Games using tangible projectile – Projectile – per se; part thereof or accessory therefor – Curling stone
Patent
1997-01-23
1999-05-11
Chiu, Raleigh W.
Games using tangible projectile
Projectile, per se; part thereof or accessory therefor
Curling stone
A63B67/14
Patent
active
059022000
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a curling stone for curling, consisting of a handle, a housing for the support of gliding and braking elements, and a bottom glide plate covering the bottom side of the housing and optionally provided with gliding bumps, part of the gliding surface being formed by a brake device the braking surface of which is affixed to a support for sliding movement in an axial direction of the curling stone relative to the remaining gliding surface cover and moveable against spring bias in the housing to adjust the brake action, the brake device consisting of a plurality of independently moveable brake surface supports arranged concentrically and symmetrically around the axis of the curling stone on a common bracket which is axially adjustable to a limited extent relative to the curling stone, each support being provided with its own spring suspension.
Such a curling stone may be easily adjusted without further auxiliary means in accordance with temperature induced changes in the antifrictional properties of the ice as they occur in practice.
2. The Prior Art
A curling stone of the kind mentioned above is known from Austrian patent No. 354,921. Even though that curling stone permits satisfactory adjustments to different gliding properties of ice, it has for several reasons been found to warrant improvement. Collisions with other curling stones may lead to unseating of the housing so that the hand wheel for adjusting the brake device is pressed against the lower flange at the end of the handle and is blocked, thus making further adjustments of the brake device impossible. Furthermore, in operation, such major components as handle, housing, and bottom glide plate with its steel ring may shift, since unlike in conventional curling stones the handle is not threadedly connected to the housing and to the bottom glide plate. Moreover, the use of coil springs, notwithstanding the advantages yielded by them, has been found to be disadvantageous as the brake surface supports cannot be quickly replaced.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement in the known curling stone to avoid the mentioned disadvantages which, in particular, make any adjustments of the brake device difficult or impossible, and to provide for simplified handling, especially as regards the brake device.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention, the object is accomplished by supportively arranging in the known curling stone, between the handle and the housing, a support shell preferably provided with one or more milled openings to render the brake device accessible, the support shell being in its upper surface provided with a central bore.
In another embodiment of the invention, the bracket of the brake device is an inherently resilient support of preferably star-shaped cross-section provided with a plurality arms (cantilevers), preferably three to six, with slots tapering in a radial direction for suspending the individual brake surface supports. In a further embodiment, the brake surface supports are provided with a stepped shaft provided with a preferably convex annular recess.
In contrast to the known use of coil springs, this embodiment of the brake device facilitates handling, in particular a quicker replacement of possibly worn brake surface supports. To this end, where brake surface supports are provided with stepped shafts, they are inserted into the slots at the widest portion thereof which is preferably shaped in the manner of a bore, and after snapping in their annular recess, they are pushed outwardly along the tapering slot into their final position. When in their idle or relieved state, the arms (cantilevers) may be slightly prestressed by about 3 mm in the direction of the bottom glide plate.
For setting the initial position of the brake surface supports, it is proposed that the bracket is preferably provided with an internally threaded bush in which a threaded spindle disposed beneat
REFERENCES:
patent: 3870309 (1975-03-01), Tessier
Chiu Raleigh W.
Hormann Karl
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