BACKGROUND US patent 6,319, 174 discloses a form of soft-edged trampoline in which the mat of the trampoline is supported by a plurality of resiliently flexible rods received in a frame of the trampoline at the lower ends of the rods and coupled to the periphery of the bouncing mat of the trampoline at their upper ends, and which avoids the need for a solid frame about the exterior of the bouncing mat and exposed springs between the frame and periphery of the mat.

PCT patent publication WO 03/043704 relates to improved edge fittings for such soft- edged trampolines, for coupling the upper ends of the rods to the periphery of the mat.

The fittings have a cavity on the underside of the fittings into which a ball-shaped upper end of a rod fits to connect the rod to the peripheral edge of the trampoline to form a coupling between the ends of the rods and the mat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides an improved or at least alternative form of such a soft-edged trampoline. In the trampoline of the invention the risk of accidental release of the ball- ended flexible rod from the fitting by heavy bounces on the mat edge is further reduced.

In broad terms the invention comprises a trampoline including: a flexible mat, a plurality of resiliently flexible rods each having a lower end retained in a frame of the trampoline and upper end, and a plurality of fittings coupled to the mat about a 170515-1

periphery of the mat and including on or in an underside of each fitting a socket cavity which receives the upper end of a flexible rod so that the upper ends of the flexible rods are pivotally connected to the periphery of the mat, the fitting also including a latch member movable between an open position which enables the upper end of a flexible rod to be engaged into the socket cavity of the fitting to connect the rod and fitting and a locked position in which the latch member locks the upper end of the rod in the socket cavity.

Preferably the latch member includes a part which facilitates movement manually of the latch member between its open and locked positions.

Preferably the latch member is spring biased towards its locked position.

Preferably a detent part of the latch member is arranged to be overridden from its locked position towards its open position when the upper end of a flexible rod is initially entered into the fitting, by contact between the upper end of the rod and the detent part of the latch member, and is spring biased to return to its locked position once the rod upper end has passed over the detent part of the latch member and entered fully home into the socket cavity of the fitting.

In the trampoline of the invention the fittings by which the rod-springs or rods are coupled to the periphery of the mat more securely lock the upper ends of the rods into the fittings so that an even more secure coupling between the upper ends of the rods and the mat is achieved. The rods remain more securely attached while the trampoline is in use, while at the same time the fittings allow easy assembly and preferably also disassembly of the rods from the mat edge. Trampolines are generally freighted to the purchaser in dis-assembled form and it is essential that the purchaser can assemble the trampoline from the separate components without difficulty.

In this specification (including claims) the term"trampoline"is intended to extend to smaller trampolines commonly referred to as rebounders also, as well as larger 170515-1

trampolines of all sizes. Trampolines of the invention may be circular, square, rectangular, or of other shapes such as octagonally shaped in plan view for example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred forms of trampoline are described with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of example and without intending to be limiting, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form trampoline, Figure 2 is a side view of the trampoline of Figure 1, Figure 3 is similar to Figure 1 but of one side of the trampoline only and showing a portion of the edge of the mat of the trampoline cut away, and Figure 3 a is an enlarged view of the cut away edge portion of the trampoline, Figure 4 shows a first preferred form of an individual fitting and rod upper end separate from the other components of the trampoline, Figures 5 to 8 are cross-section views (except for the rod end 12) through the first preferred form of fitting illustrating engagement of a rod end into the fitting (Figures 5 and 6), locking of the rod end in the fitting (Figure 7), and unlocking of the rod end from fitting to enable separation of the rod and fitting (Figure 8), Figure 9 is a view of a section of the peripheral mat edge of a trampoline comprising the first preferred form of fittings, from below, Figures 10a to 10e show the first preferred form of fitting in plan view, from its inner edge, from below, and from one side and the other side, respectively, and Figure 10F shows the latch component of the first preferred form of fitting separate from the fitting, from one side, Figure 11 shows a second preferred form of fitting (separate from the trampoline and spring-rods) from below with the latch member thereof closed, Figure 12 is a view of the second preferred form of fitting of Figure 11 from below, similar to Figure 11 but with the latch member of the fitting open, Figure 13 is a cross-section view of the preferred form of fitting of Figures 11 and 12 from below along line 1-1 of Figure 11, Figure 14 is a view of third preferred form of fitting from below with the latch member thereof open, 170515-1

Figure 15 is a view of the third preferred form of fitting of Figure 14 with the latch member closed, Figure 16a and 16b schematically illustrate how the latch member of the third preferred form of fitting of Figures 14 and 15 may be spring biased towards its locked position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED FORMS Referring to Figures 1 to 3, a soft-edged trampoline typically comprises a flexible mat 1 on which users may bounce, a plurality of resiliently flexible rods 2, and a base frame 3. The preferred form trampoline shown is circular in shape but the trampoline could be of any other desired shape such as oval, square, rectangular or similar.

