Free sail with a unique geometry combining structure and grip
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- FR · FR
- Patent Type
- Patents
- Current Assignee / Owner
- LE BAIL ROLAND
- Filing Date
- 2022-12-01
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-24
AI Technical Summary
Existing free sails for sailing sports require additional gripping systems, making them heavier and more difficult to use, due to the separation of the sail structure and gripping system, which is typically implemented with additional devices or articulated arms.
A sail design featuring a V-shaped leading edge with flexible ends and a central rigid frame, utilizing Velcro for attachment, allows the sail to orient itself and generate thrust without additional components, using a lightweight fabric and rigid frame structure.
The design reduces weight and enhances usability by integrating the structure and grip into a single unit, maintaining efficient wind reception and thrust generation.
Abstract
Description
Description Title of the invention: Free sail with special geometry combining structure and grip
[0001] The present invention relates to a free sail, that is to say capable of orienting itself in three directions with a very particular geometry which serves both to create the structure of the sail and obtain the grip of it in the vicinity of the center of pressure.
[0002] — All previous patents taken on this type of free sail disconnect the actual structure of the sail of the gripping system which implies an additional device, for example triangular, to orient it.
[0003] These old sails are therefore much heavier for sailing sports sliding: windsurfing, skiing or roller skating due to the need to have a additional gripping system and also make them more difficult to use. lization on large boats or the articulated arm which manipulates them must be connected to the central point of thrust of the sail.
[0004] Advantageously, this new sail has a V-shaped leading edge in the central part extended by a rectilinear shape with shaped ends of gull wings; the desired depth of this V is calculated in such a way that the tip of the V, in the longitudinal direction, close to the center of sail thrust, as for the bird whose wings are connected in the middle of its body to support the weight.
[0005] Preferably, the sail comprises in the center a framework made of sens- elements possibly rigid, the ends being able to be more flexible and under tension for stretch the fabric constituting it. In the longitudinal direction a system of slats creates a classic extra back needed to generate thrust.
[0006] — In order to properly describe the sail, it is represented by three views: [Fig.1] is the sketch of a seagull in flight, [Fig.2] is a perspective from the side and below, [Fig.3] is a bottom view.
[0007] — The sail 1 made of light fabric is stretched over a rigid frame 2 made of light alloy serving as a central part in the shape of a flattened V, the ends 3 in more material flexible come to fit into this central part and serve to put it under tension thanks to, for example, “Velcro” 6. “Velcro” is a registered trademark designating self-adhesive textile strips allowing openings and quick and repeated closures. A central tube 4 connected in 8 to the frame 2 in V used to tension the sail in the longitudinal direction using a piece of rope inserted into an eyelet of the sail 7 while the profile of the latter, to create the extra back, is obtained by a set of 5 pre-arched slats also held by “Velcro”. This new sail, like the old ones, has the characteristic of only receiving the wind from one side, the other side always being downwind. This particularity is very important because it allows the use of preformed sails made of rigid materials with an airplane wing-type profile.
Claims
Claims
1. Free sail along the three axes, characterized by a geo-structure particular rigid V-shaped central metric which serves both as support for it and simultaneously gripping in the vicinity of the center of pressure.
2. Sail (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a leading edge diverging towards the rear (3), fitted in a rigid central flattened V shape (2) connected at (8) to the bar (4) used to tension in (7) the sail; the whole resembling a Flattened M. The sail stretched between this leading edge, the two ex- ends (6) and the end (7) of the trailing edge, form two sides convex to the wind using preformed slats (5).
3. Sail according to claims 1 and 2 characterized in that it comprises a frame (2, 3, 4) made of substantially rigid elements, in particular tubular, and a sail stretched over this frame.
4. Sail according to claims 1 to 3 which can be used in par- particular for windsurfing, skiing, roller skating or even, at the end of an articulated mast, on large boats to improve their carbon footprint.