FR2539309A1 - Safety pit for hazardous gymnastics exercises - Google Patents

Abstract

A safety pit for hazardous gymnastics exercises, forming a cavity 1 in which a net 4 is stretched in a horizontal position, and on which net is arranged a layer of foam formed by a foam mattress 9 and/or foam blocks 10 placed in a jumble and occupying the upper volume of the said cavity 1, so that the upper part of the layer of foam is located substantially at the level of the upper peripheral edge 2a of the pit, which comprises, moreover, shock-absorbing means arranged between the said net 4 and the bottom 3 and distributed in the pit, is characterised in that the net 4 is stretched horizontally on the side of the upper part of the pit at a distance of between 15 cm and 60 cm from its upper peripheral edge 2a, in order to obtain a layer of foam having a minimum thickness which is, however, sufficient to cushion, in combination with the net and the said shock-absorbing means, the fall of the gymnast, to prevent the effect of flattening of the foam and to favour its expansion after having been compressed, in order to return to its original configuration. The invention applies to halls or playing fields where hazardous gymnastics exercises are performed.

Description

Safety pit for perilous gymnastic exercises
your present invention relates to a safety pit for perilous gymnastic exercises.

 The technical sector of the invention is that of sports structures equipping gymnasiums or sports grounds.

 The currently known safety pits form a cavity in which is disposed, at a low height from the bottom, a net stretched over anchor points fixed to the walls of the pit, and resting on shock absorbers, for example automobile tires or blocks of high density foam. On this - net is; arranged in. loose.

 blocks or foam waste of all shapes.

The volume delimited by the walls of the pit and the mattress is filled with foam blocks of all shapes which thus make up a thick layer of foam. At the end of their exercises, the gymnasts are received by this layer of foam which has the function of absorbing their fall and avoiding any accident. The repeated fall of the bodies in the pit and because of the large thickness of the foam layer, causes the foam to settle down, in particular of the blocks located at the lower part of the layer.

It is understood that, when the foam is packed, its damping function is greatly reduced. It is therefore necessary to invert the position of the blocks and move those located at the bottom of the layer to put them at the top. In practice, such an operation is not easy and we then designed foam mattresses intended to replace the elements put loose in the pit. These mattresses are composed of blocks of rectangular foam quadrilles and cut according to vertical slits on the almost all of their height from their upper face to the vicinity of their lower face to form. flexible parallelepipedic vertical candles moving and joined to each other. These blocks are assembled are assembled to form a stetendent foam mattress over the height of the pit.

It has been observed that these candles, due to their position
Jointed and therefore the friction resulting therefrom, often remained in their deformed position after being subjected to the fall of a body.

 The present invention aims to remedy these drawbacks.

 The objective to be achieved is to bring improvements to the arrangements of the safety pits by providing the latter with reception devices for more efficient gymnasts with the aim of alleviating in particular the effects of packing of the foam by the repeated fall of the.

performers.

 This objective is achieved by the safety pit according to the invention for perilous gymnastic exercises forming a cavity in which a net is stretched in a horizontal position, and on which net is arranged a layer of foam formed by a foam mattress and / or blocks of foam placed in bulk and occupying the upper volume of said cavity, so that the upper part of the layer of foam is located substantially at the level of the upper peripheral edge of the pit, which further comprises means shock absorbers arranged between said net and the bottom and distributed in the pits characterized in that said net is stretched. horizontally from the side of the upper part of the. pit at a distance between 15 cm. and 60 cm. from its upper peripheral edge, in order to obtain a layer of foam of a minimum thickness but sufficient to absorb, in combination with the net -and said damping means, the fall of the nast gyar, to avoid the effect of compaction of the foam and promote its expansion otherwise after being compressed to return to its original configuration.

 In a nonlimiting embodiment, the foam layer is formed by at least one parallelepipedal block comprising vertical tronepyramidal candles and the base of said candles is located approximately halfway through the thickness of the foam layer.

 In another non-limiting embodiment, the bottom of the pit consists of a net or at least one target, for example of steel, arranged in a zigzag shape and stretched over anchoring points fixed to the walls of the pit. The connection of the upper net which carries the layer of foam - and the bottom of the pit> being carried out by means of foam blocks adopting the shape of walls and extending longitudinally to the pit.

 The invention also has other features which are set out in the appended claims.

 The result of the invention is a safety pit whose foam layer is not very thick and is carried by a net stretched on the side of the upper part of the pit in order to avoid the compaction of the blocks of foam which constitute said layer and provide the pit with effective means in order to ensure amortization in the best conditions, when the gymnasts fall after their perilous exercises.

