The invention relates to a system for physical mobility activity of a person. The invention in particular relates to such a system comprising at least one support member that is external relative to the person in motion, in particular a stationary or fixed support member, and at least one contact member to be worn by the person. Such a system may for instance comprise a climbing wall or clambering course or track, over which the person has to work their way.
Climbing walls are generally known. The climbing person tries to find their way up by using colored supports attached to the climbing wall, on which supports the hand can grip or the foot be supported. Clambering courses are usually less steep and may be slippery or be provided with supports for the hands and feet. Climbing walls and clambering courses may be part of an obstacle course, assault course or adventure track that include obstacles that the person has to try to negotiate. Such courses come in all manner of designs and are in many ways a challenge to the user.
It is an object of the invention to provide a system of the type mentioned in the preamble that is capable of giving the user a special experience.
It is an object of the invention to provide a system of the type mentioned in the preamble that may be a particular challenge to the user.
It is an object of the invention to provide a new system for physical mobility activity of a person, in particular a system of the type mentioned in the preamble.
According to one aspect the invention provides a system for physical mobility activity of a person, comprising
Contrary to the usual hook-and-loop fastening connections the hooks, that open to one side of the hook stem, are in this case not oriented randomly. As a result, the mutual grip between the hooks and loops has an effective, preferred orientation, depending on whether the hooks are situated on the contact surface or on the support surface in the first direction or in a direction opposite thereto. In that direction, the holding power can be relatively large. In the direction opposite thereto, the connection can easily be released. The person in question is thus always able to find a reliable point of support and yet able to move on easily. The person is able to move over the at least one support surface in a special way, by releasing the connection between hooks and loops at the one location and realizing a connection again at a next location at a distance therefrom.
In one embodiment in which the directional effect is enhanced, the hooks on the support surface or contact surface in question are at least substantially equi-oriented, when considered in the first direction.
It is noted that hook-and-loop fastening connections having equi-oriented or unidirectional hooks are known per se, such as “Quiet Closure Hook and Loop” by Velcro®, the purpose of which is limiting the noise made when releasing a hook-and-loop fastening connection in a clothing fastener. Reference can also be made to US 2010/0239805, in which the unidirectionality of the hooks enhances the cleansing of a fastener in a wrapping for cotton bales.
The one or more contact surfaces may have been provided on one or more objects that can be held by hands and/or fingers or by feet, in particular they have been provided with means for attaching those objects to hands or feet, in particular in the shape of articles of clothing for hands or feet.
The article of clothing may be an item of handwear, in particular a glove that may or may not have been provided with fingers. Bringing the hooks and loops in and out of contact with each other is facilitated if the contact surface has been provided at the palm side of the glove and/or at the palm side of the fingers, in particular the distal phalanxes. The glove may have been provided with fingers or may have been designed like a kind of cycling glove without fingers.
The article of clothing may also be intended for the forearm, and in that case preferably the palm side of the forearm will have been provided with the contact surface. Said article of clothing can then form one unity with the item of handwear.
The article of clothing may be an item of footwear, wherein the contact surface has, preferably, been provided at the sole side, preferably under the front part of the foot, preferably under the ball and under the toes. This provides a special effect to the person, as they will be able to find a reliable point of support by contact of the sole and not necessarily needing to place a shoe on a protrusion such as a climbing grip.
The contact surface may have been formed on the sole of a shoe itself. Alternatively, the contact surface may have been formed on a covering or cap or plate for a shoe, such as for instance an overshoe or mounting cap or mounting plate that can be placed over the toe of the shoe. Said covering or cap or plate will have sufficiently safely and reliably been attached to the shoe by means of fasteners.
For an optimal effect to the user, a pair of gloves and a pair of shoes or overshoes may thus have been provided that have each been provided with said contact surfaces.
If there is question of one support surface it may have a relatively large surface, for instance an entire slope. It is also possible that there are several support surfaces, that are consecutive to each other but are for instance at different angles of inclination or are flat and curved (convex or concave), or are spaced apart from each other. The user may for instance jump from the one support surface to the other support surface.
