The present disclosure relates to sports equipment, and more particularly to a football sled with a range of motion to simulate a blocker.
Football has continued to evolve into a faster more lateral movement game as the athletes get bigger, stronger, and more importantly, faster. Various types of football training equipment is used to allow players to practice their techniques without facing off against another live player.
A common example of such equipment is a football training sled for teaching fundamental and functional techniques such as tackling and blocking. A typical football sled includes a horizontal base, including one or more sled-like runners and a padded vertical extension mounted at one end of the sled base. The padded portion of the sled may be sized and shaped to represent an opposing player. A lineman may practice blocking techniques by blocking against the padded portion of the sled, driving the sled straight backwards as he would an opposing player.
To train and develop more complex schemes and coordinated blocking assignments in Zone Blocking we have developed a blocker sled that provides a safe simulation thereof. As zone blocking requirements have teammates handling double teams, releasing to take on the next dangerous defender, the blocker sled disclosed herein can simulate the weight, resistance and natural movement of a defender.
Also, as football offense is now more complex, the defense must train to physically play the offender, as well as break through the blocker to take the seam, hence putting the defender in a position to attack or disrupt the ball carrier. The blocker sled disclosed herein moves like a blocker to allow the defender to work on shocking the offensive player, creating leverage and violently separating or attacking the offender.
Various features will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the disclosed non-limiting embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows:
In one non-limiting embodiment, the arm 14 is a single tubular component, however, the arm 14 may alternatively be of various forms such as a split tube design 14′ (
With reference to
The damper arrangement 18 generally includes a mount 28A on the arm 14 and a mount 28B on the blocking pad socket 26. The mounts 28A, 28B locate the damper arrangement 18 to define a resistance to a force applied to the blocking pad 16 as the blocking pad 16 pivots through an arc defined by pad axis P. The damper arrangement 18 generally includes a shock 30 such as a hydraulic or pneumatic shock and a spring 32 which may be protected within a housing 18H (
The arc of the blocking pad 16 in one disclosed non-limiting embodiment may be approximately 40 degrees (
In addition to the motion of the blocking pad 16, the arm 14 supports the blocking pad 16 such that the entire arm 14 and blocking pad 16 may be moved through a range of motion relative to the sled frame 12 as controlled by the range of motion assembly 20. In one disclosed non-limiting embodiment, the range of motion assembly 20 provides a combination of lateral and vertical movement (
With reference to
In one disclosed non-limiting embodiment, the pivot assembly 34 generally includes an axle 40 which extends from the sled frame 12 to receive a pivot joint 42. The pivot joint 42 includes a first cylinder 44 fixed to a second cylinder 46 in a transverse orientation. The first cylinder 44 defines a vertical axis X to permit lateral movement (
A pivot housing 48 attached to the end of the arm 14 receives the pivot joint 42 to support the arm 14 through a second axle 50. The second axle 50 is received through opposed apertures 52 in the pivot housing 48 and the second cylinder 46 of the pivot joint 42. The second axle 50 is retained therein by retaining rings 51.
A cam 54 extends from the housing 48 generally along an axis L defined by the arm 14. The cam 54 may be a cylindrical member which engages the cartridge system 36. The multiple of cartridge plates 38A, 38B and 38C operate as a cam surface to receive cam 54 and thereby constrain movement of the arm 14.
The cartridge system 36 is mounted to the sled frame 12 adjacent to the pivot assembly 34 for interaction therewith. Mount plates 56 are fixed to the sled frame 12 through welding or the like to receive cartridge plate 38A therebetween. That is, the mount plates 56 provide a fixed structure to support the cartridge system 36 directly adjacent the pivot assembly 34. The mount plates 56 are generally annular triangular shaped members which provide a significant range of motion greater than any cartridge plate 38A, 38B, 38C.
