ADJUSTABLE FIN SYSTEM FOR SURFBOARDS
A fin system for a surfboard includes a fin box and a fin having a base, wherein the base is slidably engaged to the fin box. A surfboard comprises a fin attached to a bottom of the surfboard through a slot formed from a fin box, and a dial coupled to a base of the fin so that rotation of the dial causes movement of the fin from a distal position toward a read end of the surfboard to a proximal position toward a front end of the surfboard.
The present invention relates generally to surf boards and, more specifically, to fin systems used on surfboards.
BACKGROUNDSurfboards have one or more fins attached to the bottom side of the surfboard near the back end of the surfboard to help control movement through the water and provide stability to the rear end of the surfboard to allow a surfer to turn the surfboard. Some surfboards have a single fin, while others may include multiple fins, such as a single primary fin along the centerline of the surfboard and secondary fins laterally spaced from the centerline of the surfboard.
Fin systems have been developed to allow some adjustment and/or replacement of the fins of the surfboard. That is, some systems allow a user to replace the fins if they become damaged or if a fin of a different size or configuration is desired based on surf conditions. Moreover, some fin systems allow for a fin to be adjusted forward or backward relative to the surfboard. Such adjustment systems, however, require the user to leave the water, use a screwdriver or alien wrench to loosen the fin and then move the fin forward or back relative to the board to adjust the position of the fin.
Thus, there exists a need in the art to allow a surfer to quickly and easily adjust the position of a fin relative to a surfboard to account for surf conditions and/or surfer preference essentially on the fly.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREA particular embodiment relates to a fin system for a surfboard includes a fin box and a fin having a base, wherein the base is slidably engaged to the fin box.
Another embodiment is drawn to a surfboard comprises a fin attached to a bottom of the surfboard through a slot formed from a fin box, and a dial coupled to a base of the fin so that rotation of the dial causes movement of the fin from a distal position toward a read end of the surfboard to a proximal position toward a front end of the surfboard.
Yet another embodiment relates to an adjustable fin system for a surfboard, comprising a fin box adapted for mounting to a surfboard, the fin box defining a longitudinally extending channel, and a fin attachment slider that is slidably coupled to the fin box within the channel, the fin attachment slider being configured to be attached to the base of a fin.
Aspects and applications of the invention presented here are described below in the drawings and detailed description of the invention. Unless specifically noted, it is intended that the words and phrases in the specification and the claims be given their plain, ordinary, and accustomed meaning to those of ordinary skill in the applicable arts. It is noted that the inventor can be his own lexicographer. The inventor expressly elects, as his own lexicographer, to use only the plain and ordinary meaning of terms in the specification and claims unless they clearly state otherwise and then further, expressly set forth the “special” definition of that term and explain how it differs from the plain and ordinary meaning. Absent such clear statements of intent to apply a “special” definition, it is the inventor's intent and desire that the simple, plain and ordinary meaning to the terms be applied to the interpretation of the specification and claims.
The inventor is also aware of the normal precepts of English grammar. Thus, if a noun, term, or phrase is intended to be further characterized, specified or narrowed in some way, then such noun, term, or phrase will expressly include additional adjectives, descriptive terms, or other modifiers in accordance with the normal precepts of English grammar. Absent the use of such adjectives, descriptive terms, or modifiers, it is the intent that such nouns, terms, or phrases be given their plain and ordinary English meaning to those skilled in the applicable arts as set forth above.
In the following description, and for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the invention. It will be understood, however, by those skilled in the relevant arts, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, known structures and devices are shown or discussed more generally in order to avoid obscuring the invention. In many cases, a description of the operation is sufficient to enable one to implement the various forms of the invention, particularly when the operation is to be implemented in software. It should be noted that there are many different and alternative configurations, devices and technologies to which the disclosed inventions may be applied. The full scope of the inventions is not limited to the examples that are described below.
Movement of the fin 12 relative to the surfboard 14 can have a dramatic effect on the performance and handling of the surfboard. Having the ability to adjust the fin position on the fly without having to remove the surfboard from the water, as is currently required by prior art fin systems, can provide a tremendous advantage to surfers, especially in competition settings. That is, by the time a surfer using a conventional board/fin system leaves the water to adjust the fin, surf conditions can change and/or cause the surfer to miss optimum wave conditions.