At least one support member may have been provided with several support surfaces, for instance in case the support member is a slope, and support surfaces have been provided at scattered locations. The support surfaces may be spaced apart from each other in the X-direction, Y-direction and/or Z-direction. In a longer, more versatile system a number of the support members provided with one or more support surfaces is present, which members are spaced apart from each other. The user may for instance jump from to the one support member to a support surface on a next support member. The support members may be situated one after the other, in an X-direction, be juxtaposed in a Y-direction perpendicular to the X-direction, or be spaced apart from each other in X-direction and Y-direction, or combinations thereof. The sign of the Y-direction may for instance first be positive and next be negative, and then positive again, etc., so that a kind of zig-zag path can be realized. Many variations are possible, also in the Z-direction.
The system according to the invention can be set up so extensively in a track, that the user can choose the course to be taken and for instance be able to run (up) or jump from the one support surface on a support member to the next, and/or be able to jump from the one support member to the next support member, in a two-dimensional or three-dimensional trip over the track.
In a first further development the contact surface constitutes the hook component of the hook-and-loop fastening connection and the support surface constitutes the loop component of the hook-and-loop fastening connection. The contact surface or the contact surfaces are body-worn, and as already stated, are located on the person, and due to the configuration of the hooks thereon the person may have a large degree of freedom in choosing the orientation of the connection with a support surface provided with the loops.
In case of a contact surface on a glove or the like the first direction may be oriented in proximal direction, that means towards the elbow. Hanging and crawling will thus be made easier.
In case of a contact surface on the sole of a shoe the first direction may be front-rear. In that way, a walking motion is made easier.
In a second, different development according to the invention, the support surface constitutes the hook component of the hook-and-loop fastening connection and the contact surface constitutes the loop component of the hook-and-loop fastening connection. In this case as well the contact surfaces may have been provided on articles of clothing, on gloves and shoes, as discussed above, however then with the loops. The hook fields may now be fixed, stationary, relative to the person in motion. If the support surface is inclined in the first direction, the hook openings can be situated at the higher side of the hook stems in question.
In this development variation can be introduced as regards the grip direction, with at least two support surfaces which in terms of orientation of the hook openings of their hooks differ one from the other.
According to a further aspect, the invention provides a glove, which at the palm side has been provided with a contact surface of the hook component of a hook-and-loop fastening connection consisting of hooks and loops, wherein the hooks have hook stems and hook openings, wherein the hook openings on the contact surface are situated at least substantially all at the same side of the hook stems in question, when considered in a first direction parallel to the contact surface in question. The hooks on the contact surface in question may at least be substantially equi-oriented, when considered in the first direction, wherein the first direction is oriented in proximal direction.
According to a further aspect, the invention provides a shoe, which at the sole side has been provided with a contact surface of the hook component of a hook-and-loop fastening connection consisting of hooks and loops, wherein the hooks have hook stems and hook openings, wherein the hook openings on the contact surface are situated at least substantially all at the same side of the hook stems in question, when considered in a first direction parallel to the contact surface in question, wherein, preferably, the first direction is front-rear.
In a further development, the loopholes of the loops on the contact surface or support surface in question are at least substantially equi-oriented.
According to a further aspect, the invention provides an overshoe or shoe cap, which at the sole side has been provided with a contact surface of the hook component of a hook-end-loop fastening connection consisting of hooks and loops, wherein the hooks have hook stems and hook openings, wherein the hook openings on the contact surface are situated at least substantially all at the same side of the hook stems in question, when considered in a first direction parallel to the contact surface in question, wherein, preferably, the first direction is front-rear.
A system as described above can be attractively extended with an aerial runway. In that way the system may comprise a safety device for breaking the fall of the person, wherein the safety device comprises an aerial runway, such as a cable (zip-wire, zip line) or a rail, extending over the at least one support member and which has been provided with a trolley that is movable along it, in particular freely movable along it, and a safety line which at one end has been connected to the trolley for being moved by it along the aerial runway and which at the other end can be connected to the person. In case of an aerial runway in the form of a cable and the like, the aerial runway can be more resilient than in case of a rail.
In one embodiment, the safety line is at least partially stretchy. The safety line may for instance be a flexible line having, in series, a part which, relatively speaking, is not stretchy and a part that is elastically stretchy.
