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Title: Catching device for a free-falling body
Claims: What is claimed is: 1. A catching device for a free-falling body, comprising a transportable base frame, a material web having two oppositely situated sides, a pair of oppositely situated support bars for holding the material web at said two oppositely situated sides, means for resiliently dampingly supporting the support bars at the transportable base frame in spaced relationship from the ground, tensioning means carried by said transportable base frame for tensioning the material web, said transportable base frame being constructed to be foldable, the foldable base frame comprising two essentially U-shaped supports which in the unfolded condition of the base frame are arranged in spaced substantially parallel relationship to one another, each U-shaped support having upwardly inclined directed legs merging with a substantially horizontal web portion of the associated U-shaped support, said two U-shaped supports being interconnected by transverse struts and by said oppositely situated support bars which are arranged at the ends of said legs, and said tensioning means being provided at least at one side of the base frame between the ends of the U-shaped supports and the neighboring support bar. 2. The catching device as defined in claim 1, further including means for connecting said U-shaped supports of the base frame in spaced relationship from the ends of the support bars and with said support bars, wherein each support bar comprises three individual elements defined by an intermediate element and two outer elements which are interconnected with one another through the agency of two folding hinges, said folding hinges being located externally of the connection locations of the support bars with said U-shaped supports, said folding hinges having axes located in the plane of the forces which are to be taken-up by the support bars, the outer elements of each support bar together with the material web held thereby being inwardly folded from both sides through an angle of approximately 180.degree. until bearing against the intermediate element of the associated support bar. 3. The catching device as defined in claim 2, wherein each U-shaped support of the base frame comprises three essentially equal length individual elements incorporating said horizontal web portion and to each side thereof one of said legs, said horizontal web portion of each U-shaped support which is intended to bear against the ground being connected with the elements incorporating said legs and bounding at both ends of said horizontal web portion by means of two folding hinge means having substantially vertical axes located in the plane of the forces which are to be taken-up, said base frame being foldable by displacing one support bar, secured at one end of said base frame via hinges with substantially vertical axes, parallel to itself and towards the other support bar and while outwardly pivoting both of the intermediate elements defined by said web portions of both U-shaped supports through an angle of about 180.degree., said folding together of the catching device occurring in an accordion-like fashion. 4. The catching device as defined in claim 3, wherein each of the substantially U-shaped supports of the base frame are constructed as trussing. 5. The catching device as defined in claim 4, wherein said means for connecting said U-shaped supports with the support bars comprises support bar-supporting elements arranged at least at one side of the base frame at the connection location with the associated support bar, said supporting elements being movable in a plane which is substantially perpendicular to said associated support bar, said tensioning means engaging at said supporting elements in order to tension the material web by increasing the mutual spacing between the support bars. 6. The catching device as defined in claim 5, wherein each of the tensioning means for moving the associated support bar retaining the material web relative to the base frame comprises a respective damping element having an upper end and a lower end, the upper end of the damping element being hingedly connected with the associated movable supporting element and the lower end of each said damping element being connected at an inwardly directed cantilever of the base frame, said damping element being movably supported and disposed at an inclination, and means for moving the supported lower end of each damping element towards the outside towards an end of the base frame for the purpose of obtaining a pivotal movement of the support bar about a respective hinge provided between the base frame and the associated supporting element, and wherein said hinges are interconnected by a tubular member for transmitting torsional forces. 7. The catching device as defined in claim 6, wherein each damping element comprises a shock absorber. 8. The catching device as defined in claim 6, wherein said means for moving the supported lower end of each damping element comprises a respective sliding element guided at the associated cantilever, said cantilever being rigidly mounted at said base frame, and means cooperating with each of said sliding elements for displacing the same. 9. The catching device as defined in claim 8, wherein each of said cooperating displacing means comprises a hand crank. 