The base frame of the preferred form trampoline comprises a circular beam 4 typically formed of steel or aluminium for example, which may be supported from the ground by legs 5.

The rods 2 are typically fibre glass rods but may alternatively be formed of spring steel for example. The lower ends of the rods are retained by the base frame 3 and the upper ends of the rods connect to fittings 6 as will be further described, which are coupled to the mat 1 about the periphery of the mat. In the preferred form the lower ends of the rods 2 enter into tubular holders 7 fixed to the circular beam as shown, but the lower ends of the rods may be coupled to the circular beam, or a base frame of the trampoline of any other form, in any suitable way.

In the preferred form the mat, which is typically heavy canvas or a woven synthetic material, is doubled back upon itself and fixed by stitching for example about the periphery of the mat to form a continuous pocket 8 extending about the periphery of the mat. A number of the fittings 6 are positioned within this pocket in the peripheral edge of the mat as shown in Figure 3 in particular. The fittings may be loosely captured within the pocket or alternatively may be stitched to the mat within the edge pocket, or mechanically fastened to the mat via rivets for example.

170515-1

The rods have ball-shaped upper ends which connect to the fittings 6. Figures 4 to 9 show a first preferred form of fitting and the connection of a rod end to the fitting in more detail. Preferably the fittings have a generally planar body portion 9, and a socket cavity 10 is defined on or in an underside of the body portion 9 of the fitting. Preferably the body 9 of the fitting has a greater dimension approximately in the plane of the mat than in a direction through the mat. Typically the fittings will be formed from a plastics material, by injection moulding for example. In the preferred form portion 11 extends downwardly from the underside of the fitting to define the socket cavity 10. The rod end fits 12 into the socket cavity 10, as shown. The fitting may optionally include a slight dome 18 on body of the fitting over the socket cavity 10.

Also in the preferred form the fittings have an outer edge 13 which in use is closest to the outer peripheral edge of the mat, which edge 13 is wider in the plane of the mat than an inner edge of the fittings. The preferred form fittings have an approximate truncated triangular shape in plan view, with concave sides, but this is non-limiting and in other forms the fitting could be alternatively shaped.

In the preferred form the part of the mat which is doubled back to define the pocket 8 in the peripheral edge of the mat wraps around the outer edges 13 of the fittings 6, as shown in Figures 3 and 3A so that in use the outer edges of the fittings contact the inside surface of the pocket at its outer edge as shown, which assists in transferring forces between the fitting and the mat or vice versa. This may not be essential however, and in an alternative form individual pockets may be formed adjacent but spaced from the outer most peripheral edge of the mat, and defined by stitching through the mat to form the pockets which each receive and retain a fitting. Alternatively again the fittings may instead of being received in a pocket or pockets in the outer edge of the mat, be stitched directly to the mat adjacent its outer edge, or mechanically fastened to the mat.

Typically the trampoline will be delivered to a purchaser in disassembled form. The purchaser need only insert the lower ends of the rods into the trampoline base, loosely 170515-1

place the mat over the trampoline base, and then bend each resilient rod as required to engage the upper ends 12 of the rods into the socket cavities of the fittings 6.

In use as the trampoline is bounced on by a user, this will cause pivotal movement between the upper ends 12 of the rods 2 and the fittings 6 coupled to the mat, to a greater or lesser extent depending upon the size and energy of the user. If the user bounces close to a part of the edge of the mat, significant pivotal movement of the ball ends 12 of the few rods within the socket cavities 10 of the fittings closest to the point where the user bounces will occur.

In the preferred form the portion 10 of the fitting on the underside of the body 9 of the fitting which defines the socket cavity includes a part 14 which extends inwardly towards the centre of the trampoline to ensure the fitting slides over the rod below in the event of a heavy bounce on the adjacent trampoline edge. This inward extension prevents the fitting from catching on the next adjacent rod below and forcing the lower rod loose from its fitting 6.

