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  Rowing oar handleUSPTO Application #: 20060276086Title: Rowing oar handle Abstract: A rowing oar handle comprising a first portion and a second portion, in which the first portion and the second portion are axially rotatable in relation to one another, and in which in use the point of rotation is located between a user's hands. (end of abstract)
Agent: Lerner, David, Littenberg, Krumholz & Mentlik - Westfield, NJ, US Inventor: Emily Webb Related Keywords: USPTO Applicaton #: 20060276086 - Class: 440102000 (USPTO) Related Patent Categories: Marine Propulsion, Oar Or Paddle, Articulated Sectional Oar Or Paddle The Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060276086. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This invention relates to a rowing oar handle, for use particularly but not exclusively in the sport of competitive rowing. [0002] In rowing the oars are feathered between strokes. At the end of the stroke the user rotates the oar through about 90 degrees such that the blade is parallel with the water, and just prior to the beginning of the stroke the oar is rotated back so the blade can enter the water vertically. [0003] Rowing oar handles are commonly made of wood, which is provided with a roughened surface to aid grip in the wet conditions. The action of rotating the oar to feather the blade is therefore very tough on the hands and often leads to blisters and other injuries. [0004] The present invention is intended to overcome some of the above problems. [0005] Therefore, according to the present invention a rowing oar handle comprises a first portion and a second portion, in which the first portion and the second portion are axially rotatable in relation to one another, and in which in use the point of rotation is located between a user's hands. [0006] With this arrangement only the inner hand need rotate the handle to feather the blade while the outer hand can stay put. (In this specification the terms "inner", "outer", "inside" and "outside" are to be understood to relate to the handle, which has an outer end at which it terminates, and an inner end which in use is adjacent an oar body. Thus, inner and inside mean closer to the oar body, and outer and outside mean further away from the oar body.) [0007] In a preferred construction the first portion can be located outside the second portion. The first portion can be provided with a flange at its inner end, and the second portion can be provided with a flange at its outer end. [0008] With this arrangement the two flanges face one another and provide a clear physical and visual indicator of the point of rotation, about which the user places their hands. [0009] In will be appreciated that there are many known ways to construct a suitable pivot for the invention. However, in a preferred construction a spigot member can be centrally axially mounted to the second member in a rotating manner. The first portion can be provided with an axially extending socket, and the outer end of the spigot member can be non-rotatably mounted in said socket. [0010] The spigot member can comprise a cylindrical body provided with a flange at its inner end, and the spigot member can be mounted to the second member by block means which can be non-rotatably fixed to the second portion. The block means can be provided with a central aperture comprising a first section and a second section. The second section can have a greater diameter than the first section and can be inside the first section. The flange of the spigot member can be disposed in the second section of said aperture and the body of the spigot member can pass through the first section of said aperture. [0011] In a preferred construction the first portion and the second portion can be dismantled from one another. To facilitate this the block means can be mounted to the second portion by means of a number of screws which can be located on a circle which is co-axial with the flange of the second portion. The flange of the first portion can be provided with an aperture which is also positioned on said circle, such that the aperture can be axially aligned with each screw thereby to allow the screws to be accessed to assemble or dismantle the first and second portions of the handle. [0012] In one construction the block means may comprise two parts, a first part being provided with an aperture comprising the above described first section of the central aperture, and a second part being provided with an aperture comprising the above described second section of the central aperture. The two parts can be axially aligned and fixed together with said screws. This arrangement is more readily constructed because the first and second sections of the central aperture can be simply drilled through the first part and the second part, as opposed to the second section having to be created with some kind of mortiser tool as would be the case if the block means were one component. [0013] It will be appreciated that a number of different surfaces bear against one another in the above described handle. Therefore, in a preferred construction a bearing surface can be provided on an outermost facing surface of the block means and/or on an inner facing surface of the flange of the first portion. [0014] A bearing surface can also be provided on an inner facing surface of the flange of the spigot member and/or on the outermost facing surface of the second portion adjacent to the flange of the spigot member, as well as on the outermost facing surface of the flange of the spigot member and/or on the inner facing surface of the second section of the central aperture of the block means. Bearing surfaces can also be provided on inner radial surfaces of the central aperture and on outer radial surfaces of the spigot member which contact one another in use. [0015] It will be appreciated that rowers come in different sizes, and thus the location of their hands on an oar handle can be different. Thus, in a preferred embodiment the rowing oar handle can be dimensioned such that in use it is of suitable size for an intended user. [0016] In addition to the damage caused to a rower's hands when feathering an oar as described above, when a rower grips the cylindrical shape of known rowing oar handles for the stroke, the flesh of their hands is compressed in an unnatural way. [0017] This does not cause any problems for one or two strokes, but a rower may perform hundreds of strokes a session. The user grips the rough wooden surface with considerable force as all the power provided by their legs, torso and arms in pulling the stroke is transmitted through their grip on the handle. This unnatural, repetitive and high force grip is the primary cause of blisters and other skin injuries to rowers' hands. [0018] Therefore, the applicants co-pending UK Patent Application GB 0509194.7 discloses a rowing or sculling oar handle in which when the handle is orientated for a stroke it has an axial cross-sectional shape with a greater horizontal extent than vertical extent. The handle can be provided with a substantially oval axial cross sectional shape and an underside of the axial cross-sectional shape can be provided with an abutment. In a preferred embodiment described therein the axial cross-sectional shape can comprise a first portion proximal to the user, a central portion, and a second portion distal to the user, in which the first portion is substantially shaped as more than half an oval, in which the second portion is substantially shaped as less than half an oval, In which a centre of the oval of which the second portion forms a part is vertically lower than a centre of the oval of which the first portion forms a part, in which an upper surface of the central portion follows a smooth line of curvature from the first portion to the second portion, and in which a lower surface of the central portion follows a substantially straight line from the first portion to the second portion. [0019] Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of this invention, when the first and the second portion of the handle are axially aligned when orientated for a stroke, the first portion and the second portion can be provided with an axial cross-sectional shape with a greater horizontal extent than vertical extent. [0020] Preferably the handle can be provided with a substantially oval axial cross sectional shape and an underside of the axial cross-sectional shape can be provided with an abutment. [0021] The axial cross-sectional shape can comprise a first portion proximal to the user in an in use position, a central portion, and a second portion distal to the user in an in use position. The first portion can be substantially shaped as more than half an oval, the second portion can be substantially shaped as less than half an oval, and a centre of the oval of which the second portion forms a part can be vertically lower than a centre of the oval of which the first portion forms a part. An upper surface of the central portion can follow a smooth line of curvature from the first portion to the second portion, and a lower surface of the central portion can follow a substantially straight line from the first portion to the second portion. [0022] Therefore the abutment described above can be provided by the lower surface of the central portion. The purpose of the abutment is to provide a surface against which a user's thumb can contact in use. Clearly, different users will have different sized hands, and therefore the handle can be dimensioned for a particular age group, or user's hands. Thus, in a preferred embodiment the handle can be dimensioned such that when a user's hand grips the handle in the conventional way, their thumb can contact the abutment. [0023] The purpose of the particular axial cross-sectional shape described above is to alleviate the damaging compression of the flesh of the hands caused when a traditional cylindrical handle is used. The cross-sectional shape is generally oval shaped, but the two ends of the oval, the first and second portions, are vertically miss-aligned. This provides a shape which when gripped hard and pulled causes far less compression of the flesh of the hands than a simple circular shape. [0024] The handle can taper towards its outer end in the known manner, and the handle can be produced from wood. It can also be produced from any other suitable known material. Continue reading... Full patent description for Rowing oar handle Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Rowing oar handle patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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