GB2179864A - Structure for use as a jump - Google Patents

Abstract

A structure for use as a jump in steeplechasing is adapted to rest on the ground and is portable as a unit. The structure comprises ground-engaging members (20) from which there extends upwardly an enclosure (32) which can be stuffed with birch twigs or the like. One embodiment takes the form of a hurdle, in which the enclosure is angled upwardly and rearwardly. The structure carries kicking boards (e.g. 23). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Structure for use as a jump This invention relates to a structure for use as a jump, and more particularly a structure to be jumped by horses in steeplechasing.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a diagrammatic side elevation of a conventional jump. In use, a horse would approach the jump from the left, as viewed in Fig. 1. It will be seen that the jump consists of three quite separate sections. The first comprises a kicking board 1 mounted on stakes 2 which are driven into the ground. It is to be understood that the kicking board 1 extends over the width of the jump, a distance which is typically 30' (9.1 m). One of the stakes 2 is shown in Fig. 1, and there would typically be a number of stakes along the kicking board.

Soaced from the first kicking board 1 is a further kicking board 3 which is similarly mounted on stakes 4 driven into the ground.

The third element in the construction of the jump is an enclosure 5 comprising pairs of vertical members 6 the lower ends of which are formed as stakes and are driven into the ground, with the two vertical members of each pair being interconnected by a horizontal member 7. There are a plurality of pairs of members 6 across the width of the jump, and these are interconnected by cross members 8 which extend across the width of the jump.

The spaces between the kicking boards 1 and 3 and between the kicking board 3 and the enclosure 5 are filled with gorse indicated by reference numeral 9. Within the enclosure 5 the ground is excavated to a depth of at least 18" (0.46 m) and birch twigs 10 are forced into the space within the enclosure and extend upwardly therefrom, the top of the birch twigs being trimmed to provide a level upper surface for the jump.

The jump described above is by no means entirely satisfactory. The disadvantages arise principally because the jump is effectively permanent. One consequence of this is that it is constantly exposed to the elements and, where the jump is on a racecourse readily accessible to the public even when racing is not taking place, the jump is also exposed to the attentions ot vandals. Furthermore, the position of the jump can only be altered by removing it completely and rebuilding it elsewhere. The ground immediately before and immediately after the jump is liable to be considerably cut up by the horses using the jump, and, particularly when racing takes place during bad weather, this may render a jump, and hence the whole course, unusable. A further problem arises because the jump is effectively continuous across the whole width of the course.This means that if the kicking boards or the cross members 8 are damaged it is necessary to replace completely the large, and consequently expensive, pieces of timber which make up those components.

According to the present invention there is provided a structure for use as a jump which is adapted to rest on the ground and is portable as a unit, the structure comprising ground engaging members which in use, rest on the ground to keep the structure stably in position, and means defining an enclosure for receiving twigs or other packing, the top of the twigs or other packing defining a transversely extending top for the jump. In a preferred construction, the single unit comprises upper and lower kicking boards, the kicking boards and enclosure being connected to one another by members extending between them.

Two embodiments of the invention are shown in Figs. 2 to 8 of the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 2 is a side elevation of a first embodiment; Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of the first embodiment; Figure 4 is a front elevation of the first embodiment; Figure 5 is a plan of the first embodiment; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a second embodiment; Figure 7 is an end view of the embodiment of Fig. 6; and Figure 8 shows two staples which may be used to secure the second embodiment in place.

The jump illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5 can be used by itself, or it can be used as one of a number of sections placed side by side to create a wider jump. For example the structure shown in Figs. 2 to 5 can be made 6' (1.8 m) wide, so that the five such structures need to be place side by side to give the standard 30' (9.1 m) wide jump used on a typical racecourse.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 2 to 5 comprises a pair of longitudinally extending lower members 20 which, in use rest on the ground. The jump further comprises a pair of upper longitudinal members 21 which are shorter than the members 20, with the members 20 extending longitudinally beyond the members 21 both forwardly and rearwardly of the jump. The lower members 20 are interconnected by transversely extending beams 22. The members 20 are also interconnected by a lower kicking board 23 to which they are bolted via metal angle brackets 24. The upper members 21 are connected together with transversely extending beams 25, to which they are bolted via U-shaped metal brackets 26. The members 21 are also interconnected by an upper kicking board 27 which is bolted to the members 21 via metal angle brackets 28.

