LAMINATED PAPER SKATEBOARD DECK

Abstract

A skateboard deck includes a longitudinally extending truck supporting lower surface, a longitudinally extending rider supporting upper surface, and a plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and positioned between the lower surface and the upper surface.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application 61/715,686, filed Oct. 18, 2012, and titled LAMINATED PAPER SKATEBOARD DECK.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to the field of skateboards and skateboard decks, and more particularly to a skateboard deck that includes a plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide a skateboard deck that includes a longitudinally extending truck supporting lower surface, a longitudinally extending rider supporting upper surface, and a plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and positioned between the lower surface and the upper surface.

In some embodiments, the plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper may include a first plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and laminated to the lower surface, and a second plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and laminated to the upper surface. The skateboard deck may include a longitudinally extending reinforcing sheet positioned between the first plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper and the second plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper, the first reinforcing sheet is laminated one of first or second longitudinally extending sheets of paper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further purposes and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a skateboard including skateboard deck according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the skateboard of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the skateboard of the skateboard of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of manufacturing templates according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a process for making a skateboard deck according to the present invention; and,

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the lamination process of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a skateboard 100 including a deck 101 according to the present invention. Deck 101 includes a lower surface 107, which supports a pair of longitudinally spaced apart wheeled truck assemblies 103 and 105. Deck 101 also includes an upper, rider supporting surface 109. As shown in FIG. 1, deck 101 includes an upturned forward or nose 109 and an upturned rearward end or tail 111. As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, nose 109 and tail 111 are rounded and they are interconnected by straight, parallel sides or rails 113 and 115.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 showing an embodiment of a laminated deck 101 according to the present invention. Generally, deck 101 comprises a plurality of sheets of paper laminated together using a suitable adhesive. More particularly, lower surface 107, which is a sheet of paper, has laminated thereto a first plurality of laminated sheets of paper 401.

The individual sheets of first plurality of sheets of paper 401 may be of the same type of paper as first sheet 107. For example, sheet 107 may be builder-grade Kraft paper comprising 90% recycled paper, although other types of paper may be used. The adhesive used to adhere together the sheets of paper may include an epoxy resin. Examples of suitable adhesives include LiquidWood® deep penetrating wood consolidant manufactured by Abatron, Inc., of Kenosha, Wis., and SuperSap® 100/1000 high bio-content, general purpose liquid epoxy resin manufactured by Entropy Resins, Inc., of Hayward, Calif.

A sheet of reinforcing material 402 is adhered to first plurality of laminated sheets 401, preferably with the same adhesive used to laminate first plurality 401. Sheet 402 may be a reinforced paper, such as fiber filament reinforced Kraft paper, also known as poly-craft mask, or a woven fabric, such as a natural fiber, such as cotton or hemp, or a synthetic fiber, such as nylon, Kevlar, rayon cloth, or the like. Sheet 402 may also comprise basalt or carbon fiber fabric. Basalt fiber is made from naturally occurring basalt rock and it has mechanical properties similar to carbon fiber, but at a lower cost. Sources of basalt fiber fabric it Sudaglass Fiber Technology, Inc., Houston, Tex., as well as several manufacturers in Russia, Ukraine, and China. Sheet 402 adds to the longitudinal and torsional stiffness of deck 101.

A second plurality of laminated sheets of paper 403 is adhered to first reinforcing sheet 402. A second reinforcing sheet 404 is adhered to second plurality of laminated sheets of paper 403. Second reinforcing sheet 404 imparts further stiffness to deck 101.

A third plurality of laminated sheets of paper 405 is adhered to second reinforcing sheet 404. Third plurality of laminated sheets 405 include substantially more sheets of paper than first plurality 401 or 402. Third plurality of laminated sheets 405 effectively forms a core of deck 101.

A third sheet of reinforcing material 406 is adhered to third plurality of sheets 405 in order to impart further stiffness to deck 101. A fourth plurality of laminated sheets of paper 407 is adhered to third reinforcing sheet 406. A fourth sheet of reinforcing material 408 is adhered to fourth plurality of sheets 407 in order to impart still further stiffness to deck 101. A fifth plurality of laminated sheets of paper 409 is adhered to fourth reinforcing sheet 408. Finally, a sheet of paper forming upper surface 109 is adhered to fifth plurality of laminated sheets 409.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, all individual sheets of paper are of the same type. Similarly, all individual sheets of reinforcing material are of the same type. Finally all individual sheets, whether paper or reinforcing, are laminated together using the same adhesive. However, it should be recognized that different materials and adhesives may be used.

