US2036524A - Device for use in sports - Google Patents

Description

April 7,- 1936.

DEVCE FOR USE 1N sPoRTs 2` sneetsheet l Filed May 27, 1952 API''Z' 1936` F. GIRAR ET AL 2,036,524

DEVICE FOR USE IN SPORTS rFiled May 27, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheel 2 Patented Apr. 7, 1936 UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEVICE FOR USE IN SPORTS Fritz Girard and Margarete Gottburg, Hanau-on-the-Main, Germany 9 Claims.

The present invention relates to a metal hoop that can be used in sports for many different purposes, that is to say it may be used for swinging and throwing (in the manner of a discus), or

Y for vtrundling and more particularly for jumping over and through, and for crawling through while it is rolling.

If a metal hoop is to be used for throwing it fulls this purpose far better if it be made suf- 10 ficiently heavy and is provided with a suitable grip, and if furthermore it be so constructed that it is not damaged or deformed by impact with the ground.

If the hoop is to be used forjumping through l5 or jumping over, it is advisable to provide means to render these exercises increasingly difcult. Finally, in both cases it may be advantageous to construct the hoop So that it can be taken to pieces so as to be easily carried.

20 All these purposes are served by the hoop according to the invention; this is eiected principally by the use of one or more members that can be secured in any desired position around the periphery of the hoop, each body consisting of 25- two parts connected together, which grip a section of the hoop in the manner of tongs and are at the same time of such shape that the outer tread of the hoop is left uncovered. This member may be so constructed that it can be used 30 as a grip for throwing the hoop, and furthermore it may act as a lock for the loop at the positions where the hoop is divided, and also it may be used asy securing means for spoke-like members that are applied for stiifening the hoop when it is used 35 as a discus, and when used in jumping exercises may serve as means for varying the free open space within the hoop.

The accompanying drawings illustrate by way of example a number of different hoops for use 40 in sports constructed according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows a hoop a in its simplest form for throwing; it is provided with a member b secured to the periphery of the hoop, this member forming a convenient grip for the hand of the 45 thrower. A second grip may be provided diametrically opposite the grip b as shown in dotted lines, or a number of the grips may be distributed around the periphery of the hoop to make it heavier. The hoop is advantageously made of an elastic material of great tensile strength such as spring steel or beryllium bronze, and it may be solid or hollow, and it may moreover be circular in cross-section, or better still elliptical or be of any other shape in cross-sec- 55 tion, that is, wider one way of the plane than in the other. It is particularly insensitive to shocks if it be made of a number of braided or twisted wires a', (as shown in Figures 1a and 1b) the wires being held together by strips of material wound round or provided with a rubber covering 5 a which may be vulcanized when in position.

Figure 2 illustrates by way of example a section of a hoop provided with two clamping members b one of which has a hole 11 for the securing of stifening members c. A modified form of 10 the gripping member is shown at b", shown in cross-section in Figure 3. The stiffening members that serve to prevent deformation, consist advantageously of wires or bicycle spokes provided at each end with a rivet head. As will be 15 seen from Figure 3 the clamping body b (or b) consists of two parts held together by screws d and clamped to the hoop a. The parts are so shaped that the greater part of them lie within the hoop but do not completely surround the metal of the hoop. As shown in Figure 4 the wires c are disposed radially in the hoop, one end of the wires engaging in a small centrally disposed ring e; according to Figure 5 the wires e are disposed to form a triangle and are provided with tensioning members c which on rotation regulate the length of the wires in known manner. The clamping members b shown in Figure 1 may at the same time serve as members for joining together the sections of the hoop when this is built up of two or more parts. f Figure 6 shows a half of such a locking member, and Figure 7 shows the complete locking member in cross-section. Each lock consists of two clamping jaws b1 and b2 which are held together by screws d and which are formed on one side like tong grippers, while on the other side they bear directly against each other at f by projecting parts. In order that the two ends of the hoop a. maybe held in position they are provided with beak-like projections a0 or similar projections which t into suitable recesses in the jaws b1 or b2 or lie against stops such for example as screws d. A modified construction of the locking member is shown in cross-section in Figure 8.for use with a hoop that is built up of braided wires, and is provided at the ends with extensions by flattening out the metal of the hoop or by pouring-in additional metal. Alternatively the two jaws of the clamping body may be provided with projections and the ends of the hoop sections with recesses, or the screws d may engage in suitable grooves provided at the ends of the hoop. The two jaws may be connected together by hinges at f.

Figures and 10 show a clamping body b which is of such construction that it is adapted to serve as a locking member for the hoop and as scouring means for adjustable spoke-like members, which when moved, change the free open space within the hoop when it is used for jumping through or crawling through. The jaw b1 is provided with an extension b having a hole in it into fits a rotating pin g advantageously slotted and resilient so that it is tightly held in position by friction. The pin g is provided with a sleeve y', the hole being at right angles to the axis of the pin into which engages the resilient pin 8 of similar construction whose end h is employed for securing the spoke. z'. n

Thus the spokes may be twisted from the position shown diagrammatically in Figure 11, in which the largest op-ening in the hoop is adjusted into any other position. as shown for example in Figure 12 in which the free open space within the hoop is reduced as shown by the dotted circle, so as to make it more diiicult to jump or crawl through. `At the same time the spokes i may be moved out of the position shown in crosssection in Figure 13 to both sides according to Figure 14 in order to increase the diculty of jumping over therolling hoop. The spokes may advantageously be provided at. their free ends with balls i' to avoid danger.