The various elements described above define a lower framework (including the members 20) which is at ground level and an up per framework (including the members 21) the top of which is approximately 25" (0.635 m) above ground level. The upper and lower frameworks are connected to one another by two pairs of struts 29 which extend diagonally upwards fron the trailing portion of the lower framework to the trailing portion of the upper framework. The term "trailing portion" is used herein to denote the portion of the jump which is approached by horses in the course of jumping, and the term "leading portion" is used for the opposite region of the jump.

There is one pair of struts 29 on each side of the jump. The upper and lower frameworks are also connected together by two struts 30 which extend upwardly and rearwardly from the leading portion of the lower framework to a location approximately midway along the upper framework. The arrangement of struts 29 and 30 extending in opposite diagonal directions gives the structure considerable strength.

Finally, the upper and lower frameworks are connected together by two pairs of vertically extending struts 31, with one pair of struts being provided on each side of the structure.

These struts define a soace 32 between them which, in use, is stuffed with birch twigs corresponding to the birch twigs 10 as shown in Fig. 1. The spaces between the struts 29 and between the struts 29 and 31 define the spaces which, in use, can be stuffed with gorse or the like, corresponding to the gorse stuffing 9 shown in Fig. 1.

To provide added rigidity sheets 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38 extend transversely across the jump. The sheet 35 is reinforced by transversely extending battens 39, and the sheet 38 is reinforced by a transversely extending batten 40.

As regards materials, in the structure described above the kicking board 23 is preferably made of a hardwood, the panels 33, 34 and 35 of marine quality plywood, and the remaining members, except where otherwise stated, are of softwood. The various compo nents are connected together by mild steel bolts.

In use the jump described above is placed in position and secured to the ground by four U-shaped wire staples 2 > ' (0.76m) long.

These staples can easily be removed to ena ble the jump to be moved to a different position. Thus, should the ground on either side of the jump become cut up to an extent that the jump can no longer be used it can be moved to another location along the course. It will be appreciated that ground which is unsuitable for a horse to take off from, or land on, in the course of jumping may be com pletely adequate for the horse simply to run on, so that moving the jump further along the course, as just described, may be sufficient to enable the jump to be used.

The preferred embodiment described above would normally constitute just one of a number of sections extending across the course.

This means that if, for example, one of the kicking boards is damaged it will only be necessary to replace the kicking board of the particular section concerned, and not a kicking board extending right across the course. The same applies should any other component in the jump be damaged.

Although secured to the ground only by the four staples above, the jump described above has sufficient stability not to be shifted by impact with horses during jumping. One factor which is particularly important in this connection is the relatively long length of the lower framework typically 7 > ' (2.3m) which is achieved by having the leading edge of the lower framework extending beyond the leading edge of the upper framework. Despite this, however, there is no significant risk that horses will land on the leading portions of the lower framework, since in the course of clearing the jump they must necessarily follow a trajectory which will take them well forward of the leading edge of the lower framework.

It should be noted that in using the jump of the present invention there is no requirement to excavate a trench to receive the lower end of the birch twigs, this being found to be unnecessary in view of the superiority of the enclosure for the birch twigs which is provided by the structure described above, as compared to the enclosure 5 shown in Fig. 1.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 6 to 8 is a hurdle, again for horses to jump in steeplechasing.

A conventional hurdle comprises a number of horizontally extending braces, for example three such braces, interconnected by a number of rails extending at right angles to the braces. At their outer ends the braces are interconnected by two timber legs which are pointed at their lower ends so as to enable them to be driven into the ground. The legs are driven in so that the hurdle, as viewed in side elevation, forms an angle of approximately 55" with respect to the ground. The upper most brace is wrapped in a foam rubber guard in order to protect the hurdle and horses jumping over it. The uppermost brace finishes approximately 3" (7- cm) from the actual top of the hurdle, which is defined by upstanding birch twigs. The top of the uppermost brace is about 3 feet (91 cm) from the ground. Birch or gorse is interwoven between the rails. A takeoff board, or kicking board, may extend along the bottom of the hurdle and this and the top brace are preferably painted brightly, for example in qrange, to provide good visibility in bad conditions.

There are a number of problems associated with the conventional hurdle described above.

