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Patent Searching and Data


Title:
PROTECTING DEVICE FOR WHEELED CARRIAGES
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/1999/029556
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
A protecting device for a wheeled carriage or an equipage, e.g. a sulky (14) or similar. The protecting device has to prevent accidents, e.g. due to that horses are treading into the carriage wheel, but even to protect against splashes, etc. The protecting device comprises at least one plate (22, 24) following the wheel and steadily mounted on the carriage chassis or framework and covering an essential portion of the wheel outside. The plate has a flange (25) situated at the wheel outside periphery with such a width as to cover the race track of the wheel (16) outwards, i.e. in the radial direction.

Inventors:
ADLER ANDERS (SE)
Application Number:
PCT/SE1998/002136
Publication Date:
June 17, 1999
Filing Date:
November 24, 1998
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
EQUIPAGE LEASING LIMITED
ADLER ANDERS (SE)
International Classes:
B62C1/08; (IPC1-7): B62C1/08
Foreign References:
US3103369A1963-09-10
FR2690125A11993-10-22
FR2543903A11984-10-12
US3415533A1968-12-10
US3549165A1970-12-22
US5348328A1994-09-20
DE1909533A11969-11-20
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Sedvall, Bengt (Bergenstråhle & Lindvall AB P.O. Box 17 704 Stockholm, SE)
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Claims:
CLAIMS
1. A protecting device for a wheeled carriage or an equipage, e. g. a sulky (14) or similar, to prevent accidents, splashes, etc., characterized in that it comprises at least one plate (22,24) following the wheel and steadily fastened to the carriage chassis or frame work and covering a substantial portion of the wheel side, the plate comprising a flange (25) at an angle at the wedge portion provided at the wheel periphery, the flange having such a width, that it covers outwards the race track of the wheel (16), i. e. in a radial direction.
2. A protecting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the plate (22,24) comprises one or several guides (32, 38) adapted to receive attachment means (36) for an attachment to parts of the carriage chassis or frame work, such as pillars (30) or similar.
3. A protecting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises two plates (22,24) connected to each other by means of the oblique flange (25) with such a width that a protecting cover (20) for the wheel (16) is formed, in which the wheel is enclosed.
4. A protecting device according to claim 1 to 3, characterized in that the plate is provided with several reinforcing borders (44,46) arranged in a lattice work, so that at least one border remains in the plate (22,24), when the plate is cut off to be adapted to the shape of the sulky (14) and the wheel (16).
5. A protecting device according to claim 2, characterized in that the guides (32,38) are formed as a trench, in which the heads of attachment bolts (36) are contained to hold attachment clamps arranged around said parts, e. g. pillars (30), in the carriage chassis or frame work.
6. A protecting device according to anyone of the claims 2 to 5, characterized in that the plate is semicircular with a straight wedge (40) facing the ground, on which the wheel (16) is posed, reinforcing borders (44,46) being arranged in parallel with the straight wedge and obliquely upwards from it to the semicircular shape so that the plate can be cut off both in parallel to said wedge and obliquely upwards from it.
7. A protecting device according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plate (22,24) is a net work or a lattice work.
8. A protecting device according to anyone of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plate covers at least 50 % of the wheel area.
Description:
Protecting Device for wheeled Carriages The present invention relates to a protecting device for wheeled carriages or equipages, like a sulky or similar for preventing accidents, splashes, etc.

In the use of carriages drawn by horses such as trotting sulkies, or similar competition equipages, it happens that the equipages are situated so close to each other that the horses or other draught-animals tread the wheel of a nearby equipage, e. g. so that the horse leg is caught in the wheel spokes and then follow the wheel into the wheel suspension and is caught there. In attempting to prevent this, the wheels are provided with a plate to cover the spokes so that the horse cannot tread into the wheel. Another type of accident makes the horse treading the race track for the wheel of a preceding equipage, said wheel then being punctured. This type of accident cannot be prevented by said known plate.

The plate covers the wheel only on its side and on a dirty, wet track the wheel must be temporarily provided with a splash protection, normally designed as a circular sector with about a fourth of the wheel area, the splash protection being fastened with belts or similar on the sulky The known solution with a wheel covering plate has the drawback, that it cannot be of any help in case the horse is treading into the sulky, so that the horses leg is caught between the wheel and the sulky bar, this being as usual or even more usual as the horse treading into the wheel spokes.

Furthermore, the known plate is not of any help in case the horse provokes a puncture of another equipage according to above. The plate made of a brittle plastic material has also shown to be broken when hit by a horse's hove.

