GB2508379A

GB2508379A - Equestrian Sports Apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2508379A
Application number: GB201221514A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robin Dunlop
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-11-29
Filing date: 2012-11-29
Publication date: 2014-06-04

Abstract

An equestrian sports apparatus for supporting an obstacle comprises a slidable collar 11 with a bore therethrough; and a pair of catch means 18 located on opposing sides extendable into the bore. The collar may receive a pole (12, Fig. 4) with indents (13a) to receive the catch means. The catch means may be a spring biased hemispherical projection/lug, retractable from the bore; where the retraction may be actuated by moving a lever 19 towards the bore-center. The opposing levers may be performed by one hand of a user. The received pole may have a plurality of hole/depression pairs 180 degrees apart, which may be located at specified distances such that the height of a crossbar mounted thereon is known.

Description

EQUESTRIAN SPORTS APPARATUS

The present invention relates to an equestrian sports apparatus and, more particularly, an apparatus for enabling the construction of fences or obstacles in equestrian events such as cross-country and other similar events that involve a horse and rider jumping fences.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

Cross-country is a long established equestrian event both in its own right and as a phase within a longer (e.g. three day) event. The fences that are provided for jumping in such events are frequently constructed such that they will not collapse or be knocked down when hit, e.g. by the legs of a horse. This has led to concerns regarding the safety of both horse and rider during the events. Furthermore, when a fence has to be dismantled as a result of an accident, it can be very time consuming to reassemble the fence and, furthermore, to ensure that the height and width of the fence is exactly the same as it was before the accident. Horses and riders will be held up on the course during reconstruction of the fence and this can lead to a loss of concentration, potentially causing further incidents, when the competition is restarted.

Accordingly, there is a desire and requirement for the provision of improving safety and efficiency of fence construction methods and apparatus used in equestrian sporting events.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide an equestrian sports apparatus which is able to allow the quick construction of a fence or obstacle and, furthermore, has inherent safety features which will minimise injury to a horse and/or rider.

I

An equestrian sports apparatus for supporting an obstacle according to the invention is defined in the accompanying claims. Specifically, the equestrian sporting apparatus is primarily comprised of a slidable collar that includes a pair of catch means that are located in opposing positions on the collar. The collar has a bore which is adapted to S receive an upright fence post or the like. Preferably, the catch means are a spring biased and/or retractable projection/lug that is to be received by a corresponding hole/depression in the post onto which the collar is mounted. In a preferred form the lug is a round ball that projects from an inside surface of the collar, thereby exposing a hemispherical shape to mate with the depressions in the post.

Preferably, the catch means is actuated against a spring bias by a trigger/lever that acts to withdraw the catch from an exposed position in the bore into the collar, thereby enabling the collar to slide over a pole/post etc. Preferably, both catch means have equivalent operation such that the collar is secured from two sides on a pole. In a preferred form the pair of triggers/levers are arranged such that they are pinched together, i.e. toward each other, in an action that will release the opposing ball catches from the pole.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 illustrates a general view of the equestrian sporting apparatus according to the invention; Figure 2 illustrates a detailed section view of the catch means seen in Figure 1; Figure 3 illustrates a trigger/lever component for actuating the catch means; Figure 4 illustrates a general view of a pole/fence post to which the equestrian apparatus of the invention can be mounted; FigureS illustrates a general view of the equestrian apparatus of the invention in operation; and Figure 6 and 7 illustrate plan and underneath views respectively of the equestrian apparatus collar of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An equestrian sporting apparatus according to the invention as herein described is used in the construction of fences for sporting events such as cross-country, show jumping or the like, or any equestrian event which requires obstacles such as fences.

The first main element of the invention is a collar component 11 which is formed from any suitable material, but preferably made from a moulded plastic material. The other main component required for operation of the invention is an elongate pole or fence post element 12 (Figures 4 and 5), preferably in the form of a cylinder including at least one pair 13a/13b but preferably a plurality of pairs of apertures or depressions along its length. The apertures 13 are preferably, although not essentially, placed at a known distance apart from one another and at a known distance from the end of the cylinder. In one form there may be gradations that indicate a height measurement. Said fence post element may also be provided with a base portion (not illustrated) to enable it to be maintained in a substantially upright position during use or, alternatively, a means for driving it into the ground (also not illustrated).

The collar element 11 which cooperates with the fence post element 12 has a body portion comprising first and second (in practice, upper and lower) surfaces 14, 15 and a bore 16 that, in use, is dimensioned to snugly receive the cylindrical fence post 12. A pair of opposing apertures 17 are formed within the wall of the bore 16, through which projects a lug 18, e.g. a hemisphere of a ball-shaped catch. The catch is spring biased and retractable within the body of the collar by virtue of a trigger/toggle/lever 19 (extending beyond the lower surface 15 of the collar) that presses against an annular surface 20 of a pin 21. which, at one distal end is connected to the ball projection 18 and, at the other end, is positioned against a high tensile spring 22 which provides the biasing force to maintain the ball projection in an extended state (as illustrated in the figures).

The collar element 11 features two mirror-image catch arrangements (18-22) such that the collar is secured to a fence pole 12 or the like on both sides simultaneously.

Furthermore, the inward (toward the centre of pole 12) movement of the lever which effectively retracts the ball catch means that both opposing levers can be "pinched" together by one hand of a user to simplify installation and removal or re-positioning.

