Abstract:
A board carrier uses a belt configured for wearing around a person&#39;s waist. A hook bag in the belt has a downwardly facing entry with a closure. Proximal and distal ends of the hook are joined to the belt by length adjustable straps. The board is positioned within the hook with three-points of mutual contact between the board and the interior of the hook. The hook may have a spring clamp for securing a paddle. When not in use the hook and straps are placed within the hook bag.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is related to provisional patent application U.S. 61/930,177 filed on Jan. 22, 2014, and claims international date priority thereof. This application describes a similar apparatus and method of use as presented in U.S. 61/930,177 and its subject matter is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The herein disclosed subject matter relates to the field of personally worn carriers and particularly to such carriers for surfboards, paddleboards, and the like. 
         [0003]    For personally carrying ungainly or heavy objects, strap secured hooks are known as in U.S. Pat. No. 603,538 to Pettibone, U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,441 to Rau et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,415 to Skovajsa, U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,954 to Tura, U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,618 to Davidson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,338 to Tamura, U.S. Pat. No. 7,543,726 to MacNaughton, US 2010/0187274 to Chock, Jr., Des. 321792 to MacNeary, and WO 2007/058552 to Winter; as well as sling mounts as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,377,007 to Gayler Jr., FR 2913891 to Cavallini, U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,025 to Bear, US 2004/0056060 to Iannini et al, US 2009/0090754 to Haberlein, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,989 to Silberberg. These devices are fastened by straps and harnesses to a person by waist, shoulder, chest, bandoleer, and various combinations of such connecting gear in order to distribute weight, free the hands, and provide other benefits of convenience and necessity. However, what is needed and not found in the prior art is a personal carrier for a paddleboard or surfboard that is quick and easy to position for use yet is easy to store conveniently when not in use, and will support an object of significant weight and size for portage. The presently described apparatus distinguishes over the prior art in a novel manner and fulfills this need. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    The following detailed description includes references to the accompanying illustrations which form a part of the detailed description. When carrying a board to and from a body of water: lake, ocean, or river, its weight and size requires a specialized carrier system to enable just one person to handle this task. In breezy conditions such as at the beach, the large surface area of a board may cause it to catch the wind and, again, be difficult to handle without a specialized carrier system, and, after dismounting the board from its carrier it is desirable to stow the carrier system on the person so that it doesn&#39;t interfere with riding the board. In summary, the carrier system should therefore be light-weight, relatively compact, easily stowed and inexpensive to manufacture. Example embodiments of the specialized carrier system are described herein in enough detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the presented subject matter. However, once familiar with this disclosure it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present apparatus may be practiced without some of the presented specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components may not be described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the embodiments. The embodiments can be combined, other embodiments can be utilized or structural and logical changes can be made without departing from the scope of what is defined and claimed. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, as the scope is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents which are to be understood in their broadest possible sense. 
         [0005]    In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one. Furthermore, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive “or,” such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    Embodiments of the described apparatus are illustrated by way of example in the figures of the accompanying drawing sheets, in which like references indicate the same or similar elements shown and in which: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1A  is a front perspective view of board and paddle as mounted in a board carrier for porting; 
           [0008]      FIG. 1B  is right side view thereof; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a partial bottom perspective view of a belt thereof; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is an elevation view of a hook thereof showing a portion of a board as inserted therein with proximal and distal straps supporting the hook and showing paddles clamped to the hook; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a twisted hook thereof; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the belt showing the hook and strap being removed from a hook pocket thereof; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the belt and hook thereof as fully deployed; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the distal strap as folded over the board and engaged through a ring of the belt in the process of being pulled tight. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]    Disclosed in  FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2-7  are aspects of a board carrier, herein “carrier  10 .” As discussed previously carrier  10  is an advanced apparatus for manually carrying a board  20 , and is especially useful for porting a paddleboard and paddle, or a stand-up surfboard known as a longboard. Today such boards  20  may have a medial width of from about 26 to 36 inches, and an overall length of up to 14 feet. The medial thickness of board  20  may be between about 3 and 8 inches and may weigh between about 10 and 25 pounds. Boards  20  are typically transported to water locations by vehicles and then carried or ported to and from the water&#39;s edge manually. Such an object is difficult to carry any significant distance or over rough terrain or steep grades due to its weight, and size. When breezes are present a manually carried board  20  may be difficult to handle due to wind forces on their surface areas especially when held vertically; see  FIG. 1 . 
         [0016]    As shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , carrier  10  may include a belt  30  of Cordura® or similar fabric sewn around a molded foam portion and may have a nylon backing, whereas this construction provides strength, durability and comfort. A hook bag  12 , water bottle holder  14  and gear bag  16  or other pockets or pouches may be attached to belt  30  and may be made of ripstop nylon or similar material for flexibility and durability. 
