GB2201660A - Cover roller for sports playing surface - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a roller 2 for holding, rolling up, and unrolling, a flexible waterproof cover 15 for a sports playing surface. The roller is driven by driving means 5 at one or both ends and may be formed from one or more cylindrical segments such that total roller length is at least equal to the width of the cover 15. A shaft 4, of equal or greater length than the roller(s) is attached to connecting plates 10 which themselves are attached by spokes 12 to the roller. The outer surface of the roller may be formed by slats 7 mounted on spokes 8 and/or may be covered by a cushioning surface 9. <IMAGE>

Description

Cover Roller for Sports Playing Surface The present invention relates to a cover roller for sports playing surfaces (e.g. bowling greens, cricket pitches, etc) to roll a flexible cover onto and from such surfaces.

Various sports require that the playing surface be protected from adverse weather conditions when the surface is not in use. Such a surface usually takes much preparation and thus it is desirable to provide a cover which does not damage the surface and to provide a means of effecting coverage that does not damage the playing surface either. Such a cover must also be capable of being put in position or removed reasonably quickly in the event of a sudden onset of adverse weather conditions, and adequately cover all the playing surface.

An object of the present invention is the provision of a cover roller for sports playing surfaces that enables the speedy and efficient placement and removal of a flexible- cover, permits the effective use of a cover over much or all of a playing surface, and the use of which does not damage the playing surface.

The present invention provides a cover roller for sports playing surfaces, said roller comprising: a rigid shafts driving means attached to said shaft for rolling said roller across said surface; one or more cylindrical roller segments mounted upon said shaft and co-axial therewith, the total length of said roller segment or segments being equal to or less than the length of the shaft, but at least equal to the width of a cover to be supported by the roller; and securing means for securing one end of said cover to said roller.

Preferably, each said roller segment includes: a cylindrical tube, the exterior surface of which is flat and smooth; connecting means placed about the longitudinal axis of said segment adjacent each end of said segment, and having a central hole capable of receiving said shaft therethrough; and wherein said connecting means is rigidly attached to said cylindrical tube and to said shaft.

Preferably each roller segment is rigidly secured to any adjacent segments by rigidly securing together adjacent connecting means, e.g. by bolting.

The driving means for the roller cover may be located at one or each end of the shaft, or at any convenient position along the shaft.

If the roller is long, it is preferred to use a driving means at each end of the shaft, to avoid the non-driven end of the shaft from trailing the driven end. The driving means may comprise any suitable small motor e.g. a petrol-driven motor or an electric motor.

The motors may be synchronised or may be individually controlled by remote controls. In the latter case, the roller can be steered by controlling the motors.

The driving means may be stopped automatically when the roller reaches the end of the playing surface e.g. using a timer or by using a trip arranged to switch off the driving means when the trip is triggered.

By way of example only a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail, with particular reference to a cover for a bowling green, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is an end view of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged section view of part of Fig.

1; and Fig. 3 is a section view on the line AA in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, a cover rolling 2 includes a plurality of roller segments 3, a rigid shaft 4, two driving means 5 and a cut off arm 6 Each driving means 5 comprises a motor and gear box (not shown sepArately) attached to one end of the shaft 4. The motors are electrically driven and are synchronised to rotate said shaft 4 at the same rate.

Each roller segment 3 includes a plurality of slats 7, a plurality of spokes 8, a cylindrically shaped piece of foam rubber 9 and two rigid petal con- necting plates 10, one adjacent each end of said segment 2.

Each connecting plate 10 is circular in shape with a hole 11 formed at its centre. Said hole 11 is capable of receiving the shaft 4 therethrough, so that the shaft 4 is positioned along the longitudinal axis of each segment 3.

A plurality of spokes 8 are rigidly attached to each connecting plate 10 and positioned perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of each segment 3* Each slat 7 is rigidly attached at each end to the outer ends of the two sets of spokes 8 on each segment 3. The slats 7 are closely spaced and form a cylindrical tube so that the exterior surface of each segment 3 is reasonably smooth. A cylindrically shaped piece of foam rubber 9, the length of which is equal to the length of the slats 7 is secured to each segment 3 (e.g. by gluing or rigidly attaching each end between two slats 7), A plurality of metal spokes 12 are rigidly attached to the shaft 4 and to the inside of the cylindrical tube of slats 7 of each segment 3, along the length of each segment 3. These assist in keeping each segment 3 true whilst the roller 2 is in operation.

