Sectional Toboggan

Abstract

A toboggan comprising several sections which may be folded for transportation and storage. The toboggan includes an improved coupling between the sections which permits the toboggan to be folded and take up no more space than if the toboggan were completely disassembled for storage. Furthermore, no adjustments are necessary upon unfolding the toboggan for use.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to sectional toboggans in general, and more particularly to an improved coupling member for securing adjacent sections together to permit folding for storage and unfolding for use.

Sectional toboggans are well-known in the prior art. These sectional toboggans are of two general types. The first type includes a coupling mechanism, such as staples and keeper pins or threaded screws, between each section. However, one disadvantage of this prior art structure is that the coupling mechanism must be adjusted each time the sections are removed for storage or transportation and adjusted again when the toboggan sections are assembled for use.

The second type of sectional toboggan, the folding type, has required a fastening means, such as a cable, running the length of all the sections. The obvious disadvantage is the necessity for tightening or loosening the fastening means each time the toboggan is folded or opened.

In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, it is an object of the present invention to covercome these shortcomings by providing an improved coupling member for a sectional toboggan.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a coupling member for a sectional toboggan which does not require adjustment each time the toboggan is folded or unfolded.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing objects of the invention, together with other objects and advantages which may be attained by its use, will become more apparent upon reading the following detailed description of the invention, which points out various additional features thereof, taking in conjunction with the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sectional toboggan including the front section, a portion of the second section and the improved coupling member;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a sectional toboggan partially folded in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of an unfolded sectional toboggan utilizing the coupling means of the present invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are sectional views taken along the lines 4--4 and 5--5 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is an exploded plan view of two adjacent sections of a toboggan together with the improved coupling means of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The improved coupling means of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 securing a front section 10 of a toboggan to an intermediate section 12. Any number of intermediate sections may be utilized and the toboggan terminates with a rear section 14 as illustrated in FIG. 2.

Said sections are molded of a thermo plastic material such as ABS, polyethylene, polycarbonate, polypropylyne, etc. The front section 10 of the toboggan has a bottom wall 16 which, in transverse dimensions, tapers to a narrow width towards the rear of the front section. At the front of the toboggan the bottom wall 16 has an upward forward portion 18 and then a reverse or rearward portion 20 resulting in generally C-shaped cross section.

Integral with the bottom wall 16 are side walls 22 and 24. At the top of the toboggan, the side walls and the front portion terminate in a flange 26. The region of the C-shaped cross section is commonly called the nose 28 of the toboggan. The nose portion includes a pluarlity of vertical braces 32 to provide support between the upward front portion 18 and rearward front portion 20 forming the nose contour.

The interior of the front section 10 includes a relatively flat inner floor or seat area 34 and a plurality of transverse upright support ribs 36 are formed on the interior of the toboggan with rope receiving apertures 38. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the transverse ribs are integral with the toboggan walls 22 and 24. This provides additional structural support when the toboggan is in use.

The front section 10 of the tobbogan has a rear portion 40 terminating in a plurality of lateral projections 42. Each of these projections 42 include a transverse hole 44 which is utilized for coupling to the adjoining section as will be explained in detail.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, it will be seen that the bottom wall 16 includes a plurality of runners 46 which run the length of the toboggan at the extreme outer portions of the bottom wall. A central longitudinal runner 48 is also utilized for stability and support.

The rib apertures 38 receive the rope 70 which extends around the inside of the toboggan. In addition to providing a secure hand grip for the riders, the rope may be utilized for retaining cushions in the folded toboggan.

The toboggan may have a plurality of intermediate sections 12. The essential differences between a front section 10 and an intermediate section 12 are first that the front section includes a nose portion at 28, and secondly, the front section has rearward projections 42. Each intermediate section will have both forward and rearward projections. Finally, a rear section 14 only has forward projections.

