Air chamber sports board

Abstract

A sports board for use in supporting a rider on snow covered slope and other gliding surface comprising: an elongated foam board with a semi-rigid foam core having a top riding surface and a bottom planning surface, the board having one or both end portions having an upturned shape acting as the leading end of the gliding board, the foam core having a aperture inside which an air chamber retains and the air chamber locating at the rider supporting region provides additional resilience to the foam board; a top skin covering the riding surface of the foam core; and a bottom skin covering the planning surface of the foam core.

Description

This application claims priority from Mr. Kwong Kee Cheung's China application CN200710073993.5 filed Apr. 5, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to foam sports boards and, more particularly, to a laminated safety gliding board having a air chamber locating at the rider supporting region providing additional resilience to the foam board. A front or rear air bumper cushion attachment may also be included in the sports board.

B. Description of the Prior Art

Body boards and snow gliding boards are typically made of polyolefin foam that imparts some flexibility and resiliency during gliding. Polyethylene foam sports boards have become very popular, in particular in the application as snow sleds, body boards, surfboard and other kinds of gliding boards. In order to increase strength of the foam boards to get the best balance between the desirable stiffness and flexure, it is known to add a firm core material inside the boards during manufacturing. Such a core is called a stringer and has been the subject of many patents in the field.

To the contrary, since the known foam boards for snowboarding involve a high-speed movement across the surface but inherently lacks a safety foundation in the structure the riders have been at the very high risk of being physically sent to hit trees, natural obstacles or fellow skiers or boarders frequent in the wild slopes where the boards are actually used. Although foam planks for the sports boards already having miniscule amount of air trapped inside might act as an impact absorber, it will be negligible under most impacts to the board rider in the field. An alternative solution of modifying the board's surface contour to hold the rider better has its own limitation considering the realistic degree of protection required at time of a collision. Another solution to the rough rides of conventional sports board was to make an inflatable board, practically a modification of an existing inflatable rubber raft. Inflatable sleds are particular good towards shock absorbing property on snow sliding. However inflatable sleds do not have the stiffness of foam sled. In addition, they tend to tear and deflate on sharp ice, rocks or the like. Therefore it is desirable to combine the shock absorbing advantage of inflatable sleds with the high sliding speed associated with the high stiffness and puncture resistance properties associated with the slick bottom sheet of foam sleds. The present invention provides a solution of combining the better parts of both.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an air chamber sports board based on a firm platform of foam board adapted to integrate with air cushions in and out of the board decks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an inflatable chamber sports board with bottom covered by a slick plastic sheet that provides a wear and puncture resistance planar bottom running surface and enhanced sliding speed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The sports board of the present invention has a slick outer skin over the gliding surface and is used for skimming over water, snow or other gliding surfaces. The sports board also includes an air chamber locating at the rider supporting region. The slick outer skin provides greatly improved performance over traditional inflatable tube in the water or on snow. The sports board comprises an elongated foam board with a semi-rigid foam core having a top riding surface and a bottom planning surface, the board having one or both end portions having an upturned shape acting as the leading end of the gliding board, the foam core having a aperture inside which an air chamber retains and the air chamber locating at the rider supporting region provides additional resilience to the foam board; a top skin covering the riding surface of the foam core; and a bottom skin covering the planning surface of the foam core. The sports board may includes an arcuate front air chamber attached to front portion of the foam board for absorbing impact force in the front half of the sports board in collision. The sports board may further includes a rear air chamber attached to rear portion of the foam board for absorbing impact force in the rear half of the sports board in collision. The front and back air chambers are detachably attached to the top surface of the sports board using suitable connectors including snap buttons, snap rivets, straps, screws and nuts. Alternatively, they may be permanently attached to the top surface of the sports board by sewing, heat welding or adhesive bonding. The sports board further comprises two side handles on the upper surface of the laminated composite core for the purchase of rider.

