Abstract:
A system for protecting a board includes a protective device having straps for connecting said board to the protective device and the protective device having a textured surface to impart a mirror image to the board.

Description:
PRIORITY  
       [0001]     The present invention claims priority under 35 U.S.C. section 119 and provisional application Ser. No. 60/679,894 filed on May 11, 2005. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Typically, when transporting more than one surfboard on a surf rack, both surfboards may touch which can cause damage during impact of the top board. Also, the surf wax can melt onto the bottom surfboard which can cause performance issues.  
         [0003]     Tying a surfboard to the roof of a vehicle may create additional problems. In order to properly control the surfboard while driving, the surfboard should be tied to the automobile tightly in several locations. However, it is very difficult to tie the surfboard to the roof in order to render the surfboard immovable on the roof of the automobile. If there is any movement of the surfboard on the roof, either or both the surfboard or roof may be scratched.  
         [0004]     This problem is compounded when two or more surfboards are being transported.  
         [0005]     Typically, when transporting surfboards in a pickup truck or any vehicle which has a large bed, the surfboard is placed at a 45° angle with the top of the surfboard facing down. This may result in damage to the surfboard when the pickup truck or vehicle hits bumps while moving. This damage is especially pronounced at the top and front of the surfboard.  
         [0006]     Transporting surfboards is difficult because of the long length of the surfboard which may exceed 6 feet in length. The typical car trunk cannot accept an object as long as a surfboard without allowing a portion of the surfboard to extend beyond the end of the automobile.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The present invention includes a protective device which is used to protect various types of boards that generally are required to be transported. The protective device may include a textured surface so that a mirror image of the textured surface can be transferred to the board if desired. Furthermore, the protective device may include a flap to extend around the front end of the board to provide for protection while being transported in vehicles that have a bed.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]     The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:  
         [0009]      FIG. 1   a  illustrates perspective view of a board and protective device of the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 1   b  illustrates a perspective view of the protective device of the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of the embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  illustrates a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of a vehicle using the protective device of the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  illustrates a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the protective device of the present invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  illustrates a perspective view of a surfboard;  
         [0016]      FIG. 7  illustrates a perspective view of the protective device being used with the surfboard;  
         [0017]      FIG. 8  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the board facing downwards with the protective device of the present invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 9  illustrates a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the protective device of the present invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 10  illustrates a cross-sectional view of the bottom of the board and the protective device of the present invention;  
         [0020]      FIGS. 11    a - b  illustrate the protective device with loops and straps;  
         [0021]      FIGS. 12   a - b  illustrate the protective device with pads;  
         [0022]      FIGS. 13   a - b  illustrate the protective device with straps;  
         [0023]      FIG. 14  illustrates the protective device with flaps.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0024]      FIGS. 1   a - b  illustrate a protective system  100  as shown in  FIG. 1  of the present invention. The system  100  as shown in  FIG. 1  includes a board  102  which may be a surfboard, a snowboard, a skateboard a windsurfing board, plywood or any other suitable board and a protective device  104  which may be used to separate boards or to protect the wax side of a surfboard and to protect vehicle surfaces. The protective device  104  may be formed from rigid material or a flexible type material that will not damage the board  102 , and may be formed with a protective covering such as cloth, ultraviolet material, water resistant or fabric material, foam type material or may be formed with several layers of a protective covering such as cloth or quilted material.  FIG. 1   a  illustrates the protective device  104  adjacent to one side of the board  102  which may be the side of the board  102  which may have been waxed. The protective device  104  is held in place by strap  106  which is attached to the protective device  104  by extending across the other side of the board  102  and being connected to another strap  106  from the opposing side of the protective device  104 . The straps  106  are connected and attached to each other by an attachment device  108  which may be Velcro or other suitable attachment devices. The strap  106  is formed from flexible material and may include elastic material for flexibility. The attachment device  108  may include elastic material for flexibility. The protective device  104  is substantially the same shape as the board  102  that is being protected. However, the protective device  104  may be slightly larger or slightly smaller than the board  102 .  FIG. 1   b  illustrates that the protective device  104  may include decorative fabric material  112  on a portion or on the entire surface of the protective device  104  that opposes the board  102 . Furthermore,  FIG. 1   b  illustrates a textured surface  110  on the side of the protective device  104  adjacent to the board  102 . The textured surface  110  imparts a mirror image of the texture on the texture surface  110  to the wax of the wax surface of the board  102  that results from being pressed together. The texture on the wax surface is desirable by users of the board  102  to provide for increased friction on the surface of the board  102 .  FIG. 1   b  illustrates that the straps  106  may run continuously across the protective device  104 . The protective device  104  of the present invention could take place of the surf rack.  
