WO2008142719A1

WO2008142719A1 - Furler device

Info

Publication number: WO2008142719A1
Application number: PCT/IT2008/000325
Authority: WO
Inventors: Luciano Rienzo; Vladimiro Zattini
Original assignee: A.R.Te. S.R.L.
Priority date: 2007-05-18
Filing date: 2008-05-15
Publication date: 2008-11-27
Also published as: EP2158124A1; ITRA20070040A1

Abstract

Furler (1) for furling flexible bodies (2) about a first longitudinal axis (3); an elongated mandrel (20) being carried in a rotatable manner coaxially with the first axis (3) in order to wind each flexible body (2) about the first axis (3); an actuating group (40) and a transmission being associated with the mandrel (20) in order to actuate it rotatably about the first axis (3).

Description

FURLING DEVICE

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies with a thickness in the order of few millimetres. In particular, the present invention relates to a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies ,with a thickness in the order of few millimetres about an elongated member carried inside a protective shell in an axially rotatable manner. In particular, the present invention relates to a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies with a thickness in the order of few millimetres about an elongated member carried inside a protective shell in an axially rotatable manner under the thrust of an actuating group.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

In the field of equipment which can be used for storing products in flexible material, such as curtains, awnings usable for shading outdoor areas or for dividing spaces, or products of similar nature and/or use, when they are not in use, or for simply stowing them so that they are promptly available when required, the use is well known of equipment provided with a cylindrical body, or mandrel, which can be mechanically or electrically actuated in axial rotation in order to roll them. It is well known that these products can be effectively used only if they are kept under tension and therefore such equipment allows to optimise the duration thereof under the conditions of maximum efficiency, combining this feature with the need of storing them in a minimum space. In some cases, the described equipment can be designed so as to act on the respective mandrel only for completely rolling the items described above and to keep them tensioned only when completely unrolled, whilst in other cases this equipment can be used for using these items partially rolled/unrolled. The conditions of use described above are typical of sails; therefore, the possibility of producing sails which can be easily rolled, without however limiting their capacity of assuming a three-dimensional shape under load, led to the idea that it would possible to store them by means of a furler inside a mast for sailboats, or inside the respective boom, in order to make the steps of fitting out and hauling down faster and easier, thus significantly reducing the number of crew persons for the manoeuvring, with clear benefits thanks to the lower number of crew persons and the lower fixed costs for crew. The development of such equipment allowed spreading of the practice of sailing among a greater number of people, thus significantly increasing the sales of boats and significantly widening the hire market. In the first furlers, the sails were rolled directly about a boom without the so-called "vang" and in such a way so that the mainsail exerts the necessary shearing force for supporting the boom which must be axially rotatable. The axial rotation of the boom (about the same axis) was possible due to the fact that the boom itself was supported on the side of the mast, at the bow in the so-called sloop rigs, by means of one connecting member provided with a fore portion hinged to the mast supporting an aft portion carried in a manually freely rotatable manner, and to the fact that the aft end part of the boom comprised one connection of the tackle connected to the boom by means of the interposition of one sleeve rotatable through a bearing. The torque for rotating the boom could be provided by means of a crank mechanism or by means of a mechanically equivalent device. An example of this application is described in the patent GB 1.179.981. Despite the great utility of this innovation, it was easily understood that the mainsail wound about the boom for more or less lasting periods could compromise its resistance capability, due to the prolonged exposure to the UV rays. In addition to this, due to the absence of the vang the users were obliged to support the boom when it was not in use by means of a support which overcomes the lacking in action of the halyard on the sail. This removable support was generally X-shaped, and had to be transported in a locker or in a cabin, thus occupying space otherwise usable for foods or equipment useful for navigation. The need for having a vang available, together with the need for protecting the sails against the UV rays, led to conceive the booms as an assembly of one furling mandrel with a hollow body which contains it. It should be noted that this mandrel presents length greater than the base of the sail in order easily to support it completely wound about the mandrel itself. Furthermore, this mandrel is supported through support devices rotatable inside the respective hollow body which acts as external part of the boom and which is thus supported by the vang. The mandrel can be operated manually, as in the case of the patent US 6.145.460, or electrically driven, such as in the case of the patent GB 2.301.802. In this last case, it is obvious that a user is facilitated in the action of furling the mainsail with respect to the cases in which he/she must operate manually, even if first of all it should be specified that, due to the motorisation mechanical design of the mandrel of the document '802, the boom had to be shaped in an unusual manner, in order to house the actuating device below the connection to the mast, thus occupying a great part of the space below the boom itself. It should be noted that this solution limits the operativity of the crew, and that the need for giving the boom such an unusual shape imposed modifications to the shape of the other components of the equipment and the sails, as it will be better explained hereunder, and significantly increased the costs for productive investments due to the need of designing and producing moulds with unusual shapes for the application in question. Furthermore, despite the critical environment conditions under which the device