The foam core may be formed of expanded polyethylene, expanded polypropylene, expanded ethylene vinyl acetate, expanded polyurethane, expanded polystyrene or the combination thereof. The top skin comprises a top polyethylene foam sheet bonded to an outer plastic film; The plastic film may further comprise: an outer film comprising an inner surface having a graphic printed thereon, said outer film is pervious to light; an inner film comprising an outer surface and an inner surface, said outer surface of said inner film is bonded with said inner surface of said outer film, said inner surface of said inner film is bonded with said top polyethylene foam sheet. The bottom skin may further comprise a bottom polyethylene foam sheet bonded to an outer plastic sheet and the plastic sheet provides an outer slick gliding surface. The plastic sheet for the bottom surface of the board is preferably a slick polyethylene (PE) layer and most preferably a high density polyethylene (HDPE) layer. The plastic sheet may also be polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl acetate (PVC) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) slick skin. Furthermore the polyethylene foam sheet may also be replaced by other polymer foam sheets. Illustrative examples include foam sheets made of polypropylene (PP), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), rubber or the combination thereof. The plastic sheet may further comprise: a inner film having a top surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said bottom polyethylene foam sheet and a bottom surface; a outer film having a top surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said inner film and a bottom surface; a graphic being printed on said top surface of said outer film, whereby said graphic printing is overlaid; and a plate having a surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said outer film, said graphic being visible from outside of said plate, wherein said outer film, inner film and plate are made of plastic.

The chamber is preferably installed as a permanently inflated chamber like a gelatinous pocket filled with pressurized air or appropriate fluid and located at the rider supporting region of the sports board to provide additional resilience. The chamber may also be installed as an inflatable chamber with an air outlet. The chamber may be deflated during shipment to reduce the shipping volume. The chamber can be inflated to its full size by user. Although only one chamber 22 is shown in FIG. 1, snow sled 10 may include more than one inflatable chamber, for example two inflatable chambers for a two sitter snow sled. As shown in FIG. 7, the air chamber 70 may be inserted into the aperture of the foam board without bonding to the bottom skin and/or the top skin. Preferably the bottom surface of air chamber is bonded to the top surface of the bottom polyethylene foam sheet 72 by applying a thin layer of adhesive resin to the bonding surfaces. Similarly the top surface of air chamber may also be bonded to the bottom surface of the top skin 76. The adhesive resin may be applied by any conventional method known in the art. Useful lamination methods include hot extrusion of a heat activated adhesive resin on the foam sheet, liquid coating or spray coating a hot melt adhesive or liquid-base adhesive onto the surface of the air chamber and the foam sheet prior to bonding process.

The air chamber is typically fabricated of thermo welded gas impervious sheet materials, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Frequently, inflatable cambers are made by sealing the PVC sheets through ultrasonic or radio frequency energy or other thermo welding techniques. Other suitable plastic sheet materials may be selected from the group consisting of polyethylene sheet, polypropylene sheet, polyester sheet, nylon sheet and polyvinyl chloride sheet. The plastic sheets are typically not reinforced with fibers. However the plastic sheets can be reinforced with woven fibers to obtain high tensile strength property.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air chamber sports board of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the sports board of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the air chamber sports board showing two air bumpers released and the board being partially cut away to show locations of snap fasteners for attaching the bumpers.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a fiber reinforced PVC sheet material.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a multi-layered fiber reinforced PVC sheet material.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the sports board of FIG. 1 with the detachable bumpers shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the sports board of a first embodiment taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 6 to show the position of the air chamber inside.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the sports board taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional exploded view of a second embodiment of the sports board of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional exploded view of a third embodiment of the sports board of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional exploded view of a fourth embodiment of the sports board of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional exploded view of a fifth embodiment of the sports board of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a top view of an alternate embodiment of the sports board.

FIG. 14 is an exploded view of the alternate embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a cross-section assembled view of the alternate embodiment.

Each of the different embodiments shows a board having different construction and different handling characteristics. Similar elements are referred to by common call out numbers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sports board 10 according to the present invention is constructed as a foam sled for sliding on a snow covered slope. The foam sports board may also be used for skimming over water or other gliding surfaces. The foam sled 10 is an elongated foam board having a substantially planar main body 12, which is elongated with rounded side edges and has a front end 14 deflected upward. The main body 12 of the foam board consists of polyethylene (PE) foam core having an aperture inside which an air chamber 22 retains. The air chamber 22 function as seat cushion is preferable positioned at the rider supporting region of the foam board, providing additional resilience and comfort to the rider. The top riding surface is covered by a top skin 76.

The chamber 22 is preferably installed as a permanently inflated chamber like a gelatinous pocket filled with pressurized air or appropriate fluid. The chamber may also be installed as an inflatable chamber with an air outlet.

