1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to motor driven surfboards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Surfing is the sport of riding a surfboard on the face of an ocean wave towards the shoreline. Jet powered surfboards have been devised and utilized for the purpose of surfing without waves such as in lakes or other calm waters. Several types of motorized water boards in the prior art include U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,634 to Jung; U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,560 to Austin; U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,840 to Efthymiou; U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,166 to Chang; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,782 to Gleason. Another powered surfboard design is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,226,329 to Railey. This device uses small electric motors to provide power while maintaining traditional surfboard performance.
In one embodiment, a surfboard comprises a top shell comprising one or more recesses formed therein and a bottom shell coupled to the top shell, where the bottom shell also comprises one or more recesses formed therein. The recesses in the top shell extend generally toward the bottom shell, and the recesses in the bottom shell extend generally toward the top shell. A passageway connects at least one of the one or more recesses in the top shell with at least one of the one or more recesses in the bottom shell. At least one motor may be positioned in at least one of the recesses in the top shell. At least one impeller may be positioned in at least one of the recesses in the bottom shell. The impeller may be coupled to one portion of a shaft, another portion of the shaft may be coupled to the motor, and wherein the shaft extends through the passageway.
In another embodiment, a method of making a surfboard comprises affixing a top shell to a bottom shell to form a surfboard body, placing at least one motor in at least one recess in the top shell, placing at least one impeller in at least one recess in the bottom shell, and coupling the impeller to the motor.
In another embodiment, a system for controlling a powered surfboard comprises an accelerometer, a processor coupled to the accelerometer, and a radio transmitter coupled to the processor. The processor is configured to receive output from the accelerometer, determine motor control commands based, at least in part, on the output from the accelerometer, and transmit motor control commands to a motorized surfboard via the radio transmitter. The system may comprise a housing for the accelerometer, processor, and radio transmitter. The housing may be integrated into a glove, a wrist strap, or an ankle strap.
Traditionally, the sport of surfing comprises a rider (“surfer”) paddling out by lying prone on the surfboard and paddling away from the shoreline towards a point at which waves are cresting; turning to face the shoreline; paddling quickly towards the shoreline when a wave begins to crest so as to catch the wave; and riding the wave on the surfboard propelled by the wave towards the shoreline in a prone, sitting or standing position. When riding a wave, a surfer may turn the surfboard towards or away from different parts of the cresting wave depending on the preference and skill of the surfer. Subsequently, the surfer must paddle out and repeat the process of catching and riding waves. After catching and riding waves for a period of time, the surfer may ride a wave all the way to the shoreline, or may paddle in by lying prone on the surfboard and paddling towards the shoreline. Paddling out, turning, paddling quickly to catch waves can be tiring and time consuming to the surfer and can thus limit the surfer's energy and time for riding waves. Advantageous embodiments of the present invention preserve a surfer's maximum energy for riding waves rather than exhausting the surfer's energy on paddling. In addition, embodiments of the invention help a surfer catch larger and faster waves easier.
The general purpose of many embodiments described herein is to provide a motorized surfboard which can be manufactured in a less labor intensive manner, has minimal problems with leakage and long term reliability.
Referring now to
The top shell 102 is illustrated in
The top shell 102 has an outer surface 104, and an inner surface 106. Similarly, the bottom shell has an outer surface 204, and an inner surface 206. To produce the complete surfboard body, the two shells are sealed together along a seam 302 that extends around the periphery of the top and bottom shells. The “outer surface” of the top and bottom shells are the surfaces that are contiguous with the surfaces exposed to the water in use (although not all of the “outer surface” of the shells is actually exposed to water as will be seen further below). The “inner surface” of the top and bottom shells are the surfaces internal to the hollow board after sealing into a hollow surfboard body. The general methods of producing surfboards with this hollow shell technique are known in the art. Currently, Aviso Surfboards (www.avisosurf.com) manufactures surfboards in this manner from carbon fiber top and bottom shells forming a hollow surfboard body.
