GB1593849A

GB1593849A - Kites

Info

Publication number: GB1593849A
Application number: GB41836/76A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1977-10-07
Filing date: 1977-10-07
Publication date: 1981-07-22

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO KITES (71) I, MICHAEL LESNEY NOAKES, a British subject of 7 Rosedale Crescent, London Road, Earley, Reading, Berks. RG6 lAS, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following state ment: This invention relates to kites.

According to the present invention there is provided a kite comprising an inflatable bag and two or more strings attached to a front of the bag; the bag having an air inlet at the front, a first wall which in use faces upwards, a second wall which in use faces downwards, and one or more outlet openings in the second wall; the total or aggregate area of the outlet opening, or openings, being less than that of the inlet opening so that in use air enters the interior of the bag through the air inlet opening, inflates the bag, and exits through the outlet openings.

Preferably the inlet opening is defined between a front edge of the first wall and a front edge of the second wall and the first wall is longer than the second wall when measured in a direction extending away from the inlet opening towards a rear region of the kite. Preferably the front edge of the first wall projects ahead of the front edge of the second wall so that, in use, the inlet opening faces generally forwards and downwards.

Preferably the total area of the outlet openings is less than half that of the inlet opening, although kites have been made in accordance with the present invention and flown with outlet areas of between one fifth and one third the area of the inlet opening.

One or more of the air outlet openings may be provided in a rear portion of the bag. In the case of a kite which is quadrangular in plan at least two of these outlet openings may be formed by cutting off the rear corners of the bag.

A framework of struts or other supports may be provided to support the bag to ensure that it attains a predetermined inflated shape when inflated by the wind.

Two or more strings are attached to the bag in the vicinity of the inlet opening. In the case of there being more than two strings, all the strings may be joined to a single string, or to two or more strings, which are normally held by the person flying the kite.

The inlet opening may be of any desired cross-sectional shape. Support members may be provided to ensure that the inlet opening attains a desired shape.

The bag may be of any desired shape in for example it may be circular, triangular, or polygonal in plan view.

The present invention will now be described by way of an example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings not to scale in which Figure 1 illustrates one form of kite constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figures 2 to 4 are plan views of alternative shapes of kite to that shown in Figure 1, constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure Sa is the front elevation of a specific size of kite of the general type shown in Figure 4.

Figure 5b is a top plan view of the kite of Figure 5a.

Figure 5c is a underside view of the kite of Figure 5a.

Figure 5d is a side elevation of the kite of Figure 5a.

Figure 6a is the front elevation of a second version of the general form of kite shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6b is a top plan view of the kite of Figure 6a.

Figure 6c is an underside plan of the kite of Figure 6a.

Figure 6d is a side elevation of the kite of Figure 6a.

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a kite 10 comprising an inflatable bag 11 made from thin polythene, P.V.C. or other material. The bag is basically rectangular in plan and is 3 feet wide. The bag may be made from a single sheet of material folded about an axis 12 and joined at its two sides by two wedge shaped side pieces 13. The uppermost wall sheet 14, is about 35.5 ins. long whilst the lower wall sheet 15, is about 32.75 ins. long. In this way the inlet opening 16 is angled to face forwards and slightly downwards when the kite is flying. The inlet opening 16 is formed by five struts 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21. made of wood, light alloy, or a plastics material. Both sheets 14 and 15 are 3 feet wide. The struts 17, 18 and 19 are 8 ins. long, thus making the area of the inlet opening 288 in2. The side panels 22, 23 are of tapered form to make the kite wedge shaped.There is no internal framework to support the bag.

The rear corners 24, 25 are cut off approximately 2 to 3 ins. from the point, and five holes 26 of 3 ins diameter on a 6" pitch are spaced along a line which is 5 ins from the rear edge of the kite. A sixth hole 27 is located 5 ins. in front of the central one of the holes 26.