Around the cushion 22, a C-shaped rear air chamber 24 function as a rear bumper is attached to protect the back, left and right sides of the board 10 and thus the rider from collision at the three sides. The bumper 24 may be made of two identical PVC sheets welded along the edges into an arch form and has a conventional one-way valve (not shown) at a selected position for connecting an air pump to inflate or deflate the bumper to an appropriate elasticity after attaching bumper 24 onto the board 10. The kinds of valves may be those found in water sports floats. The PVC sheet material may be reinforced by fiber material to tackle the harsh outdoors condition as will be detailed hereinafter.

Opposite ends 26 of rear air chamber 24 may be finished so that they form thin closed flaps for threading female snap fasteners 28 as opposed to male snap fasteners 30 threaded through the main body 12 at the corresponding positions. Another female snap fastener 28 is fixed to rear chamber 24 through a flexible flap 34 formed on the rear center of rear chamber 24 and is adapted to snap onto the opposite snap fastener 30 at the rearmost location of the main body 10 to anchor the rear chamber 24 more firmly as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. However, the number of fastening points between the rear chamber 24 and main body 12 is arbitrary and may be increased to withstand higher anticipated lateral impacts against the rear chamber 24. The lateral extensions of the back rear chamber 24 may form two generally parallel bolsters 32 for supporting upper thighs of the rider in an upright seating position. Other fastening methods may include snap button, snap rivet and strap.

Alternatively, a horizontal fin along the entire sides of bumper 24 may replace flaps 26 and 34 of rear chamber 24 so that it is directly sewn together with main body 12 using a strong yarn in order to make a structurally secure attachment of the rear chamber 24. Flaps 26, 34 and the fin may be integrally molded at the manufacture of the rear chamber 24. Alternatively the fin may also be bonded to the top skin by heat welding or adhesive bonding methods.

A bow shaped front chamber 36 function as the front bumper is similarly made by an inflatable air chamber, which is attached to main body 12 at three optional locations of male snap fasteners 30 pierced through the main body 12 via two opposite end flaps 38 and a middle flap 40. As is shown clearly at the cut away portion in FIG. 3, snap fastener 30 is pierced through the body 12 and may comprise two interlocking members with the body 12 being sandwiched therebetween. Alternatively, a horizontal fin along the entire sides of chamber 36 may replace flaps 38 and 40 of chamber 36 so that it is directly sawn together with main body 12 using a strong yarn to make a structurally secure attachment of the chamber 36. When attached to the body 12, the front chamber 36 can act as a foot buttress to stabilize the riding position of the rider and cooperates with the back bumper 24 to guard the rider against impacts coming from all four sides. The air chamber is preferably designed to accept at least up to 40 PSI.

At the time of shipping the sports board 10, the bumpers 24 and 36 may be conveniently deflated and/or detached from the main body 12. The detachability makes a possible repair or replacement of bumpers easy in case they are damaged from a puncture or excessive impact. During transportation, bumpers 24, 36 may remain attached to the main body 12 with air depleted in order to keep a convenient thin profile of the board 10.

In addition, on both lateral sides of the main body 12, two handles 42 are attached for the rider to hold during a high-speed operation of the board 10 for safety. The handles 42 also become convenient grips for transporting the board 10. Each handle 42 is typically a soft tubular grip 44 threaded with a strong fabric web 46 having both opposite ends tied down onto the main body 12 by using a pair of snap-rivets and snap-posts passing through aperture in the sports board similarly to the fasteners 30.

Suitable plastic material for fabricating the air chambers and the flag sheet attachment includes polyvinyl chloride sheet, polyethylene sheet, polypropylene sheet, polyester sheet, nylon sheet and polyvinyl chloride sheet. The plastic sheets are typically not reinforced with fibers. However the plastic sheets can be reinforced with woven fibers to obtain high tensile strength property.

Referring to FIG. 4, a reinforced PVC sheet material 48 may be used to make the seat cushion 22, bumpers 24 and 36 or the flag sheet attachment. The PVC material 48 comprises woven fibers 50 including wefts 52 and warps 54 buried in a matrix of PVC.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 5, a PVC material 58 comprises the similar woven fibers 50 made of wefts 52 and warps 54 with an empty space 60 maintained therebetween. The woven fibers 50 may be bonded with an upper PVC layer 62 and a lower PVC layer 64 by adhesive layers 66, respectively. The strength enhancing fibers 50 may include woven, knitted or nonwoven fabric materials made from polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, polyester, rayon, acrylic and other synthetic materials and blends thereof, and adhesive useful for the application may include hot melt adhesive or a solvent based adhesive.

