US3626428A

US3626428A - Surf boards

Info

Publication number: US3626428A
Application number: US881721A
Authority: US
Inventors: Christopher Collaro
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-02-04
Filing date: 1969-12-03
Publication date: 1971-12-07
Anticipated expiration: 1988-12-07
Also published as: GB1184780A

Abstract

A surf board having a hull with sufficient buoyancy to support a rider is provided with a seat which is pivotally mounted so that it can turn about an upright axis and a rudder which is connected to the seat so that the rider can steer the surf board by twisting the seat. A catch for the attachment of a towrope to the hull is provided on the underside of the bow of the hull and the catch has a release mechanism controlled by a member which extends towards the seat to enable it to be held by the rider. The release mechanism is so arranged that when the control member is held and pulled by the rider, the catch holds the towrope, but on release of the control member, the release mechanism causes the catch to release the rope.

Description

' SURF BOARDS This invention relates to surfboards of the kind which is intended to be towed behind a high-speed motorboat and which 7 I hassufficient buoyancy to support a rider.

In my British specification No. 1.093.970 a sun beam of Forthis purpose, the surf board described in my prior specification had a seat which was pivotally mounted so that it could turn about an upright axis. a suppon for the feet of a rider to withstand the thrust of a towrope held by the rider and a oddsusnnssts iq tbsssat s a m id= .ss ..wh !e e wasprovided for the towrope at the bow of the surf board so that as the towing boat turned and the towrope extended at an angle from the surf board, the pull still passed through the centerline of the board at its bow and assisted in turning the board to keep it in line with the towrope.

It was found, however, that this arrangement was not entirely satisfactory because the pull from the towrope passing to the hands of the rider at a distance above the surf board applied. a turning moment to the surf board which tended to cause it to bury its bows. Because the rider sat on a seat which was fixed in a fore and aft position he was unable to alter the position of his own center of gravity in a fore and aft direction, as a done by a water skier, sufficiently to correct the trim of the surf board and raise its bow to cause it to assume a sau'sfactory planing position.

in order to overcome this difficulty, according to this invention. a surf board which has sufficient buoyancy to support a rider, a seat which is pivotally mounted so that it can turn holding a tow rope, s teel; the surfboard by twisting the seat. A

v and rearwardly from the bracket. With the hook held in this The catch is preferably in the form of a hook' which is pivotally mounted on a bracket fixed to the underside of the bow of the surf board. The hook has a shank which projects from its pivot so that the hook and the shank together form a bell crank lever. The control member in the form of a rope is connected to the free end of the shank and when this is pulled the hook is held in a position in which it projects downwardly position a loop on the end of a towrope will be held in he book when the towropeextends under tension in a forward and slightly upward direction. To hold the loop of the towrope in the hook if the towrope should become slack, a spring extends from the shank adjacent the pivot to the free end of the hook. The spring is pulled back to allow the loop of the towrope to be held between it and the hook. If the rider of the board releases the control rope, the hook and its shank are turned about the pivot by the pull of the towrope so that the hook itself rocks forwards until its free end points in the direction in which the towrope is pulled. When this happens the loop of the towrope immediately pulls over the free end of the hook pushing the spring back from the free end of the hook so that the towrope is released.

when the rider is required to exert a pull on the control rope or other control member equal or proportional to the pull in the towrope. the surf board is provided with a support for the feet of the rider similar to that provided on the surf board described in my prior specification. This support withstands the thrust caused by the pull of the control member on the rider. The support is preferably made adjustable in a fore and aft direction to enable riders with widely different leg lengths to be accommodated comfortably.

about an upright axis and a rudder which is connected to the seat so that the rider can steer the surf board by twisting the seat,as in the surf board described in my prior specification, is provided. at the underside of its bow, with a catch for the attachment of a towrope, the catch having a release mechanism controlled by a member which extends towards the seat to enable it to be held by the rider, the mechanism being arranged so that when the member is held and pulled by the rider the catch holds the towrope, but on release of the member, the release mechanism causes the catch to release the rope.

With this arrangement, the pull from the towrope is applied to the underside of the bow at approximately sea level and thus the towrope tends to provide a slight upward pull towards its point of attachment to the towing boat and this lifts the bow of the surf board so that it assumes the correct trim to plane over the surface of the water and any tendency for the surf board to bury its bows is completely overcome.

Even though the towrope is held by the catch, the fact that the rider has to maintain a pull on the control member provides the rider with a sensation similar to that of holding the towrope directly and if the rider falls off the surf board or for any other reason releases the control member, the towrope is at once released so that the surf board remains with the rider as is the case when a directly held towrope is dropped in an emergency.

Preferably the catch and its release mechanism are con- An example of a surf board in accordance with the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a side elevation;

FIG. 2 is a plan;

HO. 3 is an underneath plan;

FIG. 4 is a section on the line lV-W in H6. 3; and.

HO. 5 is asection on the line V--V in FIG. 3.

