Patent Publication Number: US-6988285-B1

Title: Method of catching in trust fall in ropes course

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a device for catching a person who is participating in a trust fall exercise in a ropes course and a method of catching the person employing the device. The device is constructed of a sheet of flexible material, such as for example a sheet of canvas or nylon, that is provided with straps of reinforcing material, such as nylon, that extend under the sheet. The sheet is sufficiently long and sufficiently wide to allow a person to be caught thereon when the person falls backward in a trust fall exercise, and the straps extend beyond the sheet forming loops at the edges of the sheet that can be easily grasped by those participants who will be catching the person that is falling and can be secured to the platform from which the person is falling to insures that the person is not injured when they fall. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Ropes courses have become popular vehicles for training teamwork for a variety of groups or teams of people. For example, groups from corporations, churches, and social organizations frequently participate in ropes courses to build trust among the team members so that the team will be more cohesive or productive. 
     One exercise that is often employed in ropes courses is a trust fall exercise. This exercise is conducted by having one member of the team stand with their back to the remaining members of the team, usually on an elevated stand, and then fall backwards, allowing the remaining members of the team to catch the person before the person hits the ground. The members of the team who are assigned the task of catching the person must interlace their arms to form a bed or blanket of human arms into which the person falls. In order for the person who is falling to allow himself to fall backward in this exercise, he must place his trust in his fellow team members that the team members will catch him and not allow him to be injured. If successfully performed, this exercise reinforces the trust between the person who is falling and the members of the team who catch the person. 
     However, sometimes the exercise is not performed successfully and the person who is falling is injured, sometimes seriously. When the exercise in not performed successfully, one or more of the members of the team who are attempting to catch the person may also be injured. These injuries range from minor scrapes and bruises to more serious injuries including major lacerations, broken bones, concussions, and internal injuries. Even if the injuries resulting from failure of this exercise are not serious, the failed exercise does not accomplish its purpose, i.e. to create trust among the members of the team. Instead, when the exercise fails, the members of the team will be fearful and mistrust each other, possibly blaming each other for the failure. Such mistrust can damage the team&#39;s ability to form a cohesive unit and this psychological and emotional damage can be difficult or impossible to reverse. 
     A team almost never drops a person during a trust fall exercise because they didn&#39;t try hard enough to catch the person. In fact, when the exercise fails, members of the team will often injure themselves in an attempt to prevent the person who is falling from being dropped and injured. This can result in injury of both the person who is falling and in injury of one or more of the people who are attempting to catch the person. 
     One of the reasons why a person might be dropped by the team is that it can be difficult to form a secure bed using only the team member&#39;s arms. For example, if one member of the team is not physically strong, they may not be able to grasp the arms of their fellow member&#39;s arms tightly enough to withstand the force that the body of the falling person exerts on the arms of the team members who are catching the falling person. When one member forming the bed of human arms falls or their arms give way, the entire bed fails. Stated another way, the bed is only as strong as its weakest link. Even if a stronger member of the team is standing next to the weakest member, the stronger member&#39;s strength can not be used to compensate for the failure of the weaker member to maintain the human bed in this exercise. 
     Another reason why a person might be dropped by the team is that the person may miss the bed. Because the bed is formed by the arms of the team members and is limited in width by the length of the member&#39;s arms, the person may fall in such a way that he misses the center of the bed. When this happens, he falls onto one or more of the team members. This exerting excessive force on those team members and when this happens, the members on whom the person falls can be knocked down. When one of the members falls, this causes the bed of human arms to fail and the person is not caught by the bed. When this happens, injury can be inflicted on the person who is falling, those members on whom the person falls, and other members who are also pulled down or fall as a result of the failure of the bed. 
     Still another reason why a person might be injured when falling is that the bed of human arms that is suppose to catch the person may not be positioned close enough to the platform to catch the person&#39;s feet and legs as he falls. 