is used, with humidity and saltiness, in addition to the low number of operations, in the document '802 few attention is paid to finding a solution to the problem of failure of the actuating device, despite the fact that this critical event could take place unexpectedly offshore, many miles from the coast, thus forcing the users to solve the problem without any assistance. With reference to the shape of the sails to be used in combination with a furling mandrel, it should be noted that there are a lot of structures in which it is supported in an axially rotatable manner inside a box-shaped body, which is in turn coupled to the mast in such a way as to let it free to drift over the deck of the respective boat on angles of substantially +90° relative to a longitudinal median plane of symmetry. The need to combine the axial and transverse rotations imposes to construct support devices which present a significant axial extension. Furthermore, in view of the above description, it is easy to understand that this imposes to construct sails, and in particular mainsails, in which the lower part of the bolt rope remains outside the mast. This in order to avoid that enhanced lateral rotations cause an excessive traction laterally oriented on the fabric of the sail, thus determining conditions which can cause a tear, i.e. a severe damage of the mainsail, which can definitely compromise its use. In view of the above description, the problem of having available a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies with a thickness in the order of few millimetres, which can be electrically actuated, is currently solved in a dissatisfactory manner and represents an interesting challenge for the Applicant, in order to easily overcome the failure of the actuating device for actuating the mandrel through low cost solutions of limited bulk and weights, and in order to prevent the operativity of the screw from being limited. It is easy to understand that the above description allows costs to be reduced, thanks to the possibility of replacing a low number of components, to the reduced impact of the installation finalised to renew equipment already in use, and to the possibility of using sails produced without taking into account the need to operate with the lower part of the bolt rope partially extracted from the mast. In view of the above description, it would be desirable to have available a furler which, in addition to enabling to limit and possibly to overcome the typical drawbacks of the art illustrated above, could define a new standard for these types of product. Consequently, such a designed furler will allows the yachtsmen, which think that a limited adulteration of the equipment is the greatest guarantee of security, to take into consideration the installation of equipment provided with furlers in order to facilitate access to the sailing experience by a greater number of sailing enthusiasts, even less experienced or with less strength.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION The present invention relates to a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies with a thickness in the order of few millimetres. In particular, the present invention relates to a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies with a thickness in the order of few millimetres about an elongated member carried inside a protective shell in an axially rotatable manner. In particular, the present invention relates to a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies with a thickness in the order of few millimetres about an elongated member carried inside a protective shell in an axially rotatable manner under the thrust of an actuating group. An object of the present invention is to provide teachings to construct a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies with a thickness in the order of few millimetres, which allows the disadvantages described above to be solved, and that furthermore presents a low number of components in such a way as to be economical in terms of purchase and installation. According to the present invention a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies with a thickness in the order of few millimetres is provided, whose main characteristics are described in at least one of the appended claims . A further object of the present invention is to disclose a boom provided with a furler for furling substantially planar flexible bodies with a thickness in the order of few millimetres, that allows the disadvantages described above to be solved, and allows to limit the tractive efforts acting on these flexible bodies. According to the present invention, a boom is further disclosed, which is provided with this furler and whose main characteristics are described in at least one of the appended claims.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an equipment to fit out a sailboat provided with this boom, which allows the disadvantages described above to be solved. According to the present invention, equipment for a sailboat is further provided, whose main characteristics are described in at least one of the appended claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the description below, set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate some non-limiting examples of embodiment, in which identical or corresponding parts of the device are identified by the same reference numbers. In particular:

- figure lisa side elevation view, which details cut-away for the sake of clarity, of a first preferred embodiment of a furler according to the present invention;

- figure 2 shows figure 1 in enlarged scale with some parts removed for the sake of clarity;

- figure 3 shows in enlarged scale a detail of figure 1; - figure 4 shows a detail extracted from figure 1 in enlarged scale and longitudinally cut-away in two views rotated by about 120°;

- figure 5 shows a variant of a portion of figure 2 in enlarged scale with some parts removed for the sake of clarity; - figure 6 is an exploded view of figure 5, with some parts removed for the sake of clarity; and

- figure 7 is an exploded view of figure 5;

- figure 8 is a schematic perspective view in enlarged scale with some parts removed for the sake of clarity of a second embodiment of figure 2;

- figure 9 is a schematic perspective view of a detail extracted from figure 8;

- figure 10 is a schematic perspective view in enlarged scale with some parts removed for the sake of clarity of a third embodiment of figure 2;

- figure 11 is a longitudinal section of figure 11, with parts removed for the sake of clarity;

