting a length of exposed cord tethering a vehicle or craft to an operator/ ider, said device comprising a body portion, a reel means rotatable within said body portion and a rotation means, said body portion adapted to be attached to said rider, said cord extending from said reel means and adapted to be attached to said craft, said rotation means adapted to rotate said reel means such that when said rider is operating said craft, said cord is wound onto said reel means to minimise the length of exposed cord between said rider and said craft and when said rider is not operating said craft said cord is unwound from said reel means to increase the length of exposed cord between said rider and said craft. The invention operates as follows. When the rider falls from his/her craft or vehicle, the device increases the length of exposed cord between the two up to the maximum length of cord. In this way the rider and craft can, within certain limits, move independently and at a greater than normal distance apart, to avoid collision. As the rider approaches the craft to remount, the length of exposed cord is reduced so as not to interfere with operation of the craft.

The invention provides a device which adjusts the length of cord exposed between the rider and the craft so that when the rider is operating the craft, no excess length of exposed cord is available to drag in the water, in the case of water-craft, or interfere with operation of the craft or positioning of the rider on the craft. Conversely, when the rider falls from the craft the device allows a maximum length of cord to be exposed between the rider and the craft to reduce the chances of collision between the two.

The device is attached directly to any part of the rider but is preferably attached to a rider's arm or leg or waist by an appropriate means such as a Velcro hook and eye fastener.

Since the device is attached to the rider/operator no alteration of the vehicle or craft is required. In previously proposed devices some alteration of the vehicle or craft was required in order to fit the device. For example in U.S. Patent No 4938725 a cross-bar must be installed on the surfboard to attach the housing to the board. No such alteration of the vehicle or craft is required for the present invention as the cord which tethers the vehicle or craft to the rider is attached in the normal way. For example most water craft e.g. surfboards, kneeboards or bodyboards are attached to the rider by means of a rope attached to the craft by any appropriate craft connection means e.g. through the fin or a cross-bar if available. No alteration to the vehicle or craft is required for use with the present invention. Additionally, U.S. Patent No 4938725 discloses the housing itself being positioned on the surfboard thereby interfering with free operation of the surfboard. This is most inadequate as it is vital that the surface of the surfboard, kneeboard, bodyboard, surf-ski, sailboard, skateboard or the like being free from unnecessary protrusions which inhibit movement. It is preferable that the body portion, reel means and rotation means are constructed from lightweight synthetic material so as to be water and rust proof.

In a preferred embodiment, the rotation means may comprise a coil spring extending between the reel means and body portion. The coil spring is preferably constructed of stainless steel. The spring allows easy unwinding of the cord from the reel means when the rider is separated from his/her vehicle or craft but is strong enough to rewind the cord onto the reel means when the rider is remounting his vehicle or craft.

It is also preferable that the device be provided with a stop means slidably clamped on the cord. This stop means prevents complete retraction of the cord by the device and may be used to set a desired minimum length of exposed cord between the rider and the craft. - o -

Brief Description of Drawings

In order that the nature of the present invention may be better understood, preferred forms of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-

Figure 1 is a plan view of a device for tethering a vehicle or craft to an operator/rider according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view through Section A-A' of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal elevational view of the device shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view through B-B' of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a horizontal views of the device of Figure 1 when connected between a rider and a water-craft;

Figure 6 is a partial sectional view of a device for tethering a vehicle or craft to an operator/rider according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; Figures 7 and 8 are vertical sectional views through sections C-C and D-D' of Figure 1 respectively; and

Figure 9 is an exploded sectional view of the device of Figure 7.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Turning firstly to Figure 1, the device 10 comprises body portion 11 and reel means 12 held by and rotatable about screw 13.

As shown more clearly in Figure 2, the body portion 11 may include a recess 14 to facilitate attachment of the device to the arm or leg of the rider.

The connection cord 15 is wound around and held by reel 12 passing out of body portion 11 through aperture lo .

Turning to Figures 3 and 4, the reel 12 is connected to the body portion 11 via coiled spring 20. The device 10 may be held on the arm, leg or waist of the rider via Velcro hook and eye fastener 21. The free end of connection cord 15 is attached to the vehicle or craft. The device 10 operates as follows. When the rider is on the vehicle or craft the device 10 has a minimum length of exposed connection cord 15. This minimum length may be set by stopper means 22 slidable on connection cord 15 to an appropriate point. It is proposed to adjust stopper means 22 to allow a few feet of exposed cord between the device 10 and the rider. In this way, the amount of exposed cord will not be great enough to cause the cord to interfere with operator of the vehicle or craft or if used in the water not to be dragged in the water.

