JPH06298178A - Tension application device for sail - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable moving to a position pressing one end of a batten and a position not abutted to the batten in simple structure and operation concerning a device for applying tension to a sail. CONSTITUTION: The tension impressing device for sail is composed of a handle and two levers formed on an arm 72 and a tube 75. An arm 73 has an edge to be turned while being fitted to a cavity. The handle is attached to the sail by a band strap. While the handle is separated from the tube 75, no tension is applied to the sail and when the handle is fixed to the tube 75, tension is applied to the sail by pressing the batten. The strength of tension to be applied can be adjusted by changing a length by rotating the screwing part of the arm 72 and the tube 75.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for tensioning a sail. The invention is particularly applicable to sailboard or windsurf sails, but may be used on other sails such as those used in hang-riders and sailboats.

[0002]

2. Description of the Prior Art It is known to insert battens in the pockets of sails to form and stabilize the aerodynamic shape of the sail. The pockets generally extend from the trailing edge of the sail. The pocket has one end open at the end of the sail and the batten is pushed into the pocket by a band of sails which cooperates with a friction clamp at the open end of the pocket to hold the batten in the pocket. Tension along the length of the sail. Battens and pockets may extend the full width of the sail.

[0003]

A disadvantage of this device is that the band is loosened at the trailing edge of the sail, and the appropriate length of batten to tension the sail during use. The batten is made much longer than the pockets to ensure that the batten will stick out of the end of the sail. The protruding batten and fluttering strips are textured and also generate drag that reduces the effectiveness of the sail.

A more advanced proposal is British Patent Application No. 2220
No. 630A, in which the effective length of the batten is adjustable and the batten is pushed into the batten pocket. With such a configuration, or with any other conventional configuration, the sail may be easily or easily assembled and removed when the batten is normally required before and after use of the sail, and when desired. There was a problem in applying or removing tension to the.

The present invention aims at alleviating at least the above problems.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a collapsible hinged lever that is manually moveable relative to one another between a first and a second actuating position, and the lever is provided in the first and second actuating positions. It is composed of a fixing means that is detachably fixed to the position 2
The end is attached to the sail close to the other end of the closed batten pocket, loosely abuts one end of the batten in the first position and strongly axially attaches one end of the batten in the second position. A tensioning device for a sail is provided that presses a batten against the other end of the pocket to tension the sail.

The securing means may be provided on one of the levers arranged to hold the levers side by side in the second position. The one lever can also be a hollow handle open on one side that fits into the other lever to lock the lever in the second position. The end of the one lever may be arranged to mechanically engage another portion mounted near one end of the batten to hold the lever in the second position. It is preferred that the effective length of one of the levers, which is normally aligned with one end of the batten, be adjustable.

The levers may be completely separable from each other when in the first position.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 9, a sailboard or windsurf sail 1 is mounted to a sail column 2 in the usual manner. The sails 3 hold the sails from the sail column 2 and serve as a grip for the user. A sleeve 4 on the front edge 5 of the sail surrounds the sail column 2 and a band or rope (not shown) supports the sleeve and the sail in a position along the sail column 2. Two vertical pockets 6a, 6b
Are formed on the sail, each extending from the trailing edge 7 to the leading edge 5 and from the middle along the bottom edge 8 to the leading edge 5.

Each pocket 6a, 6b is formed by a band of a member 9 and has an end 11 extending in the longitudinal direction and an end 1 crossing the end 11.
2 is sewn to the main fabric 10 of the sail. The pockets are each closed at one end 12 near the pillar and the other end 12
It is open at A. The batten 14 is a pocket 6a,
It is put in each of 6b and is extended in the longitudinal direction.
A longitudinal opening may be provided along the center of the band 9 that is closed with a zipper (not shown) to allow access to the space, or pocket, enclosed by the canvas 10 and the member 9. The tension applying device 20, which is simply shown as a block,
As will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 8, it is provided near the leading edge and near the bottom edge of the sail. Batten 14 is inserted into pockets 6a, 6b to stretch the sail. The batten is formed of laminated or drawn fiberglass, for example. The tensioning device presses the batten 14 strongly into the pocket and applies tension to the sail.

It should be noted that the pockets may be wholly or partly open and may be formed, for example, by loops which are fixed at intervals across the sail so as to form wholly the pockets of the batten 14. Referring to FIGS. 1-6, one tensioning device (shown as block 20 in FIG. 9) consists of two main lever parts that cooperate and fit together and is shown in exploded view with FIGS. Indicated by. The plastic molded handle 70 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 includes a cavity 71 for receiving and enclosing the rear end 72 of the pivot arm 73.
One end is opened to form the. The front end of arm 73 is threaded and attached to a tube 75 having an opening 76 for receiving a sail tie (not shown). The effective length of the lever (consisting of the arm 73 and the tube 75) requires changing the tension applied to the sail during use, so the arm 73 can be either further screwed into the tube 75 or unscrewed. It is adjusted by putting out.

The handle 70 is attached near the trailing edge of the sail by a strip (not shown) of which one end is sewn on the surface of the sail. A strip of strap passes through the slot 78 through the opening 78. The strap is sewn at its free end so as not to pass through the opening 78. The strip of straps provides for pivoting of the handle 70 about the portion sewn to the sail. When the rear end 72 is placed in the cavity and the batten is in the opening 76, pivoting the handle 70 pushes the batten against the end of the pocket 12. The tension applied to the sail is adjusted by changing the effective length of the arm 73 and the tube 75 by screwing the screwing of the arm 73 and the tube 75 in the direction to be unscrewed as described above.