The cartridge plate 38A is selectively mounted between the mount plates 56 to define the primary range of motion through an aperture 58A. The aperture 58A is generally triangular in shape in the disclosed non-limiting embodiment (
The cartridge plates 38B, 38C are axially slidably mounted on standoffs 62 which extend from the mount plates 56 (also illustrated in
A removable lock 70 may be snapped onto the standoffs 62 between one of the mount plates 56 and the cartridge plate 38B, 38C to axially retain the cartridge plate 38B, 38C and assure that the generally triangular aperture 58A is the only aperture engaged with the cam 54 (
The cartridge plate 38B includes a generally rectilinear aperture 58B. The shape of the aperture 58B restricts movement of the arm 14 to permit, for example, only vertical movement relative to the sled frame 12. That is, when the cartridge plate 38B is slid along the standoffs 62 to be directly adjacent cartridge plate 38A the generally rectilinear aperture 58B is engaged with the cam 54 to supersede the constraint otherwise provided by aperture 58A (
The cartridge plate 38C includes an aperture 58C which is sized to be generally equivalent to the shape of the cam 54. The shape of the aperture 58C thereby locks the arm 14 in a fixed position relative to the sled frame 12 when the cartridge plate 38C is slid adjacent to the cartridge plate 38B (
It should be understood that alternative or additional cartridge plates with various other aperture shapes may be provided to further define a desired range of motion for arm 14. That is, the shape of the aperture 58 controls the envelope of motion of arm 14 relative to sled frame 12 to provide, for example movement to but one lateral side relative to the sled frame 12.
With reference to
The blocking pad 106 is attached to the arm 104 through the damper arrangement 108 which permits force application to the blocking pad 106 to be absorbed axially along the arm 104 along axis T prior to movement though the range of motion assembly 120 about axis P. That is, the football blocking sled 100 requires movement of the blocking pad 106 telescopically for a predetermined distance along arrow T such as five (5) inches to be absorbed telescopically along the arm 104 along axis T prior to rotation about axis P. The damper arrangement 108 may include a shock such as a hydraulic or pneumatic shock and a spring (not shown) within the arm 104. The range of motion assembly 120 may include a cartridge system 36 as described above or other lock arrangement which interacts with the damper arrangement 108 to prevent rotation about axis P until the predetermined axial distance is first achieved.
A player must first overcome the resistance of the damper arrangement 108 prior to the blocking pad 106 being movable about the axis P to teaches the player to roll the hips and lift the blocking pad 106 to simulate finishing off the opponent.
Alternatively, the range of motion assembly 120 may be locked out such that the lifting action about axis P is prevented. This facilitates the practice of base and drive blocking.
The handholds H facilitate such training as the player may readily grab the blocking pad 106 in a manner typical of grabbing an opponent.
It should be understood that various other movable or fixed sled arrangements will benefit from the blocking pad 106 with handholds H as discussed above.
It should be understood that relative positional terms such as “forward,” “aft,” “upper,” “lower,” “above,” “below,” and the like are with reference to the normal operational attitude of the vehicle and should not be considered otherwise limiting.
It should be understood that like reference numerals identify corresponding or similar elements throughout the several drawings. It should also be understood that although a particular component arrangement is disclosed in the illustrated embodiment, other arrangements will benefit herefrom.
Although particular step sequences are shown, described, and claimed, it should be understood that steps may be performed in any order, separated or combined unless otherwise indicated and will still benefit from the present disclosure.
The foregoing description is exemplary rather than defined by the limitations within. Various non-limiting embodiments are disclosed herein, however, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that various modifications and variations in light of the above teachings will fall within the scope of the appended claims. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure may be practiced other than as specifically described. For that reason the appended claims should be studied to determine true scope and content.
The present disclosure is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/971160, filed Dec. 17, 2010 and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/971183, filed Dec. 17, 2010.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12971160 | Dec 2010 | US |
Child | 12986355 | US | |
Parent | 12971183 | Dec 2010 | US |
Child | 12971160 | US |