Four strings 28 to 31 are connected to the inlet opening frame where the struts 17, and 19 are joined to the struts 20, 21 Strings 28 and 29 are 37 ins. long and Strings 30 and 31 are 35.5 ins. long. The strings 28 and 31 are connected to a first string 32 held by the person flying the kite, whereas the strings 29 and 30 are connected to a second string held by the person flying the kite.

One or more tails 35 may be connected to the rear of the kite, for example one tail is connected at each corner, and one in the middle. The tails are 25 ft or more in length and are made of thin plastics material. The tails may be hollow tubular members.

Figures 2 to 4 illustrate alternative shapes of kites. The inlet openings being given the numeral 36; the outlet openings are numbered 37; the strings are numbered 38 and the tails 39. In all cases the upper wall is longer than the lower wall so as to point the inlet opening slightly downwards, and the area of the outlet openings are, in all cases, less than the area of the inlet opening so that the wind inflates the kite.

The side panels of the kites may be of uniform height from front to back or may taper as shown in Figure 1. Numerous different shapes of kites are possible. In all cases the outlet openings are of a smaller area than the inlet openings.

Referring to Figures Sa to 5d the kite is, in plan view (see Figures 6b and 6c) generally narrower at the front than at the rear. The air inlet opening is generally rectangular measuring 1'7" wide by 10" high; this gives an inlet area of 190 in The upper wall 40, and lower wall 41 are made from thin plastics or lightweight woven cotton fabric. The upper and lower walls 40, 41 are joined together by side walls 42.

The kite shown in Figures 5a to 5d has the dimensions shown in the following table: A - 24 ins.

B - 24 ins.

C - 18 ins.

D - 9 ins.

The rear corners 43, 44 are cut off at about 31/2 ins. from the point, and nine holes (all 3 ins. diameter) are cut in the lower wall 41.

The holes are arranged in three rows spaced 31/2 ins. apart with the rearmost row 31/2 ins. from the rear edge of the kite. Holes 45 are spaced 8 ins. apart with the centre hole on the centreline axis of the kite. Holes 46 are 31/2 ins. apart and holes 47 are 6 ins.

apart.

The total area of the outlet holes is approximately 63 in2; this is approximately one third of the inlet area.

The inlet opening is held in shape by a rectangular frame work 50 of light alloy rods (or other suitable rods). A control string 51, 52 is secured to each upright member of framework 50.

Referring to Figures 6a to 6d, the kite is made from a single sheet of thin plastics material, or lightweight woven cotton fabric. The sheet 53 is joined itself along one side edge 54 and is sealed along its back edge 55.

The inlet opening is an isosceles triangle defined by a frame of three light-alloy rods 55. The apex of the triangle is tilted forward so that is is about 16 ins. in front of the base.

The upper wall 57 is secured to the sides 58, 59 of the triangle and the lower wall 60 is secured to the base 61.

The kite shown in Figures 6a to 6d has the dimensions shown in the following table.

A - 36 ins.

B - 34 ins.

C - 29 ins.

D - 16 ins.

E - 36 ins.

F - 42 ins.

G - 26 ins.

The rear corners 62, 63 are cut off about 6 ins. from the point, and five holes are cut in the lower wall. The holes are arranged in two rows the rearmost row being 31/2 ins.

from the rear edge of the kite and having two holes of 3 ins. diameter spaced 10 ins.

apart.

A second row of three holes 7 ins.

diameter spaced 10 inches apart are cut in a row spaced 10 ins. from the other row of holes.

The area of the outlet opening is approximately one fifth the area of the inlet openings.

A control string 64, 65 attached at the lateral corners of the framework 55.

Both the kites of Figures 5 and 6 have been flown in winds of various strengths and are extemely manoeuvrable. By pulling one or both strings, the kites can be made to climb or fall, or roll about their central longitudinal axis. A number of kites have been flown one behind the other from two strings, and all kites performed the same aerobatics simultaneously.

The wind, by inflating the kites of Figures 5 and 6, causes the upperwall to assume an outwardly convex curve and thus the air flow over the outside of this curve increased the lift on the kite.

