Abstract:
A skateboard simulator includes a base, at least one support, a skateboard deck and a display. The skateboard deck is moveably mounted on the base by the at least one support. As a user moves the skateboard deck, the image presented on said display is responsive to movement of the skateboard deck.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60/759,020, filed on Jan. 17, 2006, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The invention is directed generally to a providing a simulated boarding activity and more particularly to a simulated skateboard.  
         [0004]     2. Related Art  
         [0005]     Skateboarding is a popular pastime and sport for many people. However, it requires a large amount of space and/or specialized facilities. In some urban areas, it may be difficult to find the necessary space to participate in the sport. Moreover, specialized facilities may be expensive to build and maintain. Additionally, skateboarding is subject to the weather, daylight and direct participation in the sport may be dangerous and cause injuries.  
         [0006]     Accordingly, there is a need for an alternative to traditional skateboarding that is not subject to the drawbacks noted above.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The invention meets the above needs and avoids the disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art by providing a simulated skateboard system. The invention may be implemented in a number of ways. According to one aspect of the invention, a skateboard simulator includes a base, at least one support, a skateboard deck moveably mounted on the base by the at least one support, and a display that presents an image. The image presented on the display is responsive to movement of the skateboard deck.  
         [0008]     Accordingly, in one aspect of the invention a skateboard simulator includes a base, at least one support, a skateboard deck moveably mounted on the at least one support, and a display that presents an image, where the image presented on the display is responsive to movement of the skateboard deck.  
         [0009]     According to another aspect of the invention, a board sport simulator includes a base, at least one support, a board deck moveably mounted on the at least one support, and a display that presents an image, where the image presented on the display is responsive to movement of the board deck.  
         [0010]     Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. Moreover, it is to be understood that both the foregoing summary of the invention and the following detailed description are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the invention as claimed.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the detailed description serve to explain the principles of the invention. No attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than may be necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention and the various ways in which it may be practiced. In the drawings:  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates a side view of a skateboard simulator constructed according to principles of the invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is an end view of the skateboard simulator of  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  shows a perspective view of another embodiment of the skateboard simulator constructed according to the principles of a invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the skateboard simulator according to  FIG. 3 ; and  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the invention, useable with the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 3 , including a monitor constructed according to the principles of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0017]     The embodiments of the invention and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments and examples that are described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following description. It should be noted that the features illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and features of one embodiment may be employed with other embodiments as the skilled artisan would recognize, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques may be omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the invention. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the invention may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the examples and embodiments herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, which is defined solely by the appended claims and applicable law. Moreover, it is noted that similar reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.  
         [0018]      FIG. 1  illustrates a side view of a skateboard simulator designed according to principles of the invention, and  FIG. 2  is an end view of a skateboard simulator of  FIG. 1 . The stationary skateboard simulator includes a stationary skateboard deck  100  mounted to a shaft mount  110  of a base  120  by one shaft  140  in the center of the skateboard deck  100 . The shaft  140  allows the deck  100  to rotate (side to side) along the axis of the shaft  140 , mimicking the way a normal skateboard flexes.  
         [0019]     The board has a series of springs  130  on either side of the skateboard deck  100  attached to the bottom of the skateboard deck  100  to the stationary base  120 . The springs  130  provide resistance to keep the skateboard deck  100  centered as the user turns on the skateboard deck  100 . The shaft  140  may have an optical sensor, accelerometer, or any other type of sensor that measures the rotation of the shaft or the like. The sensor outputs an electrical signal transmitted through a cable or the like that may run down through the base  120  to a microcontroller mounted inside the stationary base.  
         [0020]     Additionally, the stationary skateboard may also optionally include rotating wheels  150  on either side or both of the board. The wheels  150  may be spun by the user pushing with their foot, simulating the way one would push off the ground to propel a skateboard forward. This optional arrangement is shown in  FIG. 2  only, but may also be applied to the  FIG. 3  embodiment.  
         [0021]     In particular,  FIGS. 3 and 4  show another embodiment of the invention. In particular, the skateboard deck  100  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  may be mounted to a first support plate  304  and a second support plate  306 . The first support plate  304  and the second support plate  306  may in turn be attached to a main support plate  302 . Attachment of the plates  302 ,  304 ,  306  may be through adhesive, mechanical fasteners, and so on. The main support plate  302  may in turn be attached to a support  308  again through any known attachment. The support  308  is rotationally connected to the shaft  140  allowing the skateboard deck  100  to rotate side to side freely. The shaft is held by a shaft support  322 .  
