US3064972A

US3064972A - Rope turning device

Info

Publication number: US3064972A
Application number: US29715A
Authority: US
Inventors: Louis S Feinn
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-05-17
Filing date: 1960-05-17
Publication date: 1962-11-20
Anticipated expiration: 1979-11-20

Description

Nov. 20, 1962 s. FEINN ROPE TURNING DEVICE Filed May 17, 1960 O A y. 5 2. l mw f n 6 y ET H. H IIT HM 3 3fm, .E 3 75 6 5 5 2 5 n i E 2 Z hi \\\\\\\\x /lf 2 l V W m .E 5

United States This invention relates to a rope turning device adapted to rotate a pair of ropes simultaneously in opposite directions about a common axis in approximately coincidental circular paths as it is manipulated by a person jumping or skipping between the ropes as they swing under his feet and above his head.

ln accordance with the present invention, a throwing arm is rigidly fixed to each outer end of a shaft. The throwing arms are preferably molded of suitable plastic material, but may be made of any suitable material. Each arm has an integral inwardly extending housing section having an aperture adapted to receive the shaft, and an integral ring rear concentrically disposed relative to the aperture. A tubular sleeve tting on the shaft and fixed thereto terminates adjacent the face of the housing on which the ring gear is formed.

A throwing arm is rotatably mounted on leach end of the sleeve adjacent each of the arms xed to the shaft. These last mentioned throwing arms are reversed relative to the adjacent arms, and each of them is held against lateral displacement by a suitable washer. The housing sections of adjacent throwing arms are juxtaposed to form a complete housing with the ring gears facing each other in spaced relationship.

A gear supporting member rotatably mounted on the tubular sleeve in each housing carries a plurality of pinion gears meshed with both ring gears. The pinion gears are rotatably mounted on shafts that are xed to the gear supporting member in any suitable manner. in the drawings each shaft fits in a recess in the gear supporting member and is secured thereto by a transverse pin. The gear supporting member is shown in the form of a block, preferably made of a plastic material, but may be in the form of a spider.

As shown The ropes are preferably made of a plastic material and are capable of holding their shape to a substantial extent. The rope connected to the outer throwing arms is slightly longer than the other rope to provide clearance when the ropes are being turned in opposite directions. One of the ropes is preferably tubular, and is at least partially filled with buckshot to provide added weight. lf neither rope is tubular, the extra weight may be added to one of the ropes or to the arms to which one rope is secured, in any suitable manner.

Two hand grips are loosely mounted on the tubular sleeve so that when they are held in the operators hands and moved rapidly in an approximately circular motion, the outer throwing arms are both rotated with the shaft to impart a circular motion to the outer rope. When the outer rope is turned in one direction, the pinion gears rotate the inner arms, and the rope secured thereto, in the .opposite direction.

The structure by means of which the above-mentioned and other advantages of the invention are attained will be described in the following specification, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, showing a preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention, in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view showing the operation of a rope skipping device embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional View, showing the interengagement of the gears at one end of the device;

HG. 3 is a cross sectional view, taken along the line 3-3 of FlG. 2;

FlG. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of one end of the device; and

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view, taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawings, the device comprises a tubular sleeve 2 fitting on a shaft 3 and secured thereto by a pin 4 at each end. Shaft 3 projects beyond each end of sleeve 2 for a purpose hereinafter disclosed. Two hand grips 5 are loosely mounted on tubular sleeve 2. The hand grips are slidable on the sleeve so that the operator may hold them comfortably as he skips the ropes.

