EP0004210A1 - Support for securing a jumping bar - Google Patents

Abstract

Restraint device for obstacle bar, comprising a cleat which has two pins pluggable into the holes (20) of a candlestick (21) and a U-shaped part (6), serving as support for the bar (9). The support (6) is pivotally mounted around at least one axis parallel to the pins so as to allow the bar (9) to escape freely from its support (6) in the event of transverse impact. Application to horse jumping events.

Description

The present invention relates to a retaining device for obstacle bars, in particular of the kind used for training and competition in show jumping of horses.

We know that such obstacles consist of a movable bar, the ends of which rest on arches which are integral with a frame making it possible to place them at the desired location of supports which offer staggered positions for these frames. For example, the supports consist of vertical posts, often called candlesticks, which are drilled with staggered holes. These supports can also be produced by means of horizontal or oblique bars also pierced with staggered holes.

For its part, the frame can be constituted by a cleat comprising one or two pins pluggable into the holes of the support. This frame may also include a collar enclosing the post and which is retained in staggered notches placed at the edges thereof.

In the current state of the art, the aforementioned arch is often in the form of a quarter of a circle and it is integral with a part of the frame situated opposite the opposite post, so that the plane of this arch is vertical and parallel to the plane of symmetry of the obstacle.

• . la barre repose en simple appui sur le fond de l'arceau dont les bouts incurvés vers le haut empêchent sa chute. Elle ne peut tomber qu'après avoir été soulevée au-dessus de l'un ou l'autre de ces bouts. Ce soulèvement peut être normalement causé par le choc d'un membre antérieur du cheval en mouvement ascendant pour franchir l'obstacle. Dans ce cas, la barre, avant de tomber, va gêner davantage encore le cheval et pourra provoquer sa chute. Mais le danger s'accroît lorsque le cheval touche la barre avec un membre antérieur ou postérieur dans des conditions telles que le choc développe sur la barre une force dirigée vers le bas. Dans ce cas, la barre ne peut d'elle-même échapper aux arceaux qui la supportent, sauf si ellé casse ou rebondit. Le choc du cheval sur la barre risque dans tous les cas de le déséquilibrer complètement en provoquant des chutes dangereuses. En particulier, on constate que ces chutes provoquent fréquemment une fracture de la troisième phalange du cheval et de toute façon le rendent rétif. De plus, le remplacement des barres cassées est onéreux.

The device thus produced has drawbacks, and even dangers, for the following reasons:

• . the bar rests by simply pressing on the bottom of the hoop, the upward curved ends of which prevent it from falling. It can only fall after being lifted over either end. This lifting can be normally caused by the shock of an anterior limb of the horse in upward movement to cross the obstacle. In this case, the bar, before falling, will further hamper the horse and may cause it to fall. But the danger increases when the horse touches the bar with a foreleg or hind limb in conditions such as shock develops downward force on the bar. In this case, the bar cannot of itself escape the arches which support it, unless it breaks or bounces. The impact of the horse on the bar risks in any case to completely unbalance it by causing dangerous falls. In particular, it is found that these falls frequently cause a fracture of the third phalanx of the horse and in any case make it restive. In addition, replacing broken bars is expensive.

We sometimes try to overcome these faults by flattening the arch to be able to place the bar very close to one end and at the equilibrium limit, and to prevent it from accidentally falling, we are forced to press it against the internal faces of the candlesticks, which can lead to its jamming with the well-known dangerous consequences.

But another disadvantage, less serious besides, presents itself: the height of the bar is not exactly fixed, and can vary when it is put back in place after it has fallen. The regularity of the jumping competition tests is affected.

The present invention aims to avoid these dangers and disadvantages and to ensure both the fall of the bar, as soon as it is struck, and the precision of its positioning.

According to the invention, the obstacle bar retainer comprising a frame intended to be fixed in an adjustable location of a candlestick or the like, this frame carrying a U-shaped piece serving as a support for the bar, is characterized in that that said support can pivot around at least one axis of the frame parallel to the bar when the latter is in the service position in the supports.

Thus, as soon as the bar receives a push, it comes to press against an edge of the U-shaped support which rocks immediately and releases the bar entirely without lifting it. The invention thus makes it possible to produce a retractable safety bar support.

Preferably, the device according to the invention also comprises means tending to return the U-shaped support of the bar to its normal operating position, that is to say corresponding to the retention of the bar. These return means can be, in particular, of an elastic nature.

e Thus, the bar support has a well-defined normal service position, and the same goes for the bar height. In addition, in the event of pivoting under the effect of an impact, it can be automatically brought back to this normal operating position.

According to a first embodiment, the U-shaped support of the bar is fixed to one of the plates of a simple hinge whose axis is parallel to the pin of a cleat, intended to be inserted in a hole a candlestick or the like, the other plate being integral with this pin and serving as a stop for the support of the bar in the normal service position.

At rest, the hinge is closed and its two plates are pressed against each other. th transverse impact causes the upper plate to which the U-shaped support is inclined, which lets the bar escape. This embodiment is simple and economical, but it only concerns obstacles which must always be crossed in the same direction during a journey.

