WING RIG

Abstract

A hand-held wing is configured to include an inflatable leading edge from which a substantially rigid boom extends which is configured to be held by the user to guide the wing, with the leading edge being configured to extend about V-shaped or U-shaped upwards (away from the surfer) in the direction of approach.

Claims

1. A hand-held wing for wind-powered sports, comprising an inflatable leading edge from which a substantially rigid boom extends which is configured to be held by a user to guide the wing, the inflatable leading edge (6) and the boom spanning a canopy, and the inflatable leading edge in a top view being curved away from a connection of the boom toward a trailing edge of the canopy approximately in delta-, U- or C-shape, wherein at least the inflatable leading edge in a non-approached/unloaded state is configured, when viewed in a direction of approach, to converge approximately V-shaped or U-shaped toward the boom and to open upwards away from the user.

2-22. (canceled)

23. The wing according to claim 1, wherein the approximately V-shaped or U-shaped profile extends to the trailing edge of the canopy.

24. The wing according to claim 1, wherein an angle of inclination (β) is maximum in an apex area of the inflatable leading edge and decreases toward tips of the inflatable leading edge.

25. The wing according to claim 24, wherein the angle of inclination (β) toward a horizontal in the apex area ranges from 10° to 30°.

26. The wing according to claim 24, wherein the angle of inclination (β) ranges, in an area of the tips, from 0° to 20°.

27. The wing according to claim 24, wherein a mean angle of inclination (γ) from an apex to the tips ranges from 5° to 20°.

28. The wing, according to claim 1, wherein the boom is replaceably fastened to the inflatable leading edge by a holding fixture.

29. The wing according to claim 1, wherein the boom is tube-shaped.

30. The wing according to claim 1, wherein the boom is designed to be telescopic or to have a variable length.

31. The wing according to claim 1, wherein a holding fixture is configured to obstruct rotation of the inflatable leading edge about its longitudinal axis.

32. The wing according to claim 31, wherein the holding fixture encompasses portions of the inflatable leading edge.

33. The wing according to claim 31, wherein the holding fixture penetrates the inflatable leading edge and respectively, a front tube.

34. The wing according to claim 1, wherein a center of the canopy is about 40% of a distance (a) between an apex of the inflatable leading edge and an apex of the trailing edge.

35. The wing according to claim 1, wherein the inflatable leading edge and/or the canopy is/are stiffened by stiffening members.

36. The wing according to claim 35, wherein the stiffening members are battens.

37. The wing according to claim 35, wherein a center batten extends from the inflatable leading edge to the trailing edge and is arranged with the boom approximately in a vertical plane.

38. The wing according to claim 1, wherein a handle is provided in a connecting area of the boom to the inflatable leading edge.

39. The wing according to claim 1, further comprising a safety leash for connecting the wing to the user.

40. The wing according to claim 1, wherein the wing is configured such that, in an approached/loaded state, an angle of inclination increases at least in an area of the trailing edge during an approached state as compared to the non-approached/unloaded state.

41. The wing according to claim 1, wherein the boom acts upon an area of the inflatable leading edge remote from the connection of the canopy or upon an apex.

42. The wing according to claim 1, wherein the boom is connected to the inflatable leading edge such that a torque applied about a longitudinal axis of the boom can be transmitted to the inflatable leading edge for laterally pivoting/inclining the wing.

43. The wing according to claim 1, wherein the boom is sheathed.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] In the following, examples of the disclosure will be illustrated in detail by way of schematic drawings, wherein:

[0041] FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example of a wing used to drive a foil board;

[0042] FIG. 2 shows a top view onto a wing according to FIG. 1;

[0043] FIG. 3 shows a lateral view of the wing according to FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0044] FIG. 4 shows a front view of a wing according to FIGS. 1 to 3;

[0045] FIG. 5 shows a lateral view of another example of a wing;

[0046] FIG. 6 shows a detail view of the wing according to FIG. 5;

[0047] FIG. 7 shows a partial representation of another example of a wing, and

[0048] FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of another example of a wing.

DESCRIPTION

[0049] FIG. 1 illustrates the use of a wing 1 according to the disclosure for driving a foil board 2. A surfer 4 holds the wing 1 merely with his/her hands and adjusts the same relative to the wind depending on the desired sailing direction (upwind, half wind, downwind) or depending on the buoyancy to be set, for example when jumping or adjusting the course.

