Abstract:
A quick detachable fin hold system for quickly removing and changing the fins on kiteboards and wakeboards or the like. Operated by activating a lever that presses against the board surface or another surface attached to the board and pulls against the clip body and the pins attached to the fin. This action positively tightens the fin to the board. To remove simply lift the lever to loosen the assembly, slide the clip body along the slots and the pins pull out of the hole on the clip body and through the holes in the board.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to wakeboard fin attachment systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to quick fin attachment system. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    A kiteboard or wakeboard will typically have a fin on each corner of the bottom of the board to control the ability of the board to edge through the water. These fins can vary in depth and width depending on the manufacturer and the rider&#39;s preference. They are currently attached with a screw from the top through the board and into the fin in a standard bolt pattern. It is becoming increasingly more popular to periodically remove the fins and ride the board “finless”. For example in shallow water or along “rails” or slides that are built for the purpose. To currently remove the fins a screwdriver is needed. Using a screwdriver to perform this task takes several minutes per fin. What is needed is a system that could greatly speed up the removal and reattachment of fins. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    The quick detachable fin hold system described herein is a tool-less release mechanism for quickly removing/changing the fins on kiteboards and wakeboards or the like. It is operated by activating a lever that presses against the board surface or another surface attached to the board and pulls against the clip body and the pins attached to the fin. This action positively tightens the fin to the board. To remove simply lift the lever to loosen the assembly, slide the clip body along the slots and the pins pull out of the hole on the clip body and through the holes in the board. 
         [0004]    The quick detachable fin hold system greatly speeds up the removal and reattachment of fins. The quick detachable fin hold system also helps prevent the loss of small parts, such as screws and washers, especially when working in a beach environment. With the quick detachable fin hold system there are only two parts for each corner—the fin and the clip body. 
         [0005]    The quick detachable fin hold system allows the rider to easily remove the fin from the rider&#39;s kiteboard even with the kite still flying. Also using the standard hole spacing allows the rider to easily interchange a variety of fins he or she has between different boards if desired. This could promote experimenting with different fin styles or none at all, whichever the rider prefers at that time. 
         [0006]    Wakeboards also have similar problems and the same screw pattern as do kiteboards. With the quick detachable fin hold system it would also allow the individual rider to quickly remove and install the preferred fin in the event that there are multiple riders taking turns using a single board in quick succession, as is frequently the case with wakeboards. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The present invention will be described by way of exemplary embodiments, but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like references denote similar elements, and in which: 
           [0008]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a side perspective view of a first embodiment of a quick detachable fin hold system. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a top perspective view of a clip body in the first embodiment of the quick detachable fin hold system. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a side view of a fin in the first embodiment of the quick detachable fin hold system. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a top perspective view of a lever in the first embodiment of the quick detachable fin hold system. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a side cross-section view of the first embodiment of the quick detachable fin hold system. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a pin of the first embodiment of the quick detachable fin hold system. 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a side view of the first embodiment of the quick detachable fin hold system. 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a top perspective view of a second embodiment of a quick detachable fin hold system, with a positive locking design. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]    Before beginning a detailed description of the subject invention, mention of the following is in order. When appropriate, like reference materials and characters are used to designate identical, corresponding, or similar components in different figures. The figures associated with this disclosure typically are not drawn with dimensional accuracy to scale, i.e., such drawings have been drafted with a focus on clarity of viewing and understanding rather than dimensional accuracy. 
         [0018]    In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer&#39;s specific goals, such as compliance with application and business related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. 
         [0019]    Use of directional terms such as “upper,” “lower,” “above,” “below”, “in front of,” “behind,” etc. are intended to describe the positions and/or orientations of various components of the invention relative to one another as shown in the various Figures and are not intended to impose limitations on any position and/or orientation of any embodiment of the invention relative to any reference point external to the reference. 
         [0020]      FIGS. 1-5  show a first embodiment of a quick detachable fin hold system  10 . In this first embodiment the quick detachable fin hold system comprises a fin  12  and a clip body  14 . The clip body  14  is made of injected plastic or aluminum and is approximately 1½″ wide by 2¾″ long and ⅜″ tall and oval shaped. In other embodiments, the clip body  14  may be of different materials and have different dimensions and shape. The clip body  14  is configured to be place on the top of a board  16  (see  FIG. 5 ) with a front  18  of the clip body  14  facing a side of the board  16 . The clip body  14  is comprised of two slots  20  that are 1½ inches apart that are parallel to each other and perpendicular to a centerline of the width of the clip body  14 . This arrangement is compatible with the standard screw hole pattern on most kiteboards and wakeboards. In embodiments intended for use with non-standard boards, the spacing of the two slots may differ from the 1½ inch spacing, depending on the board manufacturer. Each slot  20  has a bottom portion  22  slightly larger than ⅛″ in width and up to ⅝″ in length. Each slot  20  starts from 3/16″ behind the width centerline of the clip body  14  and continues to ⅝″ in front of the width centerline. The bottom portion  22  of the slot  20  is ⅛″ deep. Each slot  20  has a top portion  24  that is 5/16″ wide by up to ¾″ in length with a 5/32″ radius at each end. At the front end of each slot  20  is a 5/32″ radius pin hole  26  the running the depth of the slot  20 . A sill  46  is defined in the clip body  14  by the top portion  24  of the slot  20  and the narrower bottom portion  22  of the slot  20 . In the first embodiment, the sill  46  is ⅛″ thick. 
