Aquatic toboggan slide

• US 4,391,201 A
• Filed: 09/16/1981
• Issued: 07/05/1983
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/1980
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Bailey Crandall Partnership
• Original Assignee: Kenneth I. Bailey
• Inventors: Bailey, Kenneth I.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bertsch, Richard A.
• Application Number:
  US06/302,703
• Time in Patent Office: 657 Days
• Field of Search: D12/11, 9/310 R, 9/310 B, 104/69, 104/70, 104/249, 280/18, 272/56.5 R, 272/56.5 SS
• US Class Current: 104/70
• CPC Class Codes: A63G 21/18 Water-chutes

Abstract

An aquatic toboggan slide has a trough like chute with side walls and a bed of closely spaced rollers, the toboggans discharging horizontally from the chute about 12-20 inches above a body of water so as to skip or plane over the water surface. The toboggans are of moulded plastic with a planing bottom surface and resilient seats spaced from the bottom surface to protect the user'"'"'s spine against water impact shocks. The toboggans may be double walled and foam filled or single walled with transverse ribs in the bottom surface to stiffen the structure and enhance planing.

Claims

1. In an aquatic toboggan slide comprising the combination of a steeply downwardly inclined chute, a plurality of toboggans dischargable down the chute, and a body of water adjacent the lower end of the chute, the improvement wherein:

the chute is in the shape of a trough with continuous side walls and a load bearing bottom surface free of dangerous projections and formed by a plurality of parallel horizontal rollers extending laterally between the side walls, said chute providing a vertical drop of at least about 20 feet and the side walls extending higher than side walls of a toboggan so that a toboggan and rider discharged down the chute will be confined between the chute side walls, the lower portion of the chute being curved so that its discharge end is level and about 12 to about 20 inches above the surface of the body of water, and the curvature of the lower end of the chute being at least about 16 feet in radius, with the rollers being closely spaced at least in the curved lower portion of the chute;

the body of water extends a distance in feet beyond the bottom of the chute which is at least about three times the velocity in feet per second at which a toboggan will leave the chute; and

each toboggan is moulded from synthetic plastics material, has a continuous bottom wall defining the longitudinally ribbed under surfaces inclined upwardly at its front end to a prow, raised side walls, a resilient backless seat member at the rear of the toboggan extending between the side walls and maintained spaced from the bottom wall by a filling of foamed plastic material, a leg space extending forwardly of the seat to, and including a foot rest near the prow of the toboggan, and individual hand grips extending from the toboggan structure and located inwardly of the side walls to either side of the leg space, and between the seat and the foot rest whereby to constrain a rider to assume a position with the rider'"'"'s hands within the walls and the rider'"'"'s legs between the rider'"'"'s arms.

2. An aquatic toboggan slide according to claim 1, wherein the chute discharges about 14-16 inches above the water level.

3. An aquatic toboggan slide as claimed in claim 1, wherein the major part of the chute is disposed at about 45°

to the vertical.

4. An aquatic toboggan slide according to claim 1, wherein the chute comprises a unitary continuous trough member having side walls deeper than the side walls of the toboggans and flared outwardly at their top edges, and a central well beneath a bed of closely spaced smooth surfaced rollers extending laterally between longitudinally extending continuous bearing blocks secured to longitudinal support rails flanking the well.

5. An aquatic toboggan slide according to claim 1, wherein each toboggan has spaced top and bottom walls, the interior being filled with foamed plastic material, the top wall defining the seat member, the leg space and the foot rest.

6. An aquatic toboggan slide according to claim 1, wherein the bottom wall of each toboggan is formed with sawtooth lateral ribs between the longitudinal ribs and is configured to provide a fluid bearing effect.

7. An aquatic toboggan slide according to claim 1, wherein the body of water becomes gradually shallower opposite the bottom of the chute and terminates in a beach forming a limit of planing of a toboggan discharged down the chute.

8. In an aquatic toboggan slide comprising the combination of a steeply downwardly inclined chute, a plurality of toboggans dischargable down the chute, and a body of water adjacent the lower end of the chute, the lower end of the chute being curved so that the toboggans leave the chute travelling slightly above and substantially parallel to the surface of the body of water, the improvement wherein each toboggan comprises a continuous bottom wall defining a longitudinally ribbed under surface inclined upwardly to a prow at its front end, raised side walls, an upper wall defining a resilient backless seat member at the rear of the toboggan extending between the side walls and spaced from the bottom wall by a filling of foamed plastic material, a leg space extending forwardly of the seat member and including a footrest close to the prow, and individual hand grips extending from the toboggan structure inwardly of the side walls, to either side of the leg space between the seat member and the footrest whereby to constrain a rider to assume a position with the rider'"'"'s hands within the walls and the rider'"'"'s legs between the rider'"'"'s arms.

9. An aquatic toboggan slide according to claim 8, wherein the body of water becomes gradually shallower opposite the bottom of the chute and terminates in a beach forming a limit of planing of a toboggan discharged down the chute.

10. In an aquatic toboggan slide comprising the combination of a steeply downwardly inclined chute and a body of water adjacent the lower end of the chute, the improvement wherein:

the chute is in the shape of a trough with continuous side walls and a load bearing bottom surface free of dangerous projections and formed by a plurality of parallel horizontal rollers extending laterally between the side walls, said chute providing a vertical drop of at least about 20 feet and the side walls extending higher than side walls of a toboggan so that a toboggan and rider discharged down the chute will be confined between the chute side walls, the lower portion of the chute being curved so that its discharge end is level and about 12 to about 20 inches above the surface of the body of water, and the curvature of the lower end of the chute being at least about 16 feet in radius, with the rollers being closely spaced at least in the curved lower portion of the chute;

the body of water extends a distance in feet beyond the bottom of the chute which is at least about three times the velocity in feet per second at which a toboggan will leave the chute; and

the chute comprises a unitary continuous trough member having side walls deeper than the side walls of the toboggans and flared outwardly at their top edges, and a central well beneath a bed of closely spaced smooth surfaced rollers extending laterally between bearing blocks secured to longitudinal support rails flanking the well.