GB2374552A

GB2374552A - Sports fall arrester

Info

Publication number: GB2374552A
Application number: GB0208822A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Walbridge; Timothy Walbridge; Christopher Bartrop
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-04-17
Filing date: 2002-04-17
Publication date: 2002-10-23
Also published as: GB0208822D0

Abstract

The present invention provides a sport development aid for providing support to a user to arrest the user from falling and is particularly suitable for use by, for example, skate-boarders learning to do stunt manoeuvres. The aid comprises:<BR> an overhead anchor 5;<BR> a support line 2 connected at an upper, in use, end to the overhead anchor 5 and at a lower, in use, end to a harness for supporting the user;<BR> a support line retractor 3 for retracting the support line 2 if there is any slack in the support line but allowing payout of the support line to enable freedom of movement of the user; and<BR> a locking mechanism to lock the support line against further payout if the user should become unbalanced, stumble or fall. The locking mechanism may be an inertia mechanism. The retraction means and inertia mechanism may be provided by a car seat belt mechanism. The overhead anchor may include a universal joint 6.

Description

SPORT DEVELOPMENT AID Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sport development aid, being a safety support system to allow an individual to practice hazardous manoeuvres in relative safety. The aid is particularly useful for sports that involve balancing on a moveable transport medium such as a skateboard and which carry the risk of serious injury from falls, especially, for example, when used to perform stunts such as jumping and turning manoeuvres on ramps.

Background to the Invention Hazardous stunt manoeuvres on skateboards or, for that matter, rollerskates/blades or even BMX bicycles may generally involve a risk of injury when the user loses balance or mis-executes the manoeuvre and falls to the floor. The injuries could be minor but in some cases may involve severe concussion and even spinal injury or death.

Currently there is no simple and safe way of learning to perform skateboarding stunt manoeuvres other than by slowly increasing level of risk as more experience in performing a manoeuvre is gained, progressively increasing the speeds and heights involved. For some manoeuvres such progressive training is impractical or impossible.

The present inventors have realised that what is needed is a form of support system suitably using a support harness fastened around the trainee and which allows them to perform the intended manoeuvres without significant restraint but which intervenes should the trainee mis-execute the manoeuvre and then restrains the user from failing.

Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a sport development aid for providing support to a user to arrest the user from falling, and which comprises: an overhead anchor means; a support line connected in

operation at an upper, in use, end to the overhead anchor means and at a lower, in use, end to a harness means for supporting the user; a support line retraction means for retracting the support line if there is any slack in the support line but allowing payout of the support line to enable freedom of movement of the user; and a locking means to lock the support line against further payout if the user should become unbalanced, stumble or fall.

Particularly preferably there is a swivel joint between the upper, in use, end of the support line and the overhead anchor means and suitably this is a universal joint such as, for example, a ball-and-socket joint.

Preferably the retraction means is resiliently biassed for auto retraction of the support line. Particularly preferably the locking means is an inertia locking mechanism and particularly suitably the retraction means and inertia locking mechanism are of the type as used in car seat belt retractor and inertia locking mechanisms. Indeed, completely to the present inventors'surprise, existing car seat belt retractor and inertia locking mechanisms are well-suited to use with little or no modification. A standard seat-belt retractor and inertia locking mechanism having a pay-out length of the order of 3 feet is adequate to allow for an averagesized skateboard stunt arena of the order of 15 feet in diameter.

To use a conventional car seat belt retraction and inertia locking mechanism in the context of the present invention it needs simply to be adapted to have an overhead anchor-suitably supported by a gantry or mounted to a ceiling or other overhead bar, and to be mounted at its other end to a harness for restraining and supporting the user. In the preferred embodiment, where the support line is a seat belt web, the seat belt web serves to support the weight of the user vertically, in contrast to the conventional configuration of the car seat belt that solely restrains the user from violently lurching forward under sharp deceleration of a vehicle.

By way of example of existing car seat belt retraction and inertia-locking mechanisms, reference may be made to, amongst others, US 3,369, 769 and US 3,790, 098. By way of brief explanation, the general seat belt retractor mechanism

will tend to have a spool on to which excess/slack of the seat belt will be reeled in order to bring the seatbelt into snug engagement with the vehicle's seat occupant and the inertia sensing mechanism or element will lock the retractor mechanism against payout whenever the inertial forces acting on the vehicle and mechanism exceed a pre-selected limit such as the vehicle decelerating by 0.5g. These inertia locking devices for the seat belt retractor mechanisms generally include either a tripping or swinging weight, the first of which is known as a"standing man"and the second of which is known as a"pendulum". Inertia will generally trip or swing the inertia sensing device to lock the seatbelt retractor mechanism. One particularly popular retractor mechanism has an inertia sensing arrangement involving a rotatable spool with a ratchet plate at one end and the inertia sensor element being a pendulum device engageable with a locking bar to drive the locking bar into the ratchet plate upon rapid acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle.