         [0021]    The center of the clip body  14  has a void  28  that is ¾″ wide by 1″ in length starting from the front of the clip body  14 . The void  28  is configured to accept a lever  30 . A bridge  32  is left on the clip body  14  across the void  28  for structural support and a stopping point for the lever  30 . The bridge  32  is approximately ⅛″ back from the front of the clip body  14  and is ¼″ wide by ⅛″ tall and runs parallel with width center line of the clip body  14 . 
         [0022]    Lever  30  is a separable part of the clip body  14 . Lever 30 is ⅞″ long, ¾″ wide, and has a ⅜″ diameter cam  34  on one end. The cam  34  has ⅛″ diameter by ⅛″ long male ends  36  on each end that fit into a female matching ⅛″ diameter cam retention hole  38  on the clip body  14  enabling the lever  30  to rotate approximately 120 degrees within the clip body  14 . The lever  30  is assembled together with the clip body  14  by inserting it through the void  28  from the bottom of the clip body  14  and the male ends  36  and snapping into the cam retention holes  38  on the clip body  14 . When closed, the lever  30  rests on the bridge  32  and snaps over rounded bumps that protrude from the clip body  14  in the void  28  locking the lever  30  in place. The dimensions of the lever  30  can vary slightly depending on the embodiment. The lever  30  may be made of injection molded plastic or aluminum. 
         [0023]    The fin  12  has two pins  40 . The pins  40  may be made integral with the rest of the fin  12  or the pins  40  may be made separately and attached to the rest of the fin  12 . In the first embodiment, the pins  40  are machined steel or aluminum 1″ to 1¼″ long with a ¼-20 thread pattern running the length of the pin starting 5/16″ from the top of the pin. The head  42  of the pin  40  is ¼″ diameter by 3/16″ and is smooth or knurled. Below the head  42 , the pin  40  has a neck  44  that has a smaller cross-section than the head  42 . In the first embodiment, the neck  44  is machined to a diameter of ⅛″ for a distance of 3/16 of an inch. The pins  40  are hand threaded into the ¼-20 threads in the fin  12 . The pins  40  can be inserted through standard fin screw holes in a board. The neck  44  of the pin  40  is designed to ride along the slots  20  on the clip body  14 . 
         [0024]    The quick detachable fin hold system  10  can be adjusted to varying board thicknesses by threading or unthreading one or both of the pins  40 . In embodiments with a metric M6 thread pin the head  42  of the pin  40  is the diameter of the M6 thread. The pins  40  may be adjusted in relation to the clip body  14  such that when the lever  30  is locked into place in the closed position on the clip body  14 , the cam  34  on the lever  30  exerts enough force against the top of the board to pull the fin  12  against the bottom of the board, locking the fin  12  into place. To detach the fin  12 , the lever  30  is released by pulling upwards, which rotates the cam  34  away from the board, loosening the clip body  14  from the fin  12 . The clip body  14  is then slid back, moving the slots  20  relative to pins  40  until the pins  40  are at the front of the slots  20  where the pin holes  26  are. The pin holes  26  are slightly larger than the pin in cross-section, allowing the clip body  14  to detach and the pins  40  attached to the fin  12  to be pulled back through the holes in the board. 
         [0025]      FIG. 8  is a top perspective view of the body clip  14  of a second embodiment of a quick detachable fin hold system, with a positive locking design. In this second embodiment, the body clip  14  has a lever  30  that has plugs  48  attached to the underside of the lever  30 . When the lever  30  is closed, the plugs  48  nest inside pin holes  26 . This blocks the pins  40  from moving from the back of the slots  20  to the pin holes  26  in the front of the slots  20 . When the lever  30  is in its closed position, the pins  40  are primarily held in place in the back of the slots by friction against the sills  46 . The plugs  48  provide an extra degree of security. 
         [0026]    Those skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications and changes may be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. It will, of course, be understood that modifications of the invention, in its various aspects, will be apparent to those skilled in the art, some being apparent only after study, others being matters of routine mechanical, chemical and electronic design. No single feature, function or property of the preferred embodiment is essential. Other embodiments are possible, their specific designs depending upon the particular application. As such, the scope of the invention should not be limited by the particular embodiments herein described but should be defined only by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.