10. The catching device as defined in claim 8, wherein each of said cooperating displacing means comprises an electric motor and a threaded spindle, said threaded spindle being driven by said electric motor for displacing the associated sliding element. 11. The catching device as defined in claim 8, wherein each of said cooperating displacing means comprises fluid-operated cylinder means for moving the associated sliding element. 12. The catching device as defined in claim 11, wherein said fluid-operated cylinder means comprises a pneumatic cylinder arrangement. 13. The catching device as defined in claim 11, wherein said fluid-operated cylinder means comprises a hydraulic cylinder arrangement. 14. The catching device as defined in claim 8, wherein each of said cooperating displacing means comprises a gear rack and a ratchet, said ratchet actuating said gear rack for moving the associated sliding element. 15. The catching device as defined in claim 6, wherein said means for moving the supported lower end of each damping element comprises a cantilever hingedly movably connected at the base frame, said cantilever having a cantilever free end, and means cooperating with said free end of the cantilever for moving said free end towards the outside. 16. The catching device as defined in claim 15, wherein said cooperating moving means comprises a hand crank. 17. The catching device as defined in claim 15, wherein said cooperating moving means comprises a threaded spindle, means pivotably mounting said threaded spindle at said base frame, and an electric motor for actuating said pivotably mounted threaded spindle. 18. The catching device as defined in claim 15, wherein said cooperating moving means comprises a fluid-operated cylinder means. 19. The catching device as defined in claim 18, wherein said fluid-operated cylinder means comprises a pneumatic cylinder arrangement. 20. The catching device as defined in claim 18, wherein said fluid-operated cylinder means comprises a hydraulic cylinder arrangement. 21. The catching device as defined in claim 15, wherein said cooperating moving means comprises cable means. 22. The catching device as defined in claim 15, wherein said cooperating moving means comprises belt means. 23. The catching device as defined in claim 6, wherein each of the tensioning means incorporates an indicator device for visually indicating the attained tensioning of the material web, said indicator device comprising markings applied at components of the shock absorber which are movable relative to one another during the tensioning operation. 24. The catching device as defined in claim 23, wherein said markings being in the form of a movable indicator ring having different colored regions. 25. A catching device for a free-falling body, comprising a transportable base frame, a material web having two oppositely situated sides, a pair of oppositely situated support bars for holding the material web at said two oppositely situated sides, means for resiliently dampingly supporting the support bars at the transportable base frame in spaced relationship from the ground, tensioning means carried by said transportable base frame for tensioning the material web, and wherein support bar-supporting elements are hinged at least at one side of the base frame by means of a respective hinge means, the support bar together with the material web at said one side being secured at upper ends of said supporting elements, said supporting elements being pivotably movable in a plane which is substantially perpendicular to the associated support bar, and an inclined arranged spring-shock absorber having fixed hinge points located between each support bar-supporting element and the base frame, the shock absorber in the operating position of the catching device retaining the material web in a tensioned state, and means provided at the base frame which are actuatable in a manner to inwardly pivot the associated support bar-supporting element by means of a force acting opposite to the spring-shock absorber for the purpose of relaxing the material web. 26. The catching device as defined in claim 25, wherein at least one supporting bar-supporting element is extended downwardly past its hinge means, and the means for pivoting the supporting element comprises a lifting cylinder arranged at the base frame beneath the hinge means, said lifting cylinder having a piston rod which can be brought into entraining engaging relationship with the lower end of the extended supporting element. 27. The catching device as defined in claim 26, wherein a number of support bar-supporting elements are connected with one another at the same side of the base frame for attaining the same pivoting movement. 28. The catching device as defined in claim 27, wherein the number of support bar-supporting elements are connected with one another by means of a tubular element transmitting the torsional force and coupling the hinge means. 29. The catching device as defined in claim 26, wherein the lifting cylinder comprises a hydraulic lifting jack. Other info: Inventors: Baumann, Rene (Lucerne, CH) Application Number: 553912 Filing Date: 1975-02-28 Publication_date: 1976-04-06 Assignee: Wiba AG (Kriens, Lucerne, CH) Primary Class(es): 182/139 182/140, 482/28 Other Classes: US Patent Ref:
Other Refs: Primary Examiner: Machado, Reinaldo P. Assistant Examiner: Attorney: Kleeman; Werner W. |
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