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Trampoline systemRelated Patent Categories: Exercise Devices, Gymnastic, Projector, TrampolineTrampoline system description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060189442, Trampoline system. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/946,927, filed Sep. 21, 2004, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/240,387, filed Sep. 27, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,271, which is the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/US01/41736, filed Aug. 14, 2001, which claims the benefit of Provisional application Ser. No. 60/225,326, filed Aug. 14, 2000, all of which prior applications are incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY [0002] The present invention concerns systems for use with trampolines to protect trampoline users from injury. [0003] Trampolines are used for a variety of athletic and recreational purposes. However, thousands of injuries have resulted when persons jumping on a trampoline have landed on the rebounding surface while in an awkward or incorrect body position. These "on-bed" injuries, according to some medical studies, represent the majority of trampoline-related emergency room visits. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that in 1999 approximately 110,000 people were treated in emergency rooms for trampoline related injuries. Even though this number is half that of play structure (or swing set) injuries, some in the medical community have called for a ban on the sale of backyard trampolines. Accordingly the CPSC and the AAOS have called for safety improvements to help reduce the number of trampoline injuries. [0004] One approach to reducing trampoline injuries has been to form a wall around the perimeter of a trampoline bed so that when a jumper lands too near the edge, the wall prevents the jumper from falling off. Examples are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,399,132 and 6,053,845. However, these devices do not directly address injuries that result when users impact the rebounding surface incorrectly or while in an awkward position. A second approach, the use of a harness (worn by the jumper) suspended by elastic cords above the rebounding surface, is an effective way to reduce on-bed, or rebound surface impact injuries. However, such harnesses are designed for safely teaching users advanced acrobatics on high-performance competition trampolines by trained professionals, making them largely inappropriate for low-performance backyard trampolines that are used almost entirely for basic jumping activities and not for advanced acrobatics. [0005] Injuries suffered during an impact with the rebounding surface are still occurring in large numbers on backyard trampoline beds even though these beds are designed to be less responsive and to have less initial surface tension than gymnastic grade, competition trampoline beds. [0006] Low performance backyard trampolines are used very differently than high performance trampolines used by skilled competitors for training and competition. For instance, many on-bed backyard trampoline injuries occur when multiple jumpers are using the trampoline at the same time as reported in the NEISS data compiled by the CPSC. Because children enjoy playing together most families allow more than one child to jump at the same time even though this practice is strongly discouraged by trampoline manufacturers, the CPSC, and others experts. Competition trampolines are used almost exclusively in disciplined environments for the structured teaching of specific skills. In contrast, backyard trampolines are largely used for fun, unstructured, imaginative play activities that are relished by kids and recommended by child development experts who understand that daily physical activity significantly enhances learning ability and that kids need activities to counterbalance today's over-structured and sedentary lifestyles. Unfortunately, these unstructured trampoline activities can generate on-bed injuries when jumpers land on the rebounding surface in an awkward body position or when a jumper lands on a trampoline bed that has been preloaded with the energy from other jumper impacts. [0007] There thus remains a need to significantly reduce the quantity and severity of the on-bed injuries that result from these playful activities. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0008] In the drawings: [0009] FIG. 1 is an oblique view of a first plural-bed trampoline system. [0010] FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial oblique view of the system of FIG. 1. [0011] FIG. 3 is an oblique view of the of the system of FIG. 1 with the top bed removed to show internal structure FIG. 4 is an oblique view of an inflated cushion used between the beds of the system of FIG. 1. [0012] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second plural-bed trampoline system. [0013] FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial perspective view of the system of FIG. 5. [0014] FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a spring serving as a cushion between upper and lower trampoline mats. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0015] The drawbacks of prior systems are overcome by the use of a trampoline system that employs one or more resilient members 10 located below the rebounding bed 12 of a trampoline. A resilient member 10 is located at a position selected so that the bed 12 depresses the resilient member 10 when the bed is sufficiently depressed by a person jumping on the bed. [0016] Such a trampoline system is effective at reducing on-bed injuries that result from multiple jumpers and awkward landings. For instance, many injuries occur when multiple users are jumping asynchronously, a first jumper deflects the bed and loads springs with the energy from his fall and now a second jumper lands on the bed in an awkward position. At this point in time, the bed is highly tensioned (unforgiving) and has just begun moving rapidly upward, recycling the energy loaded into the springs by the first jumpers impact with the bed. In this case a bed/resilient member system can be used to significantly reduce the impact force being experienced by the second jumper, thereby helping to prevent an injury. [0017] The primary finction of the system is to provide a "softer," more cushioned, and shock-absorbing surface on the rebounding bed, with supplemental delayed support from the resilient member 10 if and when needed to absorb greater impact loads not fully managed by the bed. [0018] The resilient member 10 may comprise a bed of planar material 14 that is positioned at a distance below and extends generally parallel to the rebounding bed 16 and that is supported by a frame 18. For example, FIGS. 1-6 show embodiments that are double-bed trampolines. A double-bed trampoline uses two rebounding beds, an upper bed 16 and a lower bed 14 directly below. The upper bed 16 is configured in the manner of current trampoline systems system with a rebounding mat stretched on a frame. The lower bed 14 is located directly below and also has a mat that comprises a sheet of stretched fabric. The spacing between the mats can vary, but good results are achieved with a spacing of at least six inches for trampolines of the type common for home use. (More than two beds could be employed, but the greatest portion of the benefit is obtained by adding one bed to serve as a resilient member in addition to the regular rebounding bed 16.) [0019] Because there are two beds, the upper bed 16 can have fewer "standard" springs 20 than a single bed trampoline that is required to safely meet the same performance standards. For example, the upper bed 16 could have half as many springs (or an equal number of weaker springs that generate half the net spring resistance, or a combination of weaker springs and fewer regular springs) as a conventional single trampoline bed. This configuration would practically cut in half the impact force that the second jumper's body would need to absorb and thereby significantly reduce the likelihood of an injury. [0020] All things being equal, a bed with less tension is more forgiving when a jumper first contacts its surface, it absorbs the impact more slowly and will thus reduce the severity and quantity of on-bed injuries. Thus, the upper bed 16 will absorb a jumper's impact more slowly if that bed is supported with fewer and/or weaker springs than would normally be used for a single bed trampoline. It is possible to use fewer and/or weaker springs in the upper bed 16 because the lower bed 14 is present to absorb part of the impact energy. Continue reading about Trampoline system... Full patent description for Trampoline system Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Trampoline system 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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