Buoyancy Circular Water Ski

My invention relates to an improvement in circular water skis, or the like, and more particularly to buoyant water skis.

Reference is made to my U.S. Pat. No. 3,716,880, entitled "Circular Water Skis or Surfboard", for more information about certain aspects of my present invention.

An object of my invention is to provide a circular water ski device, of the character described, which incorporates a means of providing buoyancy to the water ski, or the like, and of improving its performance and manipulation. Additionally an object is to provide new and novel bottom hull characteristics.

Another object of my invention is to enable the buoyancy of the water ski to be provided through a use of readily available, low cost material such as polyethylene, styrofoam, air, or the like.

In the performance and use of a non-buoyant water ski, it sometimes becomes difficult for the user to keep the ski disc on the surface of the water. This adds to the skill level required and reduces pleasure for the novice. By adding buoyancy, the user improves the efficiency of his performance. Also the conventional dish-shaped hull tends to merely drag through the water without modification of any laminar flow as a function of speed. Therefore, the present invention provides novel hull bottom configurations which change the laminar flow as the speed changes.

The device illustrated and described, is simple in design and efficient in its performance.

By referring to the various views:

FIG. 1 is a top or plan view of the first embodiment of the inventive buoyant water ski device;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 1, taken at the line 2--2 and looking in the direction of the arrows thereof;

FIG. 3 is a top or plan view of another embodiment of the water ski device;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device illustrated in FIG. 3, taken at the line 4--4 and looking in the direction of the arrows thereof;

FIG. 5 is a top or plan view of yet another embodiment of the circular ski device; and

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 5, taken at the line 6--6 and looking in the direction of the arrows thereof.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the reference character 10 identifies a circular water ski disc, which is folded downward and radially returned at 10'. The returning edge is attached at its lower edge at 11, to the bottom of the upper surface of the ski, constructed of any type of rigid material such as metal, or plastic. The folded portion 10' encloses a suitable sponge-like material 12, such as polyethylene, or the like to provide entrapped air products which gives buoyancy to the ski, to keep afloat on the top surface of the water on which it is placed. Thus, even a novice is able to keep the ski afloat.

There is centrally disposed revolvable disc 13, supported on a race of roller bearings, shown as 14. The race is mounted on a circular collar projecting upwardly at an angle 15, 16, to guide the revolvable disc 13. The center of the disc is held in position by a screw or bolt 17, threadedly engaging the main water ski disc 10 at the center.

The inner revolvable disc 13 has two stirrups 18 on its upper surface. These stirrups may be of a conventional design and are attached to the disc 13 in any convenient manner. They are used to hold the feet, to support the person, and to retain the skis during the operation.

The concave shape of the ski bottom (FIG. 2) has a smooth and unbroken shape that will tend to retain a bubble of air which helps reduce drag at low speeds. As speed increases, the user tends to rock back and lift the ski; whereupon the rear edge surface of the ski tends to be the main point of contact with the water surface. As this occurs, the rear most point on the bottom of the fold back portion 10' acts as a bow.

One difficulty with this concave configuration is that at mid-speeds there tends to be a somewhat entrapped amount of water at the center of the disc. This adds to the drag. Therefore, the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 provides a plurality of dome shaped segments around the periphery of the concave surface, which domes define passages that relieve the entrapped area and improve the laminar flow of water.

The choice between the concave configuration of FIG. 2 and the discreet domes of FIG. 4 depends primarily upon the anticipated speed of operation.

The embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 show a modified ski construction, in which the main water ski disc 19 is provided with a plurality of pockets 20, semi-oval or dome contour, and is attached to the lower surface of the main disc 19, as at 21. Each dome encloses and supports individual portions of sponge-type plastic, as shown at 22 in FIG. 4.

Another version of the water ski that may be employed in either the concave or dome configuration (herein shown as concave) is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. Here the main disc 23 has attached thereto a lower disc 24, radially indented, as shown at 25. The lower disc is attached to the main disc 23 at both its outer edge 26 and its inner edge at 27. The indented lower disc 24 acts as an air chamber and provides buoyancy to keep the water ski 23 afloat on the surface of the water. A conventional air valve 28 may be used, if desired, to insert compressed air. Or at a very low cost, novelty version, the entire unit may be a collapsible unit which is inflated prior to use. Many changes may be made without affecting the performance of the device as described and illustrated. Therefore, the appended claims are to be construed to cover all equivalent structures.