AU8822482A - Sail sheeting or trimming device - Google Patents

Description

Sail sheeting or trimming device

The invention relates to a sail sheeting or trimming device, in particular for wind surfing or dinghy sails, comprising a line for interconnecting a fix point, e.g. a clew, on the sail and a force transmitting device, whereby the line can be stretched manually.

The most common types of sail sheeting devices are line blocks and winches, often arranged in combination with clam- ping devices, e.g. so called clam-cleats, so that the sheet line can be stretched manually under force amplification and be secured in a stretched condition. Similar devices ar also used .for fine adjustment or trimming various parts of a sail, e.g. for adjusting its curvature or belly to the actual wind conditions.

In recent years, wind surfing has become more and more popu¬ lar. The principal difference in rig and sail from a conven¬ tional sail equipment is that the mast foot is pivotable at the sailing board and that the sailor while balancing keeps both mast and sail steady by holding at a loop-shaped boom extending on both sides of the sail. Thus, The main part of the adjustment of the sail is performed by the sailor by keeping the boom in a desired position while simultaneously balancing with his body. However, there is also a need to adjust the stretching of the sail, i.e. to make it plane or ςurved. For this purpose, winches are too bulky and there¬ fore sail stretching has hitherto been achieved by means of a sheet line fastened to a clew and drawn through a pulley or the like at the after end of the boom, the line being secured in a clamp device at the boom. However, this arran¬ gement results in that the sail adjustment can only be per¬ formed with great difficulty during sailing. Similar problems occur in dinghy sailing.

• EAC OMPI The background of the invention is a desire to enable a fine control of the stretching of the sail while sailing by means of a device which is easy to operate and easy to reach. This is achieved by a device having the features stated in claim 1 The device can also be used in other applications than wind surfing and dinghy sailing, e.g. for trimming shrouds and stays in a sailing rig.

Since the force transmitting device is designed as a rotary handle, the latter can serve two purposes at the same time, namely as a holding means and a self-checking sail sheeting means.

The invention will be explained further below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a wind surfing sailor on a sailing board provi- ded with a sheeting device according to the invention;

Fig. 2 shows a central longitudinal section through a handle rotatably arranged on a bracket and included in the inventiv sheeting device;

Fig. 3 shows a section along the line III-III in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 shows an alternative embodiment comprising a rotary handle forming an integral portion of the loop-formed boom.

Thus, in Fig. 1 a sailor is shown sailing on a board having a conventional mast 1, a sail 2 and a loop-formed boom 3. Furthermore, according to the invention, a special sheeting device is fastened to the boom 3. The sheeting device consist of a rotary handle 4a, 4b attached to each boom half 3a, 3b, which i.handle is connected to a sheeting line 5a, 5b in such a way that the sheeting line is stretched or slacked when the handle is turned manually by the sailor. To enable release from the clew 7 of the sail, at least one of the sheeting line portions 5a, 5b (in the shown example both portions) is conncected to a line 8a, 8b extending axially into the handle by means of a loop and hook 9a, 10a and 9b, 10b respectively, or corresponding simple coupling means.

In the illustrated example, one and the same sheeting line 5a, 5b is thus drawn from one of the coupling means 9a, 10a of the handle 4a via a hole 11a in an after boom fitting 11 through the eye of the clew 7, via another hole lib in the boom fitting 11 to the coupling means 9b, 10b of the other handle 4b. The configuration of the line at the boom fitting 11 and the clew 7 can, of course, be modified in many different ways by means of pulleys or the like. In principle, the sheet li e portions 5a, 5b can also be separately fastened to the clew 7, which would make it necessary to give away the respective sheet line portion somewhat before one goes to windward and sails on the other tack.

