DEVICE FOR PRACTICE OF SPORT AND LEISURE IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS.

Abstract

Device for practicing sports and leisure in aquatic environments comprising a rigid frame equipped with a perforated and stretched elastomer mat and a complementary frame allowing for an elastic articulation relative to anchor points or an elastic connection relative to a central anchor point for practicing jumps or various figures of an individual in the water.

Description

Equipment for practicing sports and leisure activities in aquatic environments The invention relates to a device for practicing sports and leisure in aquatic environments such as -sea, swimming pools, lakes- and likely to concern a very wide category of public from children to adults in the form of individual or collective practice. The state of the art in aquatic practices can be summarized in fact by various sailing or gliding equipment (sailboats, boards, surfboards, etc.) or swimming aid equipment such as boards, buoys, floating beds, heavy and fixed equipment such as diving boards, inflatable devices that can function as trampolines on the surface of the water, or the use of games such as balls... The main patent application describes a device whose basic principle is to create a submersible elastic mat capable of providing new sensations related to the presence of water. The basic device comprises a frame and a perforated mat stretched between the relevant parts of this frame. The mat's own elasticity, or the elastic part connecting it to the frame, is capable of providing, through controlled impulses in the water, the possibility for a child or adult to jump higher and higher and perform various figures of their choice. The device, as described in main application 90 011 07, comprises an elastic perforated mat stretched over a rigid frame and feet whose shape provides its own elasticity and which allow it to be placed or anchored after immersion for the practice of jumps or various figures by an individual in contact with the water. The present invention aims to provide users with even greater exploitation of the elastic response of such a device, and thus to create devices that are either more efficient in vertical response and therefore more oriented towards recreational sports, or more efficient in lateral and vertical elasticity and therefore oriented towards more playful activities. The device of the invention, in a first version, comprises a frame and a stretched, perforated elastic mat, but positions this frame in elastic cantilever relative to a support anchored in the aquatic environment. The device thus constitutes a doubly elastic platform, with the first elastic response of the mat offering a new interaction with the water and a second elastic response constituted by the elastic articulation between the frame and the anchoring support in the aquatic environment. The device of the invention comprises, in a second version, a frame and a taut elastic mat, but places this frame in a state of elastic instability relative to a central support leg. The device thus constitutes a doubly elastic platform, with the first elastic response being the mat itself and a second response forming an elastic link between the central leg and the frame. This second response creates instability in the platform, the degree of which varies depending on the force exerted by the user and the angle of impact on the mat. The platform is therefore elastically disjointed, which can provide the user with a unique and playful sensation in the water. The device, the subject of the invention, can offer a whole range of equipment which, while remaining within a limit linked to the safety aspects of the exercise in the aquatic environment, can ensure very diverse elastic responses ranging from a large "vertical" response capable of generating spectacular jumps to a "disjointed" response capable of generating strong playful sensations in the aquatic environment. The device, which is the subject of the present invention, will be better understood upon reading the following description, examples of embodiments, given purely for illustrative purposes and in no way limiting, with reference to the attached drawings on which - Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a device according to the invention, articulated elastically, cantilevered from an anchorage. - Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of a device according to the invention, articulated elastically with respect to a central foot.