As shown in
Movement of the base 38 of the fin 32 is caused by rotation of a dial 42 relative to the surfboard 34 that is coupled to a gear 44. The gear 44 has teeth that engage with a rack gear 46 coupled to or integrally formed with the base 38 of the fin 32. Thus, by rotating the dial 42, the surfer can dial in the desired fin location relative to the board 34 on the fly. The dial 42 is retained within a housing 48 that is permanently embedded within the surfboard 34. The dial 42 is biased with spring 50 relative to the housing 48. Depressing the dial 42 causes disengagement between teeth 52 on the dial 42 and teeth 56 on the housing 48 that otherwise hold the dial 42 in place relative to the housing 48. The dial 42 is coupled to a central shaft 58. The shaft 58 is coupled to the gear 44 such that rotation of the dial 42 and shaft 58 causes rotation of the gear 44. Rotation of the gear 44, in turn, causes displacement of the fin 32 relative to the fin box 36. Once the dial has been rotated to the desired position, releasing the dial 42 causes the dial 42 to reengage with the housing so as to be retained in place by the bias of spring 50. A retaining ring 59 is provided on the bottom end of the shaft 58 to retain the shaft 59 on the gear 44 when the dial 42 is depressed and released. The shaft 58 has a non-circular cross-section that mates with a non-circular hole in the gear so that rotation of the shaft 58 causes rotation of the gear 44. While the forgoing illustrative embodiment has been described with reference to a dial that is depressed to engage it from the housing 48 to allow rotation of the gear 44, it is contemplated that the dial could be configured such that lifting of the dial causes disengagement of the dial from the housing so that the dial can be rotated relative to the housing 48, thus causing rotation of the gear and movement of the fin. In such a system, the dial would be inwardly biased so that release of the dial would cause the dial to be pulled back into the housing to reengage with the housing to prevent further movement of the dial and thus of the fin.
A rotary dial 68 is coupled to the fin box 62. The bottom of the dial 68 includes an angled gear 70 having a plurality of gear teeth radially extending therefrom for engaging with a rack gear 72 provided on the top of the slider 66. Rotation of the dial 68, in turn, causes longitudinal movement of the slider 66 relative to the fin box 62 and thus longitudinal movement of a fin (not shown) relative to the surfboard 64.
Referring now to
The dial 92 is coupled to a shaft 96 that is coupled at an opposite end to a gear 98. The gear 98 engages with rack gear 99 formed in the side of the slider 88. Thus, rotation of the dial 92 will cause rotation of the shaft 96 and rotation of the gear 98 to cause the slider 82 to move relative to the fin box 82 and move the fin 86 to a desired location relative to the surfboard 84.
In yet another embodiment illustrated in
In order to allow the slider to freely slide relative to the fin box, the fin box channel 140 may be lined with low friction materials 142, such as Teflon or other low friction materials known in the art. Likewise, the fin receptacle or slider 144 may be provided with low friction ends 148 that engage with the low friction liner 142 of the housing 146.
It is also contemplated, as shown in
A fin system of the present invention is also illustrated in
As shown in
It is further contemplated that other systems for moving a fin relative to a fin box along a length of a surfboard may be employed in accordance with the principles of the present invention. For example, the fin adjustment system 280 illustrated in
It is further contemplated in
Also, as shown in
Other systems may also be utilized such as small gears 310 and rack system 312 illustrated in
As illustrated in
As shown in
It should be noted that the various features of the embodiments describing a fin adjustment system could be combined to form other fin adjustment systems according to the principles of the present invention. It is also contemplated that more than one such fin adjustment system could be used on a single surfboard. Since it is common for surfboards to have multiple fins, each one could be made adjustable according to the present invention. For smaller outside fins, the scale of the adjustment system could be modified to accommodate smaller fins and to fit within the surfboard in thinner sections of the surfboard.
In the foregoing specification, the present invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments. Various modifications and changes may be made, however, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the claims. The specification and figures are illustrative, not restrictive, and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.
