Patent Publication Number: US-2013228137-A1

Title: Jump Cup

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to Provisional Patent Application No. 61/605,988, filed Mar. 02, 2012, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
     The present invention relates generally to jump cups that support a cross bar over which horses jump during equestrian activities, and more particularly to jump cups that are adjustable with one hand. 
     BACKGROUND  
     Horse jumping is a well-known equestrian sport where riders on horses jump over barriers, or horse jumps, of varying height. Jumps are generally comprised of a horizontal cross bar supported between vertical supports, or standards, by jump cups attached to the standards. The jump cups are typically adjustable vertically on the standards in order to raise and lower the cross bar to a desired height. 
     While there are various methods of attaching a jump cup to a standard, the style that is relevant to the present invention includes a standard has a series of through-holes along the height of the standard where a pin can be inserted to hold a jump cup at a selected height. The holes on this type of standard have a major axis that is perpendicular to the major axis of a supported cross bar. Unless specifically 
     Some jump cups used with the can be inefficient, requiring two hands and complete removal of the cross bar to install or adjust. Having to use two hands to adjust the height of cross bar is inefficient and cumbersome, as some cross bars can be very long and weight quite a bit. 
     There have been some attempts to produce a jump cup that can be adjusted on a standard using one hand, leaving the other hand to lift and hold an end of a cross bar while the jump cup is adjusted; however, the present attempts can be costly to manufacture, have unsafe designs, or can have inherent durability issues. For example, some one-handed jump cups use a curved plate welded to other that secure the jump cup to the standard. On top of welds that can fail, the solid curved plates have a tendency to collect water if left outdoors, which rusts the jump cup and can rot wooden cross bars held therein. Further, rusty water from the jump cup can streak down the standard and cause unsightly staining. 
     Some one handed jump cups are available that forego a curved plate and use only bent or welded metal rod material. While avoiding the water collection, these options have thus far only included a single support member for a cross bar, which is relatively weak being at the end of a long moment-arm. If the support member of this type of jump cup is deflected downward due to excessive force applied to a cross bar without immediately being knocked out of the cup, the effective depth of the support increases and can prevent the cross bar from rolling out of the jump cup. This can cause serious harm to a horse or its rider. 
     While some jump cups with safety features have been developed to release from the standards when a horse comes down on a cross bar, each has been developed as a pinless jump cup adapted to be secured to different types of standards than the version described above. No jump cup with a safety device has been produced for use with a standard having the perpendicular height-adjustment holes described above. 
     Thus, it is advantageous to provide a jump cup that is safe, durable, economically manufactured, and easily installed with one hand. 
     SUMMARY  
     A jump cup according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises an attachment region; a support region; and a locking region; wherein the attachment region is comprised of a pin and a connector, the pin going into a hole in a jump standard, and the connector connecting the pin and the support region; wherein the support region is comprised of a plurality of support members, with each support member being aligned so as to define a cup region; and wherein the locking region is comprised of a protrusion that extends rearward to engage the jump standard and prevent the pin from sliding out of the hole. 
     The jump cup further comprises a safety mechanism disposed on the connector, the safety mechanism arranged to release the support region from the pin upon application of a release load applied to the support region. 
     The safety mechanism is, in some embodiments, a coupler having a first side and a second side, the first side being rigidly connected to the pin and the second side being releasably connected to the support region. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       The accompanying figures, which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and to explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present invention, in which like numerals designate like elements and in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a horse jump utilizing a first embodiment of a jump cup; 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric view of the jump cup of  FIG. 1  installed on a standard; 
         FIGS. 3A-3B  are side views of a jump cup being installed onto a standard; 
         FIG. 4  is a top view of a jump cup installed on a standard; 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view of a jump cup; 
         FIG. 6  is a rear view of a jump cup; 
         FIG. 7  is a front view of a jump cup; 
         FIG. 8  is an isometric view of a second embodiment of a jump cup; and 
         FIGS. 9A-9D  are cross-sectional views of a safety mechanism shown in  FIG. 8  along a centerline thereof. 
     
    
    
     Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention is directed to a jump cup used as part of a horse jump. 
