EP0254381B1

EP0254381B1 - Shoes for sliding on water

Info

Publication number: EP0254381B1
Application number: EP87301962A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Ping-Chuan Chang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-07-23
Filing date: 1987-03-06
Publication date: 1992-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 2007-03-06
Also published as: ES2003679A6; GB2192837B; AU580203B2; GB8617952D0; EP0254381A2; GB2192837A; GR3003540T3; BR8700578A; DE3775848D1; EP0254381A3; AU6854287A

Description

This invention relates to equipment for water sporting activity.
For people working under stress, out-door leisure activities are highly beneficial and water sports such as fishing, boating and canoeing are common favourites. To vary the range of water sport activities it is desirable to provide novel forms of sports equipment which avoid monotony and resulting loss of interest in such sports.
The object of this invention is to provide a water-float device which will support the sportsman and enable forward progressive movement while performing a range of interesting and beneficial activities.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a pair of shoe bodies on sun shine protector installed in parallel on the shoe bodies, and the shoe bodies can be operated as a sail upon changing the protector to vertical position.
DE-A-2625525 describes a water sports device having two elongated floats joined together by means of a longitudinal guide arranged between them in such a manner as not to twist or bend transversely as stepwise forward movements are carried out by the user. Other forms of water shoe devices are also known from US-A-4,591,343 and US-A-1,528,309.
The present invention is defined in the appended claims, and comprises a water float device having two floating bodies connected together to permit alternate forward sliding movement along the water surface.
The shoe bodies according to the present invention can be joined together to form a raft, and paddles can be used for rowing.

Fig. 1 is a top view of the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a side view of the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a back view of the present invention.

The present invention comprises a pair of symmetrical shoes. The numeral with apostrophe " ' " refers to the component at the left shoe, which is symmetrical to the right shoe.
The shoe bodies 1 and 1' are of rectangular boards. Each of its frame 2 and 2' is formed with a plurality of rectangular spaces filled with floats 3 or 3' made of buoyant material and a shoe opening 4 or 4' in the middle of the shoe body 1 or 1' for holding a foot. In front of the shoe opening 4 or 4' there is a magnifying glass 5 or 5' for viewing.
A swinging control plate 6 or 6' is fixed outside the shoe body 1 or 1'. The swinging control plate 6 or 6' is incorporated with the shoe body 1 or 1' at the front and rear ends: at positions 7a (front) and 7b(rear) on the bottom and positions 8a(front) and 8b (rear) on the top. In Fig. 3, the swinging control plates 6 and 6' are shown by solid lines, and that shown with dotted lines represent the maximum height which to be adjusted to.
Each shoe body 1 or 1' has a coupler A or A' at the inner side for coupling of the shoe bodies 1 and 1'. The coupler A of the left shoe body 1 has an upper male element 9 and a lower female element 10. The coupler A' of the right shoe body 1' has an upper female element 10 and a lower male element 9. The left and right shoe bodies 1 and 1' can be coupled together with the couplers A and A' by means of the male element 9 and 9' and female elements 10 and 10' in order to prevent from disengagement of the shoe bodies 1 and 1' during sliding on water.
Each of the shoe body 1 and 1' has a propelling board 11a or 11a' at the toe and another propelling board 11b or 11b' in the middle. A plastic rope 12 or 12' is used to connect the propelling boards 11a and 11b, or 11a' and 11b'. The plastic rope 12 or 12' is passing through the toe of shoe body 1 or 1', extending to the top of frame 2 or 2', and then falling down verticallly so that pulling down of the plastic rope 12 or 12' will make the propelling boards 11a and 11b or 11a' and 11b' perpendicular to the shoe body 1 or 1'.
A control lever 13 or 13' is installed over the shoe body 1 or 1' and at the front end of the frame 2 or 2'. A sun shine protector is put over a frame 18 mounted on frame 2'. When frame 18 with sun shine protector is fixed to the shoe bodies 1 and 1' in parallel, it can protect from direct exposure to rain or sunlight. When it is fixed to the shoe bodies vertically, it functions as a sail, and the present invention can be sailed after adjustment of the frame 18 according to wind direction.
When the present invention is operated as a sailboat, a connector 14 at the toe and another connector 15 at the back of the shoe bodies can be used to secure the shoe bodies. When using as a raft, a seat 16 can be placed on the shoe bodies 1 and 1', and paddles 17 and 17' can be used, too.
In operation the both feet of a user are kept within the shoe openings 4 and 4', and the control levers 13 and 13' are held by both hands, a shoe body is slided out first; the propelling boards 11a and 11b under the bottom should be turned backwards at 90°, and thus the shoe body 1 would not encounter resistance while it is sliding forward. On the contrary, while a shoe body is sliding forward, the other shoe body has its propelling boards perpendicular to its bottom so as to provide a reaction force from water surface for forward movement of the other shoe body. Alternately sliding of the shoe bodies permits sliding forward continuously. For leftward or rightward turning, just turn the control levers 13 and 13', leftward or rightward, and change the sliding direction of a shoe body being slided leftward or rightward simultaneously. For stopping, stop sliding, and pull down the plastic ropes 12 and 12' so as to have the propelling boards 11a, 11b, 11a' and 11b' become perpendicular to the bottoms of shoe bodies; the resistance between water and the propelling boards can stop sliding of the shoe bodies gradually.
In conclusion, the present invention is a tool to realize our dream of walking on water for sport and entertainment. The present invention can be used as a sailboat and a raft, too. It is a tool to provide a variety of water sports, i.e., a novel game-sliding on water.

Claims

A water float device comprising two symmetrical floating shoe bodies each in the form of a rectangular board of buoyant material with a shoe opening for holding a foot, the show bodies being coupled together by coupling means permitting alternate sliding movement, a frame on each shoe board for containing buoyant material, and a swinging control plate attached to the outer side of each frame, wherein
(a) the coupling means comprises an upper male element and a lower female element mounted on the left shoe body and an upper female element and a lower male element mounted on the right shoe body,

(b) the control plates are mounted to upper and lower portions of the frames so as to be adjustable in height,

(c) rectangular propelling boards are fixed to each shoe body, one at the front and one at the middle and are arranged to turn through 90° so as to be vertically and cause a reaction force against the water for forward propulsion, but to lie horizontally and offer minimum resistance when the shoe body is moving forward, and

(d) each shoe body has a magnifying glass at the toe.
A water float device according to claim 1 in which the propelling boards are connected by ropes to control levers so that by operating the control levers the propelling boards are brought to a vertical position to offer maximum water resistance.
A water float device according to any preceding claim provided with a frame arranged to carry a sunshine protector which can be turned into a position in which it acts as a sail.