This invention relates to a sulky comprising a frame, wheels supporting the frame, and a driver's seat. The sulkies used at present in racing comprise two shafts, which are attached to the harness of the horse in a suitable way, usually by winding of straps. The shafts constitute a part of the sulky frame and, thus, are rigidly connected to the sulky.

When a horse t-rots, one can say that its entire body is in motion, not only its legs. This implies that to the harness points connected to the sulky shafts a counter- -holding force from the sulky is applied when the body of the horse is in motion. The harness therefore slide relative to the body of the horse, which is unfavourable as the harness rubs against the skin of the horse. Part of the rocking motion of the body of the horse, moreover, is transferred to the shafts and thereby can cause the material to fatigue and the sulky to run roughly.

When the horse trots through a curve, it assumes an ob¬ lique position relative to the sulky, seen in a horizont¬ al view. The horse thereby is affected by a counter-hold¬ ing force from the sulky shafts, which force tends to straighten the horse in front of the sulky. This count¬ er-holding force is sensed by the horse as an extra load.

In view of the high risk of injuries at trotting racing, which not the least is due to the ever increasing speed, the aim is that the horse -is affected as little as poss¬ ible by the sulky.

Another problem at conventional sulkies is that at volt starts the turning circles cannot be too small, because the shafts limit the oblique position of the horse rel¬ ative to the sulky. A conventional sulky, therefore, at certain moments of a volt start is felt as clumsy.

The present invention has the object to provide a sulky

of the aforesaid kind, at which the motion of the horse is not spread to the sulky frame, thereby yielding a smoother run of the sulky. The sulky according to the invention, besides, follows better the horse in curves. According to at least one variant of the invention, the resulting sulky is extremely easy to turn and allows the horse a freedom of movement greater than at a con¬ ventional sulky, especially at volt _v starts. The object of the invention is realized by a sulky which has been given the characterizing features defined in the attached claims.

An embodiment of the invention is described in the foil- owing with respect to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a horizontal view of a sulky according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a lateral view of the sulky shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3a is a front view of the joint between the frame and arch of the sulky, Fig. 3b is a section along Ili -IIlb in Fig. 3a, Fig. 3c is a horizontal view of the joint according to Fig. 3a, Fig. H is a horizont¬ al view of a modified embodiment of the sulky according to the invention, and Fig. 5 is a lateral view of the sulky according to Fig. 4.

The sulky shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a frame 1, the main portion of which is a curved pipe 2. The bend¬ ing of the pipe 2 is carried out so that the frame 1 in a horizontal view has a forward U-shaped portion > , and the distance between the legs is relatively small in relation to the length of the legs.

From said U-shaped portion 3, the pipes 2 continue rear¬ ward and are bent outward, thereby forming in a horiz¬ ontal view a bowl-shaped rearward portion k ₃ and the free ends of the pipes 2 are connected to an axle 5-

In a lateral view, the rear portion -4 of the frame ex¬ tends obliquely upward from the axle 5 , while the forw¬ ard U-shaped portion 3 in operation position of the sulky extends substantially horizontally.

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The U-shaped forward portion 3 is reinforced by a numb¬ er of stay members 6, which extend transversely to the pipe 2 and connect the opposed legs of the U-shaped port¬ ion 3 with each other.

On two adjacent transverse stay members 6, preferably holders 7 for a number plate 8 .can be arranged, whereby the number plate 8 will be well visible. In the area of the end portions of the axle 5 two wheels

9 are attached rotary. Above the axle 5 a driver's seat

10 is located which comprises a carrying frame 11 supp¬ orted by the axle ^" 5 and including a portion extending above the axle 5 in parallel with the same.

For fixing the carrying frame 11 in horizontal direction, the frame 11 is connected to the frame 1 via two struts 12, on which foot rests 13 are mounted. A seat 14 is attached on the carrying frame 11 and in¬ cludes a rearward extension relative to the carrying frame 11 for bringing about a so-called catapult effect.