Referring to FIG. 6, a plan view of main body 12 along with its cross-sections in FIGS. 7 and 8, the composition of the board body 12 will become more apparent. The body 12 generally comprises a polyethylene foam core 68 extending throughout the body 12 and having an air chamber 70 made of PVC material 58 filled with pressurized air. The chamber 70 is located near the rear end of body 12 within the perimeter of its peripheral edges. Core 68 may be shaped to have a vertical aperture 71 to accommodate air chamber 70. The core 68/chamber 70 assembly may be completely overlaid with bottom multiple layers 72 and 74 and a top layer 76 through a conventional thermal bonding process without the application of adhesive resin.

A thin coating of adhesive resin may also be applied to the top surface of the bottom polyethylene foam sheet of the bottom skin 72/74 by extruding a thin film layer of adhesive resin. The resulting laminate is then bonded to bottom surface of the polyethylene foam core/air chamber assembly using a conventional heat laminating process. Similarly, a second thin coating of adhesive resin may be applied to the bottom surface of the top skin 76. The resulting top laminate is then heat laminated to cover the top and edge surfaces of the composite foam core. The adhesive resin film layer may be selected from a group consisting of anhydride-modified ethylene/vinyl acetate, anhydride modified ethylene acrylate, ethylene/propylene copolymer, homogeneous ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer, anhydride-modified polyolefin, ethylene/acrylic acid copolymer, vinyl acetate/acrylic copolymer, ethylene/methylacrylate copolymer, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer, and blends of the foregoing

The soft and resilient top deck provides a comfortable riding surface with excellent shock absorbing property at the cushion area 22. The bottom polyethylene foam sheet 72 provide adequate cushioning to strengthen the polyethylene slick sheet 74 from piercing and puncture while the polyethylene sheet 74 provides the rigidity and slickness for a high sliding speed and directional stability. High density polyethylene is a more preferable material for the polyethylene slick sheet due to its high stiffness and toughness properties.

The hybrid foam core of polyethylene foam and air chamber will increase the riding comfort and decrease the weight than using the polyethylene foam core alone. At the same time, the polyethylene foam section of the composite core responses better with the rider's bending force due to the better elasticity of the polyethylene foam section.

Generally, fabrication by heat laminating or adhesive resin bonding of various layers of plastic film and sheet is well known in the art. A variety of references show construction techniques for assembling a sports board having a backing foam layer. Szabad U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,913 teaches how to make a foam board with both the top and bottom surface completely covered by a laminate PE film and PE foam sheet. Also a variety of references show the use of graphic film on a sports board. A variety of references show the use of dual layer graphic film on a foam core such as Schneider U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,593, which teaches a polyethylene foam core.

FIG. 7 shows a first embodiment of main body 12 comprising polyethylene foam core portion 68 in conjunction with air chamber 70, bottom PE foam sheet 72, bottom slick PE sheet 74 and top PE foam sheet 76. The polyethylene foam core portion 68 has a density of 1.5 to 4 pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft³), with a best mode of 2.2 lb/ft³. The thickness of the PE foam section 68 is about 0.5-3 inches, with a best mode of 1 inch. The bottom PE foam sheet 72 has a density of 4 to 10 lb/ft³, with a best mode of 6 lb/ft³. The thickness of bottom PE foam sheet 72 is about 1-10 millimeters (mm), with a best mode of 5 mm. The bottom slick PE sheet 74 has a density of 0.89 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³. The thickness of the bottom sheet 74 is about 0.1-2 mm, with a best mode of 0.5 mm. The top PE foam sheet 76 may have the same density and thickness as those of the bottom PE foam sheet 72.

FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of sports board wherein a main body 102 comprises polyethylene foam core portion 68 in conjunction with air chamber 70, bottom PE foam sheet 72, bottom slick PE sheet 74, and top PE foam sheet 76. The main body 102 also has inner and outer PE films 80 and 82 on the exterior of top PE foam sheet 76. A graphic print may be located between the two films 80 and 82 and visible at the surface of main body 102 and thus the outer PE film is preferably pervious to light. The inside of plastic film 82 may be a graphically imprinted using any of several conventional processes for printing. An example of such a process is corona printing, in which an electrical discharge temporarily alters the surface molecules of the polyethylene film, allowing ink to adhere to the film. The inner PE film and outer PE film may be bonded by conventional adhesive gluing method or by heat lamination.