Referring specifically to Figures 2 to 9 which show the first preferred form of fitting and the way in which the upper rod end may be entered into the open fitting and locked to the fitting, and Figures 10 and 11 which show the main body of the fitting and latch member of the fitting separately, the fitting comprises a latch member mounted in the underside of the fitting as shown, which is moveable between an open position shown in Figure 5 and a locked position shown in Figure 7. The latch member comprises a head or detent part, which in the preferred form has 15 a slightly convex face 16, and a U- shaped spring portion 17. The latch member is shown separately in Figure 10f and in the preferred form is formed as a single integral component, moulded from a plastics material. The rear part of the latch head 15 opposite the face 16 is shaped as shown and when the latch is installed in the main body of the fitting, engages a complementary curved face on part 19 of the fitting body, so that the latch head can pivot between the positions shown (compare Figures 5 to 8). The latch member also comprises a tab 20 which extends from the latch head or detent part is as shown, which enables manual movement of the latch as will be described. The latch member is housed within a slot or 170515-1

aperture in the fitting and defined generally between webs 25 (see Figures lOb and l Oc) which depend from extending part 14 of the fitting. The spring portion 17 of the latch sits within the fitting as shown with end part 21 thereof engaging transverse part 22 of the fitting body extending between the webs 25. The design is such that once the latch has been installed within the fitting body, the latch is securely located therein. The part 19 of the fitting body also extends transversely between the webs 25 as shown particularly in Figure l Oc.

In this first preferred form of fitting detent part or head 15 of the latch member is biased by the spring portion 17 towards its locked position as shown in Figure 5, which is the normal position of the latch member. It is arranged to be overridden, from its locked position towards its open position, when the upper end 12 or flexible rod is entered into the fitting, by contact between the upper end of the rod and the detent part 15 of the latch member, as shown in Figure 6. As the rod upper end is pushed fully home into the socket cavity of the fitting the latch member will spring back to its normal or locked position shown in Figure 7. When the latch member is in its normal, locked position, the detent head 15 protrudes slightly into the entry to the cavity 10, as shown.

Thus in initial assembly of the trampoline it is not necessary to operate the latch manually. Once the rods have been installed in the base frame of the trampoline, by insertion of the lower ends of the rods into the base frame, and the mat with fittings 6 about its periphery is draped over the rods, then each fitting is engaged over an upstanding rod end to couple the fitting and rod end. As the rod end enters the fitting as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the latch head is will depress so that the rod end and fitting will snap-fit together. If at any time during the life of the trampoline it is desired to disassemble the trampoline, then at each fitting 6 the latch is moved to its release position by manually pushing the latch tab 20 to the position shown in Figure 8, which enables the fitting on the edge of the trampoline mat and the rod upper end to which the fitting is connected, to be separated while the latch is held open.

Innocent tampering with the tab 20 for example by children, may push the latch to its release position, but the rod end will only separate from the fitting if at the same time, it 170515-1

is pushed out. Otherwise the rod spring force retains it in the socket. Once the latch tab 20 is released again, spring portion 17 rotates it back into its normal locked position.

Even when the trampoline edge is compressed by a jumper bouncing on the trampoline edge when the rods at the part of the periphery of the trampoline may touch the neighbouring edge fittings as shown in Figure 9, the neighbouring rod cannot touch the latch tab 20 because the two extending webs 25 of the fitting body act as guard rails. That is, the latch member does not extend beyond the external periphery of the fitting and in particular beyond the edges of the webs 25. At the same time there is adequate space between the webs 25 for easy insertion of a finger to manually move the latch to its open when it is desired to disassemble the trampoline for any reason.

Various other forms of latch member or detent 15 other than the particular form of the latch head 15 shown are possible. Instead of the tab 20 enabling the latch head to be pivoted to its open position, the edge of a thumb wheel may be exposed at the exterior of the fitting through a slot, so that the thumb wheel can be pivoted through for example 20 to 50° to cause a detent part of the latch member to be moved to its open position.