- figure 12 is an exploded view of figure 11; - figure 13 is a schematic perspective view according to a fore point of view of a first detail extracted from figure 11; and

- figure 14 is a schematic perspective view according to an aft point of view of the detail of figure 14. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In figure 1, number 1 indicates, in its entirety, a furler 1 for furling flexible bodies 2 about a first axis 3 which extends longitudinally. Each flexible body 2 is substantially planar, presents a thickness in the order of few millimetres and can be used in curtains or awnings and, if duly produced as in the case of the sails, it can be used also for producing aerodynamic effects. For practical reasons, the furler 1, for the sake of convenience and according to the nautical vocation of the Applicant, will be described and illustrated in association with an equipment 600 used to fit out a sailboat, known and therefore not shown, and comprising a mast 602 and a boom 400 coupled in an articulated manner to the mast 602 in order to furl flexible bodies 2, each of which comprising a sail. However, the arbitrariness of this choice for no reasons can be interpreted as an expression of a will to limit the application of the furler 1 to this technological field, given the generality of the structure of the furler. With particular reference to figure 4, the furler 1 comprises an elongated mandrel, axially delimited by a first and a second end portions 22, 24, and a support device 30 suitable to support the mandrel 20 in a freely rotatable manner coaxially to the axis 3, in order to wind each flexible body 2 about the first axis 3; an actuating device 40 is associated to the support device 30 to rotate the mandrel 20 axially; the furler 1 further comprises a transmission device 50, which is arranged between the actuating device 40 and the mandrel 20 in order to actuate it in an axially rotatable manner; it should be noted that the actuating device 40 and the transmission device 50 are substantially coaxial with each other, and that they are contained inside the mandrel 20, as will be more apparent from the description below.

With particular reference to figures 1 and 2, the mandrel 20 is contained inside a hollow body 10 of the boom 400, which extends along the axis 3 and is shaped in such a way as to contain entirely the mandrel 20. This hollow body 10 is provided with a first coupling member 102 positioned on the side of the first end portion 22 of the mandrel 20 and is arranged to refer stably the hollow body 10. In this regard, the first coupling member 102 presents a nose 1022 shaped in such a way as to couple to the mast 602 substantially vertical in figure 2 by means of a pivot pin 1024 in correspondence of an axis 5 substantially parallel to the mast 602 in a respective parrel 604, which is in turn substantially fork-shaped. With this nose 1022 a joint 1026 is associated, which is shown in figure 2 and allows to rotate the hollow body 10 transversely to the axis 5 and to the first axis 3, thus allowing to drift over a deck, known and therefore not shown, of the sailboat on which the equipment 600 has been fitted. Naturally, the boom 400 presents at the bottom a connecting member 104 for a vang 106, which completes the outfit thereof and connects the hollow body 10 to the mast 602 below the parrel 604.

