Abstract:
A stabilizing pad for use with conventional skateboards for ready attachment and detachment to the skateboard between the skateboard wheels for stabilizing the skateboard and immobilizing the wheels to permit a novice skateboarder to practice the basic balancing, maneuvers, and tricks on the skateboard without fear of falling or injuries. The stabilizing pad is temporarily secured to the skateboard to depend from the board for engagement with the supporting surface for the wheels and in sufficient contact therewith to provide the desired stabilizing action. The pad can be constructed of different lightweight materials or plastic for providing the necessary stabilizing of the skateboard.

Description:
FIELD OF INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to skateboards or movable roller boards and methods and apparatus permitting training of novice users to practice balancing, maneuvers and tricks without being susceptible of falling or being injured. 
   BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
   Skateboards must be mastered by the user to maintain the correct orientation on the board in attempting to move on the board to safely use the board and ride on the board. The wheels of a skateboard roll freely on bearings so that any slightest shift in weight by the user while on the skateboard causes a sudden movement of the board and when the user is a novice it will cause the novice to repeatedly fall to the ground and may cause injuries. As a result of this there are presently commercially available protective pads, i.e. knee pads, helmets, and the like to protect the novice upon falling from the skateboard. At the present time, I do not know of any commercially available training device that allows the development of the fundamental requirements for balancing on the board, maneuvers and advanced tricks on the skateboard without the need to purchase any of the aforementioned protective devices. Accordingly, there is a present need for a skateboard training device that allows a novice to develop the necessary skills for mastering the use of the skateboard without altering the construction of the skateboard. 
   The prior art discloses braking arrangements comprising braking pads located on the underside of occupant propelled wheel devices that are exemplified by the Shepherd U.S. Pat. No. 1,890,755; Funkee U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,210 and Fiore U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,544. Various devices have been proposed in the prior art for controlling a skateboard in use. The Thomas U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,448 discloses a skateboard configuration that prevents the excessive tilting of the skateboard as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Similarly, the Scallon, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,576 discloses a skateboard having an outrigger arrangement that provides stabilizing and braking action during maneuvers with the skateboard. 
   The only known disclosure directed to a training device for the use of a skateboard is found in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2002/0163144 A1 published Nov. 7, 2002 and bearing a U.S. filing date of Mar. 12, 2002. The training device disclosed in this publication merely consists of substituting a training device for the skateboard wheels at the exact location on the board of the wheel and truck assemblies. The training device is shaped to simulate the height, width and rocking motion of standard skateboard wheels. The aim of the device is to permit a user of the training device to practice tricks on the skateboard without incurring the risks associated with the standard skateboard wheels. The device is limited to the removal of the wheel trucks for training purposes and mounting the device in the exact location as the removed wheels. The device simulates the rocking motion of the wheels and therefore is not stable. 
   SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   The skateboard training device and apparatus of the present invention is particularly useful for the novice skateboarder to safely use the skateboard without falling off of the board and without requiring the wearing and attendant cost of protective gear and without the need to modify the board as by removing the wheel structures required in the aforementioned patent publication. The present invention contemplates method and apparatus for stabilizing the skateboard and thereby immobilizing the wheel structures for the board to allow the novice to practice on the board. The apparatus for stabilizing the board comprises a pad mountable to the underside of the board between the wheel structures and constructed, designed and proportioned to have sufficient contact area with the supporting surface for the board for permitting use of the board without any movement thereof. The pad can be temporarily mounted to the skateboard so that the user can practice fundamental balancing on the board, maneuvers, tricks during the training process. The stabilizing of the board eliminates the fee wheeling of the board that causes sudden movement with the slightest shift in weight that normally causes the user to repeatedly fall and risk injury. the ability to master the board with the use of the present invention gives the learner confidence and thereby improving his over-all performance. The stabilizing pad can be readily removed from the skateboard once the learner has mastered the training. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other features of the present invention may be more fully appreciated when considered in the light of the following specification and drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of a prior art skateboard and illustrating in dotted outline an unbalanced force applied adjacent to one end of the skateboard and the resulting tilt at the other end of the skateboard; 
       FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the skateboard of  FIG. 1  with the stabilizing pad embodying the present invention secured to the skateboard; 
       FIG. 3  is a cross sectional view of the stabilizing pad taken along line  3 — 3  of  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a bottom plan view of the skateboard with the stabilizing pad secured to the skateboard; and 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the detached stabilizing pad and securing strap. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Now referring to the drawings, and with particular reference to  FIG. 1 , the basic problem solved by the present invention will be described in detail. The skateboard  10  illustrated in  FIG. 1  is a present day construction of a skateboard that comprises a flat board with turned up ends  10 E at a pre-selected angle to the longitudinal plane of the board  10  or the completely flat portion of the skateboard designated by the reference character  10 P. The user of the board normally places his or her feet on the board in the area defined by the section  10 P. The bottom side of the board  10  mounts a pair of conventionally constructed wheel truck assemblies  10 W to the planar portion  10 P of the board  10  immediately adjacent the upturned ends  10 E as best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 4 . When a novice user of the skateboard  10  mounts his feet on the board  10  at an upturned portion  10 E in an unbalanced condition, the weight of the novice user will cause the left hand terminal end of the board  10 E to tilt downwardly, as represented by the arrow representing a downwardly extending force at the end  10 E, so that the remaining portion of the skateboard will tilt upwardly as illustrated in dotted outline in  FIG. 1 . This unbalanced, tilting action may cause the novice user to fall off of the board, unexpectedly and may cause injury or bruising to the novice user. The adopting of the stabilizing pad  12  of the present invention by a novice will allow the novice to practice on the skateboard  10  without falling off of the board even though the novice has not mastered the balancing of the board  10  in use as will be more fully described hereinafter. 