In the area of the wheels 9 connecting stay members 15 are provided between the pipe 2 and axle 5 - Additional connecting stay members 16 are provided betw¬ een the end portions of the axle 5 and the carrying frame 11.

At the forward end of the U-shaped portion 3 of the frame 1, an arch 18 is attached via a joint 17. Said arch 18 has U-shape in a horizontal view. In a lateral view, the legs 18a of the arch 18 are located on a lower level than the connecting portion 18b to the joint 17- The legs l8a are connected to said conn¬ ecting portion 18b via arch-shaped connecting portions 18c.

The free ends of the legs lδa are intended to be conn¬ ected to conventional harness carried by the horse.

The joint 17 shown in Figs. 3a-3c permits rotation of the arch 18 in a substantially vertical plane when the sulky is in operative position.

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As appears from Figs. 3a-3c, the arch 18 consists of two halves, which at their ends facing toward each other are provided with sleeves l8d.

The joint 17 also comprises a bolt 1 _ which carries the sleeves lδd.

The sleeves l8d are provided with recesses 20, in which ball bearings 21a and 21b are mounted. A nut 22 is att¬ ached to the threaded end of the bolt 19. Owing to the ball bearings 21a and 21b, the arch 18 rotates about the bolt 19 with little friction.

The two halves of the arch 18 are jointed by a stretching screw 23 In such a manner, that the bolt 23a has right- -hand threads and the bolt 23b has left-hand threads. The stretching screw further includes a sleeve 23c with internal threads and nuts 23d and 23e located at the ends of the sleeve 23c.

At attachment plates 23f and 23g the stretching screw 23 is connected to the respective arch halves. By rotating the sleeve 23c, thus, the distance between the attachment points of the stretching screw 23 to the arch halves can be varied, whereby also the dist¬ ance between the free ends of the arch 18 is varied. It is hereby possible to adjust the distance between the free ends of the arch 18 to just the horse intended to pull the sulky. This -distance preferably is variable between 500 and 600 mm.

The head of the bolt 19 is secured by welding in the bottom 24a of a U-shaped holder member 24, the legs 24b and 24c of which extend in parallel with the bolt 19- In the holder member 24 a similar holder member 25 fac¬ ing in the opposite direction and having U-shape is located. The. outer distance between the legs 25b and 25c of said lastmentioned holder member 25 is slightly shorter than the inner distance between the legs 24b and 24c of the firstmentioned holder member 24. The legs 24b and 24c of said firstmentioned holder

member 24 include holes, through which a bolt 26 ex¬ tends, which is provided with a nut 27. The inner holder member 25 also includes holes in the legs 25b and 25c. The diameter of these holes is great¬ er than the diameter of the holes in the legs 24b and 24c.

A bearing support 28 is fixed by welding within the inner holder member 25 and provided with two recesses 29a and 29b with circular cross-section. Said recesses are separated from each other by a wall 30, In which a hole is located for passing the bolt 26 therethrough. The recesses 29a and 29b have a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the holes of the legs 25b and 25c and are located directly in front of the same. In the recesses 29a and 29b ball bearings 31a and 31b are mounted, one sa te of which abuts the inner surface of the legs 24b and 24c of the holder member 24, and the other side of which abuts the partition wall 30. Hereby the rotation of the holder members relative to each other about the bolt 26 is facilitated. In the bottom portion 25a of the holder member 25 two holes are located, which are passed through by bolts 32, the heads of which are secured by welding in said bott¬ om portion 25a.

The bolts 32 are used far- connecting the inner holder member 25 to the frame 1.

As shown in Fig. 3c by dashed lines, the inner holder member 25 is provided with two stop screws 33 and lock¬ ing nuts 34, which stop screws 33 limit the rotation of the inner holder member 25 about the bolt 26 relat¬ ive to the outer holder member 24.

By varying the length of the projecting portion of the stop screws 33, the angular change between the holder members 24 and 25 can be varied. Normally a change of 15 of the angle in both directions from the centre line should be suitable.

