Buoys – rafts – and aquatic devices – Water skimming or walking device – Having stabilizing surface
Patent
1999-08-03
2000-11-21
Morano, S. Joseph
Buoys, rafts, and aquatic devices
Water skimming or walking device
Having stabilizing surface
441 74, 441 65, B63B 100
Patent
active
061494798
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Wakeboards with or without (wakeskates) wake bindings are used behind watercraft, and typically and currently, have front and rear longitudinal center fins extending downwardly and generally perpendicularly, i.e., 90 degrees from the plane of the bottom wakeboard surface.
Wakeboards with such fins provide for control and hold by a rider in use. Thus, when a wakeboard lies flat in the water, the front, the rear, or both the front and rear fins protrude from the bottom of the wakeboard at about a right angle to the water surface.
It is desirable to provide for a new and improved wakeboard and method with increased rider hold and control and increased rider ability to change the wakeboard direction or orientation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a wakeboard and method of use with canted or angled side fins to provide greater rider control, hold, and other advantages by a rider in use.
The wakeboard of the invention comprises a wakeboard or other type of water floatation board, particularly, but not solely, designed for use behind a watercraft, and which wakeboard has a generally planar bottom surface with at least one pair of canted side fins extending downwardly from the bottom surface, and each side fin having an interior side surface which is canted, i.e., extends outwardly or lies at an angle greater than 90 degrees from the perpendicular axis of the wakeboard.
The wakeboard of the invention can be used behind a watercraft and comprises a wakeboard having a longitudinal axis and perpendicular axis; a generally planar bottom surface; opposite, generally parallel side edges; a front end and a rear end; and at least one pair of side fins, each fin having an interior, generally planar side surface and an exterior, generally arcuate, convex side surface, and extending downwardly from the bottom surface and generally aligned with the longitudinal axis. The pair of side fins are at the front end, rear end, or both ends of the wakeboard and are spaced apart and positioned in a generally parallel relationship toward a front or a rear corner of the wakeboard, with the interior side surface of the side fins canted outwardly at an angle from the perpendicular axis of the wakeboard, toward the side edges sufficient to provide improved hold and control to a rider in use.
Generally, the side fins are the same or an asymmetric similar shape and are employed to the right and left of the longitudinal axis of the board and at the front, the rear, or both the front and rear board corners. Preferably, the canted side fins are employed in conjunction with the front, or the rear, or both the front and rear center fins which extend downwardly and generally perpendicularly from the bottom board surface. The center fins may be a selected shape and typically are symmetrical fins with two convex side surfaces and extend 90 degrees from the longitudinal axis. Generally, but not necessarily, the side fins are positioned parallel to the center fins and slightly forward or backward of the center fins; or where no center fins are used, the side fins are generally parallel and spaced apart on each side of the bottom surface of the wakeboard.
The canted side fins may vary in depth, width, and length; but usually are of the same size and shape (or smaller than the center fins) and often, but not necessarily, mimic the size of the center fins. The side fins may be integrally formed or removably secured to the bottom surface. The side fins used in a standard size wakeboard, e.g., from about 48 to 60 inches in length, range from about 1/2 to 4 inches in depth and about 2 to 12 inches in length. Optionally and preferably, the side fins are asymmetrically curved on the exterior surface and planar or flat on the interior surface, in a cross-sectional shape, with a trailing edge extending backward.
The degree of angular offset or cant of the side fins may vary from about 60 degrees, or more typically from 5 to 20 degrees from the perpendicular axis of the wakeboard but generally aligned with the lo
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Mehrmann Charles
Redmon James
Crowley Richard P.
Earth & Ocean Sports, Inc.
Morano S. Joseph
Vasudeva Ajay
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