* Figure 1 schematically represents a perspective view of a first version of the device according to the invention. This device comprises a frame 1 formed by a circular frame 2 and a complementary frame 3 designed to provide cantilevered attachment and articulated on an anchoring support. Thus, as in main patent application 90 01 107, the frame 1 is made of a rigid metallic or plastic material, or of reinforced plastic materials that are highly resistant to the corrosive effects of fresh or seawater, and the device includes, stretched over the frame 2, a part 4 whose function is to ensure a good elastic response to the successive impulses of a user in an aquatic environment.The elastic device is thus advantageously made up of a molded elastomer mat 4 perforated by a set of holes 5 arranged for example radially and ensuring less resistance to movement in water, and cut in its outer part according to tabs 6 rolled directly onto the frame 2 and fixed after folding, for example, by stainless eyelets 7. In one version of the invention, the frame 3 is formed by two arms 8 and 9 that provide an articulated connection to the anchoring system in the aquatic environment. This connection is achieved, for example, very simply by an articulation on two brackets 10 and 11 around axes 12 and 13. The two brackets 10 and 11 are simply bolted to a vertical wall 14 of the aquatic environment. This leads to very simple and inexpensive solutions for cantilevered articulated attachment of the frame 1 to any support submerged in the aquatic environment, opening up a wide range of applications in swimming pools, the sea, and lakes. The spacing of the arms 8 and 9 ensures good lateral stability of the articulation and therefore of the device under the stresses caused by off-center jumps on the elastic mat 4.The frame 3 is also formed of a spacer 15 connecting the arms 8 and 9 and intended to receive in its middle one end of an elastic element connecting the frame 3 to an anchor point in the aquatic environment, consisting for example of a clevis 16 similar to the clevises 10 and 11 fixed by bolting on the vertical wall 14. As an example the elastic element is very simply made up of a stainless steel spring 17 whose characteristics, wire diameter, number of turns, allowable load and elongation are chosen to ensure the elastic response resulting in a more or less sporty practice in the range of constraints provided by the jumps on the elastic mat. Thus, we see that the device constitutes a doubly elastic platform. The first elastic response comes from the mat 4, which offers a new interaction with the water and whose immersion depth can be easily modified by using different attachment points for the slats. The second elastic response is provided by the spring 17. Several models can therefore be created, capable of providing a more or less dynamic elastic response for the submerged device, which can be easily fixed to the vertical wall of a swimming pool, a dock, a floating platform, or a structure anchored to the seabed. Several such devices can also be arranged around a central mast to create a spectacular array of water features. - Figure 2 schematically represents a perspective view of a second version of the device according to the invention. This device comprises a frame 18 formed of a frame 19, for example in the shape of a circle, and a complementary frame 20 intended to provide central fixing and an elastic connection with respect to an anchoring support 21. As in the previous version and as in main patent application 90 011 07, the device comprises, stretched over the frame 19, a part 22 whose function is to ensure a good elastic response to the successive impulses of a user in an aquatic environment. The elastic device is thus advantageously made of a molded and perforated elastomer mat 22. The frame 20 is formed of four rigid arms ending in a plate 23 allowing the rigid fixing of the elastic element consisting, for example, simply of a stainless steel spring 24 fixed rigidly to the anchoring support 21 and whose characteristics, wire diameter, number of turns, allowable load and elongation are chosen to offer an elastic response between the reinforcement 18 and the anchoring support 21. We can thus see that the device constitutes a doubly elastic platform with a first elastic response provided by the elastomer mat 22 which offers a new relationship to the water and a second elastic response provided by the deformations of the spring 24, deformations which are more or less pronounced laterally in particular depending on the importance of the impact force and the place of the point of impact of the practitioner in relation to the central axis of the device and which can thus provide very varied and spectacular playful sensations in the aquatic environment.

Claims

DEMANDS 1) Device for the practice of sport and leisure in an aquatic environment, characterized in that it comprises a rigid frame according to claim 1 of patent no. 90 011 07 and a complementary frame ensuring an elastic articulation with respect to anchor points located in the aquatic environment. 2) Device according to claim 1 characterized in that the complementary frame is formed of two arms ensuring a stable articulation laterally with respect to two anchor points in the aquatic environment by means of two cleats and connecting axes and a spacer allowing the frame and another anchor point to be connected by an elastic element. 3) Device according to claims 1 and 2 characterized in that the elastic element consists of a stainless steel spring. 4) Device for the practice of sport and leisure in an aquatic environment, characterized in that it comprises a rigid frame according to claim 1 of patent no. 90 011 07 and a complementary frame ensuring an elastic connection with respect to a central anchor point. 5) Device according to claim 4 characterized in that the elastic connection between the complementary frame and the central anchor point is made of a stainless steel spring.