If the hoop is to be used only for jumping exercises the hinged-.on members bmay be soldered on and in that case may be of more simple construction as shown in Figures land 16.

Figures 17 and 18 iilustrate a modified con-v struction of the adjustable members for altering the free open space within the hoop. Each two adjacent clamping members b are connected together by flexible members lc and for the purpose memberssuch as wires in the form of helices may be employed.

By altering the distance between the two members b, the members lc can be changed from the stretched position as shown in Figure 17 into. a curved position as shown in Figure 18 so that the free open space within the hoopy is reduced. The clamping members b may both be adjustable or one of each may be secured to the hoop. and soldered' on as show-n in Figures 15 and 16. ItI will be understood that some of the members b may serve as locking members in the case 4of a hoop built up from a number of sections. Y

In jumping and more particularlyV to facilitate crawling through the rolling hoopv it is advantageous to form thehoop so that its rolling movement maybe retarded periodically. For the purpose irregularly shaped hoops such aselliptical hoops may be employed. The same purpose is attained more simply by means of clamping members according to the invention, that is to say by securing one or more such members on one side of the hoop or asymmetrically so that the weight of the hoop is unevenly distributed.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States, is:

1. A metal hoop for athletic exercises with at least one jointing point on the periphery and provided with a plurality of clamping members, each member consisting of two jaws connected together and lying on the inside of the hoop, at least one of the said members forming a hand grip and atleast one of them serving as a locking means for joining the ends of the hoop, said ends increasing in cross-section towards the joint and being fitted into interlocking recesses of the jaws.

2. A metal hoop for athletic exercises with at least one jointing pointV on the periphery and provided with a plurality of clamping members, each member consisting of two jaws connected together and lying on the inside of the hoop, a number of these members being supports for blocking members and at least one of the said clamping members serving as a locking means for joining the ends of the hoop, said ends increasing in cross-section towards the joint and being fitted into interlocking recesses of the jaws.

3. A metal hoop for athletic exercises with at least one jointing point on the periphery and provided with aplurality ci clamping members, each member consisting of two jaws connected to- I gether and. lying on the inside of the hoop, the members being distributed in equal distances and connected together in pairs inside the hoop by tensioning members and at least one of the, said clamping members serving as a locking means for joining the ends of the hoop, said endsY increasing in cross-section towardsr the joint and being tted into interlocking recesses of the jaws.

4. A metal hoop for athletic exercises with at least one jointing point on the periphery, being composed of braided wire of a strong and elastic material and provided with at least one clamping member consisting of Vtwo jaws connected together and lying on the inside of the'hoop, the said clamping member being formed both as a hand grip and as a locking means for joining the ends of the braided wire, said ends being bent relative to-the periphery of the hoop and held in position by recesses of the said jaws.

5. A metal hoop for athletic exercises provided with at least one jointing point on the pe- Y riphery, they two ends of the hoop being connected at each jointing position by a lookingv member, said locking member consisting or" twojaws touching one another only by projecting borders at the edges furthest from the periphery of the hoop and pressed together by screw connection in the middle part, the jaws lying` on the inside of the hoop and leaving thev tread uncovered, Vsaid ends of the hoop increasingV in cross-section towards the joint and being tted into interiocking recesses ofthe jaws. Y

6. A metal hoop for athletic exercises provided with at least one jointing position on the periphery, the two ends of the hoop being connected at each jointing point by a lockingl member, said locking member consisting of two jaws which lie on the inside of the hoop and leave its tread uncovered and of two screws for pressing the two bodies together, the screws formingy stops for beak-like projections at the ends of the hoop and thuspreventing the latter from springing out.

7. A metal hoop for athletic exercises provided with a plurality of blocking members distributed around the periphery and being of such a radial dimension as Vto leave a free opening inthe center of the hoop, a hinge with an axle perpendicular to the plane of Vthe hoop connecting each f.

blocking member andthe inside of the hoop, this hinge connection permitting to alter the position of each blocking member asto'the distance from the center point of the hoop, and clampingv means on the hinge for holding each blockingk member Y in the adjusted position by friction.

8. A metal hoop for athletic exercises provided with a plurality of blocking members distributed around the periphery'and being of such a radial dimension as to leave a free opening in the center of the hoop, each blocking member being fastened to the hoop by at least one jaw member lying on the inside of the hoop and leaving its tread uncovered, a hinge with an axle perpendicular to the plane of the hoop being inserted between each blocking member and each jaw member, this hinge connection permitting to alter the position of each blocking member as to the distance from the center point of the hoop, and clamping means on the hinge for holding each blocking member in the adjusted position by friction.

9. A metal hoop for athletic exercises provided with a plurality of blocking members distributed around the periphery and being of such a. radial length as to leave a free opening in the center of the hoop, a double hinge with axles Within and perpendicular to the plane of the hoop connecting each blocking member and the inside of the hoop, this double hinge connection permitting to alter the position of each blocking member as to the plane and to the distance from the center point of the hoop, and clamping means on each hinge for holding each blocking member in the adjusted 10 position by friction.l

FRITZ GIRARD. MARGARETE GOTTBURG.

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