Patent Publication Number: US-2021178978-A1

Title: Apparatus for tying a board to a vehicle roof

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to a board and, more particularly, to an apparatus for tying a board such as a surfboard and a paddleboard to a vehicle roof 
     2. Related Prior Art 
     A vehicle can be equipped with a roof rack to carry a sports board such as a surfboard, a paddleboard, a snowboard, a grass board and sand board, particular a large sports board such as a surfboard and a paddleboard. However, it is troublesome to firmly place such a sports board on such a roof rack. 
     The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a convenient and reliable tying apparatus. 
     To achieve the foregoing objective, the tying apparatus includes a padding assembly and a binding assembly. The padding assembly is located on a vehicle roof The binding assembly is operable to tie an object supported on the padding assembly to the vehicle roof. 
     In an aspect, the tying apparatus includes soft skins respectively connected to upper and lower faces of the padding assembly. 
     In another aspect, the tying apparatus includes a magnetic attraction device connected to the padding assembly. The magnetic attraction device is operable to provide magnetic attraction to keep the padding assembly in position on the vehicle roof. 
     In another aspect, the padding assembly includes two pads and a flexible connector connected the pads. 
     In another aspect, the flexible connector is made in one piece with the pads. The pads are formed on an upper face of the flexible connector and separated from each other by a gap. 
     In an alternative aspect, the flexible connector is not made in one piece with the pads. The pads are connected to an upper face of the flexible connector and separated from each other by a gap. 
     In another aspect, the tying apparatus includes two upper soft skins and a lower soft skin. Each of the upper soft skins is connected to an upper face of a corresponding one of the pads. The lower soft skin is connected to a lower face of the flexible connector. 
     In another aspect, the binding assembly includes a strap, a buckle and a handle. The strap is operable to form a loop. The buckle is operable to keep the strap in the form of the loop. The handle is operable to maneuver the buckle. 
     In another aspect, the binding assembly includes two soft pads connected to a middle section of the strap. An end of one of the soft pads is separated from an end of the remaining one of the soft pads by a gap. 
     Other objectives, advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description referring to the attached drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be described via detailed illustration of three embodiments referring to the drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a tying apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of a vehicle carrying a sports board on the tying apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a partial, cross-sectional view of the vehicle, the sports board and the tying apparatus shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a skid-proof padding assembly of a tying apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a skid-proof padding assembly of a tying apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view of the skid-proof padding shown in  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is an enlarged view of a buckle and a strap of the tying apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is an enlarged, partial view of the strap of the tying apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a tying apparatus includes a padding assembly  1  and a binding assembly  2  according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the typing apparatus is used to tie an object  40  to a vehicle roof  30 . The object  40  can be but not limited to a sports board such as a surfboard, paddleboard used in stand up paddle (“SUP”), a ski, a snow led, a snow board, a grass board and sand board. 
     Some of the sports boards such as paddleboards and surfboards are large, and two tying apparatuses are needed to tie a paddleboard or a surfboard to the vehicle roof  30 . In this case, the padding assemblies  1  of the tying apparatuses are located on a vehicle roof  30 . An object  40  is located on the padding assemblies  1  of the tying apparatuses. The binding assembly  2  of each of the typing apparatuses is wound around the vehicle roof  30  and the object  40 . Thus, the padding assembly  1  of each of the tying apparatuses is located between the vehicle roof  30  and the object  40  to prevent the object  40  from rubbing against the vehicle roof  30 . The binding assembly  2  of each of the tying apparatuses tightly ties the object  40  to the vehicle roof  30  to firmly keep the object  40  on the vehicle roof  30  during transportation. 
     However, only one tying apparatus is needed to tie a small sports board to the vehicle roof  30 . It is up to a user to use one tying apparatus or more. 