     Thus, a new, more reliable way of catching people who are participating in trust fall exercises is needed in order to prevent emotional and physical damage to the participants that can result if the exercise is not successfully performed. 
     The present invention addresses this need by providing a strong unitary sheet of material onto which the person falls and is caught. The sheet is sufficiently long and wide so that the person who is falling can not miss falling onto the sheet as they fall backward. The present invention is provided with straps that run under the sheet and reinforce the strength of the unitary sheet so that the sheet does not rip or otherwise fail when force is exerted on it. The straps form a plurality of loops on both sides of the sheet and at the top and bottom of the sheet. The loops on both side of the sheet and at the top of the sheet are designed so that they can be easily and secured grasped by the members of the team and the loops at the bottom of the sheet can be secured to the platform from which the person is falling. When the loops are thus grasped and secured, the sheet is pulled taut from side to side by the members who are holding the loops of each side of the sheet, and the sheet is pulled taut from top to bottom by members who are holding the loops at the top of the sheet and by the platform to which the loops at the bottom of the sheet are secured. With the sheet pulled taut from top to bottom, this insures that the feet and legs of the person who is falling will be caught by the device. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a device for catching a person who is participating in a trust fall exercise in a ropes course and a method of catching the person employing the device. The device is constructed of a unitary sheet of strong, flexible material, such as for example a sheet of canvas or nylon, that is provided with straps of reinforcing material, such as nylon, that extend under the sheet from side to side and from top to bottom. The sheet is sufficiently long and sufficiently wide so that the person who is falling can not miss falling onto the sheet when they fall backward in a trust fall exercise. 
     The straps run under the sheet and are secured thereto. The straps that extend between the two sides of the sheet are approximately parallel with each other and are spaced apart from each other. The straps that extend between the top and bottom of the sheet are approximately parallel with each other and are spaced apart from each other. The straps that extend between the two sides of the sheet are approximately perpendicular to the straps that extend between the top and bottom of the sheet. The straps serve to reinforce the strength of the unitary sheet so that the sheet does not rip or otherwise fail when force is exerted on it. 
     The straps extend beyond the sheet forming a plurality of loops at the top, bottom and both side edges of the sheet. The loops at the top of the sheet and on both sides of the sheet are designed so that they can be easily grasped by those participants who will be catching the person that is falling and the loops at the bottom of the sheet are designed so that they can be secured to the platform from which the person is falling. 
     When the loops are thus grasped by the members of the team and secured to the platform, the sheet is pulled taut from side to side by the members who are holding the loops of each side of the sheet to provide a secure bed onto which the person who is falling can safely land. The sheet is simultaneously also pulled taut from top to bottom by members who are holding the loops at the top of the sheet. By pulling the sheet taut from top to bottom, this insures that the feet and legs of the person who is falling will be caught by the device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of a device for catching a person in a trust fall exercise that is constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in use. 
         FIG. 2  is a cross sectional view of the device of  FIG. 1  shown taken along line  2 — 2 . 
         FIG. 3  is a top plan view of the device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of the device taken along line  4 — 4  of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view of the device taken along line  5 — 5  of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to the drawings and initially to  FIGS. 3–5 , there is illustrated a device  10  that is constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention for use in conducting a trust fall exercise in a ropes course. As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the device  10  is used by team members  12  to catching a person  14  who is participating in a trust fall exercise by falling backward off of a platform  16  and allowing the team members  12  to catch him. In conducting the trust fall exercise, the person  14  first stands on a raised platform  16  with his back  18  to the members  12  of the team who will catch him. Next, the members  12  position the device  10  behind the person  14 , attach a bottom end  20  of the device  10  it to the platform  16 , and pull the device  10  taut by grasping with their hands  22  loops  24  that are provided on the device  10  for this purpose. Finally, the person  14  falls backward and is caught on the device  10  by the team members  12  that are holding the device  10 . 