[0050] The wing 1 includes an inflatable leading edge 6 which in a top view (from above in FIGS. 1 and 2) is designed to be approximately arc-shaped, preferably approximately delta-shaped, C-shaped or U-shaped and with its tips 8, 10 extends to a trailing edge 12 of a canopy 14 of the wing 1. As will be explained hereinafter, said canopy 14 is spanned, on the one hand, from the leading edge 6 and, on the other hand, from a boom 16 to be detailed further below (see FIG. 3). Accordingly, the surfer 4 holds the wing 1 merely at the boom 16 that projects downwards (view according to FIG. 1). The boom 16 is preferably provided with a sheathing facilitating/optimizing the gripping and holding. As will be illustrated below, the leading edge 6 is inclined in V- or U-shape both in the top view (FIG. 2) and in a front view—when viewed in the direction of approach—(see FIG. 4), wherein in the front view the V/U expands upwards and thus away from the surfer. As is evident from FIG. 1, also the trailing edge 12 and, thus, the entire canopy surface 14 is inclined in V- (or U-) shape in the front view.

[0051] FIG. 2 illustrates a top view onto the wing 1 according to FIG. 1. In this representation, the approximately arc-shaped or delta-shaped, in the broadest sense approximately U- or C-shaped leading edge 6 is visible which extends up to the trailing edge 12 of the canopy 14. In the shown example, the leading edge 6 is configured, in the form of a kite, by a front tube in which a bladder that is inflated via a valve is accommodated, wherein the pressure is selected so that the structure of the wing 1 is guaranteed even at high wind forces and sailing speeds.

[0052] In the shown example, the leading edge 6 is formed by a plurality of tube segments 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, 18e (for reasons of simplification, only one half of the trailing edge 12 is provided with reference numerals) whose angle of incidence a with the horizontal in FIG. 2 (i.e., with a connecting line between the two tips 8, 10, for example) increases from an apex 20 to the tips 8, 10. Said angle of incidence a is inserted, by way of example, at the tube segment 18a. The reference numeral 22 marks the center of canopy. Said center of canopy 22 is arranged to be offset against at least 40 percent of the distance between the apex 20 and the corresponding apex 24 of the trailing edge 12 away from the apex 20. The distance between the apices 20, 24 is marked by the reference numeral a in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the distance b between the apex 20 and the center of canopy 22 amounts to at least 40 percent of the distance a.

[0053] This center of canopy 22 is selected so that the surfer 4 can optimally grasp the boom 16 detailed further below and thus can support the impacting wind forces in order to sail an optimum upwind course, for example.

[0054] For stiffening the wing profile, a center batten 23 and two battens 27a, 27b offset toward the tips 8, 10 are provided which extend between the leading edge 6 and the trailing edge 12 and are inserted in corresponding batten pockets of the canopy 14. The battens are inserted in a manner known per se with a certain pretension that is selected corresponding to the desired profiling or else is variable so that the profile can be adapted to different wind speeds. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 29 further denotes seams of the canopy 14 which is composed of plural panels. It may also be sufficient to design the panels such that they are sewn up merely in the area of the battens and extend continuously from tip 8 to tip 10.

[0055] In the lateral view according to FIG. 3, the leading edge 6 is shown with the tip 10 on the left in FIG. 2 and the boom 16 acting upon the leading edge 6 in the area of the apex 20. As illustrated, the tube forming the leading edge 6 together with the boom 16 and the battens 23, 27 spans the canopy 14, the boom 16 also acting upon the apex 24 of the trailing edge 12 of the canopy 14 and therebetween preferably being not connected to the canopy 14. The center batten 23 extends in parallel to the longitudinal extension of the boom 16 between the leading edge 6 and the trailing edge 12. Accordingly, also this batten 23 on the one hand acts upon the apex 20 of the leading edge 6 and, on the other hand, acts upon the apex 24 of the trailing edge 12. The boom 16 and the center batten 23 thus are located in the same vertical plane which in FIG. 2 is perpendicular to the plane of projection and in FIG. 3 lies in the plane of projection. The space between the boom and the batten 23/canopy 14 is thus free so that the surfer can choose unhindered his/her gripping position depending on the maneuver/course.