Firstly, because the hurdle is secured to the ground by the pointed timber legs being driven in, it is a relatively slow process to put a hurdle in place, and it is a correspondingly slow process to shift a hurdle to a new position should this be required. This inceases the time required to set up a course. Furthermore, there is a significant risk of a hurdle being knocked over and broken by a horse. Typically what occurs is that the timber legs are fractured at around ground level, and large divots are forced out of the ground by the lower portions of the timber legs before they fracture. These divots end up on the side of the hurdle approached by the horses, thus posing a danger to horses following the one which has damaged the hurdle.

It is an object of an aspect of the present invention to provide an improved structure which avoids or at least mitigates the problems referred to above.

According to this aspect of the present invention there is provided a portable hurdle adapted to rest on the ground and comprising ground-engaging lateral members and a structure extending between said members which defines an upwardly extending, preferably upwardly angled, assembly to be jumped.

The hurdle shown in Figs. 6 and 7 comprises two ground-engaging lateral members 41 each comprising a length of timber 4"X2" (100 mmX50 mm) in cross-section with a lower surface formed by a piece of exterior grade plywood 4" (100 mm) in width and 3/4" (19 mm) in thickness. The members 41 are interconnected by a laterally extending assembly 42 which typically gives the hurdle a width of 6' (1.8 m). The assembly 42 comprises a pair of upwardly angled members 43 formed of the same timber as the members 41. The members 43 extend upwards at an angle of 55Q to the horizontal. The upper ends of the members 43 are connected to one another by a pair of struts 44 of hardwood 3"X2" (75 mmX50 mm) which are secured to the members 43 by coach bolts 45, one of which is shown in Fig. 7.Fig. 6 shows only the openings which are designed to take the coach bolts, and it will be seen from Fig. 6 that there is an additional coach bolt extending between the struts 44 at their mid points.

At their lower ends the members 43 are interconnected by two sheets of exterior grade plywood 43 measuring 12" (300 mm) in width and 3/4" (19 mm) in thickness. The sheet 46 on the outside of the hurdle (i.e. the iefthand sheet as viewed in Figs. 6 and 7) forms a kicking board. The assembly 42 further comprises a floor timber 47 which extends across the width of the hurdle between the two boards 46.

To maintain the assembly 42 in its correct orientation with respect to the members 41 a generally triangular shaped sheet of exterior grade plywood 48 is provided at each end. It it is desired further to reinforce the hurdle an additional section of timber 49 (shown in broken lines in Fig. 7) may be provided on the interior face of each of the sheets 48, each timber 49 extending from the upper surface of a respective member 41 to the rear face of a respective member 43. Fig. 7 shows a further optional feature, namely that if it is desired to increase the stability of the hurdle the members 41 may be extended further than indicated in Fig. 6. The extended portions are denoted by reference numeral 50.

The members 43 struts 44 sheets 46 and timber 47 define a space 51 into which the lower ends of birch twigs can be stuffed. The upper ends of these twigs extend above the struts 44, so that although the structure illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 terminates approximately 26" (660 mm) from the ground, the top of the hurdle, as defined by the top of the birch twigs, is 3' 5" or 3' 7" (104 mm or 109 mm) above the ground.

The hurdle is held in place by staples, two sizes of which are shown in Fig. 3. Each is formed of metal 2" (13 mm) in diameter and 36" (91 mm) in overall length, with the larger of the two staples being 6" in width (152 mm) and the smaller of the two staples being half this width. Through-holes 52 and 53 are provided in the members 41 and assembly 42 respectively to allow one leg of a staple to pass through. These staples are driven into the ground but can easily be removed so as to allow the hurdle to be repositioned, should this be required.

Claims (8)

1. A structure for use as a jump which is adapted to rest on the ground and is portable as a unit, this structure comprising ground engaging members which in use, rest on the ground to keep the structure stably in position, and means defining an enclosure for receiving twigs or other packing, the top of the twigs or other packing defining a transversely extending top for the jump.

2. A structure according to Claim 1, comprising an upper framework, and a lower framework which includes the ground engaging members, interconnected by connecting members.

3. A structure according to Claim 2, wherein the said connecting members extend upwardly and forwardly and upwardly and rearwardly.

4. A structure according to Claim 2, wherein the said connecting members extend both upwardly and forwardly and upwardly and rearwardly.

5. A structure according to any one of Claims 2 to 4, wherein the lower framework carries a lower kicking bar.

6. A structure according to any one of Claims 2 to 5, wherein the upper framework carries an upper kicking bar.

7. A structure according to any preceding Claim, wherein the ground engaging members extend longitudinally.

8. A structure for use as a jump, substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 2 to 5 or Figs. 6 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.