The present application relates to a flotation device, which can be and is adapted to be anchored in a body of water, and is particularly adapted to receive a surfboard on top of the device and to permit a person to sit or lie on the surfboard while on top of the device, so as to form an anchored “surf” perch for a person in the water, awaiting for an appropriate wave on which to surf. The present flotation device has other uses as well in other water environments.
A floating device may be a surfboard, a floating bed, a boat, or a floatable seat. Several U.S. patents relating to these floating devices have been issued. For example, Lukanovich, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,799, provides a conversion kit that transforms a surfboard into a kayak. U.S. Pat. No. 6,918,347 to Lu discloses a variable, aquatic floating kit combining a seat for sitting or reclining. U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,084 to Bisch describes a flotation device comprising a buoyant body with seat suspended from opening in the buoyant body, allowing a person to sit in the opening. Boddy, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,925, discloses a rigid or semi-rigid chair-like flotation device suitable for whitewater use. U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,944 to Herod describes a paddle board providing various riding positions.
Williams describes, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,278, a portable, floating seat comprising an inflatable tube with a joining means at each end of the tubing for temporarily uniting the discontinuous ends of the tubing and an oversized seat structure attached directly to the bottom inside of the tubing opposite the position where the discontinuous ends are temporarily joined to permit the user's legs to pass therethrough into the water. Lundberg, in U.S. Design Pat. No. D465,823, provides for a flotation chair with the seating portion and back rest depending from the U-shaped floatation portion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,261 to Rosello Zoya, now expired, discloses an auxiliary seat for surfboards. Lauziere, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,765, describes a flotation device including an elongated, buoyant body with outwardly extending seat disposed between its longitudinal ends to supports a user in either a reclined or seated position.
These prior devices are useful for their intended purposes, but none of them is suitable for providing a fixed resting place in a river, lake, or in surf, particularly the latter or in the current of a river.
It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to overcome one or more of the defects of the prior art and/or to provide a perch, preferable a SURF PERCH, which permits a user to wait in comfort in the water for a forthcoming event, such as an appropriate wave on which to surf. Alternatively, the perch of the present invention can be used in the pursuit of a number of other activities including swimming, diving, fishing, or any other water activity, as a waiting station.
According to an embodiment of the present application, a surf perch may include a main body, having a streamline shape symmetric to a centerline of the main body, two backrest supports, and a backrest adapted to swing open so as to permit the user to enter from the back of the device.
The main body may include a front side, a rear side, an upper side, forming a deck section, a bottom side, a left side, and a right side. The deck section may be configured to accommodate a surfboard and may be horizontal or instead be downwardly slanted from the front side to the rear side. Holes may be provided along the centerline of the main body. A centrally located hole may be shaped to anchor a line or rope, or other line anchoring means may be provided.
The surf perch may also include a pair of chaps or “Shark Flaps” attached e.g. on the upper side of the main body, wherein the chaps comprise two leggings respectively hanging down from the left and right side of the main body, each of which may include a footrest at its end.
The main body preferably further includes two backrest supports positioned symmetrical to the centerline of the main body, leaving a space with a first width desirably wider than the width of the deck section. A backrest is pivotably supported from and between the backrest supports at or near the upper part of the backrest.
The above objects of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of one or more embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the embodiments are shown. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, the embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the invention to one skilled in the art. In the drawings, the dimensions and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements, and thus, their description will not be repeated.
Accordingly, while embodiments of the invention are capable of various modifications and alternative forms, only the embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit embodiments of the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, embodiments of the invention are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the invention.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of embodiments of the present invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “on” versus “directly on”, “between” versus “directly between”, “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent”, etc.).
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of embodiments of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising,”, “includes” and/or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the Figs. For example, two Figs. shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.
A surf perch in the embodiments as illustrated in the present application is a flotation device configured to receive a surfboard, although the surf perch can be used in other water environments and for other purposes. The device permits a user to insert a surfboard therein from the back by tilting the back rest such as shown in
The main body 16 may be symmetric to a centerline I-I. Along the centerline I-I there may be provided a deck section 20. The deck section 20 may be downwardly slanted from the front side A to the rear side B, and the deck section 20 may be a streamline shaped or be configured to accommodate a surfboard on the main body 16.
In the front side A of the main body 16, there may be provided a bowline hole 10 therethrough. The bowline hole may be positioned in the centerline I-I of the main body 16. In the rear side B of the main body 16, there may be provided a stern line hole 50 therethrough. The stern line hole may be positioned in the centerline I-I of the main body 16.
In the middle portion of the main body 16, there may be provided a mooring line hole 30 therethrough. The mooring line hole 30 may be positioned in the centerline I-I and in surf perch 100 may be star-shaped or may be polygonal. For example, the mooring line hole 30 may be an octagonal hole or may be a star-shaped hole with eight recesses. As a result, the bowline hole 10 and the mooring line hole 30 may form an anchor line-mooring hole system.
Referring to
Referring to
To assemble with the main body 16, two backrest support 70 may be needed corresponding to the two backrest support slots 40. The tenon 72 may be configured to have a same shape as, but with a slightly smaller dimension than, that of the backrest support slots 40, so that the corresponding tenons 72 may be inserted into the backrest support slots 40, respectively, with little or more frictional retention. After assembly, the stop surface S may contact the upper side A of the main body 16, and each of the backrest supports 70 may be perpendicular to the main body 16.