An intermediate section 12 includes an inner floor 52, a bottom 54 with runners similar to the front section runners, and side walls 56 which taper slightly upward and have flanges at the top similar to the flanges 26 of the front section 10.

At the front portion of an intermediate section 12, as shown in FIG. 1 and 6 there are a plurality of lateral forward extending projections 58. The forward projections 58 each have a transverse hole 60 drilled therein.

With reference now to FIG. 6 there is illustrated in exploded form the relationship between the rearward projections 42 of a front section and the forward projections 58 of the intermediate sections. As illustrated, these lateral projections are in an opposed relationship. With each projection 42 directly opposite to a corresponding projection 58.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 6, the coupling mechanism includes an interlock member 62 which includes a main body portion and a plurality of tabs 64. The interlock member is preferably dimensioned so that a tab 64 fits in the spece between adjacent projections 42 and between adjacent projections 58. The tabs 64 have lateral holes 66,68 which, are so aligned, that when the interlock member 62 is properly assembled between the front and intermediate sections, the holes 44 and 66 are aligned transversely and the holes 60 and 68 are aligned transversely.

With the interlock member properly assembled, pins 71 (FIG. 1) may be inserted through the aligned holes in the alternating configuration of tabs and projections and pin retainers 72, such as cotter pins etc. or friction retention, may be utilized to secure the rods in place.

Once the sectional toboggan has been so assembled and the rods 71 secured, the toboggan is ready for use. When it is desired to fold up the toboggan for storage or transportation, the sections are interleaved about the interlock members 62. Partial folding is illustrated in FIG. 2 and it may be appreciated that no adjustment to the interlock mechanism is necessary. Thus, upon arrival at a second toboggan run the sections are merely folded out of the nose of the toboggan.

The interlock mechanism provides two additional convenient features. First, there is enough flexibility in a longitudinal direction between rods 71 so that in the event of a multi-sectioned toboggan going over a bumpy course there is vertical movement between sections. However, this vertical movement is limited by the size of the interlock member and thus does not permit the toboggan to bounce out of control.

Second, the longitudinal distance between the transverse rods 71 is designed to be sufficient to allow an intermediate section 12 to lie flat on a front section 10 when the toboggan is folded as in FIG. 1. This feature minimizes the storage space utilized by the various sections and also permits individual section cushions to remain in place.

The foregoing is a description of one embodiment of the present invention and, therefore, should not be read in a restrictive sense but only as describing the underlying concept of the present invention. The invention may be further developed within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A hinged sectional toboggan having at least two longitudinally spaced sections, each section having a forward and rearward end, said sections being hingedly connected along adjacent edges, comprising: a forward section having a plurality of laterally spaced integral bosses projecting rearwardly from the rearward end thereof, a rearward section having a plurality of laterally spaced integral bosses projecting forwardly from the forward end thereof, a transverse link member between said longitudinally spaced toboggan sections having opposed spaced forwardly and rearwardly projecting integral bosses extending perpendicular to its length, said link bosses interdigitated between said section bosses, a first hinge pin pivotally interconnecting the rearwardly projecting bosses of said forward section and said forwardly projecting bosses of said link member and a second hinge pin, parallel to said first hinge pin pivotally interconnecting the forwardly projecting bosses of said rearward section and said rearwardly projecting bosses of said link member, said hinge pins providing two spaced, parallel pivot axes, whereby each of said toboggan sections may be folded against either opposed face of the adjacent section.

2. The sectional toboggan defined in claim 1 characterized in that each of said toboggan sections includes an upwardly projecting continuous peripheral flange for receipt of a pad.

3. The sectional toboggan defined in claim 2, characterized in that each of said sections include a plurality of integral upright ribs joined to said peripheral flange and a bottom wall of said sections, said upright ribs including aligned apertures receiving a rope spanning said ribs.

4. The sectional toboggan defined in claim 1, characterized in that said toboggan sections are formed of a relatively rigid, self-supporting thermoplastic.