Tow handle for water skiing and the like

Claim 2

For water skiing and the like, a tow handle comprising: an elongated hard spine with a hole adjacent each end and two guide sleeves integral with the spine and extending outwardly therefrom, said sleeves having bores communicating with said spine holes; a tow line received in each hole and sleeve bore and held securely to the spine; a substantially softer casing molded around and secured to the spine; said casing having a guide sleeve casing molded around each guide sleeve, which guide sleeves and guide sleeve casings extend laterally beyond the grasping area a sufficient distance to keep a user''s hand from being pinched between a tow line and the grasping area when the handle is cocked relative to the tow lines, and said casing being held from rotating about the spine by the interrelationship of the guide sleeves and guide sleeve casings.

Claim 3

A tow handle as set forth in claim 1, wherein the hard springy spine is polypropylene.

Claim 4

A tow handle as set forth in claim 1, wherein the soft casing is thermoplastic.

Claim 5

A tow handle as set forth in claim 3, wherein the soft casing has a tacky slip-resistant outer surface regardless of whether this outer surface is wet or dry.

Claim 6

A tow handle as set forth in claim 4, wherein the soft casing is ethylene-vinyl-acetate.

Claim 7

A tow handle as set forth in claim 3, wherein the soft thermoplastic casing has embedded metal flakes.

Claim 8

A tow handle as set forth in claim 1, wherein the tow handle has a specific gravity of less than 1.0, and can thereby float on water.

Claim 9

For water skiing and the like, the combination of: a tow handle that has an elongated hard springy manually bendable thermoplastic spine with a hole adjacent each end; a hollow braided tow rope received in each hole and held to the spine; a wedge pin fitting inside each hollow rope wedgingly holding it to the spine; said wedge pins having diameters that decrease toward forward ends, and said forward ends extend beyond the tow handle so the pins can be knocked out to release the tow ropes from the tow handle; a substantially softer casing fitting around and secured to the spine; and a grasping area between the tow handle''s ends, with the encased spine in this grasping area capable of substantial flexing and unflexing during use without collapsing on a user''s hand, thereby absorbing shock that would normally be transferred from a towing vehicle to a user.

Claim 10

For water skiing and the like, the combination of: a tow handle that has an elongated hard springy manually bendable thermoplastic spine with a hole adjacent each end; a hollow braided tow rope received in each hole and held to the spine; a wedge pin fitting inside each hollow rope wedgingly holding it to the spine; said wedge pins having diameters that decrease toward forward ends, and said forward ends extend beyond the tow handle so the pins can be knocked out to release the tow ropes from the tow handle; a substantially softer casing fitting around and secured to the spine; and a grasping area between the tow handle''s ends, with the encased spine in this grasping area capable of substantial flexing and unflexing during use without collapsing on a user''s hand, thereby absorbing shock that would normally be transferred from a towing vehicle to a user.

Claim 11

For water skiing and the like, the combination of: a tow handle that has an elongated hard springy manually bendable thermoplastic spine with a hole adjacent each end; a tow line received in each hole and held to the spine; said tow handle having guide sleeves around each tow line, which guide sleeves are more rigid than the tow lines and extend laterally beyond the grasping area a sufficient distance to keep a user''s hand from being pinched between a tow line and the grasping area when the handle is cocked relative to the tow lines; a substantially softer casing fitting around and secured to the spine; and a grasping area between the tow handle''s ends, with the encased spine in this grasping area capable of substantial flexing and unflexing during use without collapsing on a user''s hand, thereby absorbing shock that would normally be transferred from a towing vehicle to a user.

Claim 12

For water skiing and the like, the combination of: a tow handle that has an elongated hard springy manually bendable thermoplastic spine with a hole adjacent each end; a tow line received in each hole and held to the spine; said tow handle having guide sleeves around each tow line, which guide sleeves are more rigid than the tow lines and extend laterally beyond the grasping area a sufficient distance to keep a user''s hand from being pinched between a tow line and the grasping area when the handle is cocked relative to the tow lines; a substantially softer casing fitting around and secured to the spine; and a grasping area between the tow handle''s ends, with the encased spine in this grasping area capable of substantial flexing and unflexing during use without collapsing on a user''s hand, thereby absorbing shock that would normally be transferred from a towing vehicle to a user.

