GB622052A - Improvements relating to dog racing track hurdles - Google Patents

Abstract

622,052. Hurdles. O'CONNELL H E., (Representative of O'CONNELL, D.). March 7, 1947, Nos. 6379 and 6530. [Class 45] Relates to dog-track hurdles comprising sections mounted side-by-side and adapted to swing independently from an upstanding position to a lowered position if struck by a dog, each section being retained in the upstanding position by a yielding control. According to the invention the axis of pivoting of the sections is. disposed substantially at the level of the face of the track. The sections of the hurdles are of two types. One type has a rigid wooden framework comprising side members 4. 5, Fig. 6, joined by a top bar (not shown) and a cross-bar 7 and covered with canvas. The cross-bar 7 is situated at about half the height of the hurdle and is connected by a spring 24 to a supporting frame comprising a tube 12 with welded arms 14, 18 and a rear member 19 with a flanged base 20 to distribute the weight. The sections of the hurdle are pivotally mounted on the tube 12 by notched pins 21, Fig. 8, which engage a hole 22 in the tube. The spring 24 is arranged to hold the section normally upright and its tensioning nut can be adjusted through a hole 30 in one panel. The top bar carries a resilient bush 11 and has a rubber facing piece 10. Three sections are mounted on each frame so that they are readily portable. The second type of section, which is mounted at one end, provides the aperture for the hare, and comprises an inverted U-shape frame, Figs. 4 and 5, pivotally mounted on brackets 35, 45, which are mounted on spigots in concrete blocks in the track and held upright by a spring 54. The top bar 33 is cranked to provide clearance for the hare rail 1 when the hurdle is lowered. Depending from a cross-member 59 fixed to the top bar 33 is a fibre curtain 58 through which the hare can pass and, upstanding from it, is a resilient brush 57. The cross-bar is faced with a rubber cushion 60. In a modification, when the hare, aperture is intermediate the ends, two adjacent sections have their top bar 6 extended and the resulting aperture is filled with a fibre curtain depending from the extensions. As an alternative, an independent section may be used between two units of three sections comprising a . spring-retained pivotally-mounted inverted U-shape structure on a base frame carrying an upstanding brush and a depending curtain. The brush 11 may be pivotally mounted, as shown in Fig. 10, on a segment 71 which. can roll on curved faces 74, 75 of the side members being normally held in place by elastic links 72, 73.