The hemispherical nature of the projections 18 within a corresponding concave depression 13a/13b in the pole provides a safety feature in that excessive force in a directly downward direction can cause the collar to give way and slide down the pole without permanent damage. However, at the same time, the dual collar catch means of the invention provides a self-braking function to prevent minor sideways forces from dislodging the collar. It will be apparent that any cross-bar or other construction (not illustrated) that is supported on the upper surface 14 of the collar 11 is not otherwise fixed in place and will relatively easily be knocked down if part of the horse contacts it or the vertical posts. Such an arrangement ensures there is very little resistive force which could cause injury to or halt a horse passing through the obstacle.

For the construction of a fence, in the usual way at least two fence posts are placed at a required distance apart. At least one collar element 11 is then slid onto each pole 12 to a required height while holding the levers squee2ed/catch retracted. Once located at the required height, the lever is released and some minor vertical adjustments may be required to locate and "snap" the ball catch into a corresponding depression 13 in the pole. A horizontal pole/gate or the like is then suspended, above the ground at a known height, between the collar elements. Additional horizontal poles could be installed in further pairs of collars located on the respective spaced-apart poles 12.

In the event that a horse should get into difficulties and fall at or onto the created obstacle thereby hitting the horizontal pole with its body, rather than tapping it off with a leg during the act of jumping, or if a rider should fall from a horse into or onto the obstacle, the force of the horse or rider will clearly be sufficient to dislodge the spring biased lug in a collar to avoid permanent damage to the apparatus. In any event, the horizontal pole will have fallen away to minimise any further injury.

In addition to the safety improvements of the invention, it also provides improvement with regard to the ease of construction (assembly and disassembly) as obstacles do not need to be fixed or roped together. Furthermore, because the upright pole 12 can be formed with apertures at a known distance and/or measurement indication, this enables the height of the fence to be known. It has long been a problem with prior art fence constructions that, in the event that a fence needs to be disassembled as a result of an accident, it is time consuming to reconstruct the fence and check that it has been rebuilt at the required height because additional independent measurement of the fence is required. The present invention facilitates ease of reconstruction and checking the required height quickly without the need for additional measurement and constant readjustment.

Figures 2 and 3 illustrate details of the trigger/toggle and catch mechanism according to the invention. Specifically, a lever 19 includes a yoke-like aperture 23 that is mounted around the pin 21 mounted within the collar 11. Pin 21 extends between ball-shaped end 18 and a wider part 20 which is abutted with the spring 22. The other end of spring 22 is abutted against an end cap 24 that plugs the small bore 17 that accommodates the catch means, extending between the outerside edge of collar 11 and the main inner bore 16.

As best seen in Figure 2, compression of the spring 22 by virtue of movement from lever 19 retracts the projecting ball end 18 into the body of the collar 11 and out of bore 16. It should be noted that inward or squeezing movement of the end of levers 19 in the direction of arrows A (Figure 5) produce the required force (direction B) against surface of the widened pin section because of the over-centre nature of the movement of lever 19. The part of lever 19 in forcible contact with the widened part 20 of the pin is the bifurcated end 25 on either side of the opening 23. Furthermore, a fulcrum is provided for the toggling lever 19 at an edge 26 which is formed by a recess 27 in the lower surface which accommodates the components of the catch means. In this way an inward movement (A) of the accessible part of the lever 19 produces an outward movement (B) of the catch, in relation to the centre of the pole 12.

The exact configuration of the catch means could be modified in future embodiments as necessary. However, it is advantageous to have the retracting movement of the ball-catch triggered by a squeezing motion as described because this enables one-hand operation. In further forms, the separation of catch means (and corresponding depressions in the pole) may not be perfectly opposite, i.e. 180 degrees, but a lesser amount as deemed convenient or necessary.

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. An equestrian sports apparatus for supporting an obstacle comprised of a slidable collar with a bore therethrough, and including a pair of catch means located on opposing sides and extendable into the bore; wherein, in use, the slidable collar is adapted for receiving, into the bore, a pole with means for receiving the catch means.
2. The equestrian sports apparatus of claim 1 wherein each of the catch means comprise a projection/lug retractable from the bore.
3. The equestrian sports apparatus of claim 2 wherein the projection/lug is spring biased to an extended position in the bore.
4. The equestrian sports apparatus of claim 2 or 3 wherein the projection/lug is actuated for retraction by a lever.
5. The equestrian sports apparatus of claim 4 wherein retraction of the projection/lug is achieved by moving a distal, accessible, end of the lever in a direction toward the centre of the bore.
6. The equestrian sports apparatus of claims wherein a distance between opposing levers is dimensioned such that retraction of the projections, in a squeezing action, can be performed by one hand of a user.
7. The equestrian sports apparatus of any of preceding claims 2 to 6 wherein the projection includes a ball shaped end, such that a hemispherical shape projects into the bore in the extended position.
8. A pole for use with the equestrian sports apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the pair of catch means is to be received by a corresponding hole/depression on a surface of the pole onto which the collar is mounted.
9. The pole of claim 8 wherein a plurality of hole/depression pairs, 180 degrees apart, are provided on the surface of the pole.
10. The pole of claim 8 or 9 wherein the hole/depression pairs are located at specified distances such that an overall height of a cross bar from the ground, to be supported by the collar, is known when a pole is erected in an upright position.
11. A combination of equestrian sports apparatus and pole according to any preceding claim.
12. An equestrian sports apparatus substantially as herein described, with reference to the accompanying drawings.