Abstract:
A steerable body board is provided that can be easily and safely to be manipulated to change the moving directions of the steerable body board and can be safely slow down or stopped. The steerable body board contains a board body, a bottom plate and a control unit. The board body has a channel therethrough. The bottom plate is installed next to a bottom surface of the board body and overlays an end of the channel. The bottom plate has plural parallel ribs on a bottom surface of the bottom plate. The control unit is connected to the bottom plate through the channel for steering the bottom plate.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     This invention relates generally to a body board, in particular, to provide a steerable body board.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Body boards are used to slide on snow, grass or sand. A traditional body board mainly contains a board body and plural holders installed thereon. Using the body board, a user lies prostrate on the board body and holds on the holders. To change the directions of the body board when the body board is sliding, the user needs to shift his position of center of gravity. To slow down or stop the movements of the body board, the user needs to use his feet to press against the ground to provide a friction therebetween. However, the speed of the body board sometimes becomes very fast when sliding down from a slope and to change directions of the body board by shifting the position of gravity requires high skills and experiences. Frequently, a user cannot properly control the moving directions of the body board by shifting his position of center of gravity and collides with another body board user. In addition, a user is likely to get hurt when using his feet to press against the ground to slow down or stop the body board if the speed of the body board is very fast or there are some obstacles such as stones on the ground covered by snow or sand. In view of these problems, a steerable body board that is easily and safely to be manipulated to change the moving directions of the body board and to slow down or stop the movements of the body board is needed.  
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
       [0003]     Therefore, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a steerable body board that can be easily and safely to be manipulated to change the moving directions of the steerable body board.  
         [0004]     Another object of the invention is to provide a steerable body board that can be safely slow down or stopped.  
         [0005]     The present invention, briefly summarized, in one embodiment discloses a steerable body board. The steerable body board contains a board body, a bottom plate and a control unit. The board body has a channel therethrough. The bottom plate is installed next to a bottom surface of the board body or in a circular recession in the body board&#39;s bottom surface. The bottom plate overlays an end of the channel. The bottom plate has plural parallel ribs on a bottom surface of the bottom plate. The control unit is connected to the bottom plate through the channel for steering the bottom plate. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0006]     The invention will be more clearly understood after referring to the following detailed description read in conjunction with the drawings wherein:  
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is an prospective view of the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  is an exploded prospective view of the first embodiment;  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  is another exploded prospective view of the first embodiment;  
         [0010]      FIG. 4  is a cross sectional view of the first embodiment;  
         [0011]      FIG. 5  is an exploded prospective view of a second embodiment; and  
         [0012]      FIG. 6  is a cress sectional view of the second embodiment. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0013]     With reference to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4 , an first embodiment of the present invention contains a board body  1 , a bottom plate  2  and a control unit  3 . The board body  1  has a channel  11  therethrough. The board body  1  is made of a polyethylene foam board.  
         [0014]     The top surface and edge surfaces of the board body  1  are covered by a composite plastic film having a pattern printed therein. Thereby, the composite plastic film can protect the pattern from wear and tear. The bottom surface of the board body  1  is united with a plastic plate. Plural holders  10  are installed on a top surface of the board body  1  for being held by users to prevent the users from being bumped out of the board body  1 . A positioning hole  12  is installed close to an edge of the channel  11 .  
         [0015]     The bottom plate  2  is installed next to a bottom surface of the board body  1  and overlays an end of the channel  11 . The bottom plate  2  has plural parallel ribs  20  on a bottom surface of the bottom plate  2 . The plural parallel ribs  20  are for controlling the moving directions of the steerable body board. The control unit  3  is connected to the bottom plate  2  through the channel  11  for steering the bottom plate  2 . The control unit  3  contains a shaft  31 , a top plate  30 , and a steering device  32 . The shaft  31  is mounted on a top surface of the bottom plate  2 . The shaft  31  is rotatable within the channel  11 . The top plate  30  is installed next to a top surface of the board body  1  and connected to the shaft  31 . The steering device  32  is mounted on a top surface of the top plate  30 . The top plate  30  has a through hole  300  penetrating therethrough and aligned with the positioning hole  12  in the board body  1 . A plug  301  is pluggable through the through hole  300  and the positioning hole  12  to fix the top plate  30  to the board body  1 .  
         [0016]     The shaft  31  contains a hollow cylinder  310 , and a sleeve  311 . The hollow cylinder  310  is mounted on the top surface of the bottom plate  2 . The hollow cylinder  310  has plural snapping pipes  312  mounted therein. The sleeve  311  is mounted on a bottom surface of the top plate  30 . The sleeve  311  has plural snapping protrusions  313  mounted therein for being engaged with the snapping pipes  312 . The hollow cylinder  310  is engagable with the sleeve  311 . When the sleeve  311  is engaged with the hollow cylinder  310  by embracing the hollow cylinder  310 , the plural snapping protrusions  313  are inserted into the snapping pipes  312  respectively.  
