Misplaced Pages

Springfree Trampoline

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from Springfree trampoline) Sports equipment manufacturer

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
This article contains promotional content. Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view. (November 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
This article may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (January 2016)
(Learn how and when to remove this message)

Springfree Trampoline is a company that manufactures recreational trampoline products and accessories. The design was created by Keith Vivian Alexander, a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.

History

After analysing trampoline data in 1992, Alexander noted three impact zones affecting jumper safety in the George Nissen trampoline design. These were:

  1. The springs – on the jumping surface.
  2. The steel frame – on the jumping surface/ jumpers may fall and injure themselves.
  3. The ground or obstructions on the ground – jumpers would hit as a result of falling off.

Alexander's goal was to increase the trampoline's safety by re-engineering the spring technology. In 1999, Alexander released his first prototype utilising glass-reinforced plastic rods, and the first commercial versions began selling in late 2004. In 2009, Springfree Trampoline won an Australian Design Award.

Design

Alternative Springfree trampoline

The Springfree trampoline's design includes the use of glass-reinforced plastic rods articulating below the jumping surface, as opposed to the radiating steel spring coils of a Nissen trampoline. The jumping surface is lowered around 450mm below the jumping surface of a traditional trampoline, and the base's rigidity is derived from a tubular steel assembly with angled supports.

References

  1. Associate Professor Keith Alexander – University of Canterbury
  2. Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine

External links

Categories: