AU6711801A - A board for use in extreme sports - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a board for use in extreme sports and, in particular, to an unwheeled, sliding board to which the rider's feet are strapped and which is suited to inclined surface, edge and aerial manoeuvres requiring an acrobatic level of skill.

In the recent past, extreme sports have become very popular, particularly among young people who comprise a large proportion of the practitioners of such sports, and among television and film viewers who find excitement in the spectacle. Whilst extreme sports can take many forms, some of the most popular forms are those utilizing a board upon which a rider stands, 10 such as skateboarding, snow boarding, and surfing. These sports utilize custom built boards adapted to be ridden in a specific environment and to be C manoeuvred in a range of ways only limited by the imagination or skill of the oo rider.

To date, however, unwheeled, sliding boards have yet to be utilized as a means of engaging in an extreme sport on inclined ramps and hillsides not °ocovered in snow. Inclined ramps are popular with skateboarders and grassy oo.hillsides are popular with grass skiers and tobogganists, but no board has .oO° hitherto been invented to be ridden and manoeuvred in both such environments It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a board for use in extreme sports requiring riding and manoeuvring of the board on and over inclined ramps and hillsides not covered in snow.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an unwheeled, sliding board that can also be ridden and manoeuvred on and over edges, ground elevated platforms and the like features.

According to the present invention, there is provided an unwheeled, sliding board for use in extreme sports requiring inclined surface, edge and aerial manoeuvring of the board, comprising an upper surface, a lower ground engaging surface, an endless side surface, a pair of foot straps attached to the upper surface for strapping both feet of a rider thereto, and a continuous raised lip portion defining an upper edge around the endless side surface, the continuous raised lip portion being elevated from the immediately adjacent upper surface to enable the rider to grip the board on both sides of the lip portion with sufficient purchase to aerially manoeuvre the board.

In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in 10 which:-

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o• Fig 1 is a perspective view of a board according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and Fig 2 is a bottom view of the board of Fig 1.

The board 10 has a body 12 made of a hard plastic, such as •.!polyethylene or polypropylene, and formed by a conventional plastic moulding ::process. The upper surface 14 of the body 12 is covered in a frictional grip mat •16, affixed thereto by an adhesive substance.

A pair of foot straps 18, 20 are secured to respective forward and rearward locations of the upper surface 14 and may be adjustable by buckles or by overlapping VELCRO T M strip pieces so as to accommodate different foot sizes. The orientation of the foot straps 18, 20 are such that the rider's strapped feet are aligned substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the board As viewed side on, the body 12 of the board 10 is contoured so as to have an undulating or wavy upper surface 14 with upturned forward and ;i; rearward ends to prevent ploughing of the board 10 into the surface on or over which it is being ridden or manoeuvred.

The lower surface 22 of the body 12, apart from the upturned forward and rearward ends, is substantially flat, with a pair of grooves 24, 26 or recesses formed into the lower surface 22 of the body 12 and extending from one upturned end to the other, as shown in Fig 2. The grooves 24, 26 improve the control the rider has of the board 10 when riding and manoeuvring on edges, as the board may be manoeuvred so that the grooves 24, 26 receive therewithin the line of the edge and thus guide the board stabily along the ooo 10 edge, or enable the board to pivot stabily about the edge.

o The grooves 24, 26 may also serve as strengthening ribs to prevent 0 0°o significant bending of the board laterally thereacross, but allow for some slight

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::oo bending along the long sides of the board to accommodate or promote swivel manoeuvres, particularly on hard surfaces. The grooves 24, 26 also provide a "cushion of air" effect beneath the board so as to facilitate air flow through the 0 groves 24, 26. Such air flow may assist in maintaining linear direction of o, omovement of the board by squeezing the air linearly backwards, in contrast to the expected side ways air flow if the grooves were not present.

Also formed into the lower surface 22 is a generally semi- or partspherical socket 28 which is adapted to matingly receive a ball portion of a base (not shown) which may be used with the board 10 as a balance apparatus.

There is an endless side surface 30 between the upper surface 14 and lower surface 22.

A continuous raised lip portion 32 of the side surface 30 defines an upper edge extending around the entire endless side surface 30, and is elevated from the immediately adjacent upper surface 14 to enable the rider rs~rs~rs~rs~rs~rs~rs~rs-~~~i~F~2 ~Z i IL? the grip the board 10 on both sides of the lip portion 32 with sufficient purchase to aerially manoeuvre the board. The lip portion 32 also assists in protecting the grip mat 16 from physical damage.

Various modifications may be made in details of design and construction without departing from the scope and ambit of the invention.

EMANUEL GRECH, JOSEPH GRECH and 10 DEMETRIAS REJTANO Patent Attorneys for the Applicant PETER MAXWELL ASSOCIATES 0 4 0e **00 a *d a *0 0 0000