According to a second embodiment, improved, the simple hinge is replaced by a double hinge and the U-shaped support of the bar is fixed to the first of the hinge plates whose axes are parallel to the pin of a cleat, the second plate connecting the two axes and the third plate being integral with this pin, and serving as a stop for the support of the bar, in the normal service position.

At rest, the three plates are stacked one on the other, and the upper plate carrying the U-shaped support can tilt to the right or to the left. This embodiment allows the bilateral crossing of obstacles.

According to a preferred version of the invention, usable in particular with the two aforementioned embodiments, the retaining device comprises a lateral support plate for the bar, parallel to the U-shaped support, integral with the latter, and disposed between said support and cleat.

If the two candlesticks or the like placed on either side of the bar are each equipped with such a device, the bar is contained in the interval between the two lateral support plates, and as these plates are integral with the supports U-shaped and tilt with them, any wedging of the bar against the candlesticks is made impossible.

According to another advantageous feature of the invention, the U-shaped support of the bar extends substantially over a semicircle.

On the contrary, such an extension, impossible with the current technique due to the excessive lifting of the bar which it would imply, is recommended within the framework of the invention because the bar is thus better maintained and its position and its height are better defined. .

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the description which follows.

• - la Figure 1 est, dans le premier mode de réalisation, la vue en élévation de profil du dispositif, après coupe partielle suivant I-I de la Figure 2 ou de la Figure 3,
• - la Figure 2 est la vue en plan de ce dispositif,
• - la Figure 3 est la vue de face du côté du support en U,
• - la Figure 4 est la vue de dos du côté des broches,
• - la Figure 5 est une vue en perspective du dispositif monté sur le chandelier,
• - la Figure 6 est une vue analogue à la Figure 3, le support en U étant en position de basculement à 90° environ,
• - la Figure 7 est, dans le deuxième mode de réalisation, une vue de face du dispositif du côté du support en U,
• - la Figure 8 est analogue à la Figure 7, avec le support en U en position intermédiaire de basculement vers la droite,
• - la Figure 9 est analogue à la Figure 8, avec basculement semblable vers la gauche.

In the accompanying drawings, given by way of nonlimiting examples, the two aforementioned embodiments of the invention have been shown:

• FIG. 1 is, in the first embodiment, the side elevation view of the device, after partial section along line II of FIG. 2 or of FIG. 3,
• - Figure 2 is the plan view of this device,
• FIG. 3 is the front view from the side of the U-shaped support,
• - Figure 4 is the back view from the side of the pins,
• FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the device mounted on the candlestick,
• FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3, the U-shaped support being in the tilting position at approximately 90 °,
• FIG. 7 is, in the second embodiment, a front view of the device from the side of the U-shaped support,
• - Figure 8 is similar to Figure 7, with the U-shaped support in the intermediate position of tilting to the right,
• - Figure 9 is similar to Figure 8, with similar tilting to the left.

In the first embodiment of the invention, described with reference to Figures 1 to 4, the retaining device is of the type in which the frame comprises a metal cleat constituted by a straight pin 1 with its extension 1a, and by a pin 2 parallel to the previous one, bent at right angles in its part 2a welded to the spindle 1. A support 6 in the shape of a U is placed at the front of the cleat, its median plane is vertical in the normal operating position, and perpendicular to the plane of pins 1 and 2, also vertical and forming plane of symmetry of support 6.

In accordance with the invention, the U ₆ support, which develops substantially on a semicircle, is welded to the upper plate 5 of a simple hinge whose axis 3 parallel to the pin 1 ends at the front by a head 3a, and at the rear by a frustoconical collar 3b, obtained for example by stamping. The lower plate 4 of the hinge is welded to the extension of the spindle 1 and serves as a stop for the plate 5 in the normal service position. A vertical plate 7, serving as a lateral support for the obstacle bar, is welded to the upper plate 5 of the hinge, parallel to the U-shaped support 6. An elastomer strap, placed between the U-shaped support 6 and the plate 7, surrounds the two plates 4 and 5 and the axis 3 of the hinge, passing in the extension of the spindle 1. In service, the pins 1 and 2 are threaded in the staggered holes 10 of a candlestick 21, or other (Figure 5), and the obstacle bar 9 is placed in the support 6 and can come into abutment at its end against the plate 7.

The operation of this device and its advantages over the known technique are clearly shown in Figure 6: if the bar 9 receives, from a horse crossing the obstacle, a shock following F coming from the left, the U-shaped support 6 pivots according to G around the axis 3 of the hinge and immediately lets the bar 9 escape. The elastomer strap 8 is extended by the spacing of the plates 4 and 5 and recalls, towards the normal operating position, the whole device as soon as the fall of the bar 9. As the side support plate 7 for the bar 9 rocks with the U-shaped support 6, any friction of the bar 9 against the bent part 2a of the spindle 2, and a fortiori against the candlestick 21 , is made impossible.