         [0022]     The support  308  may also contact a series of rollers  312  that are mounted on roller shafts  316  mounted in roller holders  314 . The rollers  312  provide a smooth contacting force between the roller side of the support  308  and the base  120 . In this regard, the roller  312  and roller holder  314  are spring loaded on the shaft  110  biased by springs  130 . It should be noted that although an exemplary structure of rollers and springs and shafts are shown with regard to  FIGS. 1 through 4 , any type of structure that provides a smooth realistic side to side motion with respect to the skateboard deck  100  is contemplated with respect to the invention. The skateboard deck  100  is further supported on a base  120 . The base  120  may be attached to the floor or other type of support structure through for example, a bolt  320  and a securing nut  318 . The bolt  320  may be for example, a lag bolt that is embedded into the floor below the skateboard deck  100 .  
         [0023]     Operation of the skateboard simulator may be provided through various sensor controls such as for example, an encoder hub disc  402  that may be mounted on the shaft  140  or the shaft support  322 . The shaft support  322  may also support an encoder reader  404  that may be attached thereto with mechanical fasteners such as screws as well known in the art. The various sensor devices that are arranged in and about the skateboard deck  100  may initially send their signals to a circuit board  324  that may be arranged in or about the skateboard deck. The circuit board may be for example, attached to a circuit board support  322  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  and may include a microcontroller.  
         [0024]     The microcontroller may send a signal as a simulated mouse position representing the direction Left=Negative or Right=Positive followed by a number representing an integer value of the number of degrees the board is tilted from its centered state, through a USB cable or the like leading out the front of the stationary base to a PC or the like.  
         [0025]     This particular configuration allows the entire skateboard assembly to be powered through a single cable, in this case a USB cable. The microcontroller connects to the PC as a Human Interface Device (HID) which is a standard protocol used to send key strokes and mouse positions to an operating system. The microcontroller may send the tilt of the skateboard deck encoded as a mouse position at a regular interval. The PC runs a game based on the Torque game engine which captures system events, including mouse and keyboard events. The game may use the mouse events to control the turning of the character in the game.  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  shows exemplary arrangements of the skateboard simulator including skateboard deck  100 . The skateboard deck  100  and supporting structure may be mounted in and about a set of bellows  506 . In particular, the skateboard  100  may be mounted above the bellows  506  while the remaining structures shown in FIGS.  1  to  4  may be mounted inside the bellows structure  506 . The bellows structure  506  provides a safe operating environment for the user of the skateboard simulator that is standing on top of the skateboard deck  100 . In particular, the bellows  506  prevent hands, fingers and the like from being injured with respect to that internal structure.  
         [0027]      FIG. 5  further shows the arrangement of a monitor  504  which may be arranged in front of the skateboard simulator including skateboard deck  100 . In particular, the monitor  504  may include a housing of  508 . The housing  508  may contain the aforementioned PC computer or may hold additional structure or less structure.  
         [0028]     The PC has an update system that allows the operator to easily change the content on the PC so it may be used as a dynamic media delivery device. The operator may log onto a website on a separate computer, select new and upcoming content and download it to a storage device (for example to a USB stick or the like) as a single file. When the operator inserts the USB stick into the PC, the computer may automatically install the new content without any user intervention. The update system allows an operator to install upcoming updates that may only become active at a later date. This way an operator may install the same update on multiple machines and have the updates all activate at the same time at a future date. Multiple updates may be installed at once so that content can change from time to time without any further user intervention.  
         [0029]     Although the examples of the invention have been directed to a skateboard, other sports based devices may be utilized using the same configuration as described above. In particular, the skateboard arrangement noted above may be replaced with a snowboard type of arrangement with the same simulation as a skateboard being replaced with a snow ski scene; or surfboard type of arrangement with the simulation being that of surf and waves. Similarly, the skateboard arrangement noted above may be replaced with a ski type of arrangement including snow skiing or water skiing and again the image being replaced with that of down-hill skiing or a water-based environment.  
         [0030]     While the invention has been described in terms of exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications in the spirit and scope of the appended claims. These examples given above are merely illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all possible designs, embodiments, applications or modifications of the invention.