The surf board has a hull 1 which is a hollow moulding-of glass fiber reinforced plastics material. The hollow moulding is made in the usual way in which small boat hulls are made by forming the complete moulding in two sections and substrucfed tfiifch'aWaythat'either the 'pull of the towrope is Iimsrnitted directly to the control member so that the rider is'proportional to that in the towrope. In the latter case the rider must pull the control member with a force which is smaller han that in the towrope but nevertheless varies with the pull of the towrope. In either case the effect is that the rider is given the impression that he is being towed by the contml member which adds to the enjoyment. The control member may be in the form of a handle connected by bars or other rigid members to the catch release mechanism, out it is preferably in the form of a rope of which the rider either holds a loop or which is provided with a crossbar similar to the bars usually provided on the ends of towropes for water skiing.

sequently sticking these together with an adhesive of the same plastics material as that out of which the mouldings are made. As shown most clearly in FIGS. 4 and 5. the hull is divided into three compartments and is stiffened by two internal webs 2. It is also provided with a central fin keel 3 and two-bilge fin keels 4.

The keels 4 are of hollow section as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and form rudimentary floats to give the hull a somewhat catamaranlike form as is now common with small high-speed motorboats.

To maintain its buoyancy if the hull is damaged, it is filled with rigid polyurethane foam 5 formed insitu. The central keel 3 is shorter than thebilge keels 4 and extending from its after end is a strip of flexible plastics material which forms a rudder 6. The forward end 7 of the rudder 6-is moulded into the afterend of the keel 3 as shown most clearly in FIG. 5. The rudder 6 projects beyond the afterend of the hull l. but its overall depth is very slightly less than that of the keels 4 so that when the surf board is beached, the hull is carried by the fin keels 4 and the rudder 6 is p tected.

On the deck of the hull l is a further glass fiber reinforced moulding forming a foot support 8 which is fixed to the hull l by bolts 9 passing through slots 10 so that on loosening the bolts the foot support 8 can be adjusted in position in a fore and aft direction. Thesupport 8 is shown in FIGS. 1. and 2 in its most forward position.

Near its after end, the hull l is formed with a tubular socket 11 which forms a pintle beas'l d into which a spigot 12 .The seat 13 is itself a hollow glass fiber reinforced plastics moulding which filled with rigid polyurethane foam so that in itself it has substantial buoyancy.

turn. the rudder 6 is bent about its fixed forward end 7 and is itself in effect turned to steer the surf board.

To enable the surf board to be towed by a motorboat. itis provided at the underside of its bow with a catch and release mechanism :16. The catch-comprises a hook l'lwhichtogether with a shank l8 fixed to it form a bell crank lever which is pivotally mounted on a bracket 19 fixed to the hull l. The afterend of the shank 18 is formed with an eye 19' and fixed in this eye is a rope 20 which forms a control member and extends through a tube 21 moulded in the hull upwards in front of the foot support 8 to a handle 22 at its upper end. When the handle 22 is grasped by a rider sitting in the seat 13 and is pulled, the book 17 is held in the position shown in full lines in FIG. i of the drawings.

With the book 17 in this position, it will hold a loop formed on the end ota towrope 23 and further, to hold the loop of the towrope23 in the hook 17 of the towrope becomes slack, a spring arm 24 is provided. The spring arm 24 has one end rigidly fixed to the shank l8 and its other end extends just beyond the hook 17. To allow the loop of the rope 23 to be inserted in the hook 17, the spring arm 24 can be pulled back, that is in an aft direction, until it is clear of the tip of the hook 17.

in use. the handle 22 is pulled as already described to hold the hook 17 in the position shown in full lines in FIG. I and the surfboard is towed by the rope 23. To steer the surf board, the rider bends his knees and twists to rotate the seat 13 and hence to turn the rudder 6. lf the surf board is capsized or the rider is thrown off, he releases the handle 22 and this allows the bell crank lever formed by the hook 17 and the shank 18 to turn under the pull of the towrope 23 into the position shown in chain-dotted lines in HG. was! the hook 1'! in this position, the pull of the towrope pulls its loop away from the hook l7 against the spring 24 which flexes and at once allows the loop of the towrope 23 to be pulled away and completely released.

If owing to some unforseen circumstances the towrope 23 Y becomes snarled and fails to be released from the hook 17, the spigot 12 will pull out of the socket it if the surf board capsizes so that the seat 13, which is buoyant is released and ac& as a float for the rider. if necessary, the rider can be strapped or otherwise held in the seat 13 so that if he falls off the surf board and the surf board is towed a short distance before the towrope is released, the seat will automatically become detached and at all times remain with the rider.

The angle at which the towrope 23 extends to the horizontal is slightly exaggerated in FIG. 1 of the drawings. but owing to the position of the hook 17 on the underside of the bow of the surf board, the towrope will tend to lift the bow and ensure that the surf board planes satisfactorily.