In another embodiment, the safety device comprises a belay having a safety drum provided with a brake and the safety line wrapped around the drum, wherein at the one end the safety line has been connected to the safety drum and at the other end has been provided with a coupling for coupling the person to the safety line, wherein the belay has been connected to the trolley for being moved by it along the aerial runway. In that case the safety line may be non-stretchy or hardly stretchy.
Systems such as obstacle courses having trolleys, from which a person is suspended and which can run along overhead rails or cables, are known per se, for instance from EP 1.832.315. The vertical distance between the person and the rail will in that case be constant.
Belays can be used for maintenance purposes at high installations, such as towers, and for recreational purposes such as climbing walls and jumping platforms. A housing in which the drum has been accommodated is then suspended from a fixed location. When the person connected to the safety line falls accidentally or on purpose, the safety line will unwind from the drum, however in a restrained manner, due to which the falling motion of the person in question as regards speed and/or length remains within an acceptable magnitude. An example of a fixed belay, (auto) “belay”, for climbing walls or installations is the TrueBlue® (US 2010/0308149), in particular the TrueBlue® type 2, or the Dynascape (US 2002/0179372).
By suspending such a belay to a trolley that moves along with, follows the person, the person is enabled to move up and down and from left to right as well as to turn relative to the trolley during the progress. Should the person, challenged by the special opportunities offered to them by the system according to the invention described above, with contact surfaces and support surfaces which together form a hook-and-loop fastening connection, lose their balance, safety provisions against falling are provided. They may be provided when a support surface aimed at, is missed or when the person loses their balance after realizing a hook-and-loop fastening connection. This may for instance happen when the said connection is made with a contact surface on a shoe and an inclined support surface that is situated rather far removed in lateral direction. If there is another support member or support surface that can be engaged at a lower level than the missed support surface or the support surface that had to be released after losing balance, the journey can be continued as yet.
If the drum of the belay is of the auto-winding type—known per se—, the line will be retrieved again of its own accord, over a length under the influence of a spring active on the drum, once the tensile force on the line is reduced. When the person moves upwards again, for instance when clambering or by jumping with an upward component, the belay will also be ready for providing safety during a fall in said higher position of the person.
The options when fitting out this system with aerial runway, trolley and belay are innumerable. The aerial runway may extend over several support members, the aerial runway may have corners and/or bends, comprise a horizontal course and/or comprise an ascending course. The aerial runway may in particular comprise one or more descending courses. The end point of the aerial runway will in many cases be situated lower than the starting point. It is also possible that the aerial runway comprises a vertical (downward) course. When considered in a projection at a horizontal plane, the support surfaces and/or support members may be situated on the one side and/or the other side of the aerial runway, for instance at varying distances. It is also possible that a (single) support member has such a width that it extends on both sides of the aerial runway, so that the support surfaces of said support member are situated on both sides of the aerial runway.
According to a further aspect, the invention further provides a general application of a system including aerial runway, trolley and belay, with a system for physical mobility activity of a person, comprising a safety device for breaking a fall of the person in motion, wherein the safety device comprises an aerial runway (overhead), such as a cable or a rail, provided with a trolley that is movable along it, in particular freely movable along it, and a safety line which at the one end has been connected to the trolley and at the other end has been provided with a coupling for coupling the person to the safety line, wherein the safety line is part of a belay having a safety drum provided with a brake and around which drum the safety line has been wrapped, wherein the belay has been connected to the trolley for being moved by it along the aerial runway. In that way, the person is able to jump from the one obstacle to the other in a secured manner, wherein said obstacles may be situated at different heights and/or in a direction transverse to the aerial runway at a distance from one another, in one embodiment also on both sides of the aerial runway. As usual the trolley has disks, wheels, rollers and the like that can be moved against/along the cable, rail etc. in particular freely running, for engaging the rail, cable etc. in a rolling manner. In general, the aerial runway will have an end point that is situated lower than the starting point. Between the starting point and the end point the aerial runway may be steadily descending or may have been provided with horizontal and/or short ascending intermediate or end course (s).
According to a further aspect, the invention provides a building provided with a system according to the invention.