It should be specified that, even if the furler 1, in order to be installed and made operative on a sailboat, requires necessarily the availability of a boom 400, and thus availability of the respective hollow body 10, however it is also true that the furler 1 can be produced already integrated inside the boom 400, depending upon the choices of the respective manufacturer. With particular reference to figure 4, the actuating device 40 comprises an actuator 42, which is contained inside the mandrel 20. The actuator 42 presents a drive shaft 44, which faces the first portion 22 in order to transmit torque to the mandrel 20 by means of the transmission device 50 in order to rotate it axially. The support device 30 comprises a first support unit 32 for supporting the mandrel 20; this unit is carried internally by the hollow body 10 in an angularly fixed manner with respect to the mandrel 20 and aligned with the axis 3, i.e. in a position substantially coaxial with the drive shaft 44. The first support unit 32 is delimited axially by a flange 322 for coupling to the actuator 42 at the side of the second end portion 24 and, at the side of the first end portion 22, by an eye bolt 324, which extends outside the first end portion 22 of the mandrel 20 and allows to couple the mandrel 20 to the mast 602 over the parrel 604 by means of an eye 3242 of the eye bolt 324, substantially centred on the axis 3. The first support unit 32 further comprises a sleeve 36 coupled to the mandrel 20 at the side of the first end portion 22 in an angularly fixed manner and coupled to the drive shaft 44 through the interposition of an axial reduction gear 52, which comprises an epicycloidal transmission group 52. It should be noted that the eye bolt 324 is carried fore by the first portion 22 of the mandrel 20 by means of threaded connections, known and not shown for the sake of drawing and description economy. According to figures 1 and 2, the support device 30 further comprises a second support unit 38, which is positioned at the opposite side to the second end portion 24 of the mandrel 20, comprises a substantially monolithic box - shaped body 388, and has reduced extension along the axis 3. According to figure 3, this support unit 38 is further provided with a second coupling member 382, which is shaped in such a way as to couple to the sleeve 36 in a freely rotatable manner about an axis 4 (visible also in figure 2) , which is arranged transversely to the first axis 3 and parallel to the axis 5. In particular, again with reference to figure 3, the second coupling member 382 comprises a second pivot pin 382, suitable to engage the eye 3242 (figure 4a) of the eye bolt 324 and supported by the box shaped member 388 through the interposition of bushes 3880 arranged for the anti-rotation of the second coupling member 382. Again with reference to figure 3, the box 388 comprises a hooking device 386, which is carried by the box shaped body 388 and is provided with at least a first pivot pin 3862, which is substantially coaxial to the axis 5 and is therefore orthogonal to the axis 3 and transverse to the axis 4; this pivot pin 3862 engages a fork shaped member 500, which is carried by the mast 602 to refer stably the axis 3, and therefore also the mandrel 20, with respect to the fork shaped member 500 and to support the mandrel 20 in a freely rotatable manner relative to the respective first end portion 22. It should be noted that the choice of coupling the mandrel 20 directly to the mast 602 by means of the support unit 38, and in particular the respective box shaped body 388, and of coupling separately the hollow body 10 to the mast 602 by means of the first coupling member 102, with the respective nose 1022, so that the coupling elements for coupling to the mast 602 (pivot pins 3862 and 1024) are distinct but substantially coaxial with the axis 5, vertical in figures 4 and 5, allows to limit the axial dimensions of the furler 1, and to use sails 2, whose bolt rope, known and therefore not shown, is arranged so as to engage the luff, known and therefore not shown, of the mast 602 along all the extension thereof even close to the mandrel 20, without however compromising the integrity of the sail 2. In fact, the choice of coaxially arranging the pivot pins 3862 and 1024 allows to minimise the entity of the tractive efforts oriented along the first axis 3 from the bow to the stern to values substantially identical to the values of sails designed to operate on equipment 600 without furler, in which the hauling down is carried out by gravity, and thus to limit the risk of tears transverse to the bolt rope, known and therefore not shown, of the sails 2.

The furler 1 further comprises a channelling unit 60, which is contained inside the mandrel 20 in a given portion between the actuator 42 and the first support unit 32 to house power cables 62 (visible only in figure 4b) of the actuator 42. The eye bolt 324 presents a cavity 326 which is crossed by a front portion of the channelling unit 60 and carries outside an electric connector 70 (visible only in figure 4b) , through which it the actuator 42 can be selectively connected to and disconnected from an electric supply network. The channelling unit 60 further comprises at least a conduit 64 housed inside a groove 66 obtained longitudinally in an outer casing of the actuator 42; each conduit 64 terminates in the connector 70, as shown in figure 4b. Again with reference to figure 4, the furler 1 further comprises a sleeve 80 which is connected in fluid-tight manner to an end ring flange 3220 of the flange 322, in order to hydraulically insulate the actuator 42, the channelling unit 60 and the transmission group 52. The ring flange 3220 is rigidly connected to the eye bolt 324 and supports in a rigid fashion the channelling unit 60 the group 52 through the interposition of a respective casing 522, and in a cantilevered fashion the actuator 42. The casing 522 contains planet gears 5222, shown in figures 4a) and 4b), arranged radially about a solar gear 5224, which is also shown in these figures. With particular reference to figure 4a) , it should be noted that each planet gear 5222 is carried by a fixed pivot pin 5221, each of which is axially perforated in order to allow the passage of a respective conduit 64 and of the respective cables 62 between such actuator 42 and the connector 70. The latter is keyed on a shaft 442, which is coaxial with the axis 3 and which is supported by the flange 322 through the interposition of bearings, known and therefore not shown, in such a way as to act as extension of the drive shaft 44 and thus to transmit the torque from the actuator 42 to the sleeve 36. It should be noted that this latter is supported in a freely rotatable and axially fixed manner through guiding members 34 for guiding the rotation, generally radial ball bearings, by the casing 522 of the transmission group 52. With particular reference to figures 4a) and 4b) , it is easy to understand that the solar gear 5224 can be obtained in a single piece in end position on the shaft 442. With reference to figure 1, the support means 30 comprise, on the side of the second end portion 24 of the mandrel 20, a third support unit 39 (shown only in figure 1) which is integrally carried by the hollow body 10 to support the mandrel 20 in a rotatable and axially fixed manner. It should be noted that the pivot pins 1024 and 3862 are coaxial with each other, in order to facilitate insertion of a luff, known and therefore not shown, of the flexible body/the sail 2 of figure 1 inside a groove, known and therefore not shown, obtained in the mast 602 on the side of the furler 1 in order to minimise the risk that the sail 2 is torn by a tractive effort directed from the first end portion 22 towards the second end portion 24. Such an effort can be associated with an extra-rotation of the mandrel 20 about an axis transverse to the first axis 3, which takes place, for example, with the mandrel 20 and, globally, with the boom 400 angular with respect to a median plane of the respective boat known and therefore not shown in order to trim the sail 2 for broad reaches such as beam reach or downwind.