The outer surface 104 of the top shell 102 is formed with one or more recessed portions 112, where the recessed portions extend generally toward the inner surface 206 of the bottom shell 202 when the shells are sealed together into a hollow body. The recessed portions 112 form compartments for batteries 114, motor controller boards 116, and motors 118. The motors 118 are coupled to shafts 120 that extend out the rear of the motor compartment as will be explained further below.
After installation of these components, the recesses can be sealed with a cover 122 that can be secured in place with adhesive such as caulking or other water resistant sealant. If desired, an internally threaded access port 124 can be provided that receives an externally threaded cover 126. This can provide easier access than removing or cutting the adhesive on the larger cover 122. In some advantageous embodiments, one or both of the covers 122, 126 are clear so that the batteries, motors, and/or other electronics can be seen when they surfboard is sealed up and in use. Another threaded plug 130 can also be provided, which can be used to ensure equal air pressures on the inside and outside of the hollow body. This feature is well known and normally utilized for hollow shell surfboards.
Turning now to
As shown in
It will be appreciated that the pump housing 224 can be secured in the recess 212 in a variety of ways. For example, instead of having holes in the bottom shell for screws and pins, slots and/or blind recesses can be formed in or adhesively attached to the side surfaces of the recess that engage mating surfaces on the pump housing. Such structures can also be provided with threads for engaging screw connections. As another alternative, adhesive could be used to secure the pump housing in place.
Turning now to the power and control electronics and devices illustrated in
To avoid a hard wired connection to the motor controllers 116 from a throttle control input, the motor controller 116 advantageously include a wireless receiver. This receiver can communicate with a wireless transmitter that is controlled by the surfer in order to control the motor speed. Wireless throttle controls have been used extensively, but using a throttle while surfing poses unique issues in that paddling, standing, and riding waves will interfere with a surfer's ability to easily manipulate a control mechanism such as a trigger, a dial, or the like. In one embodiment, wireless transmission circuitry can be configured to transmit electromagnetic and/or magnetic signals underwater. Because one or both transmitter and receiver can be under the surface of the ocean during much of the duration of surfing, a transmission system and protocol that is especially reliable in these conditions may be used. For example, wireless circuitry can be implemented in accordance with the systems and methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,711,322, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. As explained in this patent, it can be useful to use a magnetically coupled antenna operating in a near field regime. A low frequency signal, e.g. less than 1 MHz, can further improve underwater transmission reliability. With this type of throttle system, an automatic shut off may be implemented, where if the signal strength between the transmitter and receiver drops below a certain threshold, indicating a certain distance between the two has been exceeded, the receiver shuts off the electric motor. This is useful as an automatic shut off if the surfer falls off the board.
After the output from the accelerometer is received, the control mechanism compares the output to pre-determined command profiles as show in step 750. These command profiles may also be referred to as accelerometer output patterns or simply as patterns. For example, the control mechanism may store a pattern corresponding to a repeated positive and negative acceleration substantially along a particular axis. Another pattern may correspond to an isolated positive acceleration along a particular axis. The patterns of accelerometer outputs may be associated with particular commands for the motor controllers. For example one pattern may correspond to a command to activate a subset of the available motors. Another pattern may correspond to a command to activate one or more available motors with a particular duty cycle or at a particular percentage of maximum operation potential.
The comparison of the current accelerometer output to the command profile results in a determination of whether the output matches a particular command profile, as shown in step 755. In one embodiment, if the current output does not match a command profile, the output from the accelerometer is discarded and the method concludes, leaving the control mechanism to wait for more output from the accelerometer. However, if the current output does match a command profile, the control mechanism transmits the corresponding command to the motor controllers, as shown in step 760. After the transmission, the command mechanism may again wait for additional output from the accelerometer.
In alternative embodiments, the control mechanism may operate without the need for pattern comparison. For example, in one embodiment, the control mechanism may be configured to interpret accelerometer readings as a proxy for throttle control. In one embodiment, the magnitude and duration of the accelerometer output may be directly translated into magnitude and duration signals for the motor controllers. For example, an acceleration reading above a particular threshold may be interpreted as a command to activate the motors. The duration of the command may be a proportional to the duration for which the acceleration reading is received.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/240,974 filed on Sep. 9, 2009, entitled “POWERED SURFBOARD,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61240974 | Sep 2009 | US |