Patent Application
20080267713
The present invention relates with surfing and more specifically relates to an apparatus for illustrating waves.
One of the most popular sports and recreational activities around the world is surfing. Surfers can be found throughout all parts of the world. In fact, surfing is so popular that it has been a longtime tourist draw for many coastal cities around the world. Surfing has become so popular that it has been recently added to the Olympic games.
Many of the top professional and amateur surfers have become international celebrities. Moreover, the surf breaks upon which these surfers have become famous for riding have become natural celebrities in their own right.
Famous surf breaks are known for their shape, length, speed, height, and danger. The dimensions of these waves are formed in part due to the underlying sand, rock and reef bottoms. These surf breaks are so well known that they are instantly recognizable to even casual fans of surfing. The outer appearance of these waves is intrinsically distinctive from several hundred feet away.
Although these famous waves are readily recognizable to many surfers around the world, the inner dimensions of these same waves are not recognizable to highly advanced and professional surfers due to the difficulty of these waves. The danger and necessary skill level to position oneself in a deep barrels of dangerous waves such as Pipeline restricts the number of people who have viewed the inner dimensions of these waves to a select few. And for even those few surfers who can claim to have surfed through the barrel of these waves, the speed, fear, and din of noise makes the memory of the inner view of these waves impossible for nearly all surfers. Moreover, the fleeting nature of these waves obscures a lasting and comprehensive mental image of the inner dimensions of these waves.
Due to these logistical issues, accurate depictions of the inner views of these waves have been difficult to attain. One of the reasons why the inside dimensions of these waves are not as well-known or famous is because it is difficult to take pictures of the inside cavities of these waves. Many of these famous waves are so dangerous that being positioned at the wrong place and time can prove lethal. Moreover, logistical problems such as lighting, cameras, and the infrequency of these waves have made it hard to accurately depict them through photographs.
There is a need for some surfers to view an accurate depiction of these famous waves. For instance, many surfers have to visualize the inside dimensions of various waves so that they know where to position themselves in the wave. Without this visualization aid, surfers will have to learn to ride the wave the hard way through trial and error.
Therefore, what is clearly needed in the art is a wave viewing apparatus for depicting the outer look and dimensions of a wave as well as the inner look and dimensions of a wave. This apparatus may prove to be just as effective a training tool as it may be as a novelty item for surfing enthusiasts.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for the purpose of depicting the outer appearance of a wave as well as the inner dimensions of a wave. The apparatus achieves the inside view through use of a lens affixed to an end of the tubular member. In some preferred embodiments this lens may be a wide-angle lens, magnified, or possess other qualities and properties desirable to a viewer.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a special novelty apparatus which depicts various famous surf breaks around the world. These tubular members may be molded and fashioned in such a way to depict the general appearance of the wave from the outer view as well as the inner view. In some preferred embodiments, the apparatus may further incorporate a bottle opener.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a unique apparatus is used for illustrating various waves. The present invention is described in enabling detail below.
The tubular member in some preferred embodiments is comprised of a transparent resin. This tubular member is shaped and molded to substantially resemble a wave. Some tubular members may embody various directional breaking waves such as left breaking waves or right breaking waves. Therefore, the positioning of the viewing window will necessarily depend upon whether the wave resembles a left breaking wave or a right breaking wave. Moreover, the shape of the tubular member may substantially resemble point breaks of many of the world-famous waves widely coveted by many surfers. Although in some preferred embodiments the tubular member is comprised of resin, other preferred embodiments may incorporate either plastic, glass, crystal, fiberglass, plexiglass or other materials which inhere transparent or translucent properties. Moreover, other non-transparent materials may be used in other preferred embodiments such as wood, metal, or ceramics.
The viewing window 102 is disposed at the posterior end of the tubular member. The viewing window enables a person to look into the tube of the wave from the posterior end of the tubular member.
In some preferred embodiments the viewing window may be a peep sight 200. Peep sight may incorporate a wide angle lens 125 (or convex lens) for the purpose of viewing the inside of the tubular member and the figurine. In some preferred embodiments the peep sight includes an anterior side and a posterior side. The anterior side is oriented towards the anterior end of the tubular member. The anterior side is comprised of a convex lens. In other preferred embodiments the viewing window may simply comprise of a lens or glass. And in some preferred embodiments the viewing window may alternatively be a simple orifice.
The wave viewing apparatus may also further incorporate a base 109 in some preferred embodiments of the present invention as depicted in
In some preferred embodiments the wave viewing apparatus also includes a figurine 110. The figurine may embody a panoply of different shapes and readily recognizable people or things. In some preferred embodiments the figurine may be a wave rider. Exemplary wave riders may include, but are not limited to: long-board surfers, short board surfers, boogie boarders, big wave surfers, tow-in surfers, and kite surfers. Other exemplary alternatives include goofy-foot or regular-foot surfers and front/backside surfers. In other preferred embodiments the figurine may embody marine organisms such as sharks, dolphins, otters, sting rays, fish, and whales. Figurines may be made of many different types of materials such as plastic, resin, rubber, metal, etc.
Moreover, It will be apparent to the skilled artisan that there are numerous changes that may be made in embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. As such, the invention taught herein by specific examples is limited only by the scope of the claims that follow.
