AU739949B2 - Amusement device - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 FRANK ANDRE VANDERWYK 9 9 "9.

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ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Amusement Device The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:- Field of the Invention This invention relates to an amusement device, and in particular it relates to an improved amusement device for use by skateboarders, rollerbladers, and the like.

Background of the Invention Skateboarding is a popular hobby in many countries of the world, particularly in the USA and in Australia. When skateboards first appeared, skateboarders used to practice skating in parks, or on the streets of towns and cities. Because of the dangers caused for pedestrians and the skateboarders themselves, many large towns and cities now provide skateboard parks for skateboarders to practice skating. One popular feature of such parks is a bowl or "half-pipe" arrangement with curved sloping slides: skateboarders can skate down a first slope, use their momentum to carry them up to the top of the opposite facing slope, turn, skate down the slope and up the first slope, turn 15 again etc... until they lose too much energy due to friction and resistance.

The problem with such devices is that because the skateboarder has to continuously descend and ascend and turn, the types of tricks a skateboarder can do are limited. Also since the skateboarder continuously loses energy due to friction, he or she cannot skate continuously for long.

Although devices for producing simulated travelling waves have been proposed in the past for surfers, skateboarders and the like, the proposed designs have been hopelessly impractical and are not believed to have achieved any commercial success, if indeed they were ever built. The majority of the designs have been flawed or too expensive and unreliable to 25 manufacture.

The present invention seeks to provide an alternative amusement device to the existing amusement devices currently available for skateboarders.

Summary of the Invention Thus according to the present invention, there is provided an amusement device for use by skateboarders, rollerbladers, or the like, comprising a mat or layer of material defining a surface for supporting a skateboarder or the like, and a moveable, generally wave-shaped frame, disposed beneath the surface and adapted to move relative to the layer, and thus raise the area of the layer disposed above the frame, the arrangement being such that the frame travelling underneath the layer creates a travelling wave in the surface wherein the frame is supported on a chassis mounted on and movable along guide tracks, the frame defining a generally wedge shaped means for lifting the layer at each end, each said wedge shaped means defining a series of spaced rollers supported on a frame, wherein skid plates are disposed between the rollers for supporting the raised mat or layer and wherein a relatively larger diameter roller defining a central axis is mounted to an apex of the frame for rotation about said central axis, the diameter of the roller being substantially greater than that of the spacer rollers and wherein the roller defines the apex of the wave.

Thus the present invention provides a moving wave on which skateboarders can skate rather than the traditional fixed bowls or half-pipes which skateboarders have previously used. The advantage of the present invention is that because the wave on which the skateboarders skate is moving, energy may be imparted to the skateboarders skating on the face of the wave so that a skateboarder can, for example, skate from side to side on the 15 travelling wave in much the same way as surfers do on waves in the ocean.

The wedge not only defines the correct shape for the lower part of the "wave" but also gives the "wave" sufficient strength to actually support the weight of skateboarders.

i~ In a preferred embodiment the mat is rubber backed with felt for reducing friction between the wedge means or skid plates and the mat.

The plates also referred to as skid plates are preferably made from brushed metal.

The wedge is preferably slightly concave in shape simulating the lower *oo* 00oopart of a wave.

25 The rollers are preferably mounted so that their apexes sit some 3 to 9* 5mm above the skid plates.

The device could be suitable for use by "snow" skiers or "snow-boarders" if the upper surface of the web was made of a suitable material which was sufficiently slippery.

In the case of the device for use for skateboards, the mat may be rubber.

The device may be set out in a linear arrangement with a raised quarter pipe frame typically 2.3 metres high, in line with and a single wave frame moveable towards and away from the quarter pipe frame. Typically the frame may be 1.55 metres high. The frame may travel on wheels supported on a track defined by a pair of rails. Conveniently, the frame may be pulled along by cables and an electric motor.

4 The frame itself supports a roller of a large diameter, say 1 metre at the top of the frame, to define the apex of the wave.

The frame may be manufactured in two metre wide sections so that several sections can be joined together side by side to create waves of 4 metres, 6 metres, 8 metres etc wide as desired.

An arrangement in which the surface defines a generally circular path and the one or more wave frames travel continuously around that path is also envisaged.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Figure 1 is a side view of an apparatus embodying the present invention; Figure 2 is a top view of the apparatus of Figure 1; S 15 Figure 3 is an enlarged side view of a wave frame of the apparatus :shown in Figure 1; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of a skid plate which form part of the *.frame shown in Figure 3; S-Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment of the Invention Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a general arrangement of S""an amusement device embodying the present invention, generally indicated at 10. At the right hand side of the device there is a stand 12 and a standard quarter pipe curved ramp 14. Metal rails of the type used by trains (not shown in detail in Figure 1) extend away from the quarter pipe frame to the 25 left, as oriented in Figure 1. A wave frame 16 is runs on those tracks on flanged (railway style) wheels. A rubber mat 18 (comprising two 3 metre wide sections joined at a longitudinally extending join 18A) extends from the stand 12 down the quarter pipe 14 along the base 15, towards, over, and beyond the wave frame 16.

