MAGNETIC ACCESSORY SURFACE MOUNT

Abstract

Magnetic accessory surface mounts are provided using magnetic attraction between the ferrous metal accessories and a magnet disposed on, or in, the surface on which the accessories are to be mounted. Magnetic mounts are particularly suitable for stand up paddleboards, and other sea craft that have a very low profile. A magnet is disposed on the deck of the stand up paddleboard, and magnetically couples an accessory or a drink holder to the deck, for easy access by the user. The magnet is covered with a patch made of waterproof PVC to both strengthen the permanent connection of the magnet to the deck and to protect the magnet from water.

Claims

1. An apparatus for detachably coupling an accessory to a flat surface, comprising: a magnet adapted to be placed in a position on the flat surface; and a patch disposed over the magnet and being bonded to the flat surface to thereby encapsulate the magnet between the flat surface and the patch, whereby an accessory having a ferrous metal component is capable of being detachably coupled to the flat surface when brought within the influence of a magnetic field generated by the magnet.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flat surface is an upper surface of an inflatable stand up paddleboard (SUP), and wherein the magnet is adhesively bonded to the upper surface, and the patch is adhesively bonded to the upper surface and sized to completely envelop the magnet when bonded to the upper surface.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the patch is made of PVC fabric material.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the magnet is preferably a rare earth permanent magnet.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the rare earth permanent magnet is made of a neodymium alloy.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the magnet field has a magnetic force capable of binding the accessory to the flat surface and has a flux density selected to allow extraction of the accessory by hand with a few foot-pounds of energy and to prevent de-coupling through normal operation of the SUP.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a layer of foam traction material connected to the flat surface and having an opening centered on the magnet, thereby providing an approximately flush flat surface.

8. A sea craft comprising: an inflatable body made of drop stitch fabric and including an upper surface; and at least one magnet bonded to the upper surface of the body, whereby an accessory having a ferrous metal component is capable of being detachably coupled to the upper surface when brought within the influence of a magnetic field generated by the magnet.

9. The sea craft of claim 8, wherein the sea craft is selected from the group consisting of a stand up paddleboard (SUP), a kayak, a surfboard and a windsurfer.

10. The sea craft of claim 8, further comprising a patch bonded to the upper surface over the magnet, thereby forming an encasement for the magnet.

11. The sea craft of claim 8, wherein the magnet is preferably a rare earth permanent magnet.

12. The sea craft of claim 11, wherein the rare earth permanent magnet is made of a neodymium alloy.

13. The sea craft of claim 11, wherein the magnet field has a magnetic force capable of binding the accessory to the flat surface with a force sufficient to allow extraction of the accessory by hand with a few foot-pounds of energy and to prevent de-coupling through normal operation of the sea craft.

14. A drink holder comprising: a body having a ferrous metal property; and a magnet, capable of being permanently attached to an upper surface of a sea craft, wherein the magnet has a magnetic field of sufficient magnetic force to magnetically couple the drink holder to the upper surface of the sea craft.

15. The drink holder of claim 14, wherein the body is made of a ferrous metal.

16. The drink holder of claim 14, wherein the body includes an element made of a ferrous metal.

17. The drink holder of claim 14, further comprising a patch made of plastic material, and being capable of covering the magnet when the magnet is attached to the upper surface of the sea craft.

18. The drink holder of claim 14, wherein the magnet field has a magnetic force capable of binding the accessory to the flat surface and has a magnetic strength sufficiently weak to allow removal of the drink holder by hand with a few foot-pounds of energy, and sufficiently strong to prevent de-coupling through normal operation of the sea craft.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] FIG. 1 is a top view of a typical stand up paddleboard (SUP) having a magnet disposed in the upper surface or deck of the SUP, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention;

[0022] FIG. 2 is side view of the SUP shown in FIG. 1;

[0023] FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional view of the SUP of FIGS. 1 and 2, taken at the location of the magnet;

[0024] FIG. 4 is an enlarged top view of the SUP of FIGS. 1 and 2, taken above the magnet;

[0025] FIG. 5 is an exploded view of FIG. 4, showing the placement of the magnet between the covering patch and the upper surface of the SUP;

[0026] FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a combination magnet, drink holder and sea craft, taken along line V-V of FIG. 5, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

[0027] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] The present invention is described below with reference to an inflatable stand up paddleboard (SUP), as the present invention is particularly suitable for such inflatable structures that are typically made of drop stitch fabric, which is well known in the art. Using drop stitch fabric, a SUP is made to include an upper surface, which acts as a deck, and a lower surface, which forms the bottom. The thickness of a typical SUP is typically a few inches and thus the side surfaces of the SUP form what amounts to what would be “freeboard” on a boat. When a user stands on the SUP, the freeboard aspect is pushed down by the weight of the user so as to present a diminished profile, such that the SUP takes on a near two-dimensional appearance, which no vertical structures to support accessories. Drop stich fabric, having yarns extending between upper and lower sheets of material, allow for inflation at pressures much greater pressures, thus imparting a physical strength and hardness comparable to solid SUPs or surfboards.

[0029] Further, while the present invention is described in detail with reference to inflatable SUPs, other types of aquatic sport structures can benefit from the present invention, including inflatable and/or solid wind surfers, kayaks, surf boards and other structures that essentially present a low to non-existing side profile.

[0030] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, an inflatable SUP 10 has a bow 12, a stern 14, a skeg 16 and an upper surface 18 that acts as a deck on which a user stands while paddling from a standing position. A magnet 20 is capable of detachably coupling an accessory (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) to the relatively flat upper surface 18 of the SUP 10. The magnet 20 is also adapted to be placed in a position on the upper surface 18 that is preferably near or at the centerline of the SUP 10, and forward of where the user would typically stand while paddling. This allows the user to access accessories coupled to the magnet, without having to shift positions on the SUP 10, although off center positions would also be acceptable, meaning towards the starboard or port side of the SUP 10.

[0031] Details of how the magnet 20 is attached to the upper surface 18 are shown in FIGS. 3-5, which represents an enlarged longitudinal, sectional view of the SUP through the magnet 20. In typical fashion, the SUP is made of an upper sheet 22 of PVC fabric and a lower sheet 24 of PVC fabric 24, bound together by multiple strands or yarns 26, shown schematically as parallel broken lines. The upper surface 18 of the SUP 10 can be the upper surface of the upper sheet 2 although multiple layers of material can be added to strengthen the SUP. For simplicity of illustration, the SUP 10 used for illustrative purposes has only a single sheet of material for the upper and lower portions of the SUP.

[0032] The magnet 20 is preferably glued or otherwise adhesively bonded to the upper surface of the SUP 10, which is the upper surface of the upper sheet 22, using any known and suitable adhesive materials or thermal bonding techniques. A cover or patch 28, preferably made of PVC fabric material, is adhesively bonded to the upper surface 18 to encase the magnet 20 in a watertight chamber. The magnet 20 is preferably a rare earth two-inch diameter disc. It is preferred to use the strongest magnet available for a limited amount of space. For that purpose, rare earth magnets, and particularly, neodymium magnets are preferred. These are permanent magnets made from an alloy of neodymium, iron and boron to form the Nd.sub.2Fe.sub.14B tetragonal crystalline structure. These are commercially available from a variety of sources, and are widely considered the strongest type of permanent magnets available commercially.

[0033] As seen in FIG. 3, the apparatus may further include a layer 30 of EVA foam traction material. In addition to providing traction for the user while standing and paddling on the board, the layer further enhances the connection of the magnet to the SUP, and provides a more or less flush surface, rather than a simple “bump” where the magnet is mounted. The flush surface assists in the magnetic detachable connection of accessories to the SUP. Also, the layer 30 of foam traction material is bonded to the upper surface of the SUP and has an opening centered on the magnet 20 to render the upper surface substantially flat, with the top of the magnet and covering patch flush with the upper surface of the traction material.

[0034] As seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, another aspect of the invention is the combination of a sea craft, such as a SUP 32, a magnet 34 disposed under the upper surface of the SUP 32, and a drink holder 36. As seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, in this case the SUP 32 is shown to be a solid structure, such as a fiberglass board having an outer layer of PVC material, defining an upper surface 38 and a lower surface 40, which defines respectively a deck on which to stand, and a bottom. Equally, the SUP could be inflatable drop stitch material, in which case the magnet would be glued, for example, to the upper surface and “patched” with a piece of PVC fabric lying over the magnet and bonded to the upper surface.

[0035] If the drink holder 36 is made of a thin ferrous metal, it will magnetically couple to the upper surface 38 of the SUP 32, preferably with a force that will resist relatively light disturbances, while being relatively easy to de-couple by hand whenever the user wants to remove the drink holder 36. The preferred shape of the drink holder is to define at least two tiers to accommodate canned or bottled drinks of different diameters, such as seven and twelve ounce cans and bottles.

[0036] If the drink holder 36 is made of plastic or non-ferrous metals, a ferrous metal plate 42 is adhesively bonded to or otherwise physically attached to the bottom of the drink holder 36. In this way, the drink holder 36 is magnetically coupled to the upper surface of the SUP 32. Both the bottom of the drink holder 36 and the metal plate 42 are provided with a centrally located hole to allow water to drain from the drink holder 36.

[0037] In use, the drink holder 36 holds a beverage, and the user can reach down and remove the beverage from the drink holder 36, in which case, the magnetic coupling remains unbroken. Alternatively, the user can remove the drink holder 36 containing the beverage, by reaching down and pulling the drink holder 36 with sufficient force to break the magnetic coupling. In either case, the drink holder 36 is a convenient place to hold a beverage and is easily accessible by the user. If the drink holder 36 is insulated, which the present invention contemplates as an alternative embodiment, it is preferred to remove the drink holder 36 when the user needs to have a drink.

[0038] The drink holder 36 can also serve as a holder of non-ferrous accessories, such as sunglasses, tubes of sunscreen, cell phones, video cameras and the like. Accessories that have ferrous metal components, such as pocketknives, tools, and the like, can be held in the drink holder 36 as well. The drink holder 36 may provide an extra measure of security from inadvertent dislodging, for such accessories. The drink holder 36 could also be provided with a lid and a tether strap, so that the user could be tethered to the drink holder 36 in case a large dislodging force de-couples the drink holder 36 from the SUP 32.

[0039] While the embodiments described herein include a magnet bonded to the deck of a stand up paddleboard, which magnetically attracts a ferrous metal component of an accessory or a drink holder, it is possible that the positions can be switched, such that a ferrous metal element is embedded in or connected to the deck, and a magnet is provided in the drink holder. Other accessories could be modified to include a magnet so that they too could be magnetically coupled to the deck.

[0040] Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be understood by those of skill in the art that there are other embodiments that are equivalent to the described embodiments. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited by the specific illustrated embodiments, but only by the scope of the appended claims.