The effective pivot axis of the handle 70 and the arm 73 is close to one end of the arm 73 (see FIG. 3). A pivot connection is effectively made between the lip 79 and the opposite side of the cavity 71. This is to minimize any force exerted by the tension of the sail to forcefully open or collapse the tensioning device by pivoting the handle 70 upwards and away from the surface of the sail. It means that only a moment is applied. Such a moment is smaller than the moment when the lip 79 is located at the center side or the upper side with respect to the vertical axis of the component 73. When tensioned, the lip 79 and the underside of the handle 70 move closer and closer to the surface of the sail, keeping the moment to a minimum.

The handle 70 is made of a material having some elasticity and is provided with a substantially cylindrical groove 80 (see FIG. 6). The bottom of the groove is open and can fit outside the tube 75. To secure the tensioning device, the opening of the groove, which is slightly narrower than the diameter of the tube, is pressed into the tube and elastically spread sufficiently to fit into the tube, thus moving the handle 70 against the surface of the sail. Firmly fix. The sail tension is released by folding the tension application device. In other words, spacing the handle 70 from the surface of the sail so that the groove 80 opens the tube 75 allows the handle 70 to pivot unobstructed about the seam of the strap. When the tensioning device is in the first actuated position, i.e. in the folded configuration, the arm 73 can be completely disengaged from the handle 70.

The tensioning device described has two operating positions. In one actuated position (collapsed configuration), the tube 75 fits over the batten and the handle is lifted, ie away from the surface of the sail, and the tube 75 does not press the batten and the batten Almost no force is applied to it. In the other operating position, the handle 7
0 is fixed to the tube 75.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show a stationary collar 110, which is typically provided in addition to the above-described stationary arrangement in which the handle fits into each tube. The locking collar 110 shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is for locking the handle in the closed position when the handle is not locked to the outer diameter of the tube, or otherwise for holding the tensioning device in the second operating position. To be held together. The collar 110 is slidably fitted into the tube 75, and has a hole 112 formed in the end surface of the handle 113 (equivalent to the handle 70 in FIG. 4).
A protruding plug 111 that fits in is provided. When the collar is located opposite the end surface of the handle 113, the plug 1
The engagement of 11 with hole 112 prevents handle 113 from being lifted away from tube 75. Ordinary collar has a tube 75 to prevent it from being inadvertently moved.
A relatively tight sliding fit, but may alternatively or additionally be resiliently biased against or towards the rear surface of the handle.

Alternatively or additionally, the plug may be formed with a bulged end and the handle hole may be formed with an expanded cavity to receive the bulged end. In reality, due to the elasticity of the resin material formed, the ends fit snugly into the cavity. Therefore, there is no chance that the head will come out of the hole under normal load, and the collar will be held adjacent to the end of the handle until manually or deliberately moved away.

Any form of mechanical interlocking device may be used so long as the collar prevents pivoting of the handle upwards when using the fixed collar. For example,
The collar may have a hole and the end surface of the handle may have a plug that fits into the hole of the collar. Further, the mechanical engagement can be a fixed connection that can be released. Thus, the collar (or other device of tube 75) and the end of the handle are automatically secured when they come together and are arranged to be open and spaced apart by the actuation of some sort of drawbar. Good.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an adjustable lever of a tensioning device separated into two parts.

2 is a bottom view of one component of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the component of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a lever having the shape of a handle of the tension applying device.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the handle.

FIG. 6 is an end view of the handle.

FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the handle of FIG. 4 showing the supplemental locking collar of the tensioning device.

8 is a view of the handle of FIG. 7 viewed from another direction.

FIG. 9 is a simplified view of a sail in which a tension applying device for a sail is assembled.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 sail 2 sail pillar 3 sailed 4 sleeve 5 front edge 6a, 6b pocket 7 rear edge 8 bottom edge 10 canvas 70, 101, 113 handle 71 cavity 72 rear end 73 arm 75, 106 tube 76, 78 opening 77, 102 long hole 79 lip 110 fixed collar 111 plug 112 hole

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A foldable hinged lever manually moveable relative to each other between a first and a second actuated position and a securing means for releasably securing the lever in the second position. Attached to the sail near one end of the closed batten pocket, loosely abutting one end of the tree in the first position and the corresponding tree in the second position. A tension applying device for a sail, characterized in that the one end is strongly pressed in the axial direction to press the corresponding wood against the other end of the pocket to apply tension to the sail. 2. The tension application for sails according to claim 1, wherein the fixing means is provided on one of the levers arranged to hold the levers side by side in the second position. apparatus. 3. The tension applying device for a sail according to claim 2, wherein the one lever comprises a hollow handle which is open on one side and is fitted into the other lever so as to fix the lever to the second position. 4. One end of the one lever mechanically engages another portion mounted near the one end of the batten so as to retain the lever in the second position. The tension applying device for sails according to claim 2, wherein 5. The effective length of one of the levers, which are normally arranged in linear alignment with the one end of the batten, is adjustable. The tension applying device for sails according to the item 1. 6. The tensioning device for a sail according to claim 1, wherein the levers are completely separable from each other when in the first position.