US2593806A - Surf board with an extensible keel member - Google Patents

Description

p i 1952 D. M. STEELE 2,593,806

SURF BOARD WITH AN EXTENSIBLE KEEL MEMBER Filed May 7, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Daiy M flieele ATTORNEY April 22, 1952 D. M. STEELE SURF BOARD WITH AN EXTENSIBLE KEEL MEMBER Filed May 7, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR! Dai y 51%ee 58 JZTTORNEV.

pr 1952 D. M. STEELE 2,593,306

SURF BOARD WITH AN EXTENSIBLE KEEL MEMBER Filed May 7, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR.

DoZy M. )iieele Patented Apr. 22,. 1952 UNITED. STATES PATENT OFFICE SURF BOARD WITH AN EXTENSIBLE KEEL MEMBER Doty M. Steele, Los Angeles, Calif. Application May 7, 1949, Serial No. 91,957

6 Claims.

My invention relates to surf boards, particularly of the type powered by an internal combustion engine and the structure herein disclosed in an improvement on the Power Driven Surf Board forming the subject matter of United States Letters Patent Number 2,451,781, issued to me, October 19, 1948.

Among .the principal objects of my present invention are to provide a surf board hull of novel structure and which is divided by bulk heads into air chambers, also wells or compartments for the extensible keel member and the lower portion of the engine housing and propeller, to provide improved means for mounting the engine so that it may swing on}, horizontal axis and thereby elevate the lower portion of the driving shaft and propeller so to avoid striking an object floating on the surface of the water, or from making contact with the ground when approaching the shore, to provide the surf board with an extensible keel member and means for raising and lowering same, so as to materially increase the control of the board while it is inuse, to provide simple and convenient means for the rider of the board to have greater control of the driving motor and to provide automatically acting means for cutting off the supply of air to the carburetor of the motor in the event that the board should capsize while in service.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig.1 is a vertical sectiontaken lengthwise through the center of my improved surf board,

Fig. "2 is a plan view of the surf board with parts thereof broken away and in horizontal section,

Fig.3:.i s a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and looking into the well which accommodates the propeller, the propeller shaft and its housing,

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view taken looking in the direction indicated by arrow 5'in Fig.1 and showing certain of the engine controls,

Fig. 6 is a detail section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line 'l-'I of Fig. 8,

Fig. 8 is an elevational view partly in cross section, of the enginethrottle mechanism and the ignition control system,

Fig. 9 is a detail. section taken on theline 99 of Fig. 8,

Fig. 10 is a detail section of the automatic valve for controlling the inlet of air to the carburetor, 1

Fig. 11 is a section similar to Fig. 10 and showing the carburetor air inlet valve inverted and closed, 7 I

Fig. 12 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section taken through the rear portion of the hull of the surf board and showing the improved extensible keel member, 7 Y

Fig. 13 is a horizontal section taken on the line l3,-l3 of Fig. 12,

Fig. 14 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line l4l4 of Fig. 12. i

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention, I0 designates the hull of the surf board, same comprising a deck ll, side walls I2, rear end walls l3 and bottom l4 having an upwardly curved front end l5.

.Spaced parallel partitions l6 extend from front to rear of the hull adjacent the center thereof and transverse bulkheads ll disposed between sides l2 and said. partitions, provide a series of air chambers l8. 7

Formed through the bulk heads I! are apertures 19 to enable air to circulate through the chambers l8 which air is admitted through breather pipes 20 which enter the forward pair of chambers 18 as seen in Figs. 2 andgl. Further, the apertures l9 permits any water that may'leak into chambers l8 to pass to the rear pair of chambers when the board is stood uprighton' its rear end, and discharge through apertures 2i in rear wall [3, which apertures are normally closed by corks 22. I

Equalizing the air pressure within chambers I8 with the atmosphere, prevents partial vacuum from being developed within the chambers and which condition might draw water through any minute apertures or cracks which may occur in that portion of the surf board'below the surface of the water. I

The chambers IS on one side of the hull are entirely separate from those on the other side and thus, if one side or corner of the hull is damaged to such a degree as to leak water, the other side or sections remains water tight and thereby provides sufficient buoyancy to prevent sinking'of the surf board and its engine.

On deck I I near the corners thereof are blocks 23 to which are attached rings or loops 24 of rope or cable which serve as handles for riders getting on or off the surf board or for shifti'ngthe position thereof, while near a dock, float or other landing place.

In the forward portion of the space between partitions IS, a transverse wall and a curved portion 26 of bottom l4 provide between them, a well or pocket 21, adapted to receive the lower portion of the propeller shaft, its housing 28 and the propeller 29 when the engine 30 swings from its normal upright position forwardly as shown by dotted lines Fig. 1, thus protecting said shaft, housing and propeller from being damaged as a result of striking a floating object, or the ground adjacent a shore landing.

Engine 30 is arranged to swing in horizontal bearings 3|, on brackets 32 and the latter being detachably clamped on the upper end of transverse wall 25.

The opening into well 21 through deck H to the sides of and rearwardly from housing 28,'is closed by a flexible flap 33, preferably rubber, which per- 'mits the housing to swing upward and this flap normally preventing water from splashing upward through said well onto the deck.

To prevent Water from entering the air intake to the carburetor of the engine in the event that the board is overturned, a right angle fitting 34 is fitted onto the air intake 35 (see Figs. 10 and 11) with a perforated open ended nipple 36 connected to the vertical leg 'of said fitting.