The safety restraint device provided by the invention is thus retractable and automatic.

On the other hand, the device with a single articulation axis culation considered, does not react to a shock from the right in Figure 3, and this has two consequences: on the one hand, an obstacle so equipped can only be crossed in one direction; on the other hand, to equip the two chandeliers facing each other, you need a device that reacts to the left and a second device that reacts to the right, which means that you have to have both types of devices in store.

With the second, preferred, embodiment illustrated in Figures 7 to 9, these constraints are eliminated. In this embodiment, the simple hinge of the first embodiment is replaced by a double hinge, folded in Z and comprising a lower horizontal plate 4, welded to the extension of the spindle 1, and which carries the axis 3 of a first hinge, the second plate 15 of which also belongs to a second hinge with an axis 13, parallel to the axis 3. This second hinge comprises an upper plate 16 which carries, at the same time, the U-shaped support 6 and the plate 7 of lateral support of the bar. The elastomer strap 18, placed as in the first mode between the support 6 and the plate 7, surrounds all of the three plates 4, 15 and 16 of the double hinge and the two axes 3 and 13 thereof, thus as the extension of pin 1.

As seen in Figures 8 and 9, the double hinge restraint thus produced, can pivot as well if the impact on the bar 9 comes from the left (Figure 8) as if it comes from the right (Figure 9). In both cases, as soon as the bar 9 has escaped, the elastic strap 18 returns the assembly of the double hinge to the normal operating position (Figure 7), in which the bar can be replaced.

The device thus constituted therefore offers perfect security, whatever its mode of use.

Of course, the invention r, e is not limited to two embodiments given by way of examples, and it is possible to bring to it variants of forms and execution.

Thus, the U-shaped support 6 can have a shape different from a semicircle. It could only extend over a third of a circle, as in the case of FIGS. 7 to 9, or even be constituted by two parallel branches joined by a common perpendicular.

Similarly, the retaining device instead of being made of metal could be made of wood or rigid plastic.

Other fixing methods than the two-pin system can be provided for fixing the retainer to the candlestick. For example, the lower spindle 1 could be replaced by a fork horizontally enclosing the candlestick. Likewise, the U-shaped support can be articulated on a tenon of square or rectangular section intended to be engaged in a mortise among a set of such mortises staggered along a post or the like. The axis of articulation of the U-shaped support could also be carried by a collar surrounding the candlestick and engaged in notches thereof.

Finally, the means used to bring the U-shaped support back into the service position could also be constituted by a helical spring arranged around the axis or also by two magnetized parts respectively secured to the plates of the hinge.

• . En cas de chute de la barre, celle-ci ne tombe pas loin, quelles que soient la direction et la force de la poussée, en raison du mouvement de rotation autour de la charnière et du caractère enveloppant du support en U.
• . Dans tous les cas, l'énergie cinétique du choc n'est jamais transmise aux chandeliers qui ne tombent plus.
• • Le dispositif de retenue réagit toujours de la même façon pour la même intensité et la même direction du choc sur la barre.
• . Si le choc sur la barre est faible, celle-ci ne tombe plus et est ramenée automatiquement en place.

In conclusion, the following advantages of the invention will also be mentioned:

• . If the bar falls, it does not fall far, whatever the direction and force of the push, due to the rotational movement around the hinge and the enveloping nature of the U-shaped support.
• . In all cases, the kinetic energy of the shock is never transmitted to candlesticks that no longer fall.
• • The restraint always reacts in the same way for the same intensity and the same direction of impact on the bar.
• . If the impact on the bar is weak, it no longer falls and is automatically brought back into place.

Claims (9)

1. Restraint device for obstacle bar, comprising a frame intended to be fixed in an adjustable location of a candlestick or the like, this frame carrying a U-shaped piece serving as a support for the bar, characterized in that said support can pivot around at least one axis of the frame parallel to the bar, when the latter is in the service position in the supports. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the U-shaped support of the bar is fixed to one of the plates of a simple hinge, the axis of which is parallel to the bar in the service position thereof. ci, the other plate being integral with the frame and serving as a rest stop for the support of the bar. 3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the support of the bar is fixed to the first of the plates of a double hinge whose axes are parallel, the second plate connecting the two axes and the third plate being integral with the frame and serving as a rest stop for the support of the bar. 4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it comprises a lateral support plate for the bar, parallel to the U-shaped support, integral with the latter, and disposed between said support and the mount. 5. Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the U-shaped support of the bar extends substantially over a semicircle. 6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises means tending to return the U-shaped support of the bar to its normal service position. 7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the return means of the bar support are elastic. 8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the elastic return means comprise an elastomer strap placed around a rest stop for this support, and the hinge plate secured to the U-shaped support. 9. Device according to one of claims 4 to 8, comprising two plug-in pins and characterized in that it comprises a hinge plate secured to the extension of the lower pin, and a hinge plate connected to the previous one and bearing, at the same time, the U-shaped support of the bar and the lateral support plate.

Images