When the rider falls from the vehicle or craft, the amount of exposed or free cord between the two is lengthened as the connection cord 15 unwinds from reel 12 and the rider and craft move apart. The unwinding of cord 15 from reel 12 tightens the spiral of coiled spring 20. In addition if used in the water drag forces exerted by the water on the cord 15, the rider and the craft further unwind the cord from the device and further tighten the spiral of coil spring 20.

In a particularly heavy fall or in strong turbulent conditions such as a heavy surf, almost the entire length of cord 15 may be unwound from reel 12 so that the distance between the rider and the craft is at the maximum permitted by the length of cord 15.

When the rider remounts the vehicle or craft the coil spring 20 relaxes and rotates reel 12 to rewind cord 15. Coil spring 20 continues to expand until stop means 22 contacts body portion II preventing further retraction of the cord 15 into the device 10.

Turning now to Figure 5, in use, the device is worn on the leg, arm or waist of the user with the free end of connection cord 15 being attached to vehicle or craft connection point 24 in the usual manner, i.e. through the fin of a surf or knee board, attached to the surface of a surf, knee or body board, through the surface of a skateboard etc. With the device 10 being directly attached to the leg, arm or waist of the rider no modification to the vehicle or craft 30 is required.

Turning now to the embodiment shown in Figures 6-9, device 50 comprises reel means 52 in the form of a barrel held by and rotatable in body portion or base housing 51. Barrel 52 is connected to the base housing 51 by coil spring 60. In this embodiment, barrel 52 is a snap fit over pin 53 in base housing 51.

The connection cord 55 enters base housing 51 through aperture 56 and is wrapped around barrel 52. The end of the connection cord 55 is preferably retained in the device 50 by means of a line or cord lock 61. A slip ring 57, preferably of Teflon, may be positioned between the barrel 52 and base portion 51 to assist in free rotation of barrel 52 in base portion 51. Cap 58 prevents ingress of foreign objects such as rocks etc. which may jam the device and prevent free rotation of barrel 52 in base portion 51.

If the device is to be worn by an operator/rider a cushion or pad means 54, preferably constructed of polyurethane foam, may be attached to base housing 51 to provide a comfortable attachment to the wrist, leg or waist of an operator/rider by attachment means 59, in this case a Velcro hook and eye fastener.

The embodiment shown in Figures 6-9 operates in precisely the same fashion as the embodiment shown in Figures 1-4.

As the connection cord 55 is pulled away from the device 50, when the rider/operator and craft or vehicle become separated, the barrel 52 rotates in base housing 51 letting out connection cord 55. This in turns tightens coil spring 60 which acts to retract connection cord 55. As the rider/operator attempts to remount his/her craft or vehicle, barrel means 52 is rotated by coil spring 60 to retract the exposed length of connection cord 55. A stop means 62 may be positioned on connection cord 55 to prevent complete retraction of cord 55 and set a minimum length of exposed cord between the vehicle or craft and the rider/operator.

It will be clear to persons skilled in the art that any appropriate means may be used to rotate the reel means in the body portion to adjust the length of exposed cord between the rider/operator and vehicle or craft.

It will be recognised by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and modifications may be made to the invention as described above without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described.

Claims (1)

1. CLAIMS:

   1. A device for adjusting a length of exposed cord tethering a vehicle or craft to an operator/rider, said device comprising a body portion, a reel means rotatable within said body portion and a rotation means, said body portion adapted to be attached to said rider, said cord extending from said reel means and adapted to be attached to said craft, said rotation means adapted to rotate said reel means such that when said rider is operating said craft, said cord is wound onto said reel means to minimise the length of exposed cord between said rider and said craft and when said rider is not operating said craft said cord is unwound from said reel means to increase the length of exposed cord between said rider and said craft. 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 where, in use, said device is attached to an arm, leg or waist of said rider.

   3. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said rotation means is a coil spring which is tightened as said cord is unwound from said reel means, said tightened coil spring urging said reel means to rewind said exposed cord. . A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said body portion comprises a recessed portion to facilitate attachment of said body portion to an arm, leg or waist of the rider.

   5. A device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said cord is provided with a stop means slidably clamped on said cord, said stop means preventing a desired minimum length of exposed cord between the rider and the craft from being wound onto said reel means.

   6. A device for adjusting a length of exposed cord tethering a vehicle or craft to an operator/rider substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.