[0056] As is moreover obvious from FIG. 3, the leading edge 6 is also profiled perpendicularly to the plane of projection in FIG. 2. Concretely, the leading edge 6 is V-shaped away from the apex 20 toward the tips 8, 10, the V (also referred to as opening angle δ)—as shown in FIG. 1—opening upwards, viz. away from the boom 16. Said V-profile is correspondingly formed also in the area of the canopy 14. This is achieved, inter alia, in the representation according FIG. 3, by the boom 16 spanning the apex 24 downwards, i.e., away from the tips 8, 10 and thus configuring the V-shape that is defined by the opening angle δ. In accordance with the disclosure, the structure of the wing 1 is designed so that said opening angle δ decreases in the approached state, as the load causes the tips 8, 10 to deflect upwards (away from the surfer 4). The boom 16 acts on the (bottom) area of the apex 20 of the leading edge 6 spaced from the canopy 14.

[0057] The V-shape is especially clearly visible in the front view according to FIG. 4. In this representation, the leading edge 6 formed by the tube is arranged facing the viewer. The canopy 14 is correspondingly inclined in V-shape. As inserted in FIG. 4, the angle of inclination β of the leading edge 6 is maximum in the area of the apex 20. In the shown example, said angle of inclination β, i.e., the angle between the horizontal (parallel to the connecting line of the tips 8, 10) and the tube segment 18a is about 20°, for example. The next tube segment 18b then is inclined to be somewhat flatter so that the angle amounts to 15°, for example. The angle of inclination of the following segments 18c, 18d, 18e in turn is flatter, wherein the angle of inclination β in the area of the segment 18c may be, for example, 5°. The “mean” angle of inclination γ viewed over the entire wing 1 is 10°, for example, so that the “mean” opening angle then is approximately 160°.

[0058] In the described examples, the boom 16 is configured to be unstrutted—this is a substantial difference from the complex designs described at the outset in which the boom is configured to have a plurality of transverse and diagonal struts. In the solution according to the disclosure, the boom 16 can be detachably fastened to the apex 20 of the leading edge 6 via a holding fixture 25.

[0059] In the illustrated example, the holding fixture 25 has a supporting bracket 26 formed corresponding to the outer contour of the apex 20 and encompassing portions thereof. Said encompassing is carried out such that, in the case of comparatively high wind load, rotation of the tube, viz. the tube segments 18a forming the apex 20, in the arrow direction and thus twisting of the profile is reliably prevented.

[0060] In the direction of the boom 16, a receptacle 28 into which the boom 16 is inserted is connected to the supporting bracket 26. The end portions of the supporting bracket 26 and the receptacle 28 are connected via an arc-shaped handle 30 which facilitates handling of the wing 1 before and after use for the surfer 4. For example, when not being used, the wing 1 can be held at the handle 30 to have it fly in the wind. The holding fixture 5 and the boom 16 are preferably made from a lightweight material, such as from aluminum, fiber-reinforced plastic, carbon-fiber materials or any other high-strength lightweight construction materials. Due to the simple structure of the boom 16, the latter has a minor influence on the total weight of the wing 1.

[0061] FIG. 5 illustrates a lateral view of a variant of the afore-described example of a wing 1. The view approximately corresponds to that of FIG. 3. That is, in this view the tip 10 is visible with the V-shaped leading edge 6 which has its lowest point in the area of the apex 20. The apex 24 of the trailing edge 12 is braced downward from the boom 16 (view toward FIG. 5). The holding fixture 25 of the boom 16 in turn includes a receptacle 28 into which the boom 16 is inserted or which is connected to the boom 16 in any other way. The apex 20 rests against the upper side of the receptacle 28 according to FIG. 6. An approximately U-shaped handle 32 in lightweight design extends away from the receptacle 28, with the end portion of the handle acting, at a distance from the support of the apex 20, upon the receptacle 28, i.e., offset toward the canopy 14 upon the apex 20 formed by the tube segments 18a. As the support of the apex 20 is spaced apart from the receptacle 28, on the one hand, and from the end portion 34 of the handle 32, on the other hand, the afore-described rotation of the leading edge 6 (front tube) is equally suppressed.

[0062] The U structure of the handle 32 allows the wing 1 to be easily held for flying. As is especially shown in FIG. 6, the handle 32 exhibits a truss structure. The connection of the receptacle 28 and of the end portion 34 to the apex can be made via suitable fixing members at the tube segments 18a. Those fixing members are preferably configured so that the handle 30 is detachably connected to the leading edge 6 (front tube).