         [0017]     The steering device  32  contains a base  320 , at least a fastener  321 , two handles  323  and two frames  322 . The at least a fastener  321  is for fastening the base  320  to the top plate  30 .The two handles  323  are located at both sides of the base  320  for being held by users to steer the embodiment. The two frames  322  connect the two handles  323  to the base  320  respectively at both sides of the base  320 .  
         [0018]     With reference to  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 , a second embodiment of the present invention mainly contains: a board body  1 , a bottom plate  2  and a control unit  3 . The board body  1  has a channel  11  therethrough and a circular recession  13  in a bottom surface thereof. The circular recession  13  is coaxial to the channel  11 . The bottom plate  2  is installed in the circular recession  13  and overlaying an end of the channel  11 . The bottom plate  2  has plural parallel ribs  20  on a bottom surface of the bottom plate  2 . The control unit  3  is connected to the bottom plate  2  through the channel  11  for steering the bottom plate  2 .  
         [0019]     The bottom plate  2  has a front portion  2   a  having a bottom surface aligned with the bottom surface of the body board  1 , and a rear portion  2   b  having a bottom surface exposed 1-2 mm beyond the bottom surface of the body board  1 . Each of the parallel ribs  20  has a front portion  20   a  and a rear portion  20   b  wherein the front portion  20   a  having a height smaller than a height of the rear portion  20   b . The second embodiment contains plural holders  10  on a top surface of the board body  1  for being held by users.  
         [0020]     The control unit  3  mainly contains a shaft  31 , a top plate  30  and a steering device  32 . The shaft  31  is mounted on a top surface of the bottom plate  2 . The shaft  31  is rotatable within the channel  11 . The top plate  30  is installed next to a top surface of the board body  2  and connected to the shaft  31 . The steering device  32  is mounted on a top surface of the top plate  30 .  
         [0021]     The shaft  31  contains a hollow cylinder  310  mounted on the top surface of the bottom plate  2 . The hollow cylinder  310  has plural snapping pipes  312  mounted therein and a sleeve  311  mounted on a bottom surface of the top plate  30 . The sleeve  311  has plural snapping protrusions  313  mounted therein for being engaged with the plural snapping pipes  312 . In addition, the steering device  32  contains a base  320 , at least a fastener  321  for fastening the base  320  to the top plate  30 , two handles  323  located at both sides of the base  320  for being held by users and two frames  322  connecting the two handles  323  to the base  320  respectively. Furthermore, the second embodiment further contains a positioning hole  12  installed in the board body  1 , a through hole  300  penetrating the top plate  30  and a plug  301  pluggable through the through hole  300  and the positioning hole  12  for preventing the bottom plate  2  from rotating.  
         [0022]     In a third embodiment of the invention (not shown), the steerable body board has the same elements and structures of the first embodiment except the shaft  31 . In this embodiment, the shaft  31  contains a cylinder mounted on a bottom surface of the top plate  30 . The cylinder is engagable to a top surface of the bottom plate  2  through the channel  11 .  
         [0023]     In a fourth embodiment of the invention (not shown), the steerable body board has the same elements and structures of the first embodiment except the shaft  31 . In this embodiment, the shaft  31  contains a cylinder mounted on a top surface of the bottom plate  2 . The cylinder is engagable to a bottom surface of the top plate  30  through the channel  11 .  
         [0024]     In a practice of the invention, a user takes off the plug  301  from the positioning hole  12  and the through hole  300  of the top plate  30 . The user uses his hands to hold on the handles  323  of the steering device  32  to control the moving directions of the steerable body board. Since the top plate  30  is mounted to the shaft  31  at one end and the bottom plate  2  is mounted to the shaft  31  at the other end of the shaft  31 , the bottom plate  2  moves synchronously with the top plate  30 . When the user rotates the top plate  30  to the right direction by operating the handles  323  of the steering device  32 , the plural parallel ribs  20  on the bottom plate  2  moves to the right direction. In that way, the left sides of the parallel ribs  20  undertake the friction against the ground and turn the moving direction of the steerable body board to the right direction. Similarly, when the user rotates the top plate  30  to the left direction, the steerable body board moves to the left direction.  
         [0025]     In another practice of the invention, a user rotates the handles  323  of the steering device  32  to make the plural parallel ribs  20  perpendicular to the moving direction of the steerable body board, the contact surfaces between the plural parallel ribs  20  and the ground maximizes, and the friction therebetween also maximizes. Thereby, the speed of the steerable body board can be reduced and finally come to a stop.  
         [0026]     In further practice of the invention, a user inserts the plug  301  into the through hole  300  and the position hole  12  to fix the top plate  30  to the board body  1 . Since the bottom plate  2  is mounted to an end of the shaft  31  and the top plate  30  is mounted to the other end of the shaft  31 , when the top plate  30  is fixed, the parallel ribs  20  on the bottom plate  2  is also fixed. Therefore the moving direction of the steerable body board is fixed.  
         [0027]     Numerous characteristics and advantages of the invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, and the novel features thereof are pointed out in appended claims. The disclosure, however, is illustrated only, and changes may be made in detail, especially, in matters of shape, size and arrangement of parts, materials and the combination thereof within the principle of the invention, to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.