         [0017]    Configured for wearing around the waist of a paddle boarder, or surfboard rider belt  30  is to be worn around the waist as shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B . Belt-hook bag  12  may be in the form of a pouch, see  FIG. 2 , with a downwardly facing entry  34  including a closure  36  such as a zipper, Velcro® strips, spring mounted flaps, or otherwise. 
         [0018]    Carrier  10  may also include a U-shaped hook (“hook  40 ”) which may have a modified contour as shown in  FIG. 3  wherein a proximal end  42  is spaced apart from a distal end  44  and ends  42  and  44  may be aligned laterally across hook  40 , or they may be misaligned or mutually twisted as shown in  FIG. 4 . Both aligned and twisted versions of hook  40  provide for advantageous support of board  20 . Hook  40  may have a width of up to about 5 inches so that it may provide a stable support surface for board  20  while also fitting neatly within hook bag  12 . Hook  40  may be covered by a sleeve  46  (shown in  FIGS. 1A, 5, and 6 ) of Cordura material or equal and may have a neoprene or rubber insert sewn inside for cushioning as well as to increase sliding friction against board  20 . Proximal end  42  may be joined to a proximal, length-adjustable strap  50  at a first end  52 , while a second end  54  may be fixed within hook bag  12  by stitching, riveting, or by clamps, snaps, or other means. Hook  40  therefore may be positioned directly below hook bag  12  hanging by strap  50  as shown in  FIGS. 1A and 6 . Lower end  52  of strap  50  may be stiff and shaped as shown in  FIG. 3  so as to force hook  40  away from the leg of the individual thus preventing mutual contact with the leg and hook  40  and making it easier to drop board  20  into hook  40 . Depending on the location of hook bag  12 , board  20  may be carried on the left side or on the right side of an individual. It is noted in  FIG. 1A  that board  20  is carried with its bottom surface  22  facing the individual carrying it. This is advantageous since the bottom surface  22  is either essentially flat or slightly concave; a reasonable fit against the side contour of an individual. Another advantage is that there is usually a hand-hold on the top surface  24  of board  20  within reach of the individual&#39;s hand so that placing an arm over board  20 , as shown in  FIG. 1A , and placing a hand in said hand hold can provide manual control of the attitude of board  20  especially when traversing a grade or stairs. A further advantage is that the fin or fins normally found on the bottom of board  20  are facing toward the individual carrying board  20  so there is less chance of an inadvertent contact of these relatively sharp fins with other individuals passing by as board  20  is carried to and from the water. Hook  40  may receive board  20  therein with no more than three-points of mutual contact between board  20  and hook  40  as shown in  FIG. 3 , i.e. points “A,” “B,” and “C.” This is advantageous since with this three-point posture the weight of board  20  causes hook  40  to move away from the individual&#39;s leg. A distal, length-adjustable strap  60  may be attached at one end  62  to distal end  44  of hook  40  while a further end of strap  60 , shown in  FIG. 7  may be attached to belt  30  with adjustability in strap tension so that it is clear that distal, length-adjustable strap  60  may be lashed tightly over board  20  providing for hands-free carrying of board  20 . In an embodiment, hook  40  may have an integral hinge  45  such as a “living hinge,” for instance whereby tightening of distal strap  60  causes hook  40  to grip board  20 . 
         [0019]    Hook  40  is positionable over a vertical range of 24 inches by adjustments of length-adjustable straps  50  and  60  wherein this range of vertical adjustment enables carrier  10  to be used by both short as well as tall individuals. Straps  50  and  60  may be made of heavy duty dive/scuba belt webbing material and may be up to 3 inches in width providing lateral stability to board  20 . 
         [0020]    As shown in  FIGS. 1A and 3 , hook  40  may have attached thereto a spring clip  46  which may exert a strong clamping force on a paddle  25  to hold it in place in parallel attitude to paddleboard  20 . 
         [0021]    Hook  40  may be fabricated by bending metal strip material having a spring temper, or by injection-molding of a plastic or rubber or a combination compound so as to selectively provide for a spring flexibility. In this case proximal and distal ends of hook  40  may be flexibly-tensed apart when inserting board  20  so that compressive clamping forces are applied to board  20  to improve the holding power of hook  40  on board  20 . 
         [0022]    In the foregoing description, embodiments are described as a plurality of individual parts, and this is solely for the sake of illustration. Accordingly, it is contemplated that some additional parts may be added, some parts may be changed or omitted, and the order of the parts may be re-arranged, without leaving the sense and understanding of the apparatus as claimed.