Abstract:
said pontoon sections and said leading edge of said carrying surface forming a generally smooth leading fairing surface for being towed through water with minimum drag,  
     said carrying surface being provided with an opening in proximity to its trailing edge, said opening being adapted to retain a vertical strut extending downwardly below said carrying surface, said carrying surface further having, in proximity to said opening, means associated therewith to carry a seat on said upper surface.

Description:
[0001]    This patent application claims the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/214,305 filed Jun. 27, 2000. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
         [0002]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,354, U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,998 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,676 disclose a water sport device for supporting a seated human rider while the rider and the device are towed behind a powered water craft. The device includes an elongated board to which a rigidly mounted seat and foot holders are secured. An elongate strut or arm projects downwardly from the board and wings are secured to the arm generally parallel to the board. The positioning of the seat and the wings provide essentially no lift when the board is horizontal. The positioning of the rigidly mounted seat and the wings at the rear of the board, the use of a single vertical strut, the size of the wings and the positioning of the foot holders at least two feet in front of the seat provides a water sports device which is relatively easy to ride, while at the same time being highly maneuverable and capable of high jumps.  
           [0003]    These towable personal hydrofoils can be somewhat difficult to learn to ride. Hydrofoil riders often having difficulty bringing the hydrofoil up to the surface of the water from a starting, submerged position when first learning to ride.  
           [0004]    The disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,100,354, 5,249,998 and 6,179,676 are expressly incorporated herein by reference.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0005]    This invention comprises an inflatable boat adapted to serve as a training aid and enable a towable, personal hydrofoil watersport device adapted to carry a seated rider having an elongate board and a vertical strut extending generally at a right angle to said board to float on the surface of the water while carrying a rider comprising:  
           [0006]    (a) elongated spaced apart inflatable pontoon sections connected in proximity to their lower extremities by  
           [0007]    (b) a carrying surface including an upper surface, a leading edge and a trailing edge,  
           [0008]    said pontoons sections and said leading edge of said carrying surface forming a generally smooth leading fairing surface for being towed through water with minimum drag,  
           [0009]    said carrying surface being provided with an opening in proximity to its trailing edge, said opening being adapted to retain said strut and the lateral distance between said pontoon sections being adapted to receive therebetween the elongated board.  
           [0010]    The invention further comprises in combination,  
           [0011]    a) an inflatable boat comprising  
           [0012]    (i) elongated spaced apart inflatable pontoon sections connected in proximity to their lower extremities by  
           [0013]    (ii) a carrying surface including an upper surface, a leading edge and a trailing edge, said pontoon sections and said leading edge of said carrying surface forming a generally smooth leading fairing surface for being towed through water with minimum drag, said carrying surface being provided with an opening in proximity to its trailing edge; and  
           [0014]    b) a towable personal hydrofoil watersport device adapted to carry a seated rider having an elongate board and a generally vertical strut extending generally at a right angle to said board,  
           [0015]    wherein said strut is received in said opening and projects downwardly below said carrying surface, and the elongated board rests on the upper surface of said carrying surface between said pontoon sections.  
           [0016]    This invention still further comprises an inflatable boat adapted to serve as a training aid in learning the use of a towable personal hydrofoil watersport device adapted to carry a seated rider, said inflatable boat comprising:  
           [0017]    (a) elongated spaced apart inflatable pontoon sections connected in proximity to their lower extremities by  
           [0018]    (b) a carrying surface including an upper surface, a leading edge and a trailing edge,  
           [0019]    said pontoon sections and said leading edge of said carrying surface forming a generally smooth leading fairing surface for being towed through water with minimum drag,  
           [0020]    said carrying surface being provided with an opening in proximity to its trailing edge, said opening being adapted to retain a vertical strut extending downwardly below said carrying surface, said carrying surface further having, in proximity to said opening, means associated therewith to carry a seat on said upper surface. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]    [0021]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the inflatable raft with the hydrofoil watersport device in place thereon.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line  3 - 3  in FIG. 2.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line  4 - 4  in FIG. 3.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 5 is a rear view of another embodiment of the invention which provides a training device without using the personal hydrofoil device.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing the top side of the embodiment of FIG. 5. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0027]    Turning to the drawings in greater detail.  
         [0028]    Referring to FIGS.  1  to  4 , there is shown the use of the inflatable boat of this invention to carry a towable water sports device, normally a “flying ski” or other personal hydrofoil.  
         [0029]    The inflatable boat  10  has a pair of elongated spaced apart air inflatable pontoon sections or members  12  and  14 . The pontoon members  12  and  14  are connected near their lower extremities by a carrying member  16  which has an upper surface  18 . The personal hydrofoil device  20  Includes an elongate board  22  having an upper surface  24  and a lower surface  26 , and a front end  28  and a back end  30 . A seat  32  extends generally perpendicular to and upward from the upper surface  24  of the board for supporting a seated rider at a point spaced above the board.  
         [0030]    The rider&#39;s legs extend forward toward the front of the board, where they are secured by a holders  34  and  36 , such as a pair of rubber sheets, which are attached to the front end of the board  22  so as to form two semi-circular loops into which the feet of the seated rider are inserted.  