1 claim:

I. A surf board comprising a hull including a bow portion, said hull having sufficient buoyancy to support a rider, a seat for said rider, means pivotally mounting said seat on said hull for turning movement about an upright axis, a rudder, means attaching said rudder to said hull for turning movement relative thereto. mcnns operatively connecting said sent in mid rudder whereby said rider cun steer iutid surf board by turning 1 said seat, a catch for the attachment of u towrope and means attaching said catch to the underside of said bow portion of said hull for movement independently of said steering means between a towrope holding position and a release position. and release means including a member which extends from said catch towards said seat to enable it to be tensioned by said rider, said catch being mounted to be moved to its release position when there is tension on a towrope engaged by said catch unless restrained from'such movement by countervailin tension on said release means. 0

. A surf boardas claimed in claim 1, wherein said release means includes means for transmitting tension in said towrope directly to said member.-

3. A surf board as claimed in claim 2, wherein said member includes a rope and a handle fixed to said rope, said handle being arranged to be held by said rider.

4. A surf board as claimed in claim 2, wherein said catch comprises a hook for receiving a'loop on said towrope, said catch-attaching means includes a bracket attached to the underside of said bow portion of said hull, means pivotally mounting said hook on said bracket, a shank projecting from said hook, said hook and said shank together forming a bell crank lever and said shank having a free end remote from said hook and said member being attached to said free end of said shank whereby when said member is pulled by said rider, said hook is held in a position in which it projects downwardly and rearwardly from said bracket to hold said towrope, but when said member is released said hook swings forwards under the pull of said towrope to release said towrope.

5. A surf board as claimed in claim 4, further comprising spring means extending from said shank adjacent said pivot to the free end of said hook, said spring means being arranged to hold said towrope in said book when said towrope is slack.

6. A surf board as claimed in claim 1, further comprising foot support means on said hull for withstanding thrust'applied to said rider by tension in said control member.

7. A surf board as claimed in claim 6, further comprising means movably mounting said foot support means on said hull I for adjustment in position in a fore and aft direction.

8. A surf board as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rudder includes a strip of flexible material and means fixing said strip of flexible material to said hull at the forward end of said strip.

9. A surf board as claimed in claim 8, wherein said means operatively connecting said seat to said rudder comprises an arm fixed to and extending aft from said seat and means projecting downwards from the aft end of said arm behind said hull and straddling the after end of said rudder.

10. A surf board as claimed in claim 1, wherein said means mounting said seat on said hull includes means defining a socket in said hull and a spigot on said seat, said spigot fitting removably in said socket.

ll. A surf board as claimed in claim 10, wherein said seat includes buoyancy means assisting flotation of said rider when said seat is detached from said hull.

12. A surf board as claimed in claim I, further comprising two-fin bilge keels fixed to said hull.

13. A surf board as claimed in claim 12, wherein said bilge keels project downwards beyond said rudder whereby said keels protect said rudder when said surf board is beached.

' U i I i

Claims

1. A surf board comprising a hull including a bow portion, said hull having sufficient buoyancy to support a rider, a seat for said rider, means pivotally mounting said seat on said hull for turning movement about an upright axis, a rudder, means attaching said rudder to said hull for turning movement relative thereto, means operatively connecting said seat to said rudder whereby said rider can steer said surf board by turning said seat, a catch for the attachment of a towrope and means attaching said catch to the underside of said bow portion of said hull for movement independently of said steering means between a towrope holding position and a release position, and release means including a member which extends from said catch towards said seat to enable it to be tensioned by said rider, said catch being mounted to be moved to its release position when there is tension on a towrope engaged by said catch unless restrained from such movement by countervailing tension on said release means.

2. A surf board as claimed in claim 1, wherein said release means includes means for transmitting tension in said towrope directly to said member.

4. A surf board as claimed in claim 2, wherein said catch comprises a hook for receiving a loop on said towrope, said catch-attaching means includes a bracket attached to the underside of said bow portion of said hull, means pivotally mounting said hook on said bracket, a shank projecting from said hook, said hook and said shank together forming a bell crank lever and said shank having a free end remote from said hook and said member being attached to said free end of said shank whereby when said member is pulled by said rider, said hook is held in a position in which it projects downwardly and rearwardly from said bracket to hold said towrope, but when said member is released said hook swings forwards under the pull of said towrope to release said towrope.

5. A surf board as claimed in claim 4, further comprising spring means extending from said shank adjacent said pivot to the free end of said hook, said spring means being arranged to hold said towrope in said hook when said towrope is slack.

6. A surf board as claimed in claim 1, further comprising foot support means on said hull for withstanding thrust applied to said rider by tension in said control member.

7. A surf board as claimed in claim 6, further comprising means movably mounting said foot support means on said hull for adjustment in posiTion in a fore and aft direction.

11. A surf board as claimed in claim 10, wherein said seat includes buoyancy means assisting flotation of said rider when said seat is detached from said hull.

12. A surf board as claimed in claim 1, further comprising two-fin bilge keels fixed to said hull.