For example, the components and/or elements may be assembled or otherwise operationally configured in a variety of permutations and are accordingly not limited to the specific configuration recited.
Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to particular embodiments. Any benefit, advantage, solution to problem, or any element that may cause any particular benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or to become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or components.
The terms “comprise,” “comprises,” “comprising,” “having,” “including,” “includes” or any variations of such terms, are intended to reference a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, composition or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements recited, but may also include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, composition or apparatus. Other combinations and/or modifications of the above-described structures, arrangements, applications, proportions, elements, materials, or components used in the practice of the present invention, in addition to those not specifically recited, may be varied or otherwise particularly adapted to specific environments, manufacturing specifications, design parameters, or other operating requirements without departing from the general principles of the same.
Claims
1. A surfboard comprising:
- a fin attached to a bottom of the surfboard through a slot formed from a fin box; and
- a dial coupled to a base of the fin so that rotation of the dial causes movement of the fin from a distal position toward a read end of the surfboard to a proximal position toward a front end of the surfboard.
2. The surfboard of claim 1, wherein the dial is coupled relative to and accessible from a front side of the surfboard.
3. The surfboard of claim 1, wherein the dial is coupled to the base of the fin.
4. The surfboard of claim 1, wherein the dial comprises an arrow indicator located thereon for indicating the position of the fin relative to the surfboard.
5. A fin system for a surfboard comprising:
- a fin box; and
- a fin having a base, wherein the base is slidably engaged to the fin box.
6. The fin system of claim 5, wherein the fin box includes a longitudinally extending slot and wherein the base of the fin is retained in the fin box with laterally extending pins that engage the longitudinally extending slot in the fin box.
7. The fin system of claim 5, further comprising a dial coupled to a gear, wherein the gear is coupled to a rack gear that is coupled to the base of the fin.
8. The fin system of claim 7, wherein the dial is retained within a housing that is permanently embedded within the surfboard.
9. The fin system of claim 7, wherein the dial is biased with a spring relative to the housing and configured to cause engagement and disengagement between teeth on the dial and teeth on the housing.
10. The fin system of claim 9, wherein the dial is coupled to a shaft, the shaft being coupled to the gear, such that rotation of the dial and shaft causes rotation of the gear and displacement of the fin relative to the fin box.
11. The fin system of claim 10, further comprising a retaining ring provided on a bottom end of the shaft to retain the shaft on the gear when the dial is depressed and released.
12. The fin system of claim 5, further comprising:
- a slidable fin receptacle positioned in the fin box, the fin box defining a longitudinally extending channel within which the receptacle can move.
13. The fin system of claim 12, further comprising a cylindrical roller coupled to the fin box, and a gear coupled between the receptacle and the cylindrical roller; wherein rotation of the roller causes rotation of the worm gear, and wherein the worm gear engages corresponding gear teeth on the receptacle to cause movement of the receptacle relative to the fin box as the worm gear rotates.
14. The fin system of claim 12, further comprising a cable system connected to the fin receptacle to move the receptacle relative to the fin box.
15. An adjustable fin system for a surfboard, comprising:
- a fin box adapted for mounting to a surfboard, the fin box defining a longitudinally extending channel;
- a fin attachment slider that is slidably coupled to the fin box within the channel, the fin attachment slider being configured to be attached to the base of a fin.
16. The adjustable fin system of claim 15, wherein the slider comprises a low friction material.
17. The adjustable fin system of claim 15, further comprising a rotary dial coupled to the fin box.
18. The adjustable fin system of claim 15, wherein a bottom of the dial includes an angled gear having a plurality of gear teeth radially extending therefrom for engaging with a rack gear provided on the top of the slider.
19. The adjustable fin system of claim 15, wherein the fin box channel is lined with a low friction material.
20. The adjustable fin system of claim 15, wherein the dial is coupled relative to and accessible from a front side of the surfboard.
Type: Application
Filed: Mar 12, 2013
Publication Date: Sep 12, 2013
Inventor: Paul Mears (Salt Lake City, UT)
Application Number: 13/797,965
International Classification: B63B 35/79 (20060101);