A ball valve 3! is loosely retained in nipple 36 by a cross pin 38 and when the board is overturned, ball 3'! will by gravity move downward in said nipple and rest on the seat formed by the end of fitting within the nipple (see Fig. 11)

Mounted on the upper portion of the motor housing 36 is a horizontally disposed frame 39 held in position at the rear of said housing by a cross strap 40. This frame provides a ground for the electrical connections associated with the motor and its ignition system. A plate 4| on the rear left hand end of frame 39 carries the engine throttle and ignition system control mechanism, same including a shaft 42 operating in bearings 43 and said shaft being provided with a universal joint 44 so as to permit its outer end portion '45 to move for a limited distance through a horizontal slot 46 in the outer one of the bearings 43. The outer end member 41 of the universal joint 44 carries acontact stud 48 adapted, when shaft member moves to one end of slot 46, to contact a ground stud 49 thus providing an auxiliary -or added connection for the motor circuit when same is closed. u r

The outer end of shaft member 45 carries a cross arm 50 to the ends of which are secured the ends of engine operation control cables 5|. The inner end of shaft carries a disc 52 of insulation with a spiral spring 52a arranged-between said disc and plate 4|, to yieldingly hold said disc and the shaft 42 in normal out-of-service positions and seated in the periphery of said disc is a conductor plate 53, in the center of which is a recess containing a blockof insulation 54. A brush contact 55 is mounted upon and insulated from plate 4| with the free end of said brush in engagement with insulation block 54 when the circuit to the ignition coil is open.

Conductors 56 and 5! connect contact plate 53 and brush 55 respectively with the ignition coil of the engine.

A flexible connection 58 is arranged between disc 52 and a crank arm 59 carried by the engine throttle actuating shaft 60 (see Figs. 7 and 8). A cable 39a extends rearwardly from the rear right hand end of frame 39 and is adapted to be grasped by the hand and thereby render more steady, the riders position while standing on the rear portion of the board.

Spaced side walls 6| in the rear central portion of hull ||l provide a narrow pocket 62, open at bottom and rear for the extensible keel member 63 and for the operating wedge 64.

The extensible keel member is a substantially rectangular plate or panel pivoted near its front lower corner on 'a pin 55 seated in walls 6| and arrangedin the lower front end of pocket 62 is a block 6 having an inclined face 61 which acts as astop to limit the downward swinging movement of said keel member.

Formed in the upper forward end of keel member 63 is a substantially triangular notch 68, having aninclined forward edge 69 with a small notch 10 at the rear upper end of said notch 68 and with a small notch II at the upper forward end of the inclined edge 69. Formed at the upper forward corner of wedge 54 is a rounded projection 64a of such size'as to occupy notch H in keel member 83. When the keel member is elevated, the rounded forward end 64a of the wedge member engages in notch 15, thereby practically locking the keel member against downward movement and when lowered the keel member is held in such position by the engagement of the lower rear end corner of wedge, in notch 15. Notch 68 is slightly longer than wedge 54.

Secured to the ends of wedge 54 are the ends of a cable i2 which, at the ends of pocket 62, pass upward through apertures 13 in deck H and the ends of said cable above the'deck are secured to a block '14; arranged for sliding movement on top of the deck and adapted to be engaged by the surf board riders foot and moved forwardly or rearwardly to move wedge 64 and thereby swing keel member so as to raise or lower same. (See Fig. 12.) To lower the keel member, block 14 is moved forwardly thereby moving Wedge 64 rearwardly so as to shift the rounded forward corner 54a of said wedge out of notch 7| and causing the rear end of the wedge to engage the rear edge of notch 68 with the rear upper corner of said wedge bearing in notch 10 and thus swinging the keel member to its lowermost position as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 12.

The downward movement of the keel member is stopped by the engagement of the front edge thereof against inclined face 61 of block 66. A reverse or rearward movement of foot engaged block 74 reverses the actions just described and raises the keel member into pocket 62. If desired a riders seat 15 may be detachably mounted on the deck just in front of the keel member actuating block 14.

The gas throttle of the engine that drives the propeller, as well as the ignition coil are controlled by means of the cables 5|, which when properly manipulated, swing cross arm 59 to rock shaft 42 thus partially rotating disc 52 against the tension of spring 52 thereby actuating arm 59 on throttle actuating shaft Eli and simultaneously energising the ignition circuit through brush 55 and contact plate, with a secondary circuit energisation effected through contacts 48 and 49.

Thus, it will be seen that I have provided an improved motor driven surf board of simple, practical structure which includes an extensible keel member with simple and eflicient operating means therefor and the driving motor of the surf board being mounted so as to be readily swung upward into a pocket in the underside of the hull structure and said motor being provided with simple 8 and readily operable ignition and throttle control means.

Minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved motor driven surf board may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a surf board, a hull, an extensible keel member pivotally mounted for vertical swinging movement in the rear portion of said hulland a substantially triangular member arranged forv sliding movement above said extensible keel member and bearing upon the upper forward corner thereof for raising and lowering same.

2. The surf board as set forth in claim 1, with pedally operated means operatively connected to said sliding member for actuation thereof.

3. In a surf board, a hull, an extensible keel member mounted for vertical swinging movement in the rear lower portion of said hull and a wedge arranged for sliding movement above said keel member and operatively associated therewith for raising and lowering same.

4. The surf board as set forth in claim 3, with member being provided in its upper forward corner with a substantially triangular notch and a substantially wedge shaped member mounted for limited sliding movement in said notch for raising and lowering said extensible keel member.

DOTY M. STEELE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 72,058 Macfarlan Dec. 10, 1867 284,130 Joyner Aug. 28, 1883 388,098 Wells Aug. 21, 1888 821,806 Johnston May 29, 1906 969,128 Atteridge Aug. 30, 1910 1,694,790 Nelson Dec. 11, 1928 1,824,887 Harvey Sept. 29, 1931 2,451,781 Steele Oct. 19, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 753,711 France Aug. 12, 1933 2,845 Netherlands Jan. 15, 1919

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