According to a further aspect, the invention provides an assembly of a first body and a second body that can be detachably connected with each other by means of a hook-and-loop fastening connection, wherein the first body has a first surface with the hook component of the hook-and-loop fastening connection and the second body has a second surface with the loop component of the hook-and-loop fastening connection, wherein the hooks of the hook component have hook stems and hook openings, wherein the hook openings are situated at least substantially all at the same side of the hook stems in question, when considered in a first direction parallel to the first surface, and wherein the loops of the loop component have loopholes that are at least substantially equi-oriented according to a second direction parallel to the second surface. The hook-and-loop fastening connection can then be realized in a rapid and reliable manner in a preferred direction. The same goes for the release.
In this case as well, the hooks on the first surface may be at least substantially equi-oriented, when considered in the first direction.
The aspects and measures described in this description and the claims of the application and/or shown in the drawings of this application may where possible also be used individually. Said individual aspects and other aspects may be the subject of divisional patent applications relating thereto. This particularly applies to the measures and aspects that are described per se in the sub claims.
The invention will be elucidated on the basis of a number of exemplary embodiments shown in the attached drawings, in which:
The first example of a system according to the invention is shown in
An overhead path or aerial runway 5, in this example formed by a rail 5, is schematically shown. It is shown that the rail 5 may have curved tracks.
A trolley 6 has been arranged so as to be freely movable in direction A (here substantially an X-direction) on the rail 5. The trolley 6, highly schematically shown in
The rail 5 and the obstacles 2 have been positioned relative to each other such that the person P has at least substantially all support surfaces within reach by paying out the cable 11. The paying length of the cable 11, which for safety reasons will be shorter than the vertical distance from drum 10 to the floor 100, also plays a part here. The rail 5 runs overhead over the obstacles 2, wherein in projection at a horizontal plane the one obstacle is situated with its support member on the left-hand side of the projected rail and the other obstacle is situated with its support member on the right-hand side thereof. An obstacle with support member may also be situated straight below the rail.
The person P wears a pair of gloves 12 and a pair of shoes 13, which are the contact members and on which contact surfaces, to be discussed on the basis of
In
The glove has been attached to the hand in question of person P by means of a common hook-and-loop fastener. In the detail of
In the
In the
During use of the system 1 by the person P, they will start on the floor 100, and for instance run up the concave support member 3. This involves first only the contact surfaces 14d of the shoes 13 contacting the support surfaces 4, wherein proper grip is at all times provided between the hooks 16 and the loops 31 (also see direction C1,
When running up the support member 3, the belay 10 runs along, along the rails 5, wherein the drum retrieves the cord 11, so that it remains sufficiently taut at all times.
When the person P comes closer to the top of the obstacle 2 they will be able to get more grip using the gloves 12, which with the contact surfaces 14a-c may form a hook-and-loop fastening connection with the loops 31 on the support surfaces 4, in a way similar to the contact surfaces 14d of the shoe. The person P can therefore move onwards over the obstacle 2, as it were, using hands and feet. Once arrived at the top they can jump to a next obstacle or to the floor 100, the cord 11 being paid out when necessary. Because of these possibilities of running up/climbing and jumping the person P experiences a Spiderman-like sensation. The belay and the oriented hook-and-loop fastening connections will ensure that the person P is able to traverse the track safely. The person P can clamber upwards, jump to the fore, jump to the right, jump to the left and in that way traverse a 3D track.
In
The support surfaces may be black. They may also have colors, have bright colors, for instance so-called neon colors. In combination with a UV-A light source (black light) a special color effect can then be achieved.
In
The invention is/inventions are not at all limited to the embodiments discussed in the description and shown in the drawings. The above description is included to illustrate the operation of preferred embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention. Starting from the above explanation many variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention will be evident to an expert. Variations of the parts described in the description and shown in the drawings are possible. They can be used individually in other embodiments of the invention(s). Parts of the various examples given, can be combined together.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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1042271 | Feb 2017 | NL | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/NL2017/000008 | 6/16/2017 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2018/004333 | 1/4/2018 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20190247684 A1 | Aug 2019 | US |