The inner film 80 has a density of 0.89 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³. The thickness of inner film 80 is about 0.01-0.15 mm, with a best mode of 0.07 mm. The outer film 82 may have the same density as that of the inner film 80. The thickness of the outer film 82 is about 0.02-0.15 mm, with a best mode of 0.07 mm.

FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment of sports board wherein a main body 202 comprises polyethylene foam core portion 68 in conjunction with air chamber 70, a bottom PE foam sheet 84, bottom slick PE sheet 74, and an top PE foam sheet 86. The main body 202 also has an adhesive resin film binding layer 88 for binding outer PE film 82 to the top PE foam sheet 86. A graphic is printed on the bottom surface of the outer PE film before laminating to the binding layer 88. Therefore the graphic printing is overlaid by the binding layer 88.

The polyethylene foam core portion 68 has a density of 1.5 to 4 pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft³), with a best mode of 2.2 lb/ft³. The thickness of the PE foam section 68 is about 0.5-3 inches, with a best mode of 1 inch. The bottom PE foam sheet 84 has a density of 4 to 10 lb/ft³, with a best mode of 6 lb/ft³. The thickness of bottom PE foam sheet 84 is about 1-10 mm, with a best mode of 3 mm. The bottom slick PE sheet 74 has a density of 0.89 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³. The thickness of the bottom sheet 74 is about 0.1-2 mm, with a best mode of 0.5 mm. The top PE foam sheet 86 may have the same density and thickness as those of the bottom PE foam sheet 84. The adhesive resin film 88 has a density of 0.88 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³. The thickness of adhesive film 88 is about 0.02-0.20 mm, with a best mode of 0.07 mm. The outer PE film 82 has a density of 0.89 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³. The thickness of outer film 82 is about 0.02-0.15 mm, with a best mode of 0.07 mm.

FIG. 11 shows a fourth embodiment of sports board wherein a main body 302 comprises polyethylene foam core portion 68 in conjunction with air chamber 70, a bottom PE foam sheet 84, a bottom PE film 90 having a top surface and a bottom surface, a graphic being printed on said top surface, an adhesive resin film 92 having a top surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said bottom PE foam sheet 84 and a bottom surface being bonded to the top surface of said bottom PE film 90, whereby said graphic printing is overlaid, a bottom slick PE sheet 74 having a top surface being bonded to the bottom surface of said bottom PE film 90.

The polyethylene foam core portion 68 has a density of 1.5 to 4 lb/ft³, with a best mode of 2.2 lb/ft³. The thickness of the PE foam section 68 is about 0.5-3 inches, with a best mode of 1 inch. The bottom slick PE sheet 74 has a density of 0.89 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³. The thickness of the bottom sheet 74 is about 0.1-2 mm, with a best mode of 0.5 mm. The bottom PE foam sheet 84 has an identical density and thickness as top PE foam sheet 86 having a density of 4 to 10 lb/ft³, with a best mode of 6 lb/ft³ and a thickness of about 1-5 mm, with a best mode of 3 mm. The bottom PE film 90 is similar to the outer PE film 82 in that they commonly have a density of 0.89 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³ and a thickness of about 0.02-0.15 mm, with a best mode of 0.07 mm. Also, the bottom PE film 90 and the outer PE film 82 may be printed with the respective graphic pictures at their inner surfaces. The adhesive resin films 88 and 92 have a density of 0.88 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³ and a thickness of about 0.02-0.20 mm, with a best mode of 0.07 mm.

FIG. 12 shows a fifth embodiment of sports board wherein a main body 402 comprises an expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam core portion 94 in conjunction with air chamber 70, a bottom slick PE sheet 74, a bottom PE foam sheet 84, a third adhesive resin film 92 that bonds PE foam sheet 84 to the bottom surfaces of the foam core 94/air chamber 70 assembly, top PE foam sheet 86, outer PE film 82 with a graphic printed on its inner surface, a first adhesive resin film 88 for bonding outer PE film 82 to the top PE foam sheet 86 and a second adhesive resin film 96 for the bonding top PE foam sheet 86 to the top surface and edge surfaces of the foam core 94/air chamber 70 assembly.