     A conventional horse jump  10  for equestrian activities, depicted in  FIG. 1 , includes at least one horizontal cross bar  13  supported at each end by a jump cup  20 . Each jump cup  20  is adjustably affixed to a vertical standard  11 . A typical standard  11  has a series of vertically-spaced horizontal adjustment holes  12  where a jump cup  20  can be affixed to set the height of cross bar  13 . The cross bar  13  is raised or lowered along the height of the standard  11  in order to adjust the difficulty of the jump. 
     While  FIG. 1  shows a single cross bar  13 , it is well-known in the art to include space-fillers below a top cross bar to visually fill the space to more clearly define the jump area or to provide advertising space. These space-fillers can include an additional cross bar, or several cross bars, held with jump cups on one or both ends; planters; signs, etc. In the case of multiple cross bars  13  being used in a single horse jump  10 , more than two jump cups  20  can be used per jump. 
       FIG. 2  shows a close-up of jump cup  20  installed on standard  11 . Jump cup  20  is comprised of three main areas: attachment region  30 , support region  40 , and locking region  50 . Attachment region  30  includes pin  31  and connector  32 . When installed, pin  31  is inside of adjustment hole  12  of standard  11 , support region  40  is against an inside face of standard  11 , connector  32  is against one side face of standard  11 , and locking region  50  is against the opposite side face of standard  11 . Thus, when installed, jump cup  20  forms a saddle, or engaging concave surface, around the standard  11 . 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  show an example of the jump cup  20  being installed. In  FIG. 3A , pin  31  is aligned with an adjustment hole  12  while support region  40  is tilted upward so that locking region  50  is in front of an inside face of standard  11 . Jump cup  20  can them be moved along the major axis of pin  31  until connector  32  abuts one side of the standard  11 , and locking region  50  clears the inside face of standard  11 . The jump cup is then rotated about pin  31  so that support region  40  abuts the inside face of standard  11  (shown slightly away from the face in the figure for clarity) and locking region  50  moves alongside a side face of the standard  11  opposite connector  32 . A top view of the installed configuration is also seen in  FIG. 4 . Note that while pin  31  is shown to go only partially through the width of standard  11 , the length end of pin  31  can be longer than the width of standard  11  to accommodate various standards designs, such as hollow standards or the like. 
     As seen in  FIG. 3B , when a cross bar  13  is placed in support region  40 , it is held by multiple support members  41 . The multiple support members  41  distribute the load of cross bar  13  at various distances from standard  11 . This distributed load helps to prevent the support region  40  from bending or deflecting downward when excessive downward force is applied to the cross bar  13 , such as when a horse comes down on the cross bar during a jump without releasing the cross bar  13  from the support region  40 . Furthermore, if an excessive load does cause bending, the appreciable cup depth is substantially maintained at support members closer to the standard  11 , thereby allowing the cross bar  13  to roll out of jump cup  20  in an expected manner. 
       FIG. 5  shows a bottom view of jump cup  20 . In this embodiment, locking region  50  is bent by an angle α (alpha) in a direction away from connector  32 . This angle allows for easier installation of jump cup  20  on standard  11  and less of a chance of gouging out standard  11  with an end of locking region  50 . Also, the dimensions and angle of locking region  50  can be selected so as to wedge against standard  11 , snugging connector  32  to the standard  11  for a more stable fit. 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  show one embodiment of the relative depth of support region  40 . The deeper the support region  40 , the more lateral force the cross bar  13  can endure before coming out of the jump cup  20 . The depth of the support region  40  can be altered to provide a desired level of difficulty, such as a smaller depth, or flat support, for less experienced horses or riders. If support region  40  were too deep, a horse could trip going over the jump  10  and cause injury to itself or its rider. 
     While the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  show locking region  50  having no vertical bend, a vertical bend or general curvature is contemplated. 
       FIG. 8  shows a second embodiment of the invention where jump cup  200  is similar to jump cup  20  except for a safety mechanism  600  disposed between support region  400  and pin  310 . While safety mechanism  600  is shown to be in the middle of connector  320 , it could function just as well anywhere along attachment region  300  such that excessive force applied to support region  400  would separate support region  400  from all or some of attachment region  300 . In practice, this would help prevent injury to a horse or rider when force from hitting cross beam  13  does not immediately release the cross beam  13  from support region  400  by allowing the support region  400  (and cross beam  13 ) to be released from the standard. 