As noted above, to adapt such existing retractor and locking mechanisms for use in the present invention, one end of the support line/belt web is mounted via an overhead anchor to an overhead gantry or ceiling or the like and the other is attached to a harness worn by the user to support the users body. For some modern car seat belt retractors which have tilt switches the tilt switch should be disabled or removed.

In one embodiment the retractor mechanism may be affixed to the harness in use, and in the other embodiment it may be affixed to the anchor, via the swivel connector. In either arrangement the user has full freedom of movement by virtue of the swivel connection to the anchor and the smooth payout and retraction of the support line/belt web.

Although one preferred form of the support line comprises a seat belt-type web, other types of support line may be used and include, for example, metal/metal alloy or polymeric ropes, cords or cables. Common features of all of the various alternative support lines are that the material used is of sufficient strength and integrity, flexible enough to allow for the free flowing movement but substantially inelastic and readily retracted-suitably by recoil onto a spool-type retraction mechanism.

The harness for supporting the user is suitably a conventional safety harness such as of the type used by scaffolders or on parachutes and which may be otherwise described as a full body harness and in which the support line suitably couples to the harness at a point which, when the harness is worn, is generally in the region of the centre of the users back. Such a harness and harness connection arrangement is preferred since it allows for diverse twisting and flipping manoeuvres, not unduly restraining the user, but doing so only when required to perform its specific role.

Brief Description of the Drawings Two preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a retractor, swivel and anchor of a first embodiment of the support; Figure 2 is a front elevation view of the same; Figure 3 is a diagram of the area over which the support operates; Figure 4 is a front elevation view of an alternative embodiment of the support and in which the retractor mechanism is mounted to the harness worn by the user; and Figure 5 is a side elevation view of the alternative embodiment.

Description of the preferred Embodiments Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the first preferred embodiment comprises a conventional car seat belt retractor 1 bearing a car seat belt web 2 mounted at one end to a spindle 3 of the retractor 1 and which may be freely paid out on demand and automatically recoiled onto the spindle 3 to take up slack, but locked against further pay-out by an inertia locking mechanism of the retractor 1 if forcibly jerked.

The retractor 1, as conventional, has it's casing 4 dimensioned to channel and to align the belt web 3 to prevent it from twisting as it re-enters the casing 4.

Unconventionally, the retractorl is not fixed to the floor of a motor vehicle but instead is suspended from an overhead beam, gantry or ceiling in a sports arena by an overhead anchor 5. The illustrated anchor 5 element takes the form of a ring to mount to a hook but may have any suitable form and is coupled to the casing 4 of the retractor 1 by a swivel coupling 6. The swivel coupling 6 allows the user to move freely about the axis of the anchor 5 within the arena again without twisting ! tangling the web 2. The casing 4 channel helps to keep the retractor unit land web 2 in line with the anchor 5 element and also with a harness that is in use mounted to the lower end of the web 2.

Although not specifically illustrated, the harness is suitably a full body harness as discussed previously hereinabove and is securely fastened to the lower end of the web 2.

Whereas the retractor unit 1 of the first embodiment is coupled to the anchor 5 at the upper end of the installation, it may alternatively be fitted, as shown in the Figures 4 and 5 second embodiment, to the lower end and fastened to the harness suitably via a fastening plate 7 held by securing straps 8 of the harness suitably positioned over the centre of the wearer's back in use.

Referring to Figure 3, line G represents the distance from the retractor 1 on the harness to the overhead support anchor 5. The line H represents the length of the supporting web 2 that is retractable/extendible. In the case of a skate-boarding arena of 15ft diameter the distance G should be 10 ft and the distance H should be 3 ft, giving a maximum operating area of radius square root of ( (G+F) squared-G squared) centred directly below the anchor 5.

The support system of the present invention allows free flowing fluid movement of the user within the operating area while attached but arrests accidental falls. The system suitably locks the length of the supporting line when a demand on the line exceeds a predetermined force. The system may further have a variable force lock activation mechanism.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A sport development aid for providing support to a user to arrest the user from falling, and which comprises: an overhead anchor means; a support line connected in operation at an upper, in use, end to the overhead anchor means and at a lower, in use, end to a harness means for supporting the user; a support line retraction means for retracting the support line if there is any slack in the support line but allowing payout of the support line to enable freedom of movement of the user; and a locking means to lock the support line against further payout if the user should become unbalanced, stumble or fall.
2. A sport development aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein there is a swivel joint between the upper, in use, end of the support line and the overhead anchor means.
3. A sport development aid as claimed in claim 2, wherein the swivel joint is a universal joint.
4. A sport development aid as claimed in claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the locking means is an inertia locking mechanism.
5. A sport development aid as claimed in claim 4, wherein the retraction means and inertia locking mechanism are of the type as used in car seat belt retractor and inertia locking mechanisms.
6. A sport development aid as claimed in claim 5, wherein the retraction means and inertia locking mechanism are a car seat belt retractor and inertia locking mechanism, the support line being a car seat belt web.
7. A sport development aid substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.