The EPS foam core portion 68 has a density of 1.0 to 3 pounds per cubic foot (lb/ft³), with a best mode of 1.5 lb/ft³. The thickness of the EPS foam section 94 is about 0.5-3 inches, with a best mode of 1 inch. The bottom PE foam sheet 84 has a density of 4 to 10 lb/ft³, with a best mode of 6 lb/f³. The thickness of bottom PE foam sheet 84 is about 1-5 mm, with a best mode of 3 mm. The bottom slick PE sheet 74 has a density of 0.89 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³. The thickness of the bottom sheet 74 is about 0.1-2 mm, with a best mode of 0.5 mm. The top PE foam sheet 86 may have the same density and thickness as those of the bottom PE foam sheet 84. The adhesive resin film 88, 96 and 92 has a density of 0.88 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³. The thickness of adhesive film 88, 96 and 92 is about 0.02-0.20 mm, with a best mode of 0.07 mm. The outer PE film 82 has a density of 0.89 to 0.98 g/cm³, with a best mode of 0.95 g/cm³. The thickness of outer film 82 is about 0.02-0.15 mm, with a best mode of 0.07 mm.

FIG. 13 shows a sixth embodiment of sports board comprising: an inflatable chamber, a bottom cover which covers substantially the bottom running surface of the chamber. The cover 20 comprises a foam sheet bonded to a plastic sheet and the plastic sheet provides an outer slick gliding surface. Preferably the foam sheet is a polyethylene (PE) foam sheet and the plastic sheet is a polyethylene (PE) sheet. Other foam sheet materials useful for the application may include polypropylene (PP), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), rubber or the combination thereof. Preferably the plastic sheet is polyethylene. More preferable the polyethylene sheet is a high density polyethylene (HDPE) sheet which has the desirable properties of high stiffness and good toughness at sub-zero temperature environment. The polyethylene foam sheet provide adequate cushioning to strengthen the polyethylene slick sheet from piercing and puncture while the polyethylene sheet provides the rigidity and slickness for a high sliding speed and directional stability. Other plastic sheets suitable for the application may include polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl acetate (PVC) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) slick skin.

It will be more apparent from FIGS. 14 and 15 to see that the sports board is constructed of an inflatable chamber sitting on a protection cover. The cover is a laminate of polyethylene foam sheet and polyethylene sheet. The laminated cover is preferable formed to match the shape of the bottom profile of the chamber. Conventional thermoforming method may be used to form the desirable shape of the PE foam/PE sheet laminate. The inflatable chamber may be coupled with the cover as a single unit by simple mechanical interlocking as shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 15. The inflatable chamber may also be attached to the bottom cover by suitable fastener such as snap button, snap rivet, strap or sewing. More preferable an adhesive resin layer (not shown in FIG. 15) is applied to the top surface of the PE foam sheet and bond the PE foam/PE sheet laminated cover to the bottom surface of the inflatable chamber. The chamber is typically deflated during shipment to reduce the shipping volume. The chamber can be inflated to its full size by user.

Therefore, while the presently preferred form of the air chamber sports board have been shown and described, and several modifications thereof discussed, persons skilled in this art will readily appreciate that various additional changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined and differentiated by the following claims. For example, only one seat cushion 22 has been described herein but depending on the capacity of a particular board design the number, dimension and shape of the seat cushion 22 can be appropriately adapted to various applications within the scope of the present invention. The thickness of the layers can be changed in relation to the type of board that is desired.

Claims

1. A sports board for use in supporting a rider on a gliding surface comprising:

an elongated foam board with a semi-rigid foam core having a top riding surface and a bottom planning surface, the foam core having a aperture inside which an air chamber retains and the air chamber locating at the rider supporting region provides additional resilience to the foam board;

a top skin covering the riding surface of the foam core; and

a bottom skin covering the planning surface of the foam core.

2. The sports board of claim 1, wherein

the foam core is polyethylene foam;

the top skin further comprises a top polyethylene foam sheet bonded to an outer plastic film;

the bottom skin further comprises a bottom polyethylene foam sheet bonded to an outer plastic sheet and the plastic sheet provides an outer slick gliding surface.

3. The sports board of claim 2, further comprises an adhesive resin layer bonding between said chamber and said bottom polyethylene foam sheet.

4. The sports board of claim 2, wherein the polyethylene foam core has a density of 1.5 to 4 lb/ft3 and a thickness of 0.5-3 inches, the polyethylene foam sheet has a density higher than the density of foam core and a thickness of 1-10 mm, and the bottom plastic sheet has a thickness of 0.1-2 mm.