     The tying apparatus further includes a magnetic attraction device supported on the padding assembly  1 . The magnetic attraction device is used to firmly keep the padding assembly  1  on vehicle roof  30  by magnetic attraction. Preferably, the magnetic attraction device includes two magnets  111 . However, the magnetic attraction device can include one magnet  111  or any other amount of magnets  111 . The magnets  111  are preferably neodymium magnet. Moreover, the magnetic attraction device can include magnetic powder spread in the padding assembly  1 , or flexible magnetic strips connected to a lower face of the padding assembly  1 . No matter what, the magnetic attraction device provides magnetic attraction to firmly keep the padding assembly  1  on the vehicle roof  30 . 
     Preferably, referring to  FIG. 1 , the padding assembly  1  includes two pads  11  connected to a flexible connector  12 . The flexible connector  12  can be bent or curved in compliance with the vehicle roof  30  so that the lower face of the padding assembly  1  is in contact with the vehicle roof  30  as tight as possible to maximize the friction between the padding assembly  1  and the vehicle roof  30 , thereby keeping the padding assembly  1  in position relative to the vehicle roof  30 . 
     Preferably, the padding assembly  1  is made of plastics or rubber in one piece. For example, the padding assembly  1  is made of a plastic foam material or a rubber foam material. More particularly, the padding assembly  1  can be made of commercially available PE, EVA, PU, PP, PVC, EVA, CR, SBR or NBR. Thus, the padding assembly  1  is light in weight, elastic and skid-proof 
     Preferably, the flexible connector  12  is made in one piece with the pads  11  of a same foam material. The thickness of the flexible connector  12  is smaller than the thickness of the pads  11 . The flexible connector  12  is formed with an upper face  121  and a lower face  122 . The pads  11  are formed on the upper face  121  of the flexible connector  12  and separated from each other by a gap  123 . Preferably, two magnets  111  are embedded in the flexible connector  12  near the lower face  122 . Each of the magnets  111  is located below a corresponding one of the pads  11 . Preferably, the breadth (or “width”) of the flexible connector  12  gets larger towards two ends from a middle section of reduced breadth. The flexible connector  12  includes two arched edges opposite to each other. 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a highly skid-proof padding assembly  1   a  according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The padding assembly  1   a  includes two soft skins  13  and a soft skin  14  in addition. Each of the soft skins  13  is connected to an upper face of a corresponding one of the pads  11 . The soft skin  14  is connected to the lower face  122  of the flexible connector  12  so that the magnets  111  are covered by the soft skin  14 . Preferably, the soft skins  13  and  14  are soft skins made of rubber such as chloroprene rubber (“CR” or “neoprene”), foam-like or not. However, the soft skins  13  and  14  can be made of other types of rubber or plastics. Preferably, the flexible connector  12  and the pads  11  are made of PE or PS in one piece. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , there is shown a highly skid-proof padding assembly  1   b  according to a third embodiment of the present invention. The padding assembly  11   b  includes two pads  11   b  connected to a flexible connector  12   b.  The pads  11   b  and the flexible connector  12   b  are made of a foam material, but not in one piece. Particularly, the pads  11   b  are formed independent of the flexible connector  12   b  before the pads  11   b  are connected to an upper face  121   b  of the flexible connector  12   b.  The pads  11   b  are separated from each other by a gap. Foam skins such as PE foam skins are often left after the manufacturing sports boards. Such left-over foam skins can be connected to the pads  11   b  and the flexible connector  12   b,  respectively. A PE foam skin includes two PE foam layers of different thickness and density. Referring to  FIG. 6 , each of the pads  11   b  includes a thick PE foam layer  112   b  and a thin PE foam layer  113   b.  The density of the thick PE foam layer  112   b  is lower than the density of the thin PE foam layer  113   b.  The flexible connector  12   b  includes a thick PE foam layer  123   b  and a thin PE foam layer  124   b.  The density of the thick PE foam layer  123   b  is lower than the density of the thin PE foam layer  124   b.  Moreover, each of the upper and lower faces of the padding assembly  1   b  is covered by one soft skin or two. In specific, a soft skin  13  is connected to an upper face of each of the pads  11   b.  A soft skin  14  is connected to the lower face  122   b  of the flexible connector  12   b  so that the magnets  111  are covered by the soft skin  14 . 