   The stabilizing pad  12  of the presently preferred embodiment of the skateboard stabilizing pad is secured to the skateboard  10 , temporarily, on the same side of the board  10  as the board wheels  10 W and is arranged intermediate the board wheels  10 W. The stabilizing pad  12  is dimensioned to depend from the back side of the planar portion  10 P of the board  10  for engaging the supporting surface for the skateboard wheels  10 W and is so constructed, designed and proportioned to have sufficient contact area with the board supporting surface for immobilizing the skateboard  10  to prevent the movement thereof for permitting a novice user to practice on the board. This combination of the skateboard  10  and the stabilizing pad  12  is best illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The pad  12  is temporarily secured to the board  10  by means of a velcro strap  14  wrapped around the skateboard as best seen in  FIGS. 2 and 4 . It should be understood that the velcro strap  14  or its equivalents are only exemplary of a simple device and/or method for temporarily securing and detaching the stabilizing pad  12  to the board  10  and other well know means or methods within the skill of the art may be employed for this temporary method of attaching and detaching the pad  12  to the skateboard  10 . It should also be understood that when the stabilizing pad  12  is mounted to the skateboard  10 , the wheels  10 W are immobilized, as well, so the skateboard  10  will not roll or move on the wheels  10 W when the pad  12  is properly constructed and attached to the board to further preventing unexpected movement of the skateboard  10  while being used by a novice skateboarder. Similarly, the skateboard  10  as presently one of the known conventional skateboards presently in use, but that the stabilizing invention may be utilized on other wheeled boards having various shapes and wheel assemblies used therewith including a completely flat board with wheel structures for use by a novice user in accordance with the teachings of the invention. 
   Now referring to  FIGS. 3–5 , in particular, the detailed construction of the stabilizing pad  12  will be described as illustrated in the drawings. The stabilizing pad  12  comprises a foam rubber layer  12 FR on the top side of the pad  12  for engaging the entire bottom surface of the board coextensive with the top surface of the pad  12  hug the board so as to flex or move in unison with the movements or flexing of the board  10 . Immediately below the foam rubber layer  12 FR is a layer of a lightweight plastic such as a styrofoam layer  12 SF that is sandwiched between the foam rubber layer  12 FR and a layer of a hard plastic or vinyl material  12 HP for engaging the supporting surface. The plastic surface  12 HP should be tough enough to withstand the rough surfaces it engages in use. This entire assembly of layers may be wrapped in a plastic cover such as a sheet of vinyl plastic  12 V to maintain the various layers of the pad in an integral package. The thus assembled pad may include a conventional securing strap  14  having a separable fastener such as a VELCRO® hook and loop fastener at each end that can be mounted between the layers of the pad  12  as illustrated in the drawing as located between the hard plastic layer  12 HP and the styrofoam layer  12 SF and extending outwardly of the pad on opposite sides thereof with sufficient length to be strapped around the top surface of the board  10  and secured thereto; see  FIGS. 2 ,  4 , and  5 . For this purpose one end of the securing strap  14  is provided with a buckle  14 B for receiving the opposite end of the strap  14  having a separable fastener such as a VELCRO® fasteners  14 V and  14 VC at each end as illustrated in  FIG. 5 . The fastener  14 VC is complimentary to the fastener surface  14 V for securing the two surfaces when they are pressed together; see  FIG. 2 . It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the fastening means for temporarily securing the pad  12  to the board  10  need not be integrated into the stabilizing pad but can be a separate element. For example the securing strap  14  may be separate from the pad proper or may have a fastener other than separable fastener of the type of a VELCRO® hook and loop fastener and may be suitable for the purposes of the present invention. 
   The stabilizing pad  12  as illustrated and described hereinabove is mounted between the wheels  10 W and has a length that is illustrated as being essentially coextensive with the length of the planar portion  10 P of the board (see  FIG. 2 ) and a vertical dimension to depend from the bottom side of the skateboard  10  for engaging the wheel supporting surface. This defines the necessary contact area between the bottom side of the pad  12  and the supporting surface for immobilizing the board  10  against movements that tend to cause the user to be thrown off the board or falling. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that a pad  12  of other dimensions may be utilized as long as the desired immobilization of the board and wheels are accomplished. 
   It should now be appreciated that once the novice has practiced sufficiently with the pad  12  secured to the board  10  to gain confidence using the board, the pad  12  can be readily removed by detaching the separable fastener or the VELCRO® hook and loop fastener and the strap  14  from the skateboard  10  and use the mobilized skateboard  10  in its usual fashion. 
   It should now be appreciated that the present invention has advanced the art of skateboarding by the provision of means for stabilizing the skateboard for use by novices in a simple, inexpensive manner that allows the novice skateboarder to practice on the skateboard when stabilized to learn the basic techniques for skateboarding without falling or injuries and without the need to purchase protective gear against falls so as to gain confidence in the use of the skateboard and improving the novice&#39;s performance.