         [0025]      FIG. 2  illustrates the side of the protective device  104  which is to be positioned adjacent to the board  102 .  FIG. 2  shows that the surface of the protective device  104  could include different textured surface  110  on different areas of the protective device  104 . The protective device  104  could be made without the textured surface  110  and have a flat smooth surface.  FIG. 2  additionally shows that the protective device  104  may have a zipper  107  added to the side seam of the protective device  104 . The protective device  104  eliminates the need of a towel or any other fabric material separating the surfboards. The surface of the protective device  104  includes a first textured surface  220  which includes an area of first upward projections  221  which could be spikes having a sharp tip or a soft flexible tip, a second textured surface  222  including second upward projections  223  which could be bumps having a relatively smooth tip, a third textured surface  224  including third upward projections  225  which may be zigzag pattern of upward projections and a fourth textured surface  226  having fourth upward projections  227  which could have multiple non-uniform shapes. Other designs for the textured surface  110  include ovals, circles or squares.  
         [0026]      FIG. 3  illustrates a protective system for two boards  102  or one surfboard which includes a first protective device  332  and a second protective device  334 . This aspect of the present invention could be extended to three or more boards  102 . The first protective device  332  and the second protective device  334  each protect a board  102  or one board. The first protective device  332  and the second protective device  334  are interconnected by interconnecting strap  336 . The first protective device  332  and the second protective device  334  are shown in  FIG. 3  as being smaller than the board  102 . However, the first protective device  332  and the second protective device  334  could be approximately the same size as the board  102 .  
         [0027]      FIG. 4  illustrates the first protective device  332  and the second protective device  334  positioned between three boards  102  on a vehicle  440 . The vehicle  440  has the first and second protective device  332 ,  334  and the three boards  102  positioned on the roof of the vehicle  440  for storage. The first protective device  332  and the second protective device  334  protect the boards  102  and the vehicle  440  from scratches, dings, dents and wax melting onto the roof of the vehicle. Additionally, the strap  106  can be positioned around the roof of the vehicle  440 .  
         [0028]      FIG. 5  illustrates the protective device  104  including the straps  106  having a decorative area at one end of the protective device  104 .  
         [0029]      FIG. 6  illustrates a surfboard  656  which is one type of board  102  that may be used in conjunction with the present invention.  FIG. 6  illustrates the front end  660  of the surf board  656 , the middle  662  of the surf board  656  and the back end  664  of the surf board  656 .  
         [0030]      FIG. 7  illustrates that the protective device  104  has been placed on the surfboard  656  and the straps  106  have been placed around the surfboard  656  in order to secure the protective device  104  to the surfboard  656 .  
         [0031]      FIG. 8  illustrates another embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 8 , a flap  880  is connected to the longitudinal end of the protective device  104  and is formed from flexible material such as cloth so that the flap  880  can be extended over the front end  660  of the surfboard  656  to prevent damage to the front end  660  of the surfboard  656  when being transported in a vehicle with a bed such as a pickup truck.  
         [0032]      FIG. 9  illustrates that the flap  880  has been extended around the front end of the surfboard  656  to form a pocket for the front end  660  of the surfboard  656  which includes a first attachment device  882  and second attachment device  884 ; both the first attachment device  882  and the second attachment device  884  may be Velcro or other suitable attachment device and positioned on the flap  880 . Connected to the flap  880  is strap  886  which includes a third attachment device  884  positioned at the end of the strap  886  and which may be Velcro, allowing the strap  886  to be wound around the flap  880  so that the front  660  of the surfboard  656  is protected. The protective device may have no flaps and could just have a pocket in which to insert the ‘nose’ of the front end of the surfboard with the strap securing it.  FIG. 9  shows the bottom of the protective device  104  with two straps  106  extending to the other side of the protective device  104  and the strap  886  holding the flap  880  in position.  
         [0033]      FIG. 10  illustrates the straps  106  and the attachment device  108  around the board  102 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 1   a  illustrates loop  1107  to accept the strap  106  on the opposing side of the protective device  104 . The loop  1107  allows the strap  106  to secure the protective device  104 . Two straps  106  and two loops  1107  are shown in  
         [0035]      FIG. 11   a . The protective device  100  could be used as a bag with the straps.  
         [0036]      FIG. 11   b  illustrates three straps  106  and three loops  1107 .  
         [0037]      FIG. 12   a  illustrates pad  1220  which could be a foam pad positioned across the bottom of the protective device  104 .  
         [0038]      FIG. 12   b  illustrates pad  1220  positioned across the top of the protective device  104 .  
         [0039]      FIG. 13   a  illustrates clip  1332  positioned along the side of the protective device  104  attached to strap  1334  so that the protective device  104  with or without the surfboard can be carried.  FIG. 13   a  and  FIG. 13   b  illustrates a hand strap  1336  at each end of the protective device  104 .  FIG. 13   a  additionally illustrates that zippers  1338  could be formed on both of the side seams or on one side seam of the protective device  104 .  
         [0040]      FIG. 14  illustrates the protective device  100  which could include flaps  1440  which are positioned along the side of the protective device  100  to cover the side rails of the surfboard. The flaps  1440  can be of quilted material and may include foam pads to protect the side rails of the board. The flaps can be continuous or as shown non continuous around the edge of the protective device  100 .  
         [0041]     While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.