The upper portion 74 may includes a front side F and a rear side R. The front side F may be a curved line and the rear side R may be a straight line. Alternatively, the front side F may also be a straight line non-parallel to the rear side R.
A plurality of adjustment slots 80 may be formed from the rear side R towards the front side F. For example, three adjustment slots 80a, 80b, 80c may be formed in the upper portion 74. They may start from the rear side R and extend downwardly towards, but do not reach, the front side F, and may be parallel to each other, so that the adjustment slot 80a may be higher than the adjustment slot 80b, and the adjustment slot 80b may be higher than the adjustment slot 80c.
Referring back to
Because the upper protrusions 62 sit in the adjustment slots 80 and the lower protrusions 64 are free from constraint above the front side F, the backrest 60 may be rotated upward to leave the space SP between the lower protrusions 64 and the deck section 20 open for the user to place a surfboard from the water on top of the surf perch. Thus, in one embodiment, the user who is laying on the surfboard in the water (positioned behind the surf perch as shown in
In one embodiment, the surf perch can be operated and used without the backrest assembly mounted on the surf perch, in which case the user lays or sits on the surfboard on top of the surf perch without a back support to recline on.
In another or the same embodiment, the back rest assembly is configured to come apart when it is hit by large waves. One or more holes 110 can be placed in each piece of the best rest to tie each piece to the surf perch, so they are not lost if they are knocked off the perch by a wave.
According to the embodiments of the present application, the surf perch 100 may allow a user to rest on it to wait for a wave. When the wave comes, the user may be able to slide off the surf perch 100 with the surfboard to catch and surf on the wave. Once the wave ride has ended, the user may return to the surf perch 100 to wait for the next waive. To this end, the anchor line-mooring hole system may ensure the surf perch 100 remaining in the same anchored place and orientation in the water.
As set forth above, the above described embodiments of the present application may include a surf perch having a main body with a backrest assembly thereon, so that a user may sit on the surf perch to wait for a wave. These embodiments may also include an anchor line-mooring hole system to ensure the surf perch remain in the same anchored place and orientation in the water.
Embodiments of the surf perch according to the present invention are of course adapted to float. The parts can be made of materials which have a density less than water, e.g. wood or better yet, polypropylene. However, various parts are more desirably made hollow, and therefore buoyant, or the hollow parts may be filled with foam plastic, or the body itself may be made of cellular material.
In the surf perch 200, the upper or deck portion to 20 of the main body 216 is substantially horizontal rather than sloped, and is desirably provided with at least two side grooves 222, and preferably also a centrally located groove 224, the grooves being adapted to receive therein the downwardly projecting fins which are usually provided on surfboards.
To improve the stability of the surf perch, the embodiment 200 is provided with additional float sections 228, each also being referred to as a side float, located at the back of the surf perch 200, to which are connected the back rest supports 270 which project upwardly therefrom and which are preferably integral therewith. The float sections 228 with the back rest supports 270 integral therewith are desirably each connected to the main body 216 by a rod-like structure 229 as best seen in
As indicated above, the various parts of the surf perch in its various embodiments, e.g. 100 and 200, can be made from a variety of materials. Most desirably, however, the various parts are made of strong plastic, hollow for buoyancy, which strong plastic can be selected from a variety of so-called engineering plastics for durability, although other plastics can also be used such as vinyl plastics, polypropylene, etc.
Although the embodiments have been particular shown and described with references to
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without undue experimentation and without departing from the generic concept, and therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. The means, materials, and steps for carrying out various disclosed functions may take a variety of alternative forms without departing from the invention.
Thus the expressions “means to . . . ” and “means for . . . ”, or any method step language, as may be found in the specification above and/or in the claims below, followed by a functional statement, are intended to define and cover whatever structural, physical, chemical or electrical element or structure, or whatever method step, which may now or in the future exist which carries out the recited function, whether or not precisely equivalent of the embodiment or embodiments disclosed in the specification above, i.e., other means or steps for carrying out the same functions can be used; and it is intended that such expressions be given their broadest interpretation.
This is Continuation-in-Part of copending application Ser. No. 12/535,247, filed Aug. 4, 2009, now abandoned, the contents of which are incorporated herein.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
299951 | Brown | Jun 1884 | A |
1966343 | Hallowell et al. | Jul 1934 | A |
2623574 | Damsch | Dec 1952 | A |
3074084 | Bisch | Jan 1963 | A |
3102280 | Williams | Sep 1963 | A |
4752261 | Rosello Zoya | Jun 1988 | A |
4973278 | Williams | Nov 1990 | A |
5377607 | Ross | Jan 1995 | A |
5476404 | Price | Dec 1995 | A |
5518431 | Staley | May 1996 | A |
5897409 | Hartman et al. | Apr 1999 | A |
6035799 | Lukanovich et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
6227925 | Boddy | May 2001 | B1 |
6257944 | Herrod | Jul 2001 | B1 |
D465823 | Lundberg | Nov 2002 | S |
6837765 | Lauziere | Jan 2005 | B2 |
6918347 | Lu et al. | Jul 2005 | B2 |
7025418 | Hackal | Apr 2006 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20110034096 A1 | Feb 2011 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12535247 | Aug 2009 | US |
Child | 12687000 | US |