Patent Publication Number: US-11376463-B2

Title: Spring connector

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is in the field of mechanical connectors, namely spring connectors. 
     DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART 
     Trampolines can be fun backyard staples of youth. As more users install trampolines, they desire increased safety and performance. In particular, the connection between the trampoline bed and the trampoline frame can be improved. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A trampoline has a trampoline frame, springs connecting to the trampoline frame, a trampoline bed, and spring connectors formed on the trampoline bed at a bed edge of the trampoline bed. The spring connectors connect to the springs. A link retainer is formed on the spring connector. The link retainer has a link opening and a link notch. An outer cover has a hook opening and a strap slot. The outer cover covers the link retainer. The hook opening of the outer cover aligns with the link notch of the link retainer, and the strap slot aligns with the link opening of the outer cover. 
     A recessed panel is formed on the outer cover. Bed strap loops are mounted to the bed edge. The bed strap loops engage the strap slot and link opening. An outer vertex is formed on the link retainer. The first indent is to the right of the link notch and the second indent is to the left of the link notch. The link retainer is formed by bending a metal rod to a triangular shape. 
     A second outer cover can be a different color than the first outer cover. The first outer cover and the second outer color are color-coded and arranged at different locations on a bed edge. The color coding denotes a suggested order of spring installation. Springs connectors formed on the trampoline bed are attached at a bed edge of the trampoline bed. The spring connectors connect to the springs, and the spring connectors are color-coded to suggest an order of spring installation. The spring connectors include at least a first color, a second color, and a third color arranged at different locations on a bed edge. Preferably the spring connectors of the first color are not adjacent to each other, the spring connectors of the second color are not adjacent to each other, and the spring connectors of the third color are not adjacent to each other. 
     It is an object of the present invention to increase reliability and safety of consumer trampolines. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the spring connector. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of the spring connector. 
         FIG. 3  is a top view of the link retainer connecting to the spring connector. 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram showing the link retainer encapsulated within the spring connector. 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom view diagram of the trampoline showing the hexagonal bed and spring connectors. 
         FIG. 6  is a round trampoline to show that the present invention can be installed on a trampoline with a circular bed. 
     
    
    
     The following call out list of elements can be a useful guide in referencing the element numbers of the drawings.
       20  Trampoline Bed     21  Trampoline Bed Strap     22  Trampoline Bed Strap Loop     23  Trampoline Bed Edge     24  Frame     30  Outer Cover     31  Strap Slot     32  Hook Opening     33  Retainer Crimp Ports     34  Recessed Panel     35  Outer Cover Tip Port     36  Loop Retainer     37  Hook Opening Notch     38  Strap Slot Bend     39  Partition     40  Springs     41  Spring Hook Tip     42  Spring Hook     43  Spring Coil     50  Link Retainer     51  First Link Indent     52  Second Link Indent     53  Link Notch     54  Link Opening     55  First Link Leg     56  Second Link Leg     57  Link Leg Junction     154  outer vertex   

