US3514105A

US3514105A - Football reactor training sled

Info

Publication number: US3514105A
Application number: US604385A
Authority: US
Inventors: Henry P Pillard
Original assignee: HENRY P PILLARD
Current assignee: HENRY P PILLARD
Priority date: 1966-12-23
Filing date: 1966-12-23
Publication date: 1970-05-26
Anticipated expiration: 1987-05-26

Description

Ma 26; 1970 H. P. PILLARD FOOTBALL REACTOR TRAINING SLED 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 25, 1966 INVENTOR HENRY I. PILLARD ATTORNEY 1970 H. P. PILLARD 3,514,105

FOOTBALL REACTOR TRAINING SLED Filed Dec. 23, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

l NVENTOR HENRY P. PILLARD ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,514,105 FOOTBALL REACTOR TRAINING SLED Henry P. Pillard, Blue Island, Ill. (Diamond K Lane, Joliet, Ill. 60433) Filed Dec. 23, 1966, Ser. No. 604,385 Int. Cl. A631) 67/00 US. Cl. 273-55 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Disclosed herein is a football reactor training sled including generally, a sled base frame, a movable fra-me mounted on the base frame, and a reactor dummy mounted on the movable frame by a resilient assembly having a pair of horizontal tracks to which the reactor dummy is attached for freely sliding horizontal movement at all times.

This invention relates to an improved football reactor training sled which can be operated to simulate the movements and reactions of a defensive football player.

For a football player to apply an offensive standing block he must learn to: move on his feet in a semi-upright stance; move from side to side in this stance to properly initially engage a defensive player who may be side stepping to avoid contact; maintain rapid repeated contact with the defensive player regardless of his immovable character, side stepping, back stepping or similar evasive action; and to maintain a driving forward and upward force on the defensive player regardless of this players sideward or backward movements to reduce his stability with respect to the ground, and to force him away from a predetermined position.

Although football reaction equipment devices have been provided in the past, these devices invariably necessarily lack some of the fundamental elements required to simulate the physical reaction ordinarily provided by a defensive player when being blocked, as set forth above, which are requirements for training an offensive blocking player.

Therefore, the general objects of this invention are to provide an improved football reaction training sled which can selectively simulate a defensive player by moving laterally in either direction rapidly to avoid contact; to continuously and resistively react to a block, by remaining generally immovable, by resistively moving laterally, by giving generally backward, or by a combination or series of similar resistive movements; and to provide a downward and forward force against the offensive blocker.

With these and other objects in view, the present invention generally contemplates an improved football reactor training sled having a sled frame which may be selectively fixed or movable with two horizontal tracks upon which a movable frame is mounted; a reactor dummy resiliently and yieldably mounted thereon and movable in a line generally acute to the horizontal.

Other objects, advantages and novel aspects of this invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the improved foot ball reactor training sled showing the interrelationship of the primary elements thereof;

FIG. 2 is a partial front elevation view of the improved sled showing the relationship between the sled frame and the movable frame; and

FIG. 3 is a partial side view of an exemplary yieldable reaction means between the movable and sled frames.

The improved football reactor training sled of this invention, as exemplified by the structures shown in FIGS.

3,5 14,105 Patented May 26, 1970 1-3, includes generally a sled frame 11, one or more movable frames 12, a reactor dummy 13 for each movable frame, and a resiliently yieldable assembly 14 interconnecting the movable frame with the dummy.

The sled frame 11 (FIG. 1) is provided with three base runners 15 adapted to support the sled frame 11 on the ground or other similar surface 16. Three upright braces 17 are respectively pivotally fastened to the runners by a pin 18 between runner extensions 19. Three diagonal braces 20 are respectively pivotally connected at one end to the uprights 17 by a pin 21 between upright extensions 22. The other end of the braces 20 are respectively selectively retained in one of several holes 23 in the runners 15 by pins, bolts or similar devices 24.

Angle rods 25 may be provided through the runners 15 adjacent the ends thereof and into the ground to keep the sled frame 11 from moving along the ground 16. A platform 26 is provided on the sled frame 11 between the runners 15. A wheel lever 27 is pivotally connected to one or all of the runners 15 at 28, and each lever is provided with a wheel or roller 29 rotatably secured thereto at 30. Tube tracks and 36 are secured horizontally to the uprights 17 by bolts 37. It should be noted that

tracks

35 and 36 are spaced apart a substantial distance.