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It Is understood that the sulky described above shows several advantages over a conventional sulky. Firstly, the frame 1 of the sulky according to the in¬ vention s much more stiff against torsion than the shafts at a conventional sulky. This is due to the fact that the transverse stay members yield an extraordinary rigidity of the frame 1. The sulky according to the in¬ vention, therefore, has a higher resistance to the im¬ pacts occuriing, for example, at a collision. Due to the design of the frame 1, the driver is better protected against rearward kicks from the horse than at a conventional sulky.

The rocky motion of the body of a trotting horse Implies that also the arch 18 performs a rocky motion. This rocky motion, however, is taken up by the joint 17, in that the arch 18 is rotary in a substantially vertical plane. This implies that the rocky motion is not propag¬ ated to the frame 1.

When the horse trots through a curve, the sulky assumes an oblique position, seen in a horizontal view. This oblique position occurs at the sulky according to Figs. 1-3 by an angular change of the holder members 24 and 25 relative to each other. Thereby arises no counter- -acting force from the sulky on the horse. At volt starts, seen in "a horizontal view the oblique position of the horse relative to the sulky is still stronger than at the aforesaid run through a curve. Here the sulky according to the invention is extremely advantageous, because it allows an oblique position of the horse relative to the sulky of at maximum 15 in both directions. The reason why the oblique position has been restricted Is, that at too strong an oblique position of the horse relative to the advancing dir¬ ection of the sulky, the sulky can turn over when the horse ^" trots forward. There is a risk of this to happen when the horse is difficult to reign, especially at volt starts. By limiting the obliqueness of the arch 18 In the horizontal plane relative to the frame 1,

when the driver cannot reign the horse. In Figs. 4 and 5 an alternative embodiment of the sulky according to the present invention is shown. The sulky comprises a frame 1' , which consists of a pipe 2' bent to U-shape, the bottom of the U facing forward,

An axle 5' carries in the area of its end portions two rotatably attached wheels 9' .

A carrying frame 11' is attached on the axle 5' , so that a horizontal portion of the carrying frame 11' extends above the axle 5' in parallel therewith. The free ends of the frame 1' are connected to the hor¬ izontal portion of the carrying frame 11' . For reinforcing and protecting purposes, a pair of stay members 12' extend between the pipe 2' and axle 5' • Add¬ itional stay members 15' extend between each of the firstmentioned stay members 12' and the axle 5' • On the carrying frame 11' a seat 14' is attached, which as at the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises an extension rearward relative to the carrying frame 11' .

On the frame 1', at a suitable distance from the carry¬ ing frame 11', foot rests 13' are attached. As appears from Fig. , in a lateral view the forward end of the frame 1' is bent upward relative to the remain¬ ing frame 1' .

An arch 18' is attached to the frame 1' via a joint 17' . The structural design of the joint 17' corresponds to that described avove for the joint 17.

The substantial difference between the two embodiments is the design of the frame.

The embodiment shown in Figs. 4 and 5 resembles more a conventional sulky, in that the- lateral portions of the frame 1' have an extension more similar to the shafts of a conventional sulky. The sulky according to Figs. 4 and is intended primar-

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ily for horses difficult to reign, because the horses are enclosed in the frame, contrary to the embodiment according to Figs. 1 and 2 where the horses are under the ame.

The aforesaid advantages of the present invention, how¬ ever, also apply to ^' the sulky according to Figs. 4 and 5- The rocky motion of the horse is not transferred to the frame 1', and the sulky does not subject the horse to any counter-holding forces when the horse in a horizontal view assumes an oblique position rel¬ ative to the sulky, i.e. when the obliqueness is not so great that the side of the horse contacts the frame 1' .

The invention, of course, is not restricted to the emb¬ odiments described above. The joint 17, 17', for ex¬ ample, must not necessarily have the aforesaid deseign, but the primary feature is that its function corres¬ ponds to that of the joint 17,17'. Also in remaining respects, the invention can be varied freely within the scope of the attached claims.

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