Apparatus for rowing in the direction the rower is facing

Abstract

Apparatus for rowing in the direction the rower is facing has a base frame. A main bearing for a lever with hand grip and another for a lever with oar are in the base frame. A linkage connects the lever with hand grip and lever with oar to form a counteracting four-bar linkage system. The oar lever is the driven arm of the four-bar linkage and is linked to a rotary drive that has a main axle and virtually coaxial actuator rod. The hand grip lever rotates about its axis and is mounted to a bearing body within the base frame. The hand grip lever actuates an actuator that is virtually coaxial to the main axle on the bearing body. The actuator engages with a seesaw mounted on the base frame to shift the actuator rod of the rotary drive to rotate the oar.

Claims

1. An apparatus for rowing in the direction the rower is facing, the apparatus comprising: a counteracting four-bar linkage system comprising: a base frame, the base frame comprising first bearings and second bearings, a grip lever, the grip lever having a grip lever axis and being a crank of the counteracting four-bar linkage system, an oar lever, the oar lever having an oar lever axis and being a driven arm of the counteracting four-bar linkage system, and a linkage, a first bearing body mounted in the base frame via the first bearings and comprising a first main axle, the linkage being connected to the first bearing body, the oar lever being mounted in the first bearing body so as to be rotatable about the oar lever axis, a second bearing body mounted in the base frame via the second bearings and comprising a second main axle, the grip lever being mounted in the second bearing body so as to be rotatable about the grip lever axis, the linkage being connected to the second bearing body, a rotary drive at the first bearing body, the rotary drive comprising a first actuator rod, the first actuator rod being coaxial with the first main axle of the first bearing body, the oar lever being connected to the rotary drive, a second actuator rod, the second actuator rod being actuated by the grip lever and being coaxial with the second main axle, and a seesaw mounted on the base frame and having a first side and a second side, the second actuator rod engaging with the first side of the seesaw, the first actuator rod engaging with the second side of the seesaw, wherein an actuation of the second actuator rod causes the seesaw to shift the first actuator rod.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotary drive further comprises: a toggle lever between the first bearing body and the oar lever, and a toggle joint connected to the toggle lever.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first actuator rod has a first actuator end and a second actuator end, and wherein the first actuator rod is connected to the seesaw at the first actuator end and, via the toggle joint, to the toggle lever of the rotary drive at the second actuator end.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a lug connected to the toggle joint, wherein the first actuator rod is implemented such that the shifting occurs coaxially to the first main axle of the first bearing body, and wherein the first actuator rod is connected to the lug.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the grip lever forms a crank to drive the second actuator rod.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a spring configuration between the grip lever and the second bearing body, the spring configuration being configured to apply torque to the grip lever.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a connecting link connected to the grip lever, wherein the second actuator rod has a first end and a second end, wherein the first end of the second actuator rod is connected to the seesaw and the second end of the second actuator rod is connected to the connecting link.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a connecting link connected to the grip lever, wherein the second actuator rod is implemented such that the actuation occurs coaxially to the second main axle of the second bearing body, and wherein the second actuator rod is connected to the connecting link.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

(1) The subject matter of the invention is shown in the drawing by way of example, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 Plan view of the invention to row in the direction the rower is facing showing the area of the counteracting system between the grip lever and the oar lever,

(3) FIG. 2 Section II-II through FIG. 1 shown in a larger scale,

(4) FIG. 3 Same section through counter-acting system as FIG. 2 but with a different oar setting,

(5) FIG. 4 Same section as FIG. 2 showing a design version of the counter-acting system invention,

(6) FIG. 5 Same position of counter-acting system as FIG. 3 but showing detail of the spring configuration for rotating the grip lever, and

(7) FIG. 6 Same section as FIG. 5 showing a design version of the spring configuration for applying torque to the grip lever.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(8) The apparatus to row in the direction the rower is facing requires an oar blade (1) mounted on an oar lever (2) with a separate grip lever (3) that is linked to the oar lever (2) by a reversing unit in the form of a counteracting four-bar linkage system (4), as shown in particular in FIG. 1. This four-bar linkage system (4) consists of a base frame (5) with two plates (7, 8) held apart by spacers (6) in which the first and second bearing bodies (9, 10) are mounted on axle bearings. The oar lever (2) is mounted on the first bearing body (9) and is free to rotate about its axis. In the same way, the grip lever (3) is mounted on the second bearing body (10). The second bearing body (10) forms the driving crank of the four-bar linkage system together with the first bearing body (9) and the linkage (12). If the second bearing body (10) is pivoted by the grip lever (3) about its bearing axle (13) mounted in bearings (11), the first bearing body (9) with the oar lever (2) is pivoted in the opposite direction around bearing axle (14) on the first bearing body (9).