Lastly, it is apparent that modifications and variants can be made to the furler 1 described and illustrated herein without however departing from the protective scope of the present invention.

It is considered appropriate to specify that, for practical reasons, members and elements which are homologous with those already introduced with reference to figures 1-4 or which have functions substantially identical to those of the members or elements already cited, will be hereafter identified with the same reference number.

For example, in figures 5-7 a variant of the actuating device 40 is shown, which comprises, in addition to the actuator 42, an auxiliary actuating group 384, which is contained inside the box shaped body 388, duly modified, enlarged and subdivided into two mutually facing shells 388', which therefore will be indicated hereafter with the term "box" . The actuating group 384 comprises an actuating unit 3842. This actuating unit 3842 is provided with a screw 38422 parallel to the axis 4 and shaped in such a way as to be manually operated, as will be better described below. The actuating unit 3842 further comprises a worm wheel 38424 coaxial with the axis 3 and presents a housing 38426 (only shown in figure 7) for the second coupling member 382. The screw 38422 is provided with at least an interface element 384222 suitable selectively to couple to a crank 384224 in order to actuate the screw 38422 in rotation, so that the actuating unit 3842 is able to actuate the mandrel 20 in rotation through a pair of skew axes obtained outside the mandrel 20. The box 388 presents a housing 384226 for the interface element 384222 of the screw 34822. Again with reference to figure 7, it should be noted that the housing 38426 is cross shaped in order to house the second coupling member 382 and that the second coupling member 382 comprises a pivot pin indicated with the same number in figure 7; this pivot pin 382 is axially delimited by ends 3820 with square cross-section, which are dimensioned in such a way as to couple horizontally in figure 7 to the housing 38426 in a matching manner, in order to help minimisation of the risk of tear of the sail 2 mentioned above. The box 388 carries a locking unit 3882 selectively releasable in order to maintain the wheel 38424 angularly fixed with respect to the box 388. This locking unit 3882 comprises at least a substantially radial screw 38822 for the wheel 38424 coupled in a helical manner to the box 388 to engage a space between two adjacent teeth of the wheel 38424 in order to act as a constraint for the rotation thereof, with the consequence that in order to allow the free rotation of the wheel 38424 it is necessary completely to remove each screw 38822 from the respective seat. In view of the above description, the actuating group 384 is suitable to rotate the second coupling member 382 about the axis 3 in such a way as to induce selectively an axial fixed rotation of the mandrel 20 when the actuator 42 is inactive or out of service. The actuating group 384 can be therefore considered as a safety device which allows to wind each flexible body 2 about the mandrel 20, even if through the interposition of the hollow body 10, and therefore allows to lower manually and in a very easy manner a flexible body 2 and therefore also a sail. Naturally, before acting with the crank 384224 on the screw 38422 it is necessary to disconnect the power supply from the actuator 42 by acting on the connector 70, and it will be subsequently necessary to switch the locking unit 3882 by extracting each screw 38822 from the box 388; At this point, it will be possible to act on the crank 384224 to wind the flexible body 2 about the mandrel 20 up to the number of winding necessary to reduce the free extension of the flexible body 2. The rotation imposed through the crank 384224 will cause the rigid rotation of the mandrel 20 and of the eye bolt 324, given that the respective eye 3242 is integral with the wheel 38424. At this point, it will be possible to lock again the mandrel 20 through the coupling between the screw 38822 and the box 388 in order to avoid a contra-rotation and, therefore, the unwinding of the flexible body 2 from the mandrel 20.

It should be noted that also in this case the longitudinal extension of the second support unit 38, and in particular of the respective box 388 thereof, is substantially identical to the extension that this box presented in figures 1 and 2. Therefore, also in this case, the use of an ordinary sail is substantially permitted, allowing use of the mainsails provided for sailboats fitted out with equipment for the lowering by fall.

With reference to figures 8 and 9, a second embodiment of the furler 1 is illustrated, which allows the installation thereof on a standard mast 602, provided with a parrel 604 presenting a simple fork. According to what is shown in figure 8, the hollow body 10, and thus the boom 400, is fore delimited by a flange 402 associated to the second support unit 38, which allows the connection thereof to the parrel 604. This flange 402 comprises a disk 404 provided aft with a pair of brackets 406 substantially identical to each other and perforated in a coaxial manner parallel to the mast 602. These brackets 406 allow the actuating unit 3842 contained inside the box 388 to be connected to the flange 402, by means of the two respective first pivot pins 3862 of the box 388, in such a way as to support it in a freely rotatable manner parallel to the mast 602. The disk 404 further presents a further pair of brackets 408 arranged afore transversely to the brackets 406 in order to couple to the parrel 604 through the interposition of an interface 409, which allows to articulate the boom 400/the hollow body 10 on skew axes aft relative to the mast 602.