Certain race horses are very sensitive to splashes of gravel and small stones and therefore this presents a problem even with a substantially dry basis and thus the need for a splash protection prevails for almost every track condition. Hitherto, any valuable solution for this problem has not been presented.

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a protecting device to prevent said type of accidents.

Another purpose is to achieve a protecting device adapted to be always used for races for on one hand protecting against said type of accidents and on the other hand at the same time protecting the equipage behind against splashes, dirt and gravel stains both on relatively dry and on wet tracks.

This purpose is achieved with a protecting device provided with the characteristics specified in the claims to follow.

Here below, the protecting device is described with a preferred embodiment in connection with the drawings.

Figure 1 shows a side view of an equipage, such as a trotting sulky drawn by a horse and equipped with a protecting device according to the invention. Figure 2 shows a side view of the protecting device cover. Figure 3 shows a front view of the cover in Figure 2. Figure 4 shows a longitudinal section through the cover in Figure 2 along the line IV-IV in Figure 3.

Figure 5 shows a section along the line V-V in Figure 2 in a larger scale.

In figure 1 a trotting equipage is shown with a horse 10, a jockey 12 and a sulky 14. On the wheel 16 of the sulky facing the observer, according to the invention a protecting device 18 is provided. This device 18 comprises in the preferred embodiment shown in the figures 1 to 5 a cover 20 formed of two semicircular plates 22,24, which are connected to each other along their semicircular periphery by means of a dome-shaped portion to form said cover 20, in which the wheel 16 is substantially contained. The cover 20 has a slot 26 in each plate 22,24 so that the the cover can be pushed over the shaft 28 of the wheel 16, or, alternatively, the wheel 16 can be moved into and out of the cover 20 being mounted on the sulky wheel suspension, e. g a wheel fork 30. The plates 22,24 shown in the figures comprise unbroken areas of e. g. plastic material to be described later on, but it is also conceivable that the plates 22,24 have areas consisting of networks or a tight lattice-work with so small openings that the horse's hoves cannot fasten therein and that a desirable splash protecting feature is achieved. The plates are adapted to cover as large an area of the wheel area as possible and preferably at least 50 % of said area.

For installing the cover 20 of the protecting device 18 on the frame work or the wheel suspension of the sulky 14 the cover 20 is on one or on both sides provided or formed with guides 32 with a T-shaped groove 34 adapted to receive a bolt 36, shown with dash dotted lines, or a similar attachment means to be possibly displaced in the groove 34 formed as a portion of a circle to be adapted to a position in front of a pillar in the frame work of the sulky, e. g. the wheel fork 30, the bolt 36 possibly being attached in a here not shown attachment clamp arranged around said pillar, whereas the cover 20 can be rotated around the wheel shaft to reach a suitable position in relation to the ground surface and the angle of the sulky 14 with the ground. For a safe attachment of the cover 20 at two points at least, the cover 20 is even on the upper side provided with a guide 38, in which an upwards facing, here not shown bolt can be inserted in the same way as in the guides 34 to be attached to a transverse pillar in the frame work of the sulky 14.

To minimize the weight of the cover 20 the cover is preferably formed of a relatively thin material, e. g. of polyethylene or polyamide, the cover being manufactured by means of rotational casting or monocasting. The lower edge 40 of the cover around the cover opening is provided with a reinforcement, e. g. a bead or similar. However, the cover 20 must be adapted to different applications. If, for instance, the thill 42 of the sulky 14 shown in figure 1 would have a more horizontal orientation, the cover 20 might possibly not be rotated sufficiently back without any remaining risk, that the front edge of the cover 20 is situated to close to the ground.

In such a case the front edge of the cover might possibly be cut off obliquely to be adapted to this application. For this purpose the sides 22,24 of the cover are provided with one or several reinforcina beads or borders, e. g. comprising straight beads 44 to minimize the height of the cover 20 and oblique beads 46 to cut off the cover in an angle to its straight lower edge 40. Thus, the cover is suitably cut off between two reinforcing beads 44,46 to a desired shape suitable for the actual sulky and the application. The borders might eventually be arranged on the insides of the cover, if this is considered to be convenient, which, however, will complicate the manufacture.

Evidently, the embodiment here shown and described is only an example for implementing the invention. Thus, changes might be made in the design of the guides 32,38 and the reinforcing borders 44,46 in providing them with other shapes and dimensions than previously demonstrated, if this might be required by the applications.