The rope turning mechanism is identical at both ends of the device, and, therefore, only one end of the structure will be described. A throwing arm 6, provided at one end with a housing section 7, is mounted on shaft 3, and is secured thereto by a screw 8. The screw extends through a hole 9 in shaft 3 to position the throwing arm with the inner face it? of housing section 7 spaced slightly from the end of tubular sleeve 2.. The inner face 10 of housing section 7 is provided with a beveled ring gear 11 that is concentric with respect to shaft 3. An annular flange 3.2 extends around the perimeter of housing section 7 and projects slightly beyond the inner face 1t). I A throwing arm 13, similar to throwing arm 6, is rotatably mounted on tubular sleeve 2. A housing section 14, integral with arm 13, is provided with a ring gear l5 and an annular flange 16. The outer edge of flange 16 is spaced from the inner edge of iiange l2 to provide clearancey therebetween so that the housing sections may be rotated in opposite directions. Arm 13 is held against lateral displacement, with ring gears 11 and 15 spaced in predetermined relationship, by a lock washer 17. The lock washer cooperates with sleeve 2 and does not interfere with the rotation of throwing arm 13.

Housing sections

7 and 14 cooperate to form a complete housing, and a gear supporting member 18 is rotatably mounted on tubular sleeve 2 within the housing. The gear supporting member 18 may be in any desirable form such as a block or a spider, for example. A plurality of pinion gears 19 project outwardly from the perimeter of gear supporting member 18 and are meshed with ring gears 11 and l5. Each gear 19 is rotatably mounted on a shaft Ztl fitting in a recess 2l in the gear supporting member and secured thereto by a pin 22. As arm 6 is rotated in one direction the gears 19 rotate arm 13 in the opposite direction.

A tubular plastic rope 23 is secured at each end to arm 6 by a connector sleeve 24 secured to one end of a pin 25 that is secured at its other end in a recess 26 in arm 6. Pin 25 is secured to arm 6 by a pin 27 or in any other suitable manner. It will be understood that the end of rope 23 may be secured directly to arm 6, if desired. A plastic rope 28 is secured at each end to one of the arms 13. Rope 23 is at least partially filled with buckshot 29 to provide extra weight for the rotatable unit comprising rope 23 and both arms 6. This extra weight, above the weight ofthe unit comprising rope 28 and both arms 13, insures sufficient force to rotate arms 13 and rope 28 in the opposite direction from the rotation of arms 6 and rope 23.

Although tubular plastic rope is preferably secured to arms 6, any rope may be used, and the added weight may be provided in any suitable manner. For example, arms 6 may be heavier than arms 13. Rope 23 is longer than rope 2S to provide clearance between the ropes when they are turned in opposite directions. It will be understood that the extra weight may be added to the unit comprising rope 28 and arms 13, instead of to the unit comprising rope 23 and arms 6, if desired.

When the device is to beused, the operator adjusts its position so that when

arms

6 and 13 extend at an angle of to each other said arms are in vertical position. Such positioning insures that ropes 23 and 28 will pass their lowermost position at equally spaced intervals and the rope jumping or skipping is evenly timed. The rope jumping or skipping is also evenly timed if the arms are horizontally disposed when they extend at 180 to each other, but in such case the device gives the effect of a single rope,since both ropes reach their lowermost position simultaneously. Any other disposition of the arms causes unequal jumping intervals'.

In using the device, the operator places one hand on each hand grip 5 and holds shaft 3 forwardly of his body in approximately horizontal position. The shaft is pushed forwardly with a rapid, approximately circular motion to start the` rotation of arms 6 about the shaft as an axis. This motion simultaneously starts the rotation of arms 13:v about the shaft in the opposite direction through the intereng'agement of

gears

11, 15 and 19. The operator may provide added thrust by pushing one pair of throwing arms with his thumbs at the start of the approximately circular movement of the shaft, to facilitate the start of the rotation of the throwing arms about the shaft. The continuous, approximately circular movement of shaft 3 is suflicient to keep

arms

6 and 13 rotating in opposite directions.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of the invention in considerable detail, it will be understood that the description thereof is intended to be illustrative, rather than restrictive, as many details of structure may be modified or changed, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Accordingly, I do not desire to be restricted to the exact construction described.

