Fire escape – ladder – or scaffold – Body catcher – Sheet or net type
Patent
1981-01-15
1982-09-28
Machado, Reinaldo P.
Fire escape, ladder, or scaffold
Body catcher
Sheet or net type
182 48, 272 65, A62B 122
Patent
active
043514138
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Background of the Invention
As athletic skills and abilities have improved over the years, track and field events such as high jumping and pole vaulting have been marked by dramatic increases in the height obtained by the individual performers. In particular, many pole vaulters are reaching substantial heights in their vaults so that the distance of fall is on the order of as much as 3 to 5 meters. It is necessary, of course, that the impact of this free-fall be cushioned so as to prevent injury. In the past this cushioning has been accomplished by means of large foam pads placed in an area in which the impact of the vaulter is anticipated. These foam cushions are typically one meter thick so that the vaulter is decelerated in approximately one-half of this distance which in turn results in very large deceleration forces. Even though these soft cushions alleviate many of the problems inherent in falls from these distances, a high risk of injury and death still remains due to the large deceleration forces, off-center impacts, or off-balance impacts by the vaulter.
Many of the injuries plaguing pole vaulters and high jumpers can be eliminated by intercepting the vaulter or jumper nearer to his maximum height and decelerating his fall over a substantial distance. In this process two constraints are present: First, the initial impact of the athlete must be dissipated, and second, a constant deceleration force should be provided. It is additionally helpful if the apparatus is constructed not only to cushion the impact and decelerate the fall of the athlete, but also is constructed to automatically compensate for off-center impacts which often result in wrenching of the athlete's body sufficiently to cause injury.
While others have recognized some of the problems associated with landing pads either in the field of athletic endeavors or for example, fire safety apparatus, the devices which have been developed tend to introduce substantial deceleration forces. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 626,812 issued on June 13, 1899 to Kirschenhofer discloses a dampening device which utilizes a spring with a catch to prevent rebound when an object srikes the landing net. Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,430,714, issued Nov. 11, 1947 to Geer discloses a shock absorber connected to a landing net so that the net is decelerated over a very short distance, namely, the stroke of the shock absorber, by means of the viscous constraints of the fluid in the shock absorber. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,351 issued Apr. 6, 1976 to Baumann utilizes a shock absorber similar to that disclosed in the Geer patent although it is connected to the landing net in a different manner.
Although these devices afford some damping of the impact of a free falling body, especially to prevent rebound, they nonetheless are operative over only a short degree of displacement and utilize the retarding force of a viscous fluid through an orifice. This technique does not decelerate the falling body over a substantial distance but rather absorbs virtually all of the impact in a distance much shorter than that even of a foam cushion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved landing net assembly for absorbing the impact of a free falling body wherein the free falling body undergoes a gentle rate of deceleration.
Another object of the present invention is to overcome the initial impact of a falling body on a landing net by means of a viscous drag and buoyant forces and then counteract the weight of the body by means of these forces to decelerate the body's fall gently.
It is a further object of the present invention to connect a landing net to a plurality of dampening devices which utilize a fluid and float assembly to damp displacement of the net by counteracting forces causing the net displacement by transferring these forces to one or more floats so that the viscous drag and buoyant force of the float damps the rate of displacement of the net.
It is yet another object of the pre
REFERENCES:
patent: 283158 (1883-08-01), Smith
patent: 300091 (1884-06-01), Lawrence
patent: 329648 (1885-11-01), Huber
patent: 448101 (1891-03-01), Whittier
patent: 527594 (1894-10-01), Dromgoole
patent: 626812 (1899-06-01), Kirschenhofer
patent: 2212460 (1940-08-01), Stephenson
patent: 2430714 (1947-11-01), Geer
patent: 3796281 (1974-03-01), Dowling
patent: 3948351 (1976-04-01), Baumann
Machado Reinaldo P.
Reilly John E.
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