Description SKATE BOARD

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a skate board, and more particularly, to a skate board, on which a beginner can easily ride, which is carried conveniently, and which can easily change directions at a steep curve due to its small radius of rotation. Background Art

[2] In general, as shown in FIG. 6, a skate board 100 includes an elliptical plate 111, and two sets of wheels 113 and 123 each having two rollers mounted on the underside of the plate 111. For the conventional skate board having the above construction, a user stamps his or her one foot on the ground to travel on the level ground, but inclines the board to the right or left side from the advancing direction of the board with the user's foot to turn to one side during traveling.

[3] However, in the skate board 100 shown in FIG. 6, it is difficult for the user to advance the board forward without stamping the user's foot on the ground, and even though it is possible, only expert users can do it. Furthermore, when the user inclines the plate to one side to some degree to turn the skate board during traveling, the wheels and the plate are in contact with each other. As a result, there is a limitation in inclining the plate, and so, the radius of rotation becomes larger.

[4] To address and solve the above problem, a skate board 200 shown in FIG. 7 has been invented. The skate board 200 shown in FIG. 7 includes two boards 211 and 212, directional casters 213 and 214 mounted on the underside of the boards, and a torsion pipe 215 providing elastically restoring force upon the distortion and the bending and connecting the boards 211 and 212 with each other. The skate board 200 provides a propulsive force only by the user's body twisting motion and can make rotation with a small radius of rotation during traveling.

[5] However, the skate board 200 shown in FIG. 7 has several problems in that a user may lose balance since the boards 211 and 212 are inclined when he or she twists his or her body on the skate board to obtain a propulsive force, and in that a beginner may frequently cause accidents.

[6] Furthermore, the skate board 200 shown in FIG. 7 has the radius of rotation smaller than that of the skate board 100 shown in FIG. 6, but is not easy to rotate at a steep curve area of a smaller radius of curvature.

[7] Additionally, the skate boards 100 and 200 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are large in volume, and so are inconvenient to carry. Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[8] Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a skate board, which allows a user to obtain a propulsive force while easily keep balance in a state where he or she rides on the board, which provides a small radius of rotation so as to travel on a steep curve area smoothly, and which is compact enough to conveniently carry.

Technical Solution

[9] To achieve the above object, in one aspect, the present invention provides a skate board which includes connecting means for connecting a front board and a rear board with each other, the front board having at least one caster mounted on the underside thereof, the rear board having at least one caster mounted on the underside thereof, wherein the connecting means includes: a central connection part having a hollow hole formed therein; and a board connection part extending from both ends of the central connection part and connected to the front board and the rear board, and wherein supporting means is coupled to the hollow hole of the central connection part, whereby the front board and the rear board are separately driven centering on the central connection part.

[10] Here, a retaining protrusion is formed on the inner circumference of the hollow hole or the outer circumference of the supporting means, and a retaining groove is formed on the outer circumference of the supporting means or the inner circumference of the hollow hole, whereby the retaining protrusion is removably coupled with the retaining groove.

[11] In another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a skate board including: a front board having at least one caster mounted on the underside thereof; a rear board having at least one caster mounted on the underside thereof; connecting means having a front board connector connected to the front board and a rear board connector connected to the rear board; and foldable means disposed on a boundary surface formed between the front board connector and the rear board connector.

[12] Here, the skate board according to the present invention further includes fastening means passing through the front board connector and the rear board connector so as to connect the front board connector and the rear board connector with each other.

[13] Furthermore, the fastening means includes: a fixed shaft coupled with a through hole passing through the front board connector and the rear board connector; a handle part mounted at one end of the fixed shaft; and fixing means mounted at the other end of the fixed shaft.

[14] Moreover, a connection hole is formed at a side of the front board or the rear board to connect an additional board.

Advantageous Effects

[15] According to the present invention, the user can separately drive the front board and the rear board using the supporting means, and even the beginner can easily keep balance since he or she can drive the skate board through a bearing force provided by the supporting means. Moreover, the present invention can easily rotate even at a steep curve area due to its small radius of rotation, and is convenient to carry since it is foldable. Brief Description of the Drawings

[16] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[17] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a skate board according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[18] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a central connection part of the present invention;

[19] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an operation of the central connection part when the skate board of the present invention is folded;

[20] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state where the skate board of the present invention is folded;

[21] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a skate board according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[22] FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a conventional skate board; and

[23] FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an improved skate board of the skate board of FIG.

6. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[24] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Terms and words used herein should not be construed limitedly by the common and dictionary meanings, but should be interpreted by meaning and concepts conforming to the technical idea of this invention based on the principle that the concept of terms and words can be defined properly by the inventor in order to describe this invention in the best ways. Therefore, it should be understood that since the constructions of the embodiments and drawings described herein are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, but not include all the technical spirits of the present invention, there may be provided various equivalents and modifications which can be substituted for

the above constructions.

[25] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a skate board according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a central connection part of the present invention.

