Patent Application
20110162172
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fastener for a water-sport appliance, and more particularly, to a fastener adapted for a waterskiing pull lever or a similar appliance to be hooked thereon.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, water sports have become increasingly popular under influence of mainly the European lifestyle. The water sports allow people to enjoy excitement of sports in the nature while roaming between the sunlight and the blue water, so people tend to be fascinated once they have tried such a water sport. However, for the water sports, the primary concern is safety, so water sport appliances must be particularly designed with safety as the primary consideration.
Referring to
However, this kind of structure has some disadvantages in use. Because the body of the fastener is embedded into the aquaboard 51, although a position for the pull lever 60 to be exactly hooked thereto can be formed after the cover 83 is lifted open, there exists no space for a user's hand(s) to grip the pull lever; i.e., when the user holds the pull lever 60 by the hand(s), no sufficient space for fingers to reach in to grasp the pull lever 60 is available on surfaces of the pull lever 60 and the aquaboard 51. Consequently, it is often difficult to grasp the pull lever 60 during dynamic water sports, thereby putting the user in danger, which is known as the most prominent disadvantage of the conventional fastener.
Secondly, the torsion spring 90 within the receiving chamber 81 below the cover 83 is liable to water erosion and liable to disengagement due to impact, causing lack of a resilience force during operation of the cover 83, which is known as another disadvantage of the conventional fastener.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a fastener that allows a user to hold a water-sport appliance more conveniently and safely. The fastener primarily comprises: a body of a certain thickness disposed protrudingly on a working surface (e.g., an aquaboard), wherein the body is formed with a receiving chamber in a central portion thereof and a magnetic component is disposed on a wall surface of an end of the receiving chamber; and a cover pivoted at an end of the receiving chamber of the body, wherein another magnetic component is also disposed at an end of the cover to attract the body more easily and to make water erosion that would otherwise compromise the service life less likely to occur. In use of the fastener of the present invention, the other end of the cover can be depressed so that the end of the cover is lifted upward to form a prong-like space for the water-sport appliance to abut against. Because the body protrudes a certain distance from the working surface, it is easy for fingers to reach therein and firmly hold the water-sport appliance, making the fastener safer and securer to use.
To achieve the aforesaid objective, the present invention may be accomplished in the following way:
a body being formed with a receiving chamber in a central portion thereof and with a plurality of locking holes along a periphery thereof, wherein a magnetic component is disposed protrudingly on a wall surface of an end of the receiving chamber; a cover being pivoted to an end of the receiving chamber of the body by means of a pivot and formed with a pressing end and a snap-fit end, wherein at least one magnetic component is disposed at the snap-fit end; and a plurality of fixing elements being respectively inserted through the locking holes disposed along the periphery of the body to fix the body onto a working surface (e.g., an aquaboard).
Accordingly, the fastener of the present invention allows the user to hold a water-sport appliance more securely and safely and has a prolonged service life, thus resulting in more sophisticated safety.
The invention as well as a preferred mode of use and advantages thereof will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
For clear understanding of the disclosure of the present invention, the present invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the attached drawings.
Referring to
The cover 20 is pivoted to an upper end of the receiving chamber 11 of the body 10 by means of a pivot 30, and is formed with a pressing end 21 and a snap-fit end 22. Beneath the snap-fit end 22 is formed an arc-shaped portion, on which a plurality of anti-slip ribs 220 and at least one magnetic component 221 are formed. When the cover 20 is disposed flat, the at least one magnetic component 221 and the magnetic component 12 disposed within the receiving chamber 11 are attracted toward each other so that the cover 20 will not be opened easily. The two magnetic components 12, 221 may both be magnets with identical magnetic forces, or be a magnet and an iron piece respectively.
A plurality of fixing elements 40 is inserted respectively through the locking holes disposed along the periphery of the body 10 to fix the body 10 onto a front end of the aquaboard 50 (as shown in
Referring to
Furthermore, closure between the body 10 and the cover 20 in the present invention is accomplished by the two magnetic components 12, 221 that are attracted towards each other, which can withstand a larger impact force than the conventional torsion spring and are less liable to damage due to water erosion. Therefore, as another advantage of the present invention, the fastener designed according to the present invention has a prolonged service life.
However, what described above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention but is not intended to limit scope of the present invention. Accordingly, equivalent changes or modifications that can be readily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, for example, those in which additional accessories are incorporated or slight changes in materials are made, will all fall within scope of the claims of the present invention, and this shall be stated in advance herein.
The embodiment described above is intended only to demonstrate the technical concept and features of the present invention so as to enable a person skilled in the art to understand and implement the contents disclosed herein. It is understood that the disclosed embodiment is not to limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent changes or modifications based on the concept of the present invention should be encompassed by the appended claims.