     The device  10  is constructed of a unitary sheet  26  of strong, flexible material, such as for example a sheet of canvas or nylon. The sheet  26  is preferably cut into a rectangular shape. The sheet  26  is provided with a first group of straps  28  made of reinforcing material, such as nylon, that extend under the sheet  26  from one side edge  30 A of the sheet  26  to an opposite side edge  30 B of the sheet  26  and also provided with a second group of straps  32  that extend under the sheet  26  from a top edge  34  of the sheet  26  to a bottom edge  36  of the sheet  26 . 
     The sheet  26  is preferably sufficient in length  38 , i.e. the distance from the top edge  34  to the bottom edge  36 , and also sufficient in width  40 , i.e. the distance between the side edges  30 A and  30 B, so that the person  14  who is falling can not miss falling onto the sheet  26  when he falls backward in a trust fall exercise. 
     The first group of straps  28  run under the sheet  26  and are secured thereto. Ends  42  of each of the first group straps  28  extend beyond both side edges  30 A and  30 B of the sheet  26  and are folded back and secured to themselves to form two loops  24  on each strap  28 . The first group straps  28  are approximately parallel with each other and are spaced apart from each other so that team members  12  can stand at the side edges  30 A and  30 B, with one member  12  located between each set of adjacent first group of straps  28 . 
     The second group of straps  32  also run under the sheet  26  and are secured thereto. Ends  44  of each of the second group straps  32  extend beyond the top edge  34  of the sheet  26  and beyond the bottom edge  36  of the sheet  26 . The second group straps  32  are approximately parallel with each other and are spaced apart from each other so that team members  12  can stand at the top edge  34  of the sheet  26 , with one member  12  located between each set of adjacent second group of straps  32  and so that the second group straps  32  provided on the bottom edge  36  of the sheet  26  can be secured to the platform  16  on which the person  14  who will fall is to stand prior to falling backward. The first group straps  28  are approximately perpendicular to the second group straps  32  and the first and second group straps  28  and  32  are secured together where they intersect with each other. One of the functions of the straps  28  and  32  is to reinforce the strength of the unitary sheet  26  so that the sheet  26  does not rip or otherwise fail when force is exerted on it as the person  14  falls onto the device  10 . 
     Each end  42  and  44  of the straps  28  and  32  extends beyond the sheet  26  and is folded back on itself and secured to itself to form a loop  24 . Together the ends  42  and  44  collectively form a plurality of loops  24  at the top edge  34 , the bottom edge  36  and on both side edges  30 A and  30 B of the sheet  26 . The loops  24  at the top edge  34  of the sheet  26  and on both sides edges  30 A and  30 B of the sheet  26  are designed so that they can be easily grasped by of those team members  12  who will be catching the person  14  by positioning a team member  12  between each set of adjacent loops  24  and having each team member  12  grasp the two loops  24  located on either side of them in the team member&#39;s hands, as illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The loops  24  at the bottom edge  36  of the sheet  26  are designed so that they can be secured to a pair of receiving pins  46  provided on the platform  16  from which the person  14  is to fall. 
     When the loops  24  are thus grasped by members  12  of the team and secured to the receiving pins  46  on the platform  16 , the members  12  on either side of the device  10  pull the first set of loops to pull the sheet  26  taut between the two side edges  30 A and  30 B, thus providing a secure bed onto which the person  14  who is falling can safely land. The sheet  26  is simultaneously also pulled taut between the top and bottom edges  34  and  36  by other members  12  who are holding the loops  24  at the top edge  34  of the sheet  26 . Pulling the sheet  26  taut between the top and bottom edges  34  and  36  helps to insure that the feet  48  and legs  50  of the person  14  who is falling will be caught by the device  10  and will not strike the ground  52 . 
     As illustrated, the device  10  is preferably provided with an even number of first group straps  28  and an even number of second group straps so that each team member  12  will have two loops  24  to grasp, however, the invention is not so limited. 
     While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for the purposes of exemplification, but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claim or claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled.