Surfboards

Abstract

A surfboard, the rear part 1 of which is rigid and equipped for example with one or more fin boxes and other accessories such as foot strap inserts, leash inserts and or a mast box, the front part 2 of which is inflatable and equipped with a valve which permits the said inflatable part to be inflated for use and deflated after use to facilitate transport and storage.

Claims

1. A surfboard which is partly rigid and partly inflatable, the surfboard comprising: a rigid rear part which is made of rigid materials; and an inflatable part made of flexible materials and equipped with a valve by means of which the inflatable part of the surfboard can be inflated when in use and deflated when not in use to facilitate transport and storage; wherein a rear end of the inflatable part of the surfboard is attached to a front end of the rigid rear part of the surfboard with a flexible sleeve over a joint between the front end of the rigid rear part and the rear end of the inflatable part, the sleeve being glued to the inflatable part and the rigid rear part of the surfboard and forming a permanent joint, the sleeve covering only a portion of the rigid rear part adjacent the joint and only a portion of the inflatable part adjacent the joint.

2. A surfboard according to claim 1, wherein the rigid rear part is shorter than the inflatable part.

3. A surfboard according to claim 1, wherein the rigid rear part is longer than the inflatable part.

4. A surfboard according to claim 1, further comprising one or more fin boxes.

5. A surfboard according to claim 1, further comprising one or more foot strap inserts.

6. A surfboard according to claim 1, further comprising one or more leash inserts.

7. A surfboard according to claim 1, further comprising a mast box.

8. A surfboard according to claim 1, wherein the surfboard is a stand-up paddle surfboard.

9. A surfboard according to claim 1, wherein the surfboard is a windsurf board.

10. A surfboard according to claim 1, wherein a rigid front part is attached to a front of the inflatable part, the rigid front part being a non-inflatable structure that extends to a full thickness of the board.

11. A surfboard according to claim 10, wherein stiffeners are attached to the rigid rear part and the rigid front part of the surfboard to stiffen the surfboard during use.

12. A surfboard according to claim 11, wherein the stiffeners span across the inflated part of the surfboard from the rear rigid section to the front rigid section.

13. A surfboard according to claim 11, wherein the stiffeners are detachable from one or both of the rigid parts.

14. A surfboard which is partly rigid and partly inflatable, the surfboard comprising: a rigid rear part which is made of rigid materials; and an inflatable part made of flexible materials and equipped with a valve by means of which the inflatable part of the surfboard can be inflated when in use and deflated when not in use to facilitate transport and storage; wherein a rear end of the inflatable part of the surfboard is attached to a front end of the rigid rear part of the surfboard with a flexible sleeve over a joint between the front end of the rigid rear part and the rear end of the inflatable part, the sleeve being glued to the inflatable part and the rigid rear part of the surfboard, the sleeve covering only a portion of the rigid rear part adjacent the joint and only portion of the inflatable part adjacent the joint, a cross-section of a thickness of the rear end of the inflatable part having a convex shape and a cross-section of a thickness of the front end of the rigid part having a corresponding concave shape.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

(1) Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a plan view of a surfboard in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is a side view of the surfboard of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the surfboard of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4 shows the surfboard of FIG. 1 in a configuration in which the front of the surfboard is deflated and folded in order to facilitate transport and storage;

(6) FIG. 5 is a plan view of a surfboard in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention;

(7) FIG. 6 is a side view of the surfboard of FIG. 5;

(8) FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the surfboard of FIG. 5;

(9) FIG. 8 shows the surfboard of FIG. 5 in a configuration in which an inflatable front of the surfboard is deflated and folded to facilitate transport and storage;

(10) FIG. 9 is a plan view of a surfboard in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention;

(11) FIG. 10 is a side view of the surfboard of FIG. 9;

(12) FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the surfboard of FIG. 9;

(13) FIG. 12 shows the surfboard of FIG. 9 in a configuration in which an inflatable middle part of the surfboard is deflated and folded to facilitate transport and storage;

(14) FIG. 13 is a plan view of a surfboard in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the invention;

(15) FIG. 14 shows the surfboard of FIG. 13 in a configuration in which an inflatable middle part of the surfboard is deflated and folded to facilitate transport and storage;

(16) FIGS. 15 and 16 show examples of different types of profile that can be given to the rigid part of a surfboard together with the typically rounded profiles of the flexible inflatable part of a surfboard, for example as shown in FIG. 1 to 4, 5 to 8, 9 to 11 or 13 to 14;

(17) FIGS. 17 and 18 show examples of connections between a rigid part of a surfboard and a flexible inflatable part of a surfboard that can be used in embodiments of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(18) Several examples of surfboards in accordance with embodiments of the invention are described below and illustrated in the figures, each having one (or more) rigid parts and an inflatable part. In the accompanying drawings the rigid parts of the surfboard are generally represented using thick lines in contrast to the inflatable parts of the surfboard which are generally represented using thin lines.

(19) A first exemplary surfboard in accordance with an embodiment of the invention is described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 and would be typically applied for example to surfboards and to stand up paddle surfboards. In this example, the rear part 1 of the board is rigid and the front part 2 of the board is flexible and inflatable. In this example the rigid rear part of the surfboard is shorter than the front flexible, inflatable part of the surfboard.

(20) The rear part 1 of the surfboard is fabricated using for example epoxy resin, fiberglass, expanded rigid closed cell foam, (e.g. polyurethane and polystyrene) and other materials currently used in the fabrication of rigid surfboards and the front end 2 of the surfboard is fabricated using a flexible material as is currently used in the manufacture of inflatable surfboards using for example drop stitch technology. The rigid rear end 1 of the surfboard is attached at the joining line 3 to the front flexible inflatable part 2 of the surfboard by means of gluing or any other suitable known method. A leash insert 15 together with a fin box 4b and a fin 4 are located on the rear rigid part 1 of the surfboard. The flexible inflatable front part 2 of the surfboard is inflated for use by means of a valve 5. According to the invention when the surfboard is not in use the front part 2 of the surfboard can be deflated and folded to facilitate transport and storage of the board as illustrated in FIG. 4.

(21) FIGS. 5 to 8 illustrate another example of a surfboard in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, having a rigid rear part 6 and an inflatable front part 7 that are joined to one another at a joining line 8. The length of the rigid rear part 6 of the surfboard is greater than the length of the inflatable front part 7 of the surfboard. In addition to the incorporation of a fin box 4b and a fin 4, a mast box 10 and foot strap inserts 11 are incorporated into the rigid rear part 6 of the surfboard in the case for example of the present invention being applied to windsurf boards. The inflatable front part 7 is inflated by means of a valve 5. According to the invention when the surfboard is not in use the front inflatable part 7 of the surfboard can be deflated and folded to facilitate transport and storage of the board as illustrated in FIG. 8.

(22) FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate another example of a surfboard in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this example a rear rigid part and a front rigid part are connected by a middle inflatable part. Specifically, two relatively short rigid rear and front parts 12 and 17 of a surfboard are joined to a relatively long flexible inflatable part 14 at join lines 13 and 16. FIG. 12 represents the surfboard illustrated in FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 in which the inflatable middle part is deflated and folded to facilitate transport and storage of the board.

(23) FIG. 13 illustrates another example of a surfboard in accordance with an embodiment of the invention in which rigid rear and front parts are connected by an inflatable middle part. In this example two relatively long rigid parts 24 and 18 of a surfboard are joined to a relatively short middle flexible inflatable part 25 at join lines 22 and 23. Stiffeners 20a and 20b may be attached to the sides of the surfboard by means of screws 19 and screw inserts 21, or by any suitable known method, to stiffen the surfboard when in use. The stiffeners can be removed after use when the inflatable middle part of the surfboard is deflated to facilitate transport and storage of the board as illustrated in FIG. 14.

(24) In FIGS. 15 and 16 the cross sections 26 illustrate the sharp angular type of profile that can be obtained using standard fabrication techniques used for the manufacture of rigid surfboards and the cross sections 27 and 28 illustrate the typically rounded profiles which are common to inflatable surfboards.

(25) FIG. 17 represents an example of a technique for attaching a rigid part of a surfboard 1 to a flexible inflatable part of a surfboard 2 where the end 3a of the rigid part 1 of the surfboard is concave and where the end 3b of the flexible inflatable part 2 is convex. A flexible sleeve 3c is glued to the flexible inflatable part 2, the convex end of the inflatable part 2 together with the sleeve 3c is then glued to the end 3a of the rigid part 1 of the surfboard to form a permanent joint 3.

(26) FIG. 18 represents another example of a technique for attaching a rigid part 1 of a surfboard to a flexible inflatable part 2 of a surfboard where the end 3d of the rigid part 1 of the surfboard is straight and where the end 3e of the flexible inflatable part 2 of the surfboard is open. The flexible sleeve 3f is glued to the flexible inflatable part 2, which is then glued to the end 3d of the rigid part 1 of the surfboard to form a permanent joint 3.

(27) It is to be noted that according to the present invention the techniques illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18 for attaching a rigid part of a surfboard to a flexible inflatable part of a surfboard are examples and that these methods may be replaced by any other suitable known technique.