[0063] Instead of the handle 30, handle 32 being integrated more or less in the boom structure, the handle may also be a strap at the approach side of the leading edge 6 so that the surfer can allow the wing 1 to fly while holding it with his/her hand, for example during surfing.

[0064] FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which the holding fixture 25 is a flat body designed to encompass portions of the leading edge 6 and, resp., of the tube segments 18a.

[0065] Said flat holding fixture may be a molded body, for example. In an especially simple example, the holding fixture 25 is made from sailcloth which is connected to the apex 20 of the leading edge 6 and is stabilized, where necessary, by appropriate stiffening members. Then the boom 16 can be inserted in turn into said holding fixture 25. In this example, too, the holding fixture 25 is designed so that the tube (leading edge 6) is prevented from rotating in the arrow direction by being supported by means of the boom 16.

[0066] In the afore-described examples, the front tube is designed—as described—to have a continuous bladder. In the example according to FIG. 8, preferably for each wing half a separate bladder is used, wherein, according to the representation in FIG. 8, a support channel 36 into which the boom 16 is inserted is maintained between said two bladders. In this way, a two-chamber system is formed which ensures sufficient buoyancy even if one bladder is damaged so that the wing 1 will not sink. Such support channel 36 can be formed by a tubular piece which diametrically penetrates the front tube. Said support channel 36 is formed between the two bladders of the two wing halves (left, right). For further stabilization, a bearing ring 40 extending in extension of the support channel 36 and being penetrated by the boom 16 is formed at an outer cover 38 of the front tube (leading edge 6). Said bearing ring 40 absorbs the compressing forces and is designed similarly to the support rings of the commonly used kite valves.

[0067] A similar support ring 42 is provided opposite to the bearing ring 40 on the inner side of the outer cover 38 on which the left end portion in FIG. 8 of the boom 16 is supported. I.e., the boom 16 is connected by force fit and form fit to the outer cover 38 so that the apex 20 and, hence, the front tube are prevented from twisting in the arrow direction. As explained, the tubular support channel 36 is connected, on the one hand, to the bearing ring 40 and, on the other hand, to the support ring 42 so that the boom 16 is reliably fixed in position.

[0068] Such a solution offers the advantage that the bearing rings 40 and the support rings 42 can be used virtually for any front tube diameter—merely the length of the support channel 36 must be adapted. In such a solution, the boom 16 is supported in a very stable manner so that the holding forces introduced by the surfer 4 and also the compressing forces transmitted by the front tube are reliably absorbed without the boom 16 being excessively deformed. The support channel 36 and the rings 40, 42 are preferably in the form of plastic injection-molded parts.

[0069] In all afore-described examples, the canopy 14 can be stabilized through battens or the like. Said battens may be conical or profiled to optimize the shape of flow of the canopy 14. Accordingly, also the leading edge 6 can be stiffened by suitable stiffening members so that the wing 1 maintains the shown aerodynamically optimized shape even when exposed to high loads.

[0070] Said battens or stiffening members can also be in the form of carbon-fiber tubes or the like.

[0071] In one example, the battens are profiled so that they are initially adapted to the diameter of the leading edge 6 (front tube) and then support the canopy 14. As a matter of course, battens can be inserted additionally or alternatively into the canopy 14 from the trailing edge 12.

[0072] In order to prevent the wing 1 from drifting off in the case of overthrow, the wing 1 is connected to the surfer 4, and especially to his/her arm, via a safety leash 44.

[0073] Thus is disclosed a hand-held wing which is preferably designed to include an inflatable leading edge which is designed to expand approximately V-shaped or U-shaped upwards (away from the surfer) in the direction of attack.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0074] 1 wing [0075] 2 foil board [0076] 4 surfer [0077] 6 leading edge/front tube [0078] 8 tip [0079] 10 tip [0080] 12 trailing edge [0081] 14 canopy [0082] 16 boom [0083] 18 tube segment [0084] 20 apex of leading edge [0085] 22 center of canopy [0086] 24 apex of trailing edge [0087] 25 holding fixture [0088] 26 supporting bracket [0089] 27 batten [0090] 28 receptacle [0091] 29 seam [0092] 30 handle [0093] 32 handle [0094] 34 end portion [0095] 36 support channel [0096] 38 outer cover [0097] 40 bearing ring [0098] 42 support ring [0099] 44 safety leash [0100] α angle of attack [0101] β angle of inclination [0102] γ angle of inclination toward the tips [0103] δ opening angle (180°-2β)