In a further form of kite according to the present invention, the bag is made by forming a tube of flexible material, and joining the edge of the tube at one end to form a rear edge of the bag. The other end of the tube is open and defines the air inlet opening.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A kite comprising an inflatable bag and two or more strings attached to a front of the bag; the bag having an air inlet at the front, a first wall which in use faces upwards, a second wall which in use faces downwards, and one or more outlet openings in the second wall; the total or aggregate area of the outlet opening, or openings, being less than that of the inlet opening so that in use air enters the interior of the bag through the air inlet opening, inflates the bag, and exits through the outlet openings.

2. A kite according to Claim 1 wherein the inlet opening is defined between a front edge of the first wall and a front edge of the second wall, and the first wall is longer than the second wall when measured in a direction extending away from the inlet opening towards a rear region of the kite.

3. A kite according to Claim 2 wherein the front edge of the first wall projects ahead of the front edge of the second wall so that, in use, the inlet opening faces generally forwards and downwards.

4. A kite according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the bag comprises a sheet folded along a line to define a rear region of the kite and is joined at each of its sides to a side sheet, and the air inlet opening is defined by two free edges of the sheet.

5. A kite according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the bag comprises a tube joined at one end to define a rear region of the kite and open at the other end to define the air inlet opening.

6. A kite according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein one or more additional air outlet openings are provided in the rear of the bag.

7. A kite according to claim 6 wherein the bag is generally quadrangular in plan and at least two of the additional outlet openings in the rear are formed by cutting off the rear corners of the bag.

8. A kite according to any one of the preceding claims wherein there is provided a framework of struts to support and define the inlet opening.

9. A kite according to any one of the preceding claims wherein there is provided a framework of struts to support the bag.

10. A kite according to claim 4 wherein the side sheets are generally tapered.

11. A kite according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the bag is generally circular in plan view.

12. A kite according to any one of claims, 1 to 3 wherein the bag is triangular in plan view.

13. A kite according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the bag is a polygon in plan view.

14. A kite according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the bag comprises a sheet mounted on a framework of struts which defines a substantially planar second wall and two sloping surfaces that constitute the first wall, and the framework of struts forms a triangular shaped air inlet opening.

15. A kite according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the bag is generally trapezoidal in plan view with parallel sides defining the front and rear edges of the kite in use.

16. A kite according to claim 15 wherein the front edge of the kite is longer than the rear edge of the kite.

17. A kite according to claim 15 wherein the front edge of the kite is shorter than the rear edge of the kite.

18. A kite according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the total area of the outlet opening or openings is less than half that of the inlet opening.

19. A kite according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the total area of the outlet opening or openings is between rd and l/sth that of the inlet opening.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. two holes of 3 ins. diameter spaced 10 ins. apart. A second row of three holes 7 ins. diameter spaced 10 inches apart are cut in a row spaced 10 ins. from the other row of holes. The area of the outlet opening is approximately one fifth the area of the inlet openings. A control string 64, 65 attached at the lateral corners of the framework 55. Both the kites of Figures 5 and 6 have been flown in winds of various strengths and are extemely manoeuvrable. By pulling one or both strings, the kites can be made to climb or fall, or roll about their central longitudinal axis. A number of kites have been flown one behind the other from two strings, and all kites performed the same aerobatics simultaneously. The wind, by inflating the kites of Figures 5 and 6, causes the upperwall to assume an outwardly convex curve and thus the air flow over the outside of this curve increased the lift on the kite. In a further form of kite according to the present invention, the bag is made by forming a tube of flexible material, and joining the edge of the tube at one end to form a rear edge of the bag. The other end of the tube is open and defines the air inlet opening. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A kite comprising an inflatable bag and two or more strings attached to a front of the bag; the bag having an air inlet at the front, a first wall which in use faces upwards, a second wall which in use faces downwards, and one or more outlet openings in the second wall; the total or aggregate area of the outlet opening, or openings, being less than that of the inlet opening so that in use air enters the interior of the bag through the air inlet opening, inflates the bag, and exits through the outlet openings.

10. A kite according to claim 4 wherein the side sheets are generally tapered.