Patent Application
20130307256
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of interchangeable personalized attachments that are fastened to sports equipment such as skis and snowboards for the purpose of ornamentation and identification.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a number of attachment devices and means for attaching personalized accessories to sports equipment that are the subject of issued patents or patent pending applications, but none of these inventions includes the novel features of the present invention, most notably a two-piece threaded base component that is permanently attached to the sports equipment, in combination with a personalized and interchangeable insert component that can be temporarily locked into the base component via a two-piece threaded connection system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,615 (Nealy, 1981) describes a device that serves as a connector between a leash and a surf mat. U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,483 (Nealy, 1992) is an improved version of the invention described in the '615 patent. Although Nealy discloses a two-piece threaded base configuration, the Nealy connectors do not comprise a permanent outer ring in combination with a removable inner insert component, nor is there a waterproof seal between the base component and the hole through the surf mat. U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,931 (Hart, 2004) provides a rotatable, “turret style” cover that can be used in combination with Nealy's connector described in the '483 patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,147,399 (Viscount et al., 2006) provides an apparatus for removably attaching ornaments to planar surfaces such as snowboards. U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2009/0115181 (Atherson) describes a removable ornament for mounting on a sporting board. Neither of these devices comprises a two-piece threaded base component that is mounted within a hole that penetrates both the upper and lower surfaces of the mounting surface (e.g., the snowboard).
U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2011/0198833 (Shaheen) discloses a removable ornament mounting system for a sports board that comprises a receptacle and a removable insert plug. Unlike the present invention, neither the base (receptacle) nor plug (insert) of the Shaheen invention is comprised of two threaded, lockable components.
The present invention is an insert for a sports board comprising: an outer ring unit comprising a threaded top piece and a threaded bottom piece, wherein the outer ring unit is installed into a mounting hole that penetrates through a sports board having a top surface and a bottom surface, and wherein the mounting hole has a diameter: and an inner insert unit comprising a threaded top piece and a threaded bottom piece: wherein the top piece and the bottom piece of the outer ring unit each comprises a flange with a diameter greater than the diameter of the mounting hole; wherein when the top piece and the bottom piece of the outer ring unit are screwed together, the flange of the top piece presses downward onto the top surface of the sports board, and the flange of the bottom piece presses upward onto the bottom surface of the sports board; wherein the top piece and the bottom piece of the outer ring unit are both hollow, thereby creating an insert hole for the inner insert unit when the top piece and bottom piece of the outer are screwed together; and wherein the top piece and the bottom piece of the inner insert unit are installed into the insert hole created by the top piece and bottom piece of the Outer ring unit and screwed together.
In a preferred embodiment, the top piece of the inner insert unit comprises a horizontal through-hole for attachment of ornamental items. In an alternate embodiment, the top piece of the inner insert unit comprises a top surface and a rubber insert that extends through the top surface of the top insert piece, and the rubber insert comprises a horizontal pinhole for attachment of ornamental items. In the latter embodiment, the top piece of the inner insert unit comprises a hollow cavity with shoulders; the rubber insert is shaped to fit into the hollow cavity; the rubber insert comprises a first portion with an outer diameter, a second portion with an outer diameter, and shoulders above and below the first portion; the outer diameter of first portion is less than outer diameter of the second portion; and the shoulders of the rubber insert: mate with the shoulders of the hollow cavity.
In an alternate embodiment, the top piece of the inner insert unit comprises a logo button segment. In yet another alternate embodiment, the top piece of the inner insert unit comprises a top end and a bottom end; the top piece of the inner insert unit comprises a lanyard hole that extends from the top end of the top piece of the inner insert unit to the bottom end of the top piece of the inner insert unit; a lanyard passes through the lanyard hole: and the lanyard comprises a first end, a second end and a lanyard stop at both the first end and the second end of the lanyard.
In a preferred embodiment, the mounting hole is round; the threaded bottom piece of the outer ring unit comprises a barrel; the barrel is round; the barrel has an outer diameter; the mounting hole has an inner diameter; and the inner diameter of the mounting hole is slightly greater than the outer diameter of the barrel. Preferably, the bottom piece of the outer ring unit comprises a female threaded segment, and the top piece of the outer ring unit comprises a male threaded segment. Preferably, the bottom piece of the inner insert unit comprises a female threaded segment, and the top piece of the inner insert unit comprises a male threaded segment.
In a preferred embodiment, the top piece of the outer ring unit and the bottom piece of the outer ring unit each comprises a beveled face; the top piece of the inner unit and the bottom piece of the inner insert unit each comprises a flange; the flange of the top piece of the inner insert unit comprises a lower surface, and the flange of the bottom piece of the inner insert unit comprises an upper surface; and when the top piece of the inner insert unit and the bottom piece of the inner insert unit are fully tightened together, the lower surface of the flange of the top piece of the inner insert unit is in contact with beveled face of the top portion of the outer ring unit, and the upper surface of the flange of the bottom piece of the inner insert unit is in contact with the beveled face of the bottom piece of the outer ring unit.
In a preferred embodiment, the top piece of the outer ring unit and the bottom piece of the outer ring unit each comprises concentric indentations that fit into a wrench. The bottom piece of the inner insert unit preferably comprises a hex socket.
The present invention is a connection device that provides for personalized items such as jewelry or identification logos to be securely but removably attached to sports equipment such as a snow ski or a snow board (hereafter generically referred to as a “board”). The invention comprises an outer ring unit and an inner insert unit. The ring unit is comprised of a hollow top piece with male threads and a hollow bottom piece with matching female threads. The ring unit is installed into a predrilled mounting hole that penetrates through the board. The mounting hole is preferably round for ease of manufacture and to preserve the integrity of the ski or snowboard.