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically embodiments of templates for making the deck according to the present invention. A lower template 501 includes a surface 503 having upturned ends 505 and 507. An upper template 509 includes a surface 511 upturned ends 513 and 515. Surfaces 503 and 511 are rectangular in shape and are each longer than the length of deck 101 and wider than the width of deck 101. As will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, rectangular sheets of material and adhesive are laid onto surface 503 of lower template 501 to form a rectangular deck blank. The sheets of material and adhesive are compressed between lower template 501 and upper template 509, as indicated by arrows, while the adhesive cures. When the adhesive cures, the templates are removed and a deck is sawed out of the deck blank.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a process for manufacturing a deck according to the present invention. The process starts by placing release sheet on the lower template 501, at step 601. The release sheet is a rectangular sheet of acrylic, or the like, to keep the material laid on in step 602 from sticking to the tower template. Then the process performs a lamination process indicated generally at step 602 and described in detail with reference to FIG. 7. After performing the lamination process, the process places an upper release sheet on the top laminated sheet, at step 603, and places the upper template 509 on the upper release sheet, at step 604. Then, the process applies force to the upper and lower templates to compress the laminated material, at step 605. After the laminating adhesive has cured, at step 606, the process removes templates 501 and 509 and release sheets from the deck blank, at step 607. Finally, the process saws the deck from the deck blank and sands the deck, at step 608.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of lamination process step 602 of FIG. 6. The lamination process is initialized at step 701 by setting a constant P equal to 1 and a constant R equal to 1, wherein P represents a number of sheets of paper and R represents a number of reinforcing sheets. Then, the process lays down a sheet of paper, at step 703, and applies adhesive to the sheet of paper, at step 705. The process checks, at decision step 707, if P is equal to 5. If P is not equal to 5, the process increments P to P plus 1, at step 709, and returns to step 703. On the other hand, if P is equal to 5, at decision stop 707, the process lays down a reinforcing sheet, at step 711, and applies adhesive to the reinforcing sheet, at step 713. The process checks, at decision block 715, if R is equal to 2. If R is not equal to 2, the process increments F to F plus 1, at step 717, and returns to step 703. If R is equal to 2, the process sets P equal to 1, at step 701, lays down a sheet of paper, at step 721, and applies a layer of adhesive to the sheet of paper, at step 723. Then, the process checks, at decision step 725, if P is equal to 30. If P is not equal to 30, the process increments P to P plus 1, at step 727, and returns to step 721. If, at decision step 725, P is equal to 30, the process lays down a reinforcing sheet on the sheet of paper, at step 729, applies adhesive to the reinforcing sheet, at step 731, and sets P and F each equal to 1, at step 733. Then, the process lays down a sheet of paper, at step 735, and applies adhesive to the sheet of paper, at step 737. The process checks, at decision step 739, if P is equal to 5. If P is not equal to 5, the process increments P to P plus 1, at step 741, and returns to step 735. If P is equal to 5, at decision step 739, the process lays down a reinforcing sheet, at step 743, and applies adhesive to the reinforcing sheet, at step 745. The process cheeks, at decision block 747, if R is equal to 2. If R is not equal to 2, the process increments F to F plus 1, at step 749, and returns to step 735. If R is equal to 2, the process sets P equal to 1, at step 751, lays down a sheet of paper, at step 753, and applies a layer of adhesive to the sheet of paper, at step 755. The process checks, at decision step 757, if P is equal to 4. If P is not equal to 4, the process sets P equal to P plus 1, at step 759, and returns to step 753. If P is equal to 4, the process lays down a final sheet of paper, at step 761, and returns to step 603 of FIG. 6.

Although the process of FIG. 7 produces a laminated deck comprising fifty sheets of paper and four reinforcing sheets, it should be recognized that more of fewer sheets of paper or reinforcing material, and in different arrangements, may be used.

Claims

1. A skateboard deck, which comprises:

a longitudinally extending truck supporting lower surface;

a longitudinally extending rider supporting upper surface; and,

a plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and positioned between the lower surface and the upper surface.

2. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper:

a first plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and laminated to the lower surface; and,

a second plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and laminated to the upper surface.

3. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 2, including a longitudinally extending first reinforcing sheet positioned between the first plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper and the second plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper.

4. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first reinforcing sheet is laminated to one of first or second longitudinally extending sheets of paper.

5. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 3, wherein the reinforcing sheet includes filament reinforcement.

6. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 5, wherein the reinforcing sheet comprises a woven fabric.

7. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 5, wherein the reinforcing sheet comprises filament reinforced paper.

8. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper includes:

a third plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and positioned between the first and second longitudinally extending sheets of paper.

9. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of sheets of paper includes:

a first plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and laminated to the lower surface;

a first longitudinally extending reinforcing sheet laminated to the first plurality of sheets of paper;

a second plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and laminated to the first reinforcing sheet;

a second longitudinally extending reinforcing sheet laminated to the second plurality of sheets of paper;

a third plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and laminated to the second reinforcing sheet;

a third longitudinally extending reinforcing sheet laminated to the third plurality of sheets of paper;

a fourth plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and laminated to the third reinforcing sheet;

a fourth longitudinally extending reinforcing sheet laminated to the fourth plurality of sheets of paper; and

a fifth plurality of longitudinally extending sheets of paper laminated together and laminated to the fourth reinforcing sheet and to the upper surface.

10. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 1, wherein:

the lower surface includes a longitudinally extending sheet of paper; and,

the upper surface includes a longitudinally extending sheet of paper.

11. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheets of paper are laminated together with an adhesive including epoxy resin.

12. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheets of paper include Kraft paper.

13. The skateboard deck as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sheets of paper include recycled content.