Claim 13

For water skiing and the like, the combination of: a tow handle that can float on water and includes an elongated hard springy thermoplastic spine with a hole adjacent each end; a hollow braided tow rope received in each hole; a tapered wedge pin fitting inside each hollow rope wedgingly holding the ropes to the spine, each wedge pin having a wide end with an enlarged head to prevent the pin from being pulled out of the hole under extreme loads and a smaller end that extends beyond the tow handle so that each wedge pin can be knocked out of its hole to disconnect its respective tow rope from the tow handle; a substantially softer thermoplastic casing molded around the spine and secured thereto, said soft casing presenting a tacky slip-resistant outer surface regardless of whether the outer surface is wet or dry; a grasping area between the tow handle''s ends with the encased spine in this area capable of substantially flexing and unflexing without collapsing on a user''s hand, thereby absorbing shock that would normally be transferred from a towing vehicle to the user; and guide sleeves integral with the tow handle and fitting around each tow rope, which guide sleeves are more rigid than the tow ropes and extend laterally beyond the grasping area a sufficient distance to keep a user''s hand from being pinched between a tow rope and the grasping area when the tow handle is cocked relative to the tow ropes.

Claim 14

For water skiing and the like, the combination of: a tow handle that can float on water and includes an elongated hard springy thermoplastic spine with a hole adjacent each end; a hollow braided tow rope received in each hole; a tapered wedge pin fitting inside each hollow rope wedgingly holding the ropes to the spine, each wedge pin having a wide end with an enlarged head to prevent the pin from being pulled out of the hole under extreme loads and a smaller end that extends beyond the tow handle so that each wedge pin can be knocked out of its hole to disconnect its respective tow rope from the tow handle; a substantially softer thermoplastic casing molded around the spine and secured thereto, said soft casing presenting a tacky slip-resistant outer surface regardless of whether the outer surface is wet or dry; a grasping area between the tow handle''s ends with the encased spine in this area capable of substantially flexing and unflexing without collapsing on a user''s hand, thereby absorbing shock that would normally be transferred from a towing vehicle to the user; and guide sleeves integral with the tow handle and fitting around each tow rope, which guide sleeves are more rigid than the tow ropes and extend laterally beyond the grasping area a sufficient distance to keep a user''s hand from being pinched between a tow rope and the grasping area when the tow handle is cocked relative to the tow ropes.

Claim 15

For water skiing and the like, a tow handle comprising: an elongated hard spine with a hole adjacent each end and two guide sleeves integral with the spine and extending outwardly therefrom, said sleeves having bores communicating with said spine holes, each hole and sleeve bore combination extending laterally from the spine and adapted to receive a tow line for firm securement to the spine; a substantially softer casing molded around and secured to the spine; said casing having a guide sleeve casing molded around each guide sleeve, which guide sleeves and guide sleeve casings extend laterally beyond the grasping area a sufficient distance to keep the user''s hand from being pinched after tow lines have been connected to the handle and the handle is cocked relative to such tow lines, and said casing being held from rotating about the spine by the interrelationship of the guide sleeves and the guiDe sleeve casings.

Claim 16

For water skiing and the like, a tow handle comprising: an elongated hard spine with a hole adjacent each end and two guide sleeves integral with the spine and extending outwardly therefrom, said sleeves having bores communicating with said spine holes, each hole and sleeve bore combination extending laterally from the spine and adapted to receive a tow line for firm securement to the spine; a substantially softer casing molded around and secured to the spine; said casing having a guide sleeve casing molded around each guide sleeve, which guide sleeves and guide sleeve casings extend laterally beyond the grasping area a sufficient distance to keep the user''s hand from being pinched after tow lines have been connected to the handle and the handle is cocked relative to such tow lines, and said casing being held from rotating about the spine by the interrelationship of the guide sleeves and the guiDe sleeve casings.