Each segment 3 may be attached to any adjacent segment 3 by rigidly securing together the adjacent connecting plates 10 (e.g. by a plurality of nuts and bolts).

If the length of the roller 2 is considerable, the shaft 4 may be made from two or more sections of the shaft material, each section being rigidly secured to any adjacent section by opposed flanges 13 (e.g. by welding or bolting). Similarly, a second set of opposed flanges 13 may be used to connect the driving means 5 to one end of the shaft 4.

The slats 7 and spokes 8 may be of any suitable material e.g. timber, and preferably plywood. Alternatively the slats 7 may be replaced by any suitable material that provides a smooth surface to each segment 3. As the weight of each segment 3 must be such that each segment 3 does not cause any damage to the surface over which the roller is rolling, the weight of the material to be used for the slats 7 and spokes 9 must be taken into account when considering the suitability of any materials.

The shaft 4 may be made of any suitable material which will permit the shaft to remain rigid whilst the roller 2 is in operation, e.g. steel tube.

If so desired, the foam rubber piece 9 may be replaced by a suitably shaped piece of any suitable flexible cushioning material.

The above described covered roller works as follows: the roller 2 includes a sufficient number of segments 3 to be approximately equal in length to the width of the bowling green to be covered. In practice it has been found that the optimum length for each segment is approximately six meters. The roller 2 (with the cover 15 rolled around it) is moved onto the green from a stored position off the green. This can be best effected by rolling the roller 2 down a gently inclined ramp onto the green. Practically it has been found that the slope of the ramp should be no less than one in twelve if the green surface is to remain undamaged.

The roller 2 is then moved to one end of the green and the loose -edge of the cover 15 is secured to permanently positioned tie-downs on the edge of the green.

The drive means 5 are started and the roller 2 is rolled over the green to spread the cover 15 evenly over the surface.

When the roller 2 reaches the opposite end of the green stops 16. mounted on the ground at that end of the green contact the cut-off arms 6 causing the motors to stop. The roller 2 stops moving at the end of the green. The weight of the roller 2 holds the cover 15 down at the far end of the green, avoiding the necessity to tie the second end down. The side edges of the cover 15 may then be tied down, if so desired.

The second end of the cover 15 may be permanently attached along the length of the end to the segments, e.g. by affixing the end of the cover 15 between two slats 7 and the edges of the foam piece 9 on each seg ment 3 (as indicated by numeral 17 on Fig. 3).

To remove the cover 15, the above-described sequence is reversed.

The cover 15 may be made of any suitable flexible waterproof material. Preferably, the cover material is transparent or translucent, so that it does not damage a grass surface even if the grass remains covered for several days. One particularly suitable material is flexible transparent ultra-violet resistant polyethylene film sold as a greenhouse cover material.

Claims (11)

.CLAIMS:

1. A cover roller for sports playing surfaces, said roller comprising: a rigid shaft; driving means attached to said shaft for rolling said roller across said surface; one or more cylindrical roller segments mounted upon said shaft and co-axial therewith, the total length of said roller segment or segments being equal to or less than the length of the shaft, but at least equal to the width of a cover to be supported by the roller; and securing means for securing one end of said cover to said roller.

2. The cover roller as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the or each roller segment includes: a cylindrical tube having a smooth flat exterior surface: connecting means placed about the longitudinal axis of said segment, adjacent each end of said segment, and having a central hole capable of receiving said shaft therethrough; said connecting means being rigidly attached to said cylindrical tube and to said shaft.

3. The cover roller as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said exterior surface of the or each cylindrical tube is formed from a plurality of spaced slats.

4. The cover roller as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3 wherein said roller comprises two or more segments, and adjacent segments are rigidly secured together by securing together adjacent connecting means.

5. The cover roller as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a layer of cushioning aterial covering the exterior surface of the or each roller segment.

6. The cover roller as claimed in Claim 5 wherein said cushioning material is a foamed rubber material.

7. The cover roller as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said driving means is attached to one or both ends of the shaft.

8. The cover roller as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said driving means comprises two geared electric motors mounted one on each end of the shaft, said motors being-synchronised,

9. The over roller as claimed in Claim 8 further comprising means for automatically stopping said motors at a predetermined place on said playing surface.

10. The cover roller as claimed in any one of Claims 1-7, wherein said driving means comprises two geared electric motors mounted one on each end of the shaft, said motors being independently controllable by remote control means.

11. A cover roller for sports playing surfaces, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.