     The magnetic attraction device can be replaced with at least one sucker (or “suction pad”), hook-and-loop means, adhesive or any other proper means as long as it can keep the padding assembly in position on the vehicle roof  30 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the binding assembly  2  includes a strap  21  and a buckle  22 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , the strap  21  is long enough to be turned into a loop around the vehicle roof  30 . The buckle  22  is used to retain the loop made of the strap  21 . Referring to  FIG. 7 , the buckle  22  includes a pivotal presser  221 . The buckle  22  is connected to a rear end  210   a  of the strap  21 . The strap  21  includes a front end  210   b  that can be moved throughout the buckle  22  before the presser  221  is pivoted down to press the strap  21 . Thus, the strap  21  cannot be moved in an opposite direction and the front end  210   b  of the strap  21  cannot be disengaged from the buckle  22  until the presser  221  is pivoted up (as shown by phantom lines in  FIG. 7 ). However, it should be noted that the buckle  22  is shown for example, not for restrictive purposes. The buckle  22  can be in another proper form than shown in the drawings. The strap  21  can be made of plastics or cloth. 
     The strap  21  is formed with a front section  211  near the front end  210   b,  a rear section  213  near the rear end  210   a,  and a middle section  212  between the front section  211  and the rear section  213 . The front section  211  of the strap  21  can be locked by the buckle  22 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 7 , the binding assembly  2  further includes a handle  23  connected to the buckle  22 . The handle  23  is operable by the user to pull the strap  21 . That is, the handle  23  is used to facilitate the pulling of the strap  21 . In specific, the handle  23  is made of the rear section  211  of the strap  21  near the rear end  210   a.  To make the handle  23 , the rear end  210   a  of the strap  21  is moved throughout the buckle  22  in a direction. Then, the rear end  210   a  of the strap  21  is moved in an opposite direction so that the rear section  211  of the strap  21  is turned into a loop  231 . Finally, the rear end  210   a  is connected to a region of the rear section  211  of the buckle  22  by sewing for example. 
     The belt  2  further includes two soft pads  24  connected to a lower face of the middle section  212  thereof by sewing, adhesion or any other proper means. The soft pads  24  are used for skid-proof purposes. Preferably, there is a gap G between an end of one of the soft pads  24  and an end of the remaining one of the soft pads  24 . Preferably, each of the soft pads  24  is a soft skin made of rubber such as chloroprene rubber (“CR” or neoprene), foam-like or not. However, the soft pads  24  can be made of any other proper types of rubber or plastics. Moreover, the soft pads  24  can be replaced with a single soft pad (not shown). The length of such a single soft pad is identical to the sum of the lengths of the soft pads  24  plus the length of the gap G. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the binding assembly  2  further includes a ring  25 . The middle section  212  of the strap  21  is moved throughout the ring  25 . The ring  25  can be provided with a trademark or a decorative pattern. 
     Referring to  FIG. 8 , the front section  211  of the strap  21  is connected to the middle section  212  by sewing. In specific, a string of cloth  26  is bent so that it looks like a “V.” The V-shaped string of cloth  26  is overlapped with and connected to an end of the middle section  212  by sewing. Then, an end of the front section  211  is overlapped with and connected to the V-shaped string of cloth  26  by sewing. Thus, the sewing firmly connects the front section  211  to the middle section  212 . Then, one of the soft pads  24  is overlapped with and connected to the middle section  212  by sewing. Thus, the end of the front section  211  and the V-shaped string of cloth  26  are sandwiched between the one of the soft pads  24  and the end of the middle section  212 . The rear section  213  of the strap  21  is connected to the middle section  212  in a similar manner. 
     As discussed above, the tying apparatus can be used to tie the object  40  to the vehicle roof  30  in a convenient and reliable manner. 
     Furthermore, it should be noted that the binding assembly  2  can be used alone to tie an object, i.e., without the using the padding assembly  1 . The padding assembly  1  can be used alone to support an object, i.e., without using the binding assembly  2 . 
     The present invention has been described via the illustration of the embodiments. Those skilled in the art can derive variations from the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments shall not limit the scope of the present invention defined in the claims.