Naturally, the access to the locking unit 3882 is in this case contained inside the hollow body 10 and therefore, in the case of failure or maintenance, it will be necessary to make a side window, known and therefore not shown, in order to allow switching and thus unlocking the device 3882. Furthermore, it is apparent that it will be unnecessary to provide for side windows in the hollow body 10 if the box 388 will be supported outside the hollow body 10 by the brackets 406, which will be turned by 180° relative to the brackets shown in figure 8, i.e. they will be carried by the face delimiting the disk 404 afore. In this case, not shown because of its simplicity, the mandrel 20 will pass through the disk 404, and therefore the boom 400 can be duly supported by the mast 602 by means of an articulating member similar to the joint 1026, connected to a face which delimits on the bottom the hollow body 10.

With reference to figures 10-14 a further embodiment of the furler 1 is shown, which allows the disadvantage described above to be solved, i.e. allows to avoid making windows in the hollow body 10 of the boom 400 for accessing the unit 3882 of the actuating group 384. In this case, the hollow body 10 rigidly supports the box 388 afore by means of a cover 43 which stably closes afore and which carries the box 388 through a plurality of screws, known and not indicated with numbers. The eye bolt 324 of the first support unit 32 is replaced with the sleeve 321 which passes through the cover 43 in correspondence of a respective service hole, known and therefore not shown, and couples directly with the wheel 38424 by means of a tongue 3212. This shape connection allows the second pivot pin 382, coupled to the box 388 in the version of figures 1-4 and to the wheel 38424 in the version of figures 5-7, to be eliminated. It should be noted that this simplification of the mechanical design allows shrinkage in the production cycle and a great reduction in the overall costs of the furler 1. Naturally, also in the current version of the furler 1, the locking unit 3882 is contained inside the box 388. The fact that the box 388 does not have any more the function of connecting member for connecting the hollow body 10/the boom 400 to the mast 602, imposes to modify the connection between the boom 400 and the mast 602, by introducing a ball joint which recalls the function of the joint 1026 of figure 2. This joint is assumed known and for the sake of simplicity it is not indicated in the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that in this embodiment there is no need for a bracket connection for the box 388, thus simplifying the construction of the mast 602, which can present a single bracket. Again with reference to figure 14, and for the sake of simplification , the locking unit 3882 is modified and comprises a thrust member 38425 arranged in correspondence of an outer periphery of the wheel 38424, in such a way as to act by friction on a respective face 384245 in an eccentric position. This thrust member 38425 comprises an externally threaded pivot pin 38425 helically coupled to a cover 3881 of the shell 388', which closes it afore. The unit 3882 further comprises a ring nut 3883 coupled to the cover 3881 in an axially fixed and freely rotatable manner and helically coupled to the pivot pin 38425. This ring nut 3883 presents a respective mantle 3885 accessible from the outside of the box 388, from which it protrudes above in figure 14, to allow to rotate the ring nut 3883 and to operate the pivot pin 38425 axially to and from a position of interference with this wheel 38424 in correspondence of a respective forward face 384245, i.e. to control selectively the locking and unlocking of the axial rotation of the wheel 38424.

With particular reference to figure 14, it should be noted that the corresponding embodiment of the actuating unit 3842 is provided for the passage of the wirings for actuating the actuator 42 and of any other electrical device to be inserted inside the mandrel 20. In view of the above description, it is apparent that the furler 1 represents a low cost effective solution, with limited bulk and weights, with reduced aesthetic impact both in installations to be carried out ex novo, and when it is necessary to renew already used equipment, and therefore it allows the typical drawbacks of the prior art to be solved by means of a simple structure which can be operated without physical effort during normal operativity through an electric actuation and with a minimum physical effort in case of failure of the latter. Furthermore, the choice of varying the fitting of the furler 1 according to the embodiment illustrated in figure 3, according to the embodiment of figures 6 and 7, according to the embodiment of figures 8-9 or according to the embodiment of figures 10-14 allows to provide the users with products which are in line with a great variety of needs, without however creating problems of space to the manufacturers and the dealers. In fact, all the embodiments described and illustrated above share the mandrel 20, which represents the bulky part of the furler 1.

Furthermore, this also simplifies the upgrade of the current version of the furler 1, with the result of minimising the cost of this operation.