 In the embodiment, in which the foam layer is composed of parallelepiped and / or cubic foam blocks, the fact that the foam layer is of small thickness avoids subjecting the lower blocks to a significant weight which generates the compaction of the foam.

 In the embodiment where the mattress consists of blocks of foam forming tronepyramidal candles, these deform under the effect of the weight of the gymnast during his fall and return to their original position because they are free from each other and that no friction acts to prevent them from resuming their original form.

 In the embodiment where the bottom of the pit is constituted by a net or at least one cable stretched in a zigzag, there are obtained shock absorbing means providing maximum safety for gymnasts. In addition, in this embodiment, the risks of humidity of the blocks of shock-absorbing foam are eliminated because the blocks are deviations from the bottom of the cavity, which can be left on clay.

Other advantages and characteristics of the invention will emerge from the following description of various embodiments of a safety pit, with reference to the attached drawing in which
- La.figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of a safety pit in which the damping means connect the bottom of the pit and the net which carries the layer of foam;
- Figure 2 is a perspective view of the block of shock absorbing foam taking the form of a wall held in a vertical position by lateral support pieces;
- Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a safety pit, the bottom of which consists of a steel net or at least one steel cable stretched in a zigzag pattern on anchor points fixed to the walls of the pit; ;
- Figure 4 is a sectional view along line IV IV of Figure 3 illustrating a bottom des'fosse made by means of two cables stretched in a zigzag, so that the strands of the cables cross in their middle;
- Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of a foam block ~ forming.troncpyramidal shaped candles intended - replace the uniform foam layer and foam blocks thrown in bulk as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3 ;
- Figure 6 is a top view of the fitting illustrated in Figure 7;
- Figure 7 is an elevational view of a fitting for receiving elastic links to ensure the maintenance in position of a cover sheet of the foam layer;
- Figure 8 is a partial top view illustrating the fixing, by means of elastic links, of said cover.

 In one embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawing, a safety pit according to the invention comprises a cavity 1, delimited by a peripheral wall 2 and a bottom 3. This cavity can be dug in the ground or be practiced in surface by building around a masonry wall or from several removable elements assembled together, other than the masonry components.

 This pit comprises, on the side of its peripheral edge 2a, a net 4, for example of polyamide, stretched in a horizontal position substantially parallel to the bottom 3 on anchor points, for example hook pegs, fixed in the wall of the pit. In known manner, the net is tensioned by means of elastic links or cables 6, passed through the edge meshes and attached to said pitons 5.

 According to the invention, the net 4 is arranged in the pit at a distance d, relatively close to the edge 2a, of between 60 cm. and 15 cm. as a function of the other components which form the fall damping means.

 In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1, the distance-d is for example 50 cm.

 The net 4 firstly supports a polypropylene protective fabric 7, brought into contact with the net, extending over its surface and comprising eyelets distributed along its edges. Said fabric 7 is fixed above the net 5 by means of elastic ties or cables 8 hooked to the pegs 5. On this protective fabric 7 is disposed a layer of uniform foam or mattress 9, so as to fill the opening of the pit. Thus the edges of the foam mattress 9 adjoin the peripheral wall of the pit. On this mattress 9 is placed in bulk a plurality of foam blocks 10 which may be rectangular or cubic or may also take any other form.

 Below the net 4, in the median part of the pit and longitudinally thereto, is mounted a wall made of foam blocks 11. These blocks 11 extend from the net 4 to the bottom of the pit 3 and also on the length of the pit. Their function is to support the middle part of the net and to increase the damping of the gymnasts during their fall.

In order to ensure the stability of said wall, the blocks
They comprise on both sides lateral support parts 11a, which are also made of foam and are of a rectangular-rectangular profile. The support pieces 11a are distributed along the blocks 11 and are for example glued to the lateral faces of said blocks.

 In order to prevent the moisture, which is often present in pits dug in the ground, from rising by absorption of the foam wall 1.1, the latter comprises, at its base, an insulating layer 12, for example in polyethylen or in any other similar material, which layer t2 consists of several plates glued below the blocks il and lateral support pieces 11a.

 The layer of foam blocks 10 can be covered by a sheet 13, for example a canvas placed in contact with the foam blocks and comprising eyelets at its periphery (FIG. 8). This fabric is stretched over the foam layer by means of elastic ties or cules 14, passed through said eyelets and in fittings 15 distributed along the edges of the pit. In one embodiment, the fittings adopt the shape of that more particularly illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the drawing, which is produced from a metal rod of a circular cross section and is bent at an acute angle of gold, for example 30 to form a first rectilinear part 15a comprising an eye or a hook 15a1 at its free end and a second straight part 15b.