The top piece of the ring unit is inserted into the hole through the top side of the board, and the bottom piece of the ring unit is inserted into the hole through the bottom side of the board. The top and bottom pieces are then screwed together. Both pieces have a flange at their outside edge, with the diameter of the flanges being larger than the diameter of the drilled hole. When the top and bottom pieces are screwed together, the flange of the top piece presses downward onto the top surface of the board, while the flange of the bottom piece simultaneously presses upward onto the bottom surface of the board. Because the top and bottom flanges are larger than the diameter of the mounting hole, the assembled ring unit is prevented from sliding out of the hole from either the top or bottom side of the board.
The top and bottom pieces of the ring unit are both hollow, thus creating a hole through the center of the ring unit (referred to herein as the “insert hole”) from top to bottom after the unit is installed. Thread locking compound is preferably applied to the threads of each ring piece prior to assembly to prevent inadvertent separation of the top and bottom pieces when the board is subjected to rough physical activity and also to the threads of each insert piece. Waterproof sealant is preferably applied to the edge of the mounting hole prior to installation of the ring unit to prevent water from seeping into the interior region of the board. Each of the ring pieces comprises concentric indentations that fit into special wrenches, which allow the threads of the two pieces to be easily yet securely tightened.
The inner insert unit is also comprised of a threaded top piece and a threaded bottom piece. These two pieces are assembled by inserting the top insert piece into the top side of the insert hole in the ring, inserting the bottom insert piece into the bottom side of the insert hole, and then screwing the threads of the top insert piece into the threads of the bottom insert piece. The bottom insert piece comprises a hex socket, which allows the top and bottom insert pieces to he easily assembled and disassembled by the owner with a standard hex wrench. Each of the two insert pieces has a flange on the outside edge, and these flanges prevent the insert unit from slipping out of the insert hole when the two insert pieces are connected.
In general, the outer ring, piece is designed to be permanently installed on a board by a ski shop or by the owner, while the inner insert unit is designed to be interchanged by the user, so that the display jewelry or other personal artifact that is attached to the insert unit may be easily removed and replaced with a new item by the owner.
In a first embodiment of the present invention, the top insert piece comprises a horizontal through-hole for the purpose of attaching a piece of jewelry such as an earring designed for pierced ears. In this embodiment, the top surface of the top insert piece may optionally be engraved or coated with a decorative design. In a second embodiment of the present invention, the top insert piece comprises a rubber insert that extends through the top surface of the top insert piece, and the rubber insert comprises a horizontal pinhole for the purpose of attaching jewelry such as an earring designed for pierced ears.
In a third embodiment of the present invention, the top insert piece is fitted with a logo button similar to a hat pin, for example, a button bearing the logo of a particular ski resort. In a fourth embodiment of the present invention, the top insert piece comprises a short, woven-wire lanyard that extends through the top of the insert piece, for the purpose of attaching a personalized string of decorative beads. Each of these embodiments is discussed more fully below with reference to the figures.
The present invention is installed and assembled as follows: A hole is drilled into a board that penetrates the board from top to bottom, with the hole having a slightly larger diameter than the diameter of the barrel 18 of the bottom ring piece 10. The top piece of the ring unit 1 is inserted into the drilled hole through the top side of the board, and the bottom piece of the ring unit 10 is inserted into the drilled hole from the bottom of the board. The male threaded segment 15 of the top of the ring unit 5 is screwed into the female threaded segment 17 of the bottom piece of the ring unit 10 so that the lower face of the top ring flange 14 is drawn tight against the upper surface of the board, and the upper face of the bottom ring flange 19 is drawn up tight against the bottom side of the board. The concentric indentations 3 on the top rime piece 1 and on the bottom ring piece 10 fit special wrenches that are used to tighten the threaded connection of the top ring piece 1 and the bottom ring piece 10.
To install the insert components into the ring unit, the top insert piece 5 is inserted into the top side of the insert hole 4, and the bottom insert piece 11 is inserted into the bottom side of the insert hole 4. The male threaded segment 13 of the top insert piece 5 is then screwed into the female threaded segment 20 of the bottom insert piece 11. The hex socket 22 of the bottom inner insert piece 11 accepts a standard hex wrench, which is used to fully tighten together the threads 13, 20 of the top insert piece 5 and the bottom insert piece 11. When the top and bottom insert pieces 5 and 11 are fully tightened together, the lower surface of the top insert flange 12 is in contact with the beveled face 16 of the top ring piece 1, and the upper surface of the bottom insert flange 21 is in contact with the beveled face 16 of the bottom ring piece 10. The relationship of the assembled pieces is shown in
As shown in
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The first lanyard stop 38 may be a comprised of a crimped-on split shot or may simply be a knot tied in the lower end of the lanyard 37. The beads 36 have through-holes slightly larger in diameter than the diameter of the lanyard 37 so that the beads 36 may he strung onto the lanyard 37, as shown in the figures. A second lanyard stop 39 is installed on the upper end of the lanyard. The second lanyard stop 39 has an outer diameter larger than the diameter of the through holes in the beads 37. The purpose of the second lanyard stop 39 is to prevent the beads from slipping off the upper end of the lanyard 7. The second lanyard stop 39 may be comprised of a crimped-on split shot or may simply be a knot tied in the upper end of the lanyard 37.
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made without departing :from the invention in its broader aspects. The appended claims are therefore intended to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
