EP0404504A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Improved sails for sailboards and boats
Assignee: BENNETT BOWLER SAILS Ltd
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Filing: 1990-06-19
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2010-06-19
Abstract
Abstract An improved sail system is described, especially suitable for sailboard sails, in which a short batten (30, 33, 36) is located between each pair of full length battens (26-29), i.e. battens extending from the luff (22) to the leech (23) edges of the sail, and the inboard end (30 a , 33 a , 36 a ) of each short batten is joined to the luff end of each full length batten (26-29) by non-extensible flexible elements 31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38 such as polyester fabric/film laminate strips sewn to the sail. Preferably the inboard end of the battens are secured to a seam (40) in the sail fabric (20) extending along the line of maximum tension from the head (24) to the tack (25) of the sail. Sail systems of the invention are more stable, achieve a better design shape and are lighter than conventional sails having a greater number of full length battens.
Inventors
- 👤 Christopher Walter Bowler
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-03 22:16
CPC Classifications
B; B63; B63H; B63H8/00; B63H8/40; B63H8/20
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
116 words
A sail system comprising a sail (20), being a sheet of fabric extending lengthwise of a mast and attached to the mast at a plurality of points along its length for rotational movement thereabout, said sail (20) having luff (22) and leech (23) edges and incorporating a plurality of full length battens (26-29) extending between the luff (22) and leech (23) edges and attached to the sail (20) along their length; characterised in that the said sail system further includes a plurality of short battens (30, 33, 36) extending inboard of the sail from the luff edge (22), towards the leech edge (23), the short battens (30, 33, 36) being located between full length battens (26-29).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
116 words
A sail system comprising a sail (20), being a sheet of fabric extending lengthwise of a mast and attached to the mast at a plurality of points along its length for rotational movement thereabout, said sail (20) having luff (22) and leech (23) edges and incorporating a plurality of full length battens (26-29) extending between the luff (22) and leech (23) edges and attached to the sail (20) along their length; characterised in that the said sail system further includes a plurality of short battens (30, 33, 36) extending inboard of the sail from the luff edge (22), towards the leech edge (23), the short battens (30, 33, 36) being located between full length battens (26-29).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
22 words
A sail system according to claim 1 wherein one short batten (30, 33, 36) is placed between two full length battens (26-29).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
34 words
A sail system according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the short battens (30, 33, 36) extend less than halfway from the luff edge (22) towards the leech edge (23) of the sail.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
38 words
A sail system according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the inboard end of the short battens are secured to the sail along the line of greatest tension between the head (24) and tack (25) of the sail.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
45 words
A sail system according to claim 4 wherein the inboard ends 30 a , 33 a , 36 a of the short battens are secured to a seam (40) lying along the line of tension between the head (24) a tack (25) of the sail.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
51 words
A sail system according to any one of the preceeding claims wherein the system includes means (31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38) which, when the sail is in use, transmits a part of the compression load applied to the full length battens (26-29) onto the short length battens (30, 33, 36).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
51 words
A sail system according to claim 6 wherein the said means comprises flexible low stretch elements (31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38) secured to the sail (20) and extending between the luff end (22) of the full length battens (26-29) and the inboard end of the short battens (30, 33, 36).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
39 words
A sail system according to claim 7 wherein the low stretch elements (31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 38) comprise a woven polyester cloth laminated to a polyester film, a woven carbon film fabric or a heavy duty polyester fabric.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
18 words
A sail system according to any one of the preceeding claims when used as a sail board sail.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
22 words
A sail system according to claim 1 and substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 2 or 3 of the drawings.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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