It would be appropriate to specify that the actuating group 384 is of the manually operated type; this feature demonstrates the great attention paid by the Applicant to the marine safety matter. Nonetheless, it is also possible to use a mechanical actuator to actuate the screw 38422, duly modifying the actuating group 384, and therefore through the application of principles known and shared in the sector of mechanical actuations of rotatable devices.

Claims

1. A furler (1) for furling substantially planar flexible bodies (2) about a first longitudinal axis (3); support means

(30) being provided in order to support an elongated mandrel (20) in a rotatable manner coaxially to said first axis (3) to wind each said flexible body (2) about said first axis (3) ; actuating means (40) being associated to said support means (30) to rotate said mandrel (20) axially; characterised by comprising transmission means (50) arranged between said actuating means (40) and said mandrel (20) to actuate it rotatably; said actuating means (40) and said transmission means (50) being contained inside said mandrel (20).

2. A furler according to claim 1, characterised in that said actuating means (40) and said transmission means (50) are substantially coaxial with each other.

3. A furler according to claim 2, characterised in that said actuating means (40) comprise an actuator (42) contained inside said mandrel (20) .

4. A furler according to any one of claims 1-3, characterised in that said actuating means (40) comprise an auxiliary actuating device (384) designed in such a way as to rotate rigidly said mandrel (20) when the actuator (42) is inactive.

5. A furler according to claim 4, characterised in that said mandrel (20) is delimited axially by a first and a second end portions (22, 24); said actuator (42) presenting a drive shaft (44) facing said first portion (22) and suitable to transmit torque to said mandrel (20) by means of said transmission devices (50) in order to rotate it axially; said support means (30) comprising a first support unit (32) arranged along said first axis (3) , maintained in substantially coaxial position with said drive shaft (44) and in an angularly fixed manner with respect to said mandrel (20) , for supporting it in a freely rotatable manner through the interposition of at least a guiding member (34) for guiding the rotation.

6. A furler according to claim 5, characterised in that said support means (30) comprise a second support unit (38) arranged at opposite side of said second end portion (24) of said mandrel (20) .

7. A furler according to claim 6, characterised in that said actuating device (384) is associated with said second support unit (38) .

8. A furler according to claim 7, characterised in that said first support unit (32) further comprises a sleeve (36) coupled to said mandrel (20) in an angularly fixed manner on the side of said first end portion (22) and coupled to said drive shaft (44) through the interposition of an axial reduction gear (52) associated to said transmission means (50) .

9. A furler according to claim 8, characterised in that said axial reduction gear (52) comprises an epicycloidal transmission group (52).

10. A furler according to any one of claims 6-9, characterised in that said second support unit (38) is provided with one first coupling member (382) shaped in such a way as to couple to said sleeve (36) in a freely rotatable manner about one second axis (4) arranged transversely to said first axis (3) .

11. A furler according to claim 9 or 10, characterised in that said second support unit (38) comprises hooking means (386) provided with at least one first pivot pin (3862) orthogonal to said first axis (3) to engage a fork shaped member (500) which can be used to refer stably said first axis (3) and to support said mandrel (20) in a freely rotatable manner relative to the respective said first end portion (22) .

12. A furler according to claim 11, characterised in that said actuating device (384) comprises one actuating unit (3842) comprising a screw (38422) parallel to said second axis (4) and a worm wheel (38424) coaxial with said first axis (3), in such a way that said actuating unit (3842) is suitable to actuate said mandrel (20) through a pair of skew axes obtained outside said mandrel (20) .

13. A furler according to claim 12, characterised in that said second support unit (38) comprises a box (388) , which contains said actuating device (384) .

14. A furler according to claim 13, characterised in that said screw (38422) is provided with an interface element (384222) suitable selectively to couple to a crank (384224) in order to actuate said screw (38422) in rotation.

15. A furler according to claim 14, characterised in that said box (388) contains said transmission unit (3842) and presents a housing (384226) for said interface element (384222) .

16. A furler according to any one of claims 5-15, characterised in that said first support unit (32) is axially delimited, on the side of said second end portion (24) , by a support flange (322) of said actuator (42) and, on the side of said first end portion (22), is delimited by a support member (324) (321) which extends outside said first end portion (22) of said mandrel (20) .

17. A furler according to claim 16, characterised in that said support member (324) comprises an eye bolt (324) presenting an eye (3242) substantially centred on said first axis (3), and said first coupling member (382) comprising a second pivot pin (382) suitable to engage said eye (3242) of said eye bolt (324).

18. A furler according to any one of claims 9-16, characterised in that said epicycloidal transmission group (52) comprises a casing (522) carried by said flange (322) and comprising a plurality of axially fixed planet gears (5222) radially arranged about a solar gear (5224) coaxial with said first axis (3) coupled to said drive shaft (44) .