The movable frames 12 (FIGS. 1 and 2) are each provided with

support track tubes

40 and 41 which are complementally and telescopically as well as freely and slidably on ball bearings at the ends thereof and on the

sled frame tracks

35 and 36 respectively. The

support tubes

40 and 41 are interconnected by

telescoping tubes

42 and 43. Four bars 44 are used to rigidly support a stop plate 45 at a substantial horizontal distance such as three feet from the support tubes 40' and 41 and the

tracks

35 and 36. A tube 46 (FIGS. 1 and 3) is secured to the stop plate 45 around an opening 47 therein.

The illustrated reactor dummy 13 (FIGS. 13) includes generally a backing plate 50, a shaft 51, a contoured dummy body 52, a spring plate 53 and springs 54. The shaft 51 is secured at one end to the plate 50, and the contoured dummy is secured over the outer surface of the plate 50. The shaft 51 is telescopically slidably mounted in the tube 46 of the movable frame 12. The spring plate 53 is secured to the other end of the shaft 51, and is adapted to engage an end surface 55 of the tube 46. The springs 54 are secured for yielding tension bias between the stop plate 45 of the movable frame 12, and the spring plate 53 of the reactor dummy 13 by the

anchor bolts

56 and 57 respectively. The reactor dummy 13 is thereby normally urged to the right or urged forward (FIGS. 1 and 2) to engage the spring plate 53 with the surface 55 of tube 46. The shaft 51 can be provided with calibrations to indicate the general magnitude of any deflection of the dummy 13 against the springs 54.

OPERATION The general operation of the improved football reactor training sled of this invention is to place an operator on the platform 26 for each of the movable frames 12, to respectively manipulate the movable frame 12 and wheel levers 27 which may likewise be provided for each operator.

The operator can selectively move his respective movable frame 12 laterally along the tracks 36 of the frame 11, as the player approaches the dummy reactor 13, from a position to the right or front of the reactor 13 (FIGS. 1 and 2). If the offensive player is appropriately agile, the operator will not be able to manipulate the reactor 13 to avoid contact from the player, and accordingly, the player will move the reactor 13 towards the movable frames 12 against the action of the springs 54. The extent of this movement will be readily shown by the shaft 51 of the reactor 13 which is calibrated with respect to the stop plate 46 of the movable frame 12 to provide a visual indication of the magnitude of the impact provided by the player against the reactor dummy 13.

The angle rods 25 may be in place through the runner 15 into the ground 16 to hold the improved sled against over-all horizontal movements as a result of the force impact against the reactor dummy 13. However, the rods 25 may be removed to allow some horizontal movement of the improved sled to closely simulate a similar reaction that might be provided by a defensive player in response to the impact from the offensive blocking player. The operator can modify the extent of the horizontal movement in this situation by selectively actuating the roller 29.

To actuate the roller 29, the operator merely depresses the lever 27 clockwise (FIG. 1) about 28, so that the roller 29 will engage the ground 16, intending to support the sled 10. By supporting or partially supporting the sled on one or more of the rollers 29, in this manner, the operator or operators can reduce the friction between the runners and the ground 16 by virtue of the rollers 29. This in turn will likewise modify the reaction provided by the sled 10 to the impact received through the reactor dummy 13.

The rods 25 may be used, or in lieu thereof, the runners 15 may be used with the selective operation of the rollers 29 and the operator or operators of the sled 10 can vary the reaction of the sled from an overall generally immovable object with the rods 25 in place, to a somewhat movable sled with the rods 25 removed, or to a somewhat movable sled by actuation of one or more of the rollers 29. Thus, the operator can simulate reactions which are similar to those provided by a defensive player being blocked in the manner in which the player would have blocked the reactor dummy 13.

The operator can selectively manipulate the sled 10 to hold the sled horizontally immovable, horizontally slidable on runners 15, or horizontally movable on runners 15 and rollers 29. Simultaneously, the operator can manipulate the reactor dummy 13 horizontally lateral. Therefore, the player engaging the dummy 13 must maintain a rapid repeated corrected contact with the reactor dummy 13 regardless of the operators manipulation of the reactor dummy 13, or the blocking efforts of the player will be avoided by the reactor dummy 13 and his blocking will be unsuccessful.