     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As seen in  FIG. 1 , a trampoline bed  20  is extended horizontally over a trampoline frame  24  and provides an area for a user to bound. The trampoline bed is preferably made of a UV stabilized plastic woven fabric that is flexible. The trampoline bed is connected at its periphery to a plurality of trampoline bed straps  21 . Each of the trampoline bed straps  21  is formed with a trampoline bed strap loop  22 . 
     The trampoline bed has a trampoline bed edge  23 . The trampoline bed edge  23  is connected to a trampoline frame via springs  40 . Each spring  40  has a connection between the trampoline bed and the frame. 
     An outer cover  30  has a strap slot  31  that receives a bed strap  21  and a bed strap loop  22 . The bed strap loop  22  passes through the strap slot  31  of the outer cover  30 . The hook opening  32  receives a spring hook tip  41  that extends from a spring coil  43 . The spring hook  42  engages to the hook opening  32  formed on the outer cover  30 . The spring  40  is a coil spring having a spring coil  43 . The outer cover  30  covers a recessed panel  34 . The recessed panel  34  forms a reinforced portion of the outer cover  30 . The hook opening  32  is preferably reinforced by a metal portion of the spring connector. The recessed panel  34  can have retainer crimp ports  33  that aligns the recessed panel  34  to the outer cover  30 . 
     The outer cover tip port  35  can be a location where plastic injection molding is injected so that the area toward the tip of the outer cover  30  is the most tightly injected portion of the spring connector. The spring hook tip  41  can be made of a spring steel and extending from the spring hook  42 . 
     As seen in  FIG. 2 , the trampoline bed strap  21  of the trampoline bed  20  engages the strap slot  31  by a loop retainer  36 . The loop retainer  36  is oriented perpendicularly to the tension of the spring connector. The hook opening notch  37  is formed on the hook opening  32  and preferably has an angled terminating portion such that it lodges the spring hook  42  to the hook opening  32 . 
     As seen in  FIG. 3 , the trampoline bed  20  has a trampoline bed strap  21 . A link retainer  50  passes through the trampoline bed strap  21 . The link retainer  50  has a link opening  54  that receives the spring hook  42 . The link retainer  50  has a first link indent  51  and a second link indent  52 . The link notch  53  is formed in the opposite side opposing the trampoline bed strap  21 . The link notch  53  is positioned to align with the hook opening notch  37 . The link retainer  50  is formed of a loop of metal, which can be stainless steel. A stainless steel rod can be formed in the shape of a loop. The loop is a triangular loop that has the pair of indents. The pair of indents forms the link notch  53  at the outer vertex  154  of the link retainer  50 . The link retainer  50  can be made as a loop of bent metal rod, or alternatively can be made as a plate formed from aluminum or steel. 
     The link retainer  50  can be used by itself in the configuration is shown in  FIG. 3 , or can be covered by the outer cover  30  as seen in  FIG. 4 . The outer cover  30  cannot be used by itself because it does not have sufficient tensile strength given that it is plastic injection molded, however the outer cover  30  imparts a stability to the link retainer  50  by introducing a partition  39 . The partition  39  can be formed as the recessed panel  34 . The link retainer  50  can be fed into a mold of a plastic injection molding machine so that it is encapsulated by the outer cover  30  which is a UV stabilized plastic. 
     As seen in  FIG. 4 , the outer cover  30  covers the link retainer  50 . The link retainer  50  can be formed with a no weld link leg junction  57  which is a gap that is between a first link leg  55  and a second link leg  56 . The first link leg  55  is one end of a link retainer  50 , and the second link leg  56  is another end of the link retainer  51  when the link retainer  50  is being formed of a steel rod. The gap is protected from being pulled apart because the outer cover  30  binds to the pair of legs and retains them. The gap is preferably very small and the link legs can be abutting so that the gap is minimized. The link leg junction  57  preferably faces the strap slot  31  which is optionally formed with a strap slot bend  38 . The link opening  54  thus has a curved profile that can have a radius of curvature somewhat matching a circular trampoline bed. The curved profile can be parallel to the bed edge  23 . 
     It is preferred that the link retainer be covered by a plastic having a harness that absorbs high-frequency vibration. The hook preferably engages both a portion of the plastic and the metal under the plastic. The metal can be exposed under the plastic at the link opening  54 . 
     Preferably, the outer cover  30  comes in color-coded colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple so that the first color red is installed to four springs at 90° to each other around a circle such as at 0°, 270°, 180°, and 90°. Then the next color is orange which is installed to four springs at 90° to each other at 45°, 135°, 225°, and 315°. Thus, eight springs can be installed equally so that force is evenly applied during installation. The next color can be yellow which can be installed next to the red outer cover  30 , such as left or right of the red outer cover  30 . After that yellow installation, springs can be installed to the green colored outer covers  30 . The green colored outer covers  30  can be next to the orange colored outer covers  30 . Preferably, the colors are easily distinguishable primary or secondary colors. The color progression can produce a rainbow if the first color red, is followed by orange next to red, then yellow next to orange, then green next to yellow, then blue next to green, then purple next to green. Although indigo is a color of the rainbow, it may be too similar to blue to be used. Accordingly, the color scheme of the spring connectors can be modified artistically to account for the color scheme of the trampoline frame, bed and netting. 
     As seen in  FIG. 5 , the trampoline bed that can be hexagonal, but the trampoline bed can also be circular as seen in  FIG. 6 .