19. A furler according to claim 18, characterised in that each said planet gear (5222) is carried by a pivot pin (5221) carried rigidly by said casing (522) ; at least a said pivot pin (5221) being axially perforated.

20. A furler according to claim 18 or 19, characterised in that said flange (322) presents a respective ring flange (3220) designed to support said axial reduction gear (52) by means of a respective casing (522) and to support rigidly in a fluid-tight manner a sleeve (80) in such a way as hydraulically to insulate said actuator (42) and said transmission group (52) .

21. A furler according to any one of claims 12-20, characterised in that said box (388) presents locking means (3882) selectively releasable to maintain said wheel (38424) angularly fixed with respect to said box (388) .

22. A furler according to claim 20 or 21, characterised by comprising channelling means (60) contained inside said sleeve (80) and arranged between said actuator (42) and said first support unit (32) by means of at least a said pivot pin (5221) perforated to house power supply cables (62) of said actuator (42); electric connecting means (70) of the releasable type being provided afore to allow connection of said actuator (42) to an electric supply network.

23. A furler according to any one of claims 20-22, characterised by comprising a sleeve (80) rigidly connected to said fluid-tight flange (322) to insulate said actuator (42), said channelling means (60) and said transmission group (52) .

24. A furler according to any one of claims 1-23, characterised by comprising a hollow body (10) coaxial with said first axis (3) and shaped in such a way as to contain fully said mandrel (20) .

25. A furler according to claim 24, characterised in that said hollow body (10) is provided with a second coupling member (102) arranged on the side of said first end portion (22) of said mandrel (20) and provided for referring stably said hollow body (10) in a freely rotatable manner about at least a third axis (5) in a position different from said second support unit (38) ; said third axis (5) being oriented transversely to said first axis (3) and being substantially coaxial with said first pivot pin (3862) in order to minimise tractive efforts directed along said first axis (3) from said first end portion (22) towards said second end portion (24), coupled to rotations of said mandrel (20) with respect to said mast (602), and the risk of tears of said flexible body (2) .

26. A furler according to claim 25, characterised in that said support means (30) further comprise a third support unit (39) carried rigidly by said hollow body (10) in order to support said mandrel (20) on the side of said second end portion (24) in a rotatable and axially fixed manner.

27. A furler according to claim 9 and any one of claims 12-26, characterised in that said second support unit (38) comprises a flange body (402) (43) rigidly connected to, and longitudinally delimiting afore, said hollow body (10) ; said flange body (402) (43) being designed in such a way as to support said box (388) .

28. A furler according to claim 27, characterised in that said flange body (402) comprises a disk (404) provided aft with at least a bracket (406) suitable to support said box (388); said disk (404) being provided afore with at least a further bracket (408) transverse to each bracket (406) to couple to a parrel (604) .

29. A furler according to claim 28 depending upon claim 11, characterised in that said first support unit (32) comprises a sleeve (321) suitable to exchange torque with said wheel (38424) of said actuating device (384) by means of a tongue shaped connection (3212).

30. A furler according to claim 29, characterised in that said box (388) presents locking means (3882) selectively releasable to maintain said wheel (38424) angularly fixed with respect to said box (388) .

31. A furler according to claim 30, characterised in that said locking means (3882) comprise a thrust member (38425) arranged in correspondence of an outer periphery of said wheel (38424) and helically coupled to said box (388) in order to be longitudinally movable of a screw-like motion; ring nut means (3883) being carried coupled to said thrust member (38425) in a manner that is accessible from the outside of said box (388) to actuate said thrust member (38425) longitudinally from and to a position of interference with said wheel (38424) in correspondence of a respective forward face (384245) .

32. A boom (400) provided with a furler (1) described according to any one of claims 1-31 and presenting a coupling member (102) for hooking said hollow body (10) provided with a respective nose (1022) in end position coaxially couplable to said second support unit (38) of said mandrel (20) to said third axis (5) .

33. An equipment (600) for fitting out a sailboat comprising a substantially vertical mast (602) and a boom (400) as described according to claim 32, whose respective said coupling member (102) is provided with said nose (1022) in order to couple to said mast (602) by means of a third pivot pin (1024) substantially coaxial with said third axis (5) in a respective parrel (604) substantially fork shaped and positioned below said second support unit (38) , in such a way that said mandrel

(20) is carried by said mast (602) in a freely axially rotatable manner about said mast (602) and that said hollow body (10) and said mandrel (20) are coupled to said mast (602) transversely to it and coaxially with each other and with said third axis (5) in order to minimise tractive efforts directed along said first axis (3) of said first end portion (22) towards said second end portion (24), associated with rotations of said mandrel (20) with respect to said mast (602), and the risk of tears of said flexible body (2) .