Patent Application
20100007161
The present invention relates to the field of carriage of devices for self-propelled movement or locomotion, and more specifically to a handling device for a board used for human locomotion, like a skate board or snow board.
The instant invention relates to an apparatus for handling human locomotion boards, preferentially comprising skateboards or snowboards having traveling gear distending from the board surface. Such boards are typically ridden to provide quicker and more exciting locomotion for the rider in traveling to various locations, on flat or angled surfaces. Upon reaching a location, such boards need to be carried or pulled until the next opportunity to ride.
Skateboarding is defined as riding on and performing tricks with a skateboard for recreation, employment (as in a sport), or transportation. Skateboarders are also called skaters, wood pushers or shredders. Said to have commenced in the 1950's or 1960's as a recreational activity for surfers in California, skateboarding involves the use of a board surface originally consisting of wood boxes with roller skate wheels distending from the bottom surface of the board. Boxes were turned into planks, and the board surface, also called the “deck” emerged as a multi-layer wood compression, predominantly of maple plywood, or, at times, consisting of fiberglass or aluminum. The wheels have been made of polymeric material, typically polyurethane. Riders place their feet upon the top surface of the board; and their feet are not bound to the surface so that they may jump and otherwise maneuver at times with the board twisting or flipping before their feet are replanted.
Snowboarding, as the name implies, involves riding a board down a snow-covered hill. In distinction from skateboarding, the feet of the rider are bound to the upper surface of the board by way of items called bindings that distend from the upper surface. The board is also multilayered, like skateboards, but typically comprises a laminated wood core sandwiched between multiple layers of fiberglass. The bottom surface of the board, sometimes called its base, has a plastic surface (for less friction) surrounded by a steel strip or edge. The upper surface of the snowboard is generally covered in acrylic for durability.
Observably, the human locomotion associated with boards of this nature involve periods of use followed by periods where the rider needs to walk or otherwise travel but not upon the board. Typically, the board is thereupon carried in the hands of the rider. It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose handling apparatus for such a locomotion board for carriage upon the back of the rider during the periods of non-use or by pulling along the ground surface via tethering to the board where a ground surface so permits, while also permitting carriage of the handling apparatus as a belt about the waist of the rider while the board is used for locomotion.
Simply strapping a board to the back of the rider would be an awkward exercise. Generally the length of the board against the back of at least a child or teenager is unwieldy. Providing the ability to angle the board against the spine of the wearer creates an opportunity for the wearer to be able to grab it more easily for re-use, as well as to position the same about a pivot point mid-back for easier displacement of the center of gravity, such pivoting also providing the board the ability to move out of the way for the wearer to be able to sit down. It is thus a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus that provides carriage of a snowboard or skateboard across the back of the wearer, substantially perpendicularly with respect to the ground, while pivotal about a point mid-back to enable comfortable weight and center of gravity displacement, while moving the bottom portion of the board away from the rear of the wearer to permit the wearer the ability to sit down.
It should be appreciated that a skateboard has two chucks for each of the set of wheels (as defined herein, each chuck comprises the trucks, including the hangar, axle and kingpin) attached to the rear surface of the board. In comparison, a snowboard has two bindings for each foot of the wearer on the top surface of the board. It is thus a still further object of the instant invention to provide an assembly that can be used for the carriage/pulling/tethering purposes intended for each of a snowboard or skateboard, despite the fact that one has traveling gear on the board top surface (bindings for snowboards) and the other has traveling gear on the board bottom surface (chucks for skateboards).
One can well imagine that while a skateboard or snowboard is used for locomotion by a rider, that fairly good speeds can be achieved while the board is in use. Dismounting from the board, whether intentionally or not, during use typically leaves the momentum of the board (and the frictionally diminished ease with which it travels) placing the resting locus of the board and the rider in less than proximate locations. It is thus an object of the instant invention to provide an assembly for carriage as well as for a removable tethering to a human locomotion board that does not interfere with the operation of the board while at the same limiting the traveling distance upon dismount. It is still a further object to provide such a tether that can thereafter be utilized to pull the board along the ground surface in lieu of its carriage and use.
Heretofore unknown in the art is an apparatus that satisfies the foregoing objects in the manner claimed and disclosed herein. References appear to present skateboard-carrying devices where the skateboard is: enclosed in a bag, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,794 to Beagle, showing a “Carrier Case for Recreational Boards;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,506, to Bolduc showing a “Skateboard Carrier;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,137 to Archuleta showing a “Carrying Case for Skateboard with See-Through Protective Covering for Wheel Assemblies;” attached via a utility-type belt, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,083, to Chen showing a “Skis and Boots Carrying Waist Belt;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,991 to Neading showing a “Combination Storage Belt and Ski Carrier Accessory and Method of Conversion;” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,346 to Sharma showing an “Interchangeable Equipment Carrier Sling/Waist Belt;” and on a carrying strap, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,460 to Harper showing a “Skateboard Carrier;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,056 to Challoner showing a “Carrier Case for Recreational Boards;” U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,875 to Fareghi showing an “Adjustable Skate Carrier;” U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,286 to Newman showing “Adjustable Strap;” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,536,639 to Frank showing a “Skateboard Carrying Strap and Methods of Making the Same.”
Further objects will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon a complete comprehension of the subject invention as provided via the specification, claims and drawings contained herein.
The various features of novelty which characterize the present invention are expressly and unambiguously delineated in the claims annexed to and forming part of the disclosure. For a better understanding of the present invention, its practical advantages, and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.
An apparatus for handling a human locomotion board like a skate board or snow board is shown and claimed herein. The locomotion board has a first and a second traveling gear distending from the board surface. The apparatus comprises a first elastomeric loop for removable engagement about the first traveling gear, a strap fixedly assembled at one end to the first loop, a second elastomeric loop is provided for removable engagement about the second traveling gear and attached to the strap at its other end by way of a sliding assembly for changing the distance between loops for adjustability. The sliding assembly has a first and second aperture and a housing, such that the strap is positionally weaved through the first and second apertures for slideability and the second loop is housed in the housing. The distance is determined for angular displacement along the back of a wearer with a pivot point substantially mid-back for distributing the center of gravity when a board is engaged by the apparatus and hung on the back of the wearer. The handling of the locomotion board is while the apparatus is in a mode selected from the group consisting of locomotion mode, carrying mode and storage mode. In the locomotion mode, the apparatus is configured as a safety or pulling leash. In the carrying mode, the apparatus and board are positioned to be hung on the back of a wearer in the manner indicated. In the storage mode, the first and second loops are disengaged from the board, and the apparatus is worn in a worn form.
At least one of the loops provides removable engagement by way of a fastener, preferably comprising a male and female end which attach by way of receiving screw threads on the female end and a screwable member on the male end. The radius of the loop is minimizable by way of an adjustment means comprising a spring-loaded pressable member for compressional engagement.
Where the distension from the board is upward from an upward side of the board, the traveling gear comprises bindings, and the board is a snow board. Where the board surface has a downward side
Where the distension from the board is downward from a downward side of the board, the traveling gear comprises chucks, and the board is a skate board.
In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:
Board handling apparatus 2, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the instant invention, is shown in
Also as shown in
Observably, slidable assembly 16 is slidably mounted on strap 4 such that the displacement between loops 6 and 12 can be modified to enable precise positioning upon the back of a user. As shown, the tail-end of strap 4 extends beyond assembly 16, which is of import in the storage mode, in that such end is utilized to provide tying of the device as a belt about the waste of a user.
Lastly,
While there have shown, described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.