 To receive the fittings 15, the pit comprises, in its upper peripheral edge 2a, blind holes 2b of a length substantially equal to the part 15b of the hooks 15. These blind holes 2b are oblique and inclined towards the side of the pit. Preferably, they are aligned so that their opening is located on a line parallel to the edge of the pit and their axis is located in a plane substantially perpendicular to said edge. The fittings 15 are engaged in said blind holes 2b. In the hooking position, their part 15a is substantially parallel to the edge 2a of the pit and close to the latter.

 In order to promote the damping of the gymnasts when they fall on the foam layer, the cover sheet 13 is preferably made from a flexible and elastic canvas, soft to the touch, for example jersey of brushed polyamide.

 The advantage of such a pit is that the relatively small thickness of the foam layer, but sufficient to ensure the damping of the gymnasts at the time of their fall, and the low weight of foam on the lower blocks, means that none compaction of the foam does not occur.

 The pit thus retains its characteristics of total safety without the need to intervene to invert the foam blocks and put the lower blocks on top of the layer of blocks.

 In another embodiment, the polyamide net 4 is stretched horizontally on the side of the upper part of the pit and at a distance d of between 15 cm. and 30 cm. For example, the net is arranged at 25 cm. from the edge 2a of the pit and like the pit previously described, it is supported by a median wall similar to said wall 11.

 On the net 4 is placed a protective fabric similar to the above-mentioned fabric 7 and on this a foam mattress similar to said mattress 9, but of a thickness such that its upper face is located in the plane in which is finds the peripheral edge 2a of the pit.

 This foam mattress is preferably covered by a flexible elastic canvas of the kind described above, for example jersey jersey of polyamide.

 In another embodiment, the polyamide 4 net is stretched horizontally at a distance d of between 20 oz. and 60 cm.

For example, the net 4 is placed at 50 cm. from the upper edge 2a of the pit. It is supported by one or more longitudinal walls similar to the wall 11. On the net 4 is first arranged a protective fabric similar to that 7 previously described er- sar''celle-o - a layer of foam which is covered by a tarpaulin similar to said tarpaulin 13.

 According to the invention the layer of foam, inserted between the protective fabric 7 and the covering sheet 13, is composed of blocks of parallelepipedal foam 16, comprising a plurality of truncated pyramid candles 16a extending orthogonally to the net 4, juxtaposed and contiguous to each other by their base. Preferably, the height of said candles is substantially equal to the half-thickness of the layer of foam. The spaces in V 16b, reserved between the trunks of pyramids allow the candles to return to their initial vertical position after having been deformed under the weight of the gymnast and as soon as the latter is removed from the pit.

 Another embodiment of a pit according to the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.

 At its upper part, the pit has the same arrangements in the variants which have just been described. The net 4 is stretched at a distance d of between 15 cm. and 60 cm. on which net is arranged, in addition to a protective fabric 7, or a foam mattress se 9 on which are bulk blocks of foam of different shapes 10, the layer of which reaches the level of the peripheral edge 2a of the pit; either a foam mattress forming a uniform layer whose upper face is in the plane of the peripheral rim 2a of the pit; or a layer of foam 16 of which. the upper part comprises a plurality of truncated pyramid candles 16a.

 The foam may or may not be green on the front by a cover of ordinary canvas or polyamide-scraped jersey.

 The pit illustrated in FIG. 3 takes up the example previously described with reference to FIG. 1 of the drawing. However, in this embodiment, the bottom of the pit is constituted by a structure of relative elasticity 17 which is fixed to the peripheral wall of the pit.

 In one embodiment, the "bottom" 17 is constituted by one or two steel cables stretched in a zigzag fashion on anchor points, for example studs 18 sealed or screwed into the wall of the pit and situated in a plane parallel to the plane in which are the pins 5 which support the net 4 on which the foam layer is arranged.

 The drawing represents two cables 17a / 17b, the strands of which cross in the middle, which thus extend in a substantially horizontal plane, spaced from the bottom 19 of the cavity which can be left on clay.

 La-structure 17 could only be constituted by a single cable, for example 17a, stretched in a zigzag fashion to interest the surface of the pit.

 The foam partition It is fixed to the structure 17 by means of a strip of fabric or a plywood plate 20, fixed to the cables or to the net and which ensures the connection between the net 4 and the composite structure of the two cables 17a / 17b.

 Thus any deformation of the foam layer and the net 4, under the effect of the fall of the gymnast, is passed through the partition 11 to the structure 17 which, given the nature of its components, in l 'occurrence of steel cables 17a / 17b, plays the double thread of the support structure and additional damping member. The cable or cables which constitute the structure 17 are preferably composed of several sections hooked separately to the studs 18, in order to limit the consequences in the event of cable breakage.