The line of action of the reactor dummy 13 with respect to the movable frame 12 is along the concentric axes of the telescoped shaft 51 and tube 46 is generally acute with respect to the ground 16. Therefore, the most effective impact on the reactor dummy 13 will be that which is imparted thereto along the axes of the shaft 51 and the tube 46 or slightly upward and back. Accordingly, the player who is blocking the reactor dummy 13 must exert the main thrust of his force along a line concentric with the axes of the shaft 51 and the tube 46, which is slightly upward and forward with respect to him, to register the greatest impact on the reactor dummy 13.

This will tend to teach the player to exert this type of force in an actual blocking situation, which will tend to cause the defensive player to which the block is applied, to be raised from the ground and thereby lose his footing in response to the block from the oifensive player. Thus, the improved sled 10 simulates the general reaction provided by the vertical action by the defensive player to train the offensive player accordingly.

Inasmuch as the pivotally connected runners 15, uprights 17 and braces 20 are pivotally connected at 18 and 21, and the runners and braces are selectively adjustably connected at 24, the sled frame 11 can be adjusted in shape to alter the upright position of the uprights 17 by selecting appropriate positions 23 on the runners 15. Accordingly, the acute line that the concentric axes of the shaft 51 and tube 46 make with the ground 16 can be adjusted in accordance with the preference of the operator of the improved sled 10, to provide the desired angular vertical reaction of the reactor dummy 13.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, except only insofar as the claims may be so limited, as it will be understood to those skilled in the art that changes may be made without departing from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A football reactor training sled for reactive and illusive relationship with a player comprising a sled frame adapted to be slidably supported on a horizontal surface, said frame having two horizontally positioned parallel tracks, a movable frame, means mounting said movable frame on said tracks for free sliding movement at all times relative to said tracks for illusive horizontal movement therealong, a reactor dummy slidably mounted on said movable frame for reciprocal movement with respect to said movable frame, and resiliently yieldable means interconnecting said movable frame and said dummy reactor for urging said dummy away from said movable frame.

2. A football reactor training sled as defined in claim 1 wherein an operator platform is provided on said frame, a lever is pivotally connected to said frame and has one end extending adjacent said platform, and a roller is rotatably mounted on the other end of said lever whereby said roller may be selectively urged against the sled supporting surface when pivoted by an operator on said platform for selectively supporting a portion of the weight of said sled on said roller to allow said sled to move more easily on the support surface for the purpose of selectively eluding the player and maintaining desired selective player contact.

3. A football reactor training sled as defined in claim 1 wherein said reactor dummy is movable toward said movable frame and against said resilient yielding means along a line which is inclined upwardly toward said frame and is acute to the horizontal support surface.

4. A football reactor training sled as defined in claim 3 wherein said movable frame extends a substantial distance in a horizontal direction from said tracks with said dummy reactor extending a further substantial horizontal distance to position the farthest surface of said dummy horizontally remote from said tracks to tend to prevent contact with said tracks by a person eluded by said dummy.

5. A football reactor training sled as defined in claim 1 wherein said tracks are tubes and said movable frame is secured thereon by complemental tubes having a minimum length greater than the horizontal width of said dummy and are telescoped over said track tubes and form a part of said movable frame to distribute the charging load reaction from the dummy over a large length of said tracks to permit said frame to be freely moved to selec tively elude a charging player independent of load reaction on said frame.

'6. A football reactor training sled for reaction and illusive relationship wtih a player comprising a sled frame adapted to be slidably supported on a horizontal surface, said frame having two horizontally positioned parallel tracks, a freely movable frame means mounting said movable frame on said tracks for free sliding movement at all times relative to said tracks for illusive horizontal movement therealong, a reactor dummy slidably mounted on said frame for reciprocal movement with respect to said movable frame, said sled having base runners, upright braces respectively pivotally secured to said runners and having said tracks secured thereto, and diagonal braces respectively pivotally secured to said upright braces adjacent the top thereof and adjustably secured to said runners for adjustably retaining said upright braces to provide angular adjustment of said reactor dummy, and resiliently yieldable means interconnecting said freely 5 6 movable frame and said dummy reactor for urging said 3,062,547 11/1962 Kopp 273-55 dummy away from said freely movable frame. 3,244,450 4/1966 Boutin 248456 References Cited GEORGE I. MARLO, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 T. BROWN, Assistant Examiner 2,644,334 7/1953 Perry 273-55 U.S. C1.X.R.

3,044,776 7/ 1962 Weidmaier et a1 27355 273-55