       FIGS. 9A-9D  show various embodiments of safety mechanism  600 .  FIG. 9A  shows a safety mechanism  600  as a collar. Connector  320  is cut or otherwise formed as two pieces ( 320   a  and  320   b ) with each piece being held in a respective end of the safety mechanism  600 . The two ends can be press-fit into the safety mechanism  600 , with tolerances set to allow release of the support region  400  upon a predetermined tensile force. Optionally, one end of safety mechanism  600  could fit tighter than the other, so that it is known which end will release. Similarly, one end can be held in place by adhesive or other chemical or physical bond. 
     In  FIG. 9B , two ends  320   a  and  320   b  are held in safety mechanism  600  by a physical fastener, such as set screws  610 . The set screws  610  can be adapted to hold ends  320   a  and  320   b  with different holding forces. This can be accomplished by tightening one screw more than the other; using screws with pointed, flat, or rounded tips to alter the force needed to pull an end out; using different materials such as nylon or plastic for the set screws  610  or their tips in order to alter the coefficient of friction; off-setting the set screws  610  to hit connector end  320   a  or  320   b  off-center (i.e. in a direction other than radially inward); or any other method of producing different holding forces. 
       FIG. 9C  shows a third embodiment of safety mechanism  600  using a set screw  610  on one end  320   b  as described above, and a biased ball structure  630  going into a groove  630  on the other end  320   a.  This arrangement can also be reversed so that the spring and ball  630  are in the safety mechanism  600  and groove  620  is in end  320   a.  Also, set screw  610  can be press fit or replaced with adhesive or other chemical or physical joinery. In this arrangement, the biased ball structure  630  can provide an adjustable release pressure by altering the biasing force of a ball into the groove  620 , such as by advancing or retracting a set screw to alter the compression of a biasing member against the ball. 
       FIG. 9D  shows a fourth embodiment of safety mechanism  600  joining ends  320   a  and  320   b  as described in any of the above embodiments, with the safety mechanism  600  being scored or formed with a line of weakness  640  that is designed to fracture or otherwise fail upon experiencing a threshold force. 
     Safety mechanism  600  can take other forms than an external collar. For example, having a press fit rod inserted inside bores within ends  320   a  and  320   b  would be possible (not shown). Similar to a compression fitting around the connector  320 , the rod can be formed to a tolerance to be pulled out against frictional forces, or can be held in connector  320  with set screws, springs, etc. Alternatively, the rod can be frangible similar to the safety mechanism of  FIG. 9D . Further, ends  320   a  and  320   b  can be held together with the use of magnets with known separation strengths that release upon a threshold load. 
     While the above methods of releasing the support region  400  from pin  310  have been disclosed, any method of releasably connecting two parts together can be used to release support region  400  under undesirable loads. 
     While the foregoing have described jump cups for holding generally cylindrical cross bars, the jump cups can also be configured to hold planks, gates or other obstacles and fillers having flat ends not intended to roll out of a cup. For flat ends, the jump cups would have a flat support region  40 / 400  (i.e. have zero cup depth). 
     Regarding materials used for making jump cup  20 / 200 , any rigid material that can hold a cross bar and resist appreciable deformation while mounted for moderate forces applied to the support area can be used. These moderate forces should be at a minimum the release force chosen in the safety mechanism, if used. 
     The material should be able to resist the elements as the jump cups could be left outside for extended periods of time. This resistance can be accomplished by using a rust-proof metal such as stainless steel, a painted or coated non-stainless metal, plastics or other polymers, or composite materials. 
     One preferred material is metal bar material having a substantially constant cross-section that can be fed through a bending machine to form the jump cup in a single length of bent material. While a solid circular cross-section is shown in the drawings, any suitable cross-section can be used, including ovals or polygons, and can be solid or hollow/tubular. The lack of a need to weld any part of a jump cup formed this was reduces manufacturing costs as it removes an expensive step, and further can improve safety by removing concern that a weld joint can fail. Also, because no plate material is used, there is little risk of water accumulation on or around the jump cup, eliminating concerns of rust, rot, or staining due to water accumulation. 
     While the invention has been discussed primarily in the context of horse jumps, the jump cups may be used for adjustably holding an end of a pole, bar or gate. For example, the jump cups can hold a crossbar for a hurdle, a fence post, a banner pole, or any other suitable application. 
     In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments of the present invention have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims below. 
     Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.