 In another embodiment, the structure 17 is produced from a steel net stretched by means of cabals on the pegs 18. This design according to which the bottom is constituted by a structure 17, as described above is especially applies to deep pits.

 In addition to the damping function of the structure 17, the fact that it is spaced from the bottom 19 of the cavity cancels the risk of transmitting to the foam 'any moisture that may exist in the pit.

 Of course, without departing from the scope of the invention, the parts which have just been described could be replaced by equivalent parts fulfilling the same function.

Claims (16)

 1. Safety pit for perilous gymnastic exercises, forming a cavity (1) in which a net (4) is stretched in a horizontal position, and on which net is arranged a layer of foam formed by a foam mattress (9 ) and / or blocks of foam 510) placed in bulk and occupying the upper volume of said cavity (1), so that the upper part of the layer of foam is situated substantially at the level of the upper peripheral edge (2a) of the pit which further comprises damping means disposed between said net (4) and the bottom (3) and distributed in the pit, characterized in that said net (4) is stretched horizontally on the side of the upper part of the pit to a distance between header '' 15 em. and 60 cm. from its upper peripheral edge (2a), in order to obtain a layer of foam of a minimum thickness but sufficient to absorb, in combination with the net and said damping means, the fall of the gymnast, avoiding the effect compression of the foam and promote its expansion after being compressed, to return to its original configuration  2. Pit according to claim 1 characterized in that the net (4) is disposed at a distance from the upper edge (2a) of the pit between 20 cm. and 60 cm. preferably 50 cm. and comprises in combination above the net a protective fabric (7) extending over the surface of the net (4);  a uniform layer of foam (9) disposed on said fabric;  and above said layer a plurality of foam blocks (10).  3. Pit according to claim 1, characterized in that the net (4) is placed at a distance from the upper edge (2a) of the pit, between 20 cm. and 60 cm.,. preferably 50 cm. and has, in combination above the net  - a protective fabric (7). extending over the area of the net (4);  - And a layer of foam (16) .. placed on said canvas and com carrying a plurality of candles (16a) troncpyramidal extending substantially orthogonally'- to the net (4).  4. Pit according to claim 3s characterized ex that the foam layer is formed by at least one block paralléÏépi.pédique eIBr, and the base of tronepyramidal candles (16a) is located substantially mid-thickness of the foam layer.  5. Pit according to claim 1, characterized in that the net est.placE at a distance from the upper edge (2a) of the pit between 15 cm. and 30 cm. preferably 25 om. and features in combination above the net  a protective fabric (7) extending over the surface of the net 4;  - And a uniform layer of foam placed on said canvas (7).  6. Fpsse according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises a tarpaulin (13) stretched above said layer of foam and brought into contact with it, which tarpaulin (13) is produced from a flexible elastic canvas, soft to the touch.  7. Pit according to claim 6, characterized in that the fabric which constitutes the cover (13) is scraped polyamide jersey.  8. Pit according to any one of claims 1 to 7, ca acted in that it comprises, below the net (4) and between the latter and the bottom (3) of the pit, damping means constituted by at least one block of foam (11) extending over the length of the pit and in the middle part thereof.  9. Pit according to claim 8, characterized in that it comprises below the net (4) several blocks of foam (11) parallel to each other, extending over the length of the pit and distributed in it- this.  10. Pit according to any one of claims 8 or 9, characterized in that the blocks (11) adopt the shape of a wall and are held in a vertical position by means of lateral foam support pieces (1a), distributed on both sides and along the length of the walls 11.  11. Pit according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that an insulating layer (12) is inserted between the underside of the blocks or walls (11) and the bottom (3) of the pit for the isolate from moisture.  12. Pit according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the bottom of the pit consists of a net (17) stretched over anchor points (18) fixed to the walls of the pit.  13. Pit according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the bottom of the pit consists of at least one cable (17a / 17b), arranged in a zigzag and stretched over anchoring points (18) fixed to the walls of the pit.  14. Pit according to any one of claims 1- to 14, characterized in that it comprises, in its peripheral rim (2a), oblique blind holes (2b) inclined towards the side of the pit and distributed around it- ci, intended to receive fittings (15) for fixing and stretching above the foam layer (9/10) said cover fabric (13).  15. Pit according to claim 14, characterized in that the axes of the blind holes (2b) are located in planes substantially perpendicular to the peripheral edge (2a) of the pit.  16. Pit according to any one of claims 14 or 15, characterized in that the fittings (15) are bent along an acute angle and comprise two parts, one of which is intended to be engaged in the blind holes (2b) and the another, which has an eye (1 Sa1) or a hook at its free end, is substantially parallel to the rim (2a) of the pit.