The sheeting handle 4 is shown further in Figs.2 and 3. A bracket 12, of e.g. aluminum or other light and corrosion resistant construction material, is at one end formed with two complementary halves 13a, 13b, which by means of a screw or some other clamping device can be secured in a desired position on the boom 3 (dashed) . The bracket 12 is connected to a guiding means 14 extending at right angle therefrom(thus, in parallel to the boom 3 or the like) in the form of two parallel and mutually separated guide mem¬ bers 14a, 14b each having a cross-section (Fig. 3) formed as a circular segment. The guiding means 14 is suitably formed integrally with the bracket 12 but can also be rigidly connected thereto in another way.

The guide members 14a, 14b form between themselves a centrally longitudinal cavity, in which a screw member 15 is disposed. The screw member is dimensioned so as to be slidingly guided and displaced axially between the guide members without being rotated about the longitudinal axis, along which the line 8 extends through a hole 16 in the bracket 12 and through a hole 17 situated in registry therewith in the screw member 15. The hole 17 is somewhat expanded in the portion of the screw member 15 facing away from the bracket 12 for receiving an end knot on the line 8, as shown in Fig. 2.

At its part-circular, peripheral portions the screw member 15 is provided with an external trapezoid thread which engages with a corresponding internal trapezoid thread at the inside of a rotatable sleeve 18, which forms the handle 4 of the sheeting device. The sleeve 18 is kept axially secured between the bracket 12 and a locking ring 19 fastened to the free solid end of the guiding means 14, the locking ring being fixed by means of a locking screw 20.

Both the handle sleeve 18 and the screw member 15 are suitably made of a thermoplastic material of low friction, such as polyamide. When rotating the sleeve 18 manually, the non-rotatable screw member 15 will thus be displaced axially in a direction corresponding to the direction of rotation, whereby the line 8 is stretched or slacked. Compare Fig. 1, wherein the left arm of the sailor is dashed in the operating position. In this operating position, the sailor may still keep his balance in a favorable way with both hands at the boom 3b and, thus, the necessary- sheeting can be performed during sailing.

An alternative embodiment of the handle device is shown in Fig. 4, wherein the handle sleeve 18'is integral with the boom 3. A portion of the tubular boom 3' is cut away

- PO and replaced by a connecting member serving as a guide'for a screw member (not shown) and the surrounding, rotatable handle 18'. The guide, the screw member and the handle sleeve have substantially the same design and function as sho in Figs. 2 and 3. However, the connecting member is fastened to the boom portions 3' by means of internal tube sections 21, 22 being secured by rivets 23. In Fig. 4, the left tube section 21 has a radial flange 24, whereas a locking ring 19' is fixed by means of a looking screw 20' onto the right tube section. Thus, the rotary handle sleeve 18' is kept axially fixed between the flange 24 and the locking ring 19*. In this case, the sheet line 8 runs inside the boom 3' and suitably runs inside the boom all the way to the after fitting or the like.

Of the two embodiments, the one shown in Figs. 2 and 3 has the advatage that the handle 4 can be mounted at a desired • position along the boom 3. On the other hand, the embodiment according to Fig. 4 is advantageous in that the boom 3' does not have any protruding portions and the sheet line 8" extends hidden inside the boom.

The device according to the invention can be modified in several ways. Thus, it is also possible to trim the rig on a sailing boat by stretching shrouds or stays by means of such a device, the pitch of the thread being of course adjusted to the force required.

Claims (1)

C L I M S

1. A sail sheeting or trimming device, comprising a line (5,8) for interconnecting a fix 'point (7) on a sail and a force transmitting device, whereby the line can be stretched manually, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the force transmitting device consists of a handle (4) in the form of a rotatable sleeve (18) which is internally in thread engagement with a non-rotatably guided, axially displaceable screw member (15) being connected to the line (18).

2) A device as defined in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the handle (18) is disposed on a bracket (12) , which is releasably secured to another operating device, especially to a boom (3) .

3) A device as defined in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the handle (18') consists of an integral portion of another operating device, especially- of a boom (3*).

4) A device as defined in anyone of claims 1 through 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a handle (4a,4b) is disposed on each side of the sail, the lines (8a,8b) belonging to the respective handles being interconnectable

(9a,10a,9b,10b) to each other and to said fix point (7) on the sail.

OMPI