In the preferred form described above the latch member is spring biased towards its locked position but in another form the latch member may be a snap-fit into its locked position which will serve to hold the latch member or in particular the detent head thereof in its locked position. In such an embodiment, once the rod upper end and fitting have been coupled together with the latch member in its open position, the latch member would then be pivoted manually to its locked position into which it will snap- fit to be held in its locked position, for subsequent use of the trampoline. At disassembly of the trampoline for any reason, the latch member would be pivoted via its manual tab 20 or equivalent back to its open position, enabling the rod upper end and fitting to be separated.

Figures 10a to 10e show the fitting body and latch member separately, to illustrate the shape of the two components of the first preferred formal fitting body. Figure 10b shows the fitting body in the direction of arrow B in Figure 10a. Figure 10c shows the 170515-1

fitting body in the direction of arrow C in Figure lOb. Figure 10d shows the fitting body in the direction of arrow D in Figure 1 Ob. And Figure 1 Oe shows the fitting body in the direction of arrow E in Figure 1 Ob. Figure 11 is a side view of the latch member including internal spring portion of the preferred form, separate from the fitting body.

Figures 11 to 13 show a second preferred form of fitting of the invention. The fitting body 6 again comprises a socket cavity 10 on its underside. A latch member 30 is mounted full pivotal movement as indicated by arrows F & G in Figures 11 and 12, within a slot in the underside of the fitting, by pins 33 (see Figure 13) which extend from either side of the latch and engage into corresponding apertures in either side of the slot in the fitting body. The latch is shown in its locked position in Figures 11 and 13, and in its release position in Figure 12.

When the fitting is initially engaged with a rod upper end to enter the rod end into cavity 10 of the fitting, the ball-shaped socket end will contact the angled forward face 31 of the outer or distal end of the curved latch member 30, and as it does so will cause the latch to pivot upwardly in the direction of arrow F in Figure 11, opening the latch and allowing the ball end of the rod to continue to enter into the cavity 10 of the fitting.

Then as the fitting and rod end are brought fully home together, and the rod end enters fully into the cavity 10 of the fitting body, the rod will contact the tail or proximal end 32 of the latch member and cause the latch member to pivot in the direction of arrow G in Figure 12 to return to its locked position shown in Figure 11. As it does so the latch will engage over the ball end of the rod locking the rod end and fitting together. In the preferred form shown the pivotal axis of the latch member 30, through the pins 33, is generally parallel to the plane of the mat. Alternatively, however, the latch member 30 may be mounted about a pivot axis which extends at an angle for example about 45° to the plane of the mat for example.

Figures 14 and 15 show a third preferred form of fitting of the invention. Again the fitting body 6 which is shaped similarly to that of the first and second embodiments and comprises a cavity 10 on the underside which receives the upper end of a rod. An arcuate shaped latch member 34 is mounted within the cavity 10 for movement about a 170515-1

generally vertical axis, by pins 36 which extend upwardly and downwardly from the latch member 34 into apertures in the upper and lower parts of the fitting body 6. Thus the latch member 34 can move from an open position showing in Figure 15 to a closed position shown in Figure 14 and vice versa, in the direction of arrow H. The latch 34 may be spring biased towards its closed position, by a plastic tab spring 38 extending from the latch member 34 and engaging the fitting body within the interior of the cavity 10 or vice versa as schematically shown in Figures 16a and 16b. Figures 16a and 16b show the cavity 10 from underside of the fitting as shown but not the balance of the fitting body generally. Figures 16a and 16b are taken looking vertically up or down through the fitting. Plastic tab spring 38 is shown in its rest state in Figure 16a, with the latch member 34 in its locked position, about the ball-shaped upper end of rod 12.

Before a rod end is entered into the fitting the latch member 34 will be in this same position towards which it is spring biased, which is its normal position. Pushing a rod end into the cavity 10 will cause the rod end to contact the outside of the arcuate latch member 34, which will deflect the latch member 34 to one side bending spring 38 as it does so. Once the rod upper end has been engaged fully home into the cavity 10 the arcuate member will spring back to its normal locked position as shown in Figure 16a.

In each embodiment a secure and safe coupling of the upper ends of the rods to the mat is provided, without adversely affecting the performance of the trampoline is use. In addition the ends of the flexible rods are enclosed to increase protection to a user falling on the edge of the trampoline. At the same time assembly and disassembly of the trampoline and in particular connection between the individual rods and the mat can be carried out with relative ease.

The foregoing describes the invention including a preferred thereof so alterations and modifications as will be obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be incorporated within the scope hereof as defined in the accompanying claims.