5. The sports board of claim 2, wherein said plastic film comprising: an outer film comprising an inner surface having a graphic printed thereon, said outer film is pervious to light; an inner film comprising an outer surface and an inner surface, said outer surface of said inner film is bonded with said inner surface of said outer film, said inner surface of said inner film is bonded with said top polyethylene foam sheet.

6. The sports board of claim 2, wherein said plastic sheet further comprising: a inner film having a top surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said bottom polyethylene foam sheet and a bottom surface: a outer film having a top surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said inner film and a bottom surface; a graphic being printed on said top surface of said outer film, whereby said graphic printing is overlaid; and a plate having a surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said outer film, said graphic being visible from outside of said plate, wherein said outer film, inner film and plate are made of plastic.

7. The sports board of claim 1, wherein

the foam core is polystyrene foam;

the top skin further comprises a top adhesive resin film having a bottom surface bonded to the top surface of the foam core and a top surface; a top polyethylene foam sheet having a bottom surface bonded to the top surface of said top adhesive resin film and a top surface; a top plastic film having a bottom surface bonded to the top surface of said top polyethylene foam sheet; and

the bottom skin further comprises a bottom adhesive resin film having a top surface bonded to the bottom surface of the foam core and a bottom surface; a bottom polyethylene foam sheet having a top surface bonded to the bottom surface of said bottom adhesive resin film and a plastic sheet having a top surface bonded to the bottom surface of said bottom polyethylene foam sheet.

8. The sports board of claim 1, wherein the air chamber is made of plastic material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride sheet, polyethylene sheet, polypropylene sheet, polyester sheet, nylon sheet and polyvinyl chloride sheet.

9. The sports board of claim 1, further includes a front air chamber attached to front portion of the foam board for absorbing impact force in the front half of the sports board in collision.

10. The sports board of claim 1, further includes a rear air chamber attached to rear portion of the foam board for absorbing impact force in the rear half of the sports board in collision.

11. The sports board of claim 10, further including at least one plastic flag sheet connecting the air chamber to the top surface of the sports board by one of the methods selected from snap button, snap rivet, strap, sewing, thermo welding or adhesive bonding.

12. A sports board for use in supporting a rider on a gliding surface comprising:

an elongated foam board with a semi-rigid foam core having a top riding surface and a bottom planning surface, the foam core having a aperture inside which a chamber retains and the chamber locating at the rider supporting region provides additional resilience to the foam board; and

a bottom skin covering the planning surface of the foam core; the bottom skin comprising a foam sheet having a top surface and a bottom surface and said bottom surface being bonded to a plastic sheet and the plastic sheet provides an outer slick gliding surface.

13. The sports board of claim 12, wherein the chamber is made of plastic material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride sheet, polyethylene sheet, polypropylene sheet, polyester sheet, nylon sheet and polyvinyl chloride sheet.

14. The sports board of claim 12, wherein the chamber is filled with pressurized air or other appropriate fluid for enhancing elasticity of the chamber.

15. The sports board of claim 12, further comprises an adhesive resin layer bonding between said chamber and said foam sheet.

16. The sports board of claim 12, wherein said plastic sheet comprises: a inner film having a top surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said foam sheet and a bottom surface; a outer film having a top surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said inner film and a bottom surface; a graphic being printed on said top surface of said outer film, whereby said graphic printing is overlaid; and a plate having a surface being bonded to said bottom surface of said outer film, said graphic being visible from outside of said plate, wherein said outer film, inner film and plate are made of plastic.

17. An inflatable sports board for use in supporting a rider on a gliding surface comprising:

an inflatable chamber;

a bottom cover for at least part of the chamber, said cover comprising a foam sheet bonded to a plastic sheet and the plastic sheet provides a puncture resistant protection layer to the inflatable chamber and an outer slick gliding surface for enhanced sliding speed.

18. The sports board of claim 17, wherein the air chamber is made of plastic material selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl chloride sheet, polyethylene sheet, polypropylene sheet, polyester sheet, nylon sheet and polyvinyl chloride sheet.

19. The sports board of claim 17, further comprises an adhesive resin layer bonding between said chamber and said foam sheet.

20. The sports board of claim 17, wherein the foam sheet comprises a member selected from the group consisting of polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), rubber or the combination thereof, having a density of 4 to 10 lb/ft3 and a thickness of 1-20 mm, and the bottom plastic sheet has a thickness of 0.1-2 mm.