Patent Publication Number: US-2003236039-A1

Title: Coupling keel for surfboards and the like

Description:
[0001] The present utility patent concerns a system of coupling keel and its corresponding lodging for being used with surfboards and the like, and to which an original assembly has been given, aiming to improve use and efficiency when compared to the existing similar ones.  
       [0002] In the manufacture of surfboards and the like, one or more keels are put in the surfboard&#39;s lower part by permanently fastening it through using fiberglass, resin and catalyzer; or the system of a keel box which allows to remove the keel, much used in the 70&#39;s, and which is a rectangular support with a length equal or bigger than the keel base, and width slightly larger than it, whose assembly process is increasingly difficult—which has made its use rather restrictive, because the perforation of the board requires complicated proceedings due to the use of frames and profiling machines, besides of excessively intervening in the surfboard structure due to its big shape; or the system to which special attention will be given, since it is the present invention, that concerns the installation of fastening lodgings, more widely used due to their feature of reduced shape, lightness and installation easiness, which allows the manufacture of a surfboard in a faster way, through non-complicated means while repairing the system, and with the possibility of interchanging various standards of keels, in accordance with the condition of waves, or even with the choice of the surfer and his specific skills. In addition, it facilitates the transportation.  
       [0003] According to this system, one or more lodgings for each keel are couplingly installed in the back lower part of the surfboard, being they also named plugs or spikes. Their installation is done through the perforation of a part with a dimension slightly greater than the lodging, followed by its insertion in the hollow and, finally, the filling of the remaining space by using an adhesive substance chosen by its compatibility with the material of the lodging and the surfboard, usually polyester resin mixed with fiberglass and a catalyzer agent. These lodgings has inward surfaces in which tongue-like parts in reasonable length, extending from the base of the removable keels, penetrate. The keels are then fastened in the surfboards and the like by using pressure, friction, screws or other means.  
       [0004] Some inconveniences may be imputed to use of the above mentioned prior art because coupling and removing keels, whenever wished, may be considerably difficult if keels are manufactured with tongue-parts which much precisely couple to the inward surfaces of the lodgings. This occurs because the surface of the surfboard cannot be used as a support for handling the keel&#39;s lever or other tools. Otherwise, the surface may be damaged and there will be points in which water may infiltrate, or from which a total or partial release of the adhering compound from the part in which the lodging has been settled.  
       [0005] It is also pointed out that some substances found in the environment in which the surfboard is used, such as sea salt, will naturally lay on any eventual slit, interacting like an obstacle which will make the keel removal more difficult.  
       [0006] Another problem raising from such systems is: if keels are manufactured with tongue-parts infirmly coupling to the recesses of the lodgings, with purposes of making easier the coupling and removal, a dislocation in the arrangement of the keels may occur. Whenever the keels are to be fixed, they would dislocate from the arrangement initially designed by the surfboard manufacturer.  
       [0007] Another additional feature of the prior art concerns the cracks which appear in the accumulation point of pressure, generated during the use and strengthened by the existence of a right angle between the tongue-parts and the base of the keels, frequently causing cracks, even in regular condition of use.  
       [0008] Examining the surfboard more widely used nowadays, which owns a set of three keels, with the coupling system that are more disseminated, which uses two lodgings for each keel, and the fastening of the keel by screws, it is noted that the rotation movement of the screws, which penetrate the lodging, causes the unintended linear dislocation of the keel when the tongue-parts are touched. This makes the keel to move forwards or backwards in relation with the longitudinal nose-tail direction of the surfboard, in accordance with the position of the screw. Elucidating the matter: taking the surfboard with the keels turned to top and the observer on the tail, it is noted that the left keel, which is fixed by two screws into its internal face, trends to dislocate forwards, in a different manner when compared to the right keel—also fixed by two screws into its internal face, and which dislocates backwards. The back keel, by virtue of having a screw in each side, will have a dislocation depending upon what screw is driven firstly. As a consequence, the whole set of keels will be settled in a shape different from that designed by the surfboard manufacturer, which will lead surfboards to work differently from the intended way and will lose efficiency due to the unbalanced forces resulting from the pressure of the passing water in this disharmonious system.  
       [0009] Therefore, considering that the system of coupling keels and their corresponding lodgings above mentioned own structures bringing inconveniences while used, and thereby aiming to overcome them, it has been developed the “Coupling keel for surfboards and the like”, subject of this present invention, where all of these problems are solved by using lodgings with inward surfaces of a singular section, provided with saw-edged internal surface, opposed to that by which the fixing screw penetrates, with keels having tongue-parts, compatible with such an internal surface, coupling in such a way to prevent the keel to dislocate in a longitudinal direction by the rotation movement of the screw at the fastening moment and thus the original position designed by the manufacturer will be preserved. As regards to the relatively slight firmness necessary to facilitate coupling and removal of the keel, in order not to damage the structure and not to make balance and working fail, such a slight firmness is provided by the coupling of pieces through the saw-edged surface, which adjusts the idealized position of the whole set. This saw-edged surface, furthermore, increases the contact area, reducing the possibility of the unintended adherence of the tongue-like parts with the lodgings. As regards to the problems raising from the cracks between the tongue-like parts and the keel base, which are accumulation point of pressure generated during use, frequently resulting in breaks even under normal use conditions, it was noted that the existence of the right angle between the tongue-like parts and the keel base increasingly causes the cracks. The solution found is the insertion of a little radius or rounded surface between each side of the tongue-like parts, wherever it is possible, and the keel base, thus dissipating the generated accumulation of tension, and considerably reducing the occurrence of cracks and consequent breaks in this area. 
     