A ladder 20 is provided to allow access to the stand 12 and a safety railing 22 is provided at the top of the stand. The stand is approximately 2.3 metres high.

As is best seen in Figure 2 a motor 24, a pulley 26 and a cable 28 are provided for moving the wave frame along the tracks towards, and away from the stand 12 to an opposite, similar, stand at the other end.

Figure 3 shows the wave frame 16 in more detail. In side view, the wave frame resembles a roof truss defining an apex 40 a planar portion 42 which slopes downwards from the apex and a curved portion 44 which forms part of a skid plate, to be described in detail below and extends from the lower end planar portion to the base 46 of the frame. The frame is symmetrical either side of the vertical axis passing through the apex 40. A series of large wheels 45 are rotatably mounted on the apex of the frame. The central axis of each wheel, coincides with the apex of the frame. The wheels are free to rotate about their central axes on an axle extending along the apex 40 of the frame. In the particular embodiment shown, each large apex wheel 48 is approximately 600 mm wide such that three of the wheels placed sideby-side but spaced apart by a small distance, total approximately 2 metres wide. On the trough, or curved portion, 44 of the wave frame a series of small roller wheels 45 are rotatably mounted, best seen in Figure 4. In the 15 particular embodiment shown there are four such rollers. The rollers are :.:-.separated by a series of brushed metal skid plates 47. The rollers sit about 3 to 5mm above the skid plates. The part of the rubber mat 18 which is above the frame, is thus supported on a series of small rollers skid/plates at the lower part of the wave frame as the rubber mat extends from ground level towards the apex of the frame. The mat is supported by the upper portions of the wheels 48 at the centre of the wave frame. The rubber mat is felt backed to allow the frame/skid plates to slide easily under the mat.

A tracking guide (not shown) for the rubber mat may extend around and over the extreme edges of the rubber mat, to assist in keeping the mat in 25 place as the wave frame moves. Optionally, a nylon brush or similar may be provided between the edge of the mat and guide 90 to prevent ingress of dirt and the like.

In use a skateboarder can skate down the quarter pipe from the stand and onto and across the wave created by the wave frame travelling under the mat towards the opposite stand. The skateboarder can skate across the front of the wave as it travels towards each stand, turn, and skate back across the wave many times in much the same way as a surfer travels on an ocean wave.

6 Although the described embodiment shows an arrangement in which the device essentially comprises three devices 2 metres wide linked together to form a device 6 metres wide, the device could be wider or narrower, or higher as required.

Instead of the linear arrangement shown in the specific embodiment it would be possible to have the mat arranged in a circular arrangement with the wave frame, or plurality of wave frames, continuously travelling around under the circular matting.

It would also be possible to make the device suitable for use by skiers or snow boarders by coating the rubber mat with a suitably slippery material.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in I the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to 15 be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

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Claims (8)

1. An amusement device for use by skateboarders, rollerbladers, or the like, comprising a mat or layer of material defining a surface for supporting a skateboarder or the like, and a moveable, generally wave-shaped frame, disposed beneath the surface and adapted to move relative to the layer, and thus raise the area of the layer disposed above the frame, the arrangement being such that the frame travelling underneath the layer creates a travelling wave in the surface wherein the frame is supported on a chassis mounted on and movable along guide tracks, the frame defining a generally wedge shaped means for lifting the layer at each end, each said wedge shaped means defining a series of spaced rollers supported on a frame, wherein skid plates are disposed between the rollers for supporting the raised mat or layer and wherein a relatively larger diameter roller defining a central axis is mounted to an apex of the frame for rotation about said central axis, the diameter of the 15 roller being substantially greater than that of the spacer rollers and wherein the roller defines the apex of the wave.

2. An amusement device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mat is made from a rubber type material backed with a friction reducing material such as S felt.

3. An amusement device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the .")wedge is concave in shape and the rollers are mounted such that their apexes sit 3 to 5mm above the plates.

4. An amusement device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the device is arranged in a linear arrangement with a raised quarter pipe frame, 25 typically 2.3 metres high, in line with a single wave frame moveable towards and away from the quarter pipe frame.

5. An amusement device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the frame is arranged to travel on wheels supported on a track defined by a pair of rails, the frame being pulled along by one or more cables and an electric motor.

6. An amusement device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the roller has a diameter of about 1 metre or more.

7. An amusement device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein one or more wave frames are arranged to travel continuously around a circular path. 8

8. An amusement device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and/or as shown in the accompanying drawings. DATED this twenty-sixth day of July 2001 FRANK ANDRE VANDERWYK Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F.B. RICE CO. i e