         [0031]    An elongate strut  38  extends generally perpendicular to and is secured to the board  22 . The strut  38  extending below the board  22  is of a generally water foil shape in cross section. The strut  38  is generally positioned under seat  32 .  
         [0032]    An elongate fuselage  40  having a forward end and rearward end is fixed to the bottom end of the strut  38  at a point just forward of the middle of the fuselage  40 . A forward wing  42  is secured to the top of the forward end of the fuselage  40  so as to be generally parallel to the board  22 . Likewise, a rear wing  44  is secured to the bottom of the rearward end of the fuselage  40  generally parallel to the board  22 . The planing blade structure (i.e., the strut  38 , the fuselage  40 , the forward wing  42 , the rear wing  44 ), provides essentially no lift when the board  22  is horizontal.  
         [0033]    The combination of the inflatable boat and towable personal hydrofoil device  20  with rider are desirably towed behind a standard powered water craft utilizing a standard ski tow rope, the handle of which is held by the rider (as illustrated in FIG. 1) at a point spaced roughly above the knees of the rider.  
         [0034]    Optionally, the inflatable boat preferably has a roll bar  46  connected at its fixed ends to the pontoon members  12  and  14 . The roll bar is generally hollow and water tight and, due to its buoyancy, serves, in the event of a spill, to prevent the inflatable raft  10  with the towable personal hydrofoil device  20  carrying a rider from rolling over more than about 90 degrees and specifically to prevent a 180 degree rollover. The rollover bar  46  is normally positioned over the seat  32  to provide maximum benefit to the rider.  
         [0035]    The inflatable boat  10  including the forward ends of pontoon sections  12  and  14 , has a smooth leading edge or fairing  48  which allows the inflatable raft  10  while carrying the towable personal hydrofoil device  20  to be towed through water with minimum drag. The rear or trailing edge of carrying member  16  is provided with a slot or notch  50  in which the elongate strut  38  is snugly received. The elongated board  22  is snugly received on the upper surface  18  of the carrying member  16  between pontoon sections  12  and  14 . The forward edge of elongate board  22  is generally about coterminous with the leading edge or fairing  48  of the inflatable raft  10 , and preferably is received in flap  50  which helps to hold the flying ski  20  in place. The flap  50  is generally a taut flexible material joined to the leading edge of the upper surface  18  of the elongate board  22  and the flap opens at its rear edge to provide a tight fitting opening or pocket for the leading edge of board  22 .  
         [0036]    The pontoon members  12  and  14  are made of rubber or rubberized fabric or any other material suitable for retaining air under pressure. When not in use, the pontoons can be deflated and packed tightly to conserve storage space. The pontoons are provided with valves conventional for the introduction and release of pressurized air. The carrying surface  16  is made of a thin, lightweight, water impervious material which can also be folded for storage.  
         [0037]    The optional rollover bar  46  is generally an inflatable hollow, watertight rubberized tubing which is connected to the pontoon sections  12  and  14 .  
         [0038]    In use, when the inflatable boat  10  and the towable personal hydrofoil device  20  is positioned with the seated rider (shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1), the entire assembly will float on the surface of the water. When towed, the front or leading edge  48  will rise out of the water. In this way, the rider gains confidence and learns the feel of starting out on a towable personal hydrofoil device. Once a process of acclamation to skiing has taken place and the rider has gained confidence, the inflatable raft is no longer needed.  
         [0039]    If, during the training process, a spill occurs, the rollover bar  46  prevents the towable personal hydrofoil device from rotating up and over the rider since the bar  46  is effective to limit tipping to about 90 degrees.  
         [0040]    The pontoon sections  12  and  14  are shown as being generally separated. It is to be understood that the forward ends of the pontoon members are normally connected, the overall pontoon being roughly “U-shaped”.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIGS. 5 and 6 show another embodiment of the inflatable boat. In this embodiment, the towable personal hydrofoil device is not used. Instead, the inflatable boat  110  has inflatable pontoon sections  112  and  114  joined by solid, rigid bottom  116 . Four holes  118  are provided in bottom  116  to enable the seat  32 , shown in the towable personal hydrofoil device of FIGS.  1  to  4 , after removal from the towable personal hydrofoil device by unfastening the four bolts  52 , to be joined to bottom  116 . The seat with its vertical support  54  is attached at holes  118 . The bottom  116  has secured thereto foot bindings  120  and  122 . The slot  124  is adapted to receive the strut  38 , which can also be removed from the hydrofoil device of FIGS.  1  to  4 . The slot  124  can be replaced by an opening surrounded by the bottom  116  into which the strut can be received.  
         [0042]    The bottom  116  is preferably provided at both of its side margins with elongated upright members  126  slidably received into longitudinal grooves in members  128  running the length of pontoon members  112  and  114  .  
         [0043]    This generally tongue and groove like arrangement effectively secures, front to back, the bottom  116  to the pontoon members  112  and  114 .  
         [0044]    This embodiment has rollover bar  130  which serves as previously discussed. However, in this embodiment, the spacing between pontoon members  112  and  114  is generally wider than the width of board  22  of the towable personal hydrofoil device of FIGS.  1  to  4 , thereby making the boat more resistant to rollover. Consequently, it is less hazardous to learn how to ride a towable personal hydrofoil device by using this embodiment of the invention.