(9) To submerge the oar blade (1) in the water and lift it clear of the water again, the base frame (5) is mounted as in the prior art on a pivoting axle that runs parallel to the direction of travel, which is not shown here for reasons of clarity. If the grip lever (3) is pivoted upwards, the oar blade (1) is submerged in the water due to the pivoting movement of base frame (5). Moving the grip lever (3) in the opposite direction lifts the oar blade (1) out of the water again.

(10) When the oar blades (1) enter the water, they are to be squared as shown in FIG. 1 and then at the end of the drive stroke are to be featheredparallel to the surface of the waterduring the recovery stroke, as shown in FIG. 2. The feathering and squaring of the oar blades is normally controlled by the rower, who rotates the grip of the oar accordingly. In order to achieve the same control of the oar blades (1) using the oar lever (2) and the separate grip lever (3), a rotary drive (15) is provided for the oar lever (2) in the first bearing body (9) that is actuated by the first actuation rod (16) that, in accordance with FIGS. 1 to 3 is implemented to be shifted coaxially to main bearing (14) in the first bearing body (9), that in accordance with the implementation examples shown actuates a toggle lever (19) via a lug (17) and a toggle joint (18), that connects the first bearing body (9) with the oar lever (2). When the first actuator rod (16) moves upwards from the position shown in FIG. 2 to extend the toggle lever (19), then in doing so it rotates the oar lever (2) within the first bearing body (9), so that the oar blade moves from the feathered position shown in FIG. 2 to the squared position for the drive stroke as shown in FIG. 3.

(11) So that the feathering and squaring of the oar blade (1) can be controlled by rotating the grip lever (3) in the second bearing body (10), the grip lever (3) forms a crank (30) that actuates the connecting link (20) which is linked to the second actuator rod (21). In the same way that the first actuator rod (16) acts on the rotary drive (15), the second actuator rod (21) is mounted coaxially to the axis of rotation of axle (13) on the second bearing body (10) for the grip lever (3) so that the second actuator rod (21) can be shifted up and down in its guideway. To transmit the movement of the second actuator rod (21) to the first actuator rod (16) for the rotary drive (15), there is a seesaw (22) mounted on top of base frame (5). Actuator rods (16) and (21) are free to move in accordance with the movements of seesaw (22), which pivots about its axis (23) and transmits the linear movements of the first actuator rod (16) to the linear movements of the second actuator rod (21). Depending on the direction of rotation of the grip lever (3), the oar lever (2) can be rotated to feather and square the oar blade (1).

(12) Compared to FIGS. 1 to 3, FIG. 4 shows a different implementation with second and first actuator rods (21 and 16) directly linking seesaw (22) with the crank of the grip lever (3) and linking seesaw (22) with the rotary drive (15). In this case, the second and first actuator rods (21 and 16) deviate from the axis of the main bearings (13 and 14), which needs to be compensated by ball joints (24, 25). Otherwise, the principle sequence of movement remains the same. The first actuator rod (16) is connected by a ball joint (24) to the seesaw (22) at the first actuator end (68) and by another ball joint (25) to the toggle joint (18) of the rotary drive (15) at the second actuator end (69). The second actuator rod (21) is connected by a ball joint (24) to the seesaw (22) at its first end (78) and by another ball joint (25) to the grip lever (3) at its second end (79). The first actuator rod (16) is connected to the seesaw (22) at the first actuator end (68) and to the lug (17) of the rotary drive (15) at the second actuator end (69). The second actuator rod (21) is connected to the seesaw (22) at its first end (78) and to the connecting link (20) at its second end (79).

(13) To support the rotational movement needed to feather and square the oar blades (1), the grip lever (3) can be fitted with a spring configuration (26) as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. This spring configuration (26) causes torque to be applied to the grip lever (3) in both the limit positions, when the line of action of the spring configuration (26) is shifted from one side of the geometric axis of rotation of the grip lever (3) to the other side. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the spring configuration (26) consists of a tension spring acting between the grip lever (3) and the relevant bearing body (10). In the limit position shown in FIG. 5, the second actuator rod (21) is held at its limit of travel by the spring configuration (26). To rotate the grip lever (3) away from this limit position, the grip lever (3) first has to be rotated against the force of the spring configuration (26) until the line of action of the spring configuration (26) intersects the axis of rotation of the grip lever (3). The spring configuration (26) then applies force to the grip lever (3) in the direction of rotation to support the rotation of oar blade (1) into the feathered position. The limit position of the grip lever (3) is shown by the broken line that indicates the relevant position of the tension spring. To rotate the oar blade (1) into the squared position, the sequence is in the reverse order.

(14) In FIG. 6 the spring configuration (26) is implemented as two tension springs that are articulated between the grip lever (3) and the second bearing body (10). Because these two tension springs form a shared line of action, the force of the spring applied to the grip lever (3) is similar to the spring configuration (26) shown in FIG. 5. The position of spring configuration (26) for the opposite limit of rotation of the grip lever (3) is also indicated by a broken line.