    
    
     [0010] In order to provide a total and complete view on what the “Coupling keel for surfboards and the like” is consisted of, herein referred to and subject of this present utility patent, there are the illustrating enclosed drawings, to which the following references are made:  
     [0011]FIG. 1 provides a plane view of the lodging,  
     [0012]FIG. 2 provides a side view of the lodging.  
     [0013]FIG. 3 provides a view of the lodging while being raised.  
     [0014]FIG. 4 provides a perspective view of the lodging.  
     [0015]FIG. 5 provides a perspective view of the keel, pointing out the internal side.  
     [0016]FIG. 6 provides a perspective view of the keel, pointing out the external side.  
     [0017]FIG. 7 provides cut view of the surfboard, with the lodgings installed, before the excess of adhesive material, branches and the retention layer being intentionally removed during the final touch.  
     [0018]FIG. 8 provides a cut view of the surfboard with the lodgings installed, after the removal of the excesses.  
     [0019]FIG. 9 provides a cut view of the surfboard, with the keel already coupled to the lodgings.  
     [0020]FIG. 10 provides a perspective view of a surfboard, in which a set of keels is being coupled.  
     [0021]FIG. 11 provides a plane view of a surfboard, with the set of keels already coupled, before driving the screws.  
     [0022]FIG. 12 provides a detailed insertion of a little radius or rounded surface between each side of the tongue-like part, wherever it is possible, and the base of the keels. 
    
    
     [0023] According to what the above drawings provide, the system of the “Coupling keel for surfboards and the like”, subject of the present utility patent, consists of keel  1 , with lodging  2  having the following features: vertical crack  3 , retention layer  4 , branches  5 , increased by saw-edged internal surface  11 , lower ended by a closing layer  6 , and higher opening  7 , by which the tongue-like part  8  of the keel  1  penetrates, and fastening screw  9 , whose contact edge will be lodged in the screw thread  10  of the tongue-like part  8 , assisting in the fastening of the keel  1 . A saw-edged surface  11  was added in the internal face opposed to that in which the screw  9  penetrates, in the structure of the lodging, as well as this saw-edged surface is added with the corresponding external face  12  of the tongue-like  8  part of the keel  1 , so that they may couple and, thus, prevent that the rotation movement of the screw  9 , at the fastening moment, dislocates the keel  1  towards the longitudinal direction. Therefore, the original placement designed by the manufacturer is preserved. External grooves  13  were also added to the lodging because they increase the adherence between the lodging and the surfboard, reducing the possibility of pulling. Another feature concerns the insertion of a little radius or rounded surface  14  between each of the longitudinal faces of the tongue-like parts, wherever it is possible, and the base of the keels, thereby dissipating the accumulation of tension generated during the use of the surfboard and considerably reducing the occurrence of cracks and consequent breaks in this area.  
     [0024] The “Coupling keel for surfboards and the like” logically may be embodied through various sizes and materials, and be installed in quantities which may fulfill the different needs of users of this kind of element and of surfboard manufacturers, that is, one, two, three or more keels.