-I claim:

1. In a rope turning device, a shaft, an arm rigidly secured thereto, a rope having one end secured to said arm, a second arm juxtaposed against said first mentioned arm, a second rope havingone end secured to said second arm, a ring gear integral with each of said arms, said ring gears facing each other, means holding said second arm against lateral displacement relative to said irst arm, and a pinion gear in engagement with both of said ring gears, said pinion gear being adapted to rotate one of said armsvin one direction whereby the rope secured to said onel arm is turned in said one direction when said other arm is rotated in the opposite direction and said other rope is turned with said other arm.

2. In a rope turning device, a shaft, an arm rigidly secured thereto, a rope having one end secured to said arm, a second arm rotatably mounted relative to said shaft, a second rope having one end secured to said second arm, a ring gear integral with each of said arms, means` holding said second arm against lateral displacement with said ring gears facing each other, a gear supporting member mounted between said ring gears, said gear supporting member being rotatable relative to said shaft, Vand a pinion gear rigidly secured to said gear supporting member for engagement with both of said ring gears, whereby rotation of either of said arms will cause rotation of said other arm in the opposite direction, with eachof said ropes turning in the direction of rotation of the arm to which it is secured.

3. A rope turning device comprising a shaft, a tubular sleeve tted on said shaft intermediate its ends, a throwing larm rigidly secured to said shaft adjacent each end thereof, a, rope having each end thereof secured to one of said arms, a throwing arm rotatably mounted on said tubular sleeve adjacent each end thereof, a second rope having each end secured to one of said second mentioned rms, means holding each of said second mentioned arms juxtaposed against one of said rst mentioned arms, a housing section integral with each of said arms, a ring gear in each of said housing sections, and a pinion gear in engagement with both ring gears in adjacent housing sections, whereby rapid movement of said shaft in an approximately circular path will cause rotational movement of said ropes in opposite directions about said shaft as an axis.

4. A rope turning device comprising a shaft, a tubular sleeve fitted on said shaft intermediate its ends, a throwing arm rigidly secured to said shaft adjacent each end thereof, a rope having each end thereof secured to one of said arms, a throwing arm rotatably mounted on said tubular sleeve adjacent each end thereof, a second rope having each end secured to one of said second mentioned arms, a housing section integral with each of said arms, each of said housing sections having a peripheral ange, the housing section of each of said arms cooperating with the housing section of the juxtaposed arm to form a housing, means holding each of said second mentioned arms juxtaposed against one of said first mentioned arms with the peripheral flanges of adjacent housing sections spaced to provide sufficient clearance to permit rotation of said adjacent housing sections in opposite directions, a ring gear in each of said housing sections, and a pinion gear rotatably mounted in each of said housings, each of said pinion gears engaging both ring gears in its housing, whereby rapid movement of said shaft in an aapproximately circular path will cause rotational movement of said ropes in opposite directions about said shaft as an axis.

5. A rope turning device comprising a shaft, a tubular sleeve fitted on said shaft intermediate its ends, a throwing arm rigidly secured to said shaft adjacent each end thereof, a rope having each end thereof secured to one of said arms,` a throwing arm rotatably mounted on said tubular sleeve adjacent each end thereof, a second rope having each end secured to one of said second mentioned arms, means holding each of said second mentioned arms juxtaposed against one of said first mentioned arms, a housing section integral with each of said arms, the housing section of each of said arms cooperating with the housing section of the juxtaposed arm to form a housing, a ring gear in each of said housing sections, a pinion gear rotatably mounted in each of said housings, each of said pinion gears engaging both ring gears in its housing, wherebyrrapid movement of said shaft in an approximately circular path will cause rotational movement of said ropes in opposite directions about said shaft as an axis, and a pair of hand grips rotatably mounted on said tubular sleeve between said second mentionedy arm-s to facilitate rotational movement of said shaft, and the first mentioned arms rigidly secured thereto, when said shaft is moved in an approximately circular path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,893,173 Kreutzer Jan. 3, 1933 2,795,424 Fitzpatrick Iune'll, 1957 2,942,881 Recalma June 28, 1960