[26] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the skate board according to the present invention includes a front board 11 having a caster 10 mounted on the underside thereof, a rear board 12 having a caster 10 mounted on the underside thereof, connecting means 20 for connecting the front board 11 and the rear board 12 with each other, and supporting means 30 coupled to the connecting means 20.

[27] The casters 10 are mounted on the boards 11 and 12 in such a way as to be freely rotate on a rotational axis, and are partially disposed by the external force applied to the boards 11 and 12 so that the boards 11 and 12 can be moved forward or change the direction.

[28] The connecting means 20 includes a central connection part 40 and board connection parts 22 mounted to both ends of the central connection part 40 and respectively coupled with shaft holes of the front board 11 and the rear board 12. It is preferable that the board connection parts are bearing-coupled to the central connection part 40 and the boards 11 and 12 in such a way as to be idly rotated. As described above, since the board connection parts 22 are mounted at both ends of the central connection part 40, a user can control the board connection part 22 only by the movement of one foot which steps on the board. Therefore, the present invention can easily rotate even at a steep curve area since the radius of rotation is short due to a short rotational axis during the rotation.

[29] It is preferable that the board connection parts 22 are made of material capable of elastically restoring, so that the board connection parts 22 are distorted by their elasticity when the user applies the external force by the user's foot movement, and thereby, the casters 10 mounted on the underside of the boards 11 and 12 are partially disposed. As a result, the skate board according to the present invention can advance forward or change its direction.

[30] The supporting means 30 is coupled with the central connection part 40, so that the user can separately drive the front board 11 and the rear board 12 by twisting the supporting means 30 to the right or left and easily keep the balance during traveling. Of course, when the user twists the supporting means 30 to the right or left while performing the foot motion, the boards 11 and 12 can be more effectively driven.

[31] Referring to FIG. 2, the central connection part 40 includes a front board connector

41 connected to the front board 11 and a rear board connector 42 connected to the rear board 12, and is in the form of a cylinder by coupling the front board connector 41 and the rear board connector 42 with each other. The front board connector 41 and the rear

board connector 42 respectively have semi-circular holes formed at the center thereof, and a hollow hole 43 for inserting the supporting means 30 thereinto is formed by coupling the semi-circular holes with each other.

[32] Here, it is preferable that the supporting means 30 includes a retaining protrusion

31a formed on the outer circumference thereof, and the hollow hole 43 has a retaining groove 43 a formed on the inner circumference thereof to correspond to the retaining protrusion 31a, whereby the supporting means 30 is detachably mounted on the central connection part 40. Therefore, when the supporting means 30 is rotated in one direction after it is inserted into the hollow hole 43, the supporting means 30 can be easily combined with the board. As described above, since the supporting means 30 is detachably combined with the board, a beginner can keep balance using the supporting means 30. After that, when the user is skilled in keeping balance, the user can use the skate board after removing the supporting means 30 from the skate board.

[33] FIG. 2 shows an example that the retaining protrusion 31a is formed on the supporting means 30 and the retaining groove 43a is formed on the hollow hole 43, but it is also possible that the retaining groove 43a is formed on the outer circumference of the supporting means 30 and the retaining protrusion 31a is formed on the inner circumference of the hollow hole 43.

[34] Foldable means 50 for allowing folding of the board at the boundary surface is provided at a predetermined area of a boundary surface between the front board connector 41 and the rear board connector 42. The foldable means 50 may be a hinge.

[35] The central connection part 40 is provided with a through hole passing side surfaces of the front board connector 41 and the rear board connector 42, and fastening means 60 is mounted on the through hole. The fastening means 60 includes a fixed shaft 61 coupled with the through hole, a handle part 62 mounted at an end of the fixed shaft 61, and fixing means 63 mounted at the other end of the fixed shaft 61. It is referable that the fixing means 63 is a nut which will be fit into the shaft.

[36] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an operation of the central connection part 40 when the skate board is folded. Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 3, an operation to fold the skate board will be described. First, the supporting means 30 coupled with the central connection part 40 is removed. After that, when the handle part 62 of the fastening means 60 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the fixed shaft 61 passing through the front board connector 41 and the rear board connector 42 receives power in a direction where the fixing means 63 is mounted. Then, the fixed shaft 61 is moved downwardly from a U-shaped groove 45 formed on the rear board connector 42, and thereby, the coupling between the front board connection 41 and the rear board connector 42 is released. In the drawing, the U-shaped groove 45 is formed on the rear board connector 42, but can be formed on the front board connector 41. As described above, when the

user folds the board after the coupling between the front board connection 41 and the rear board connector 42 is released, the board is folded at the boundary surface. At this time, the skate board is folded at the boundary surface without forming any interval at the upper surfaces of the front board connector 41 and the rear board connector 42.

[37] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a skate board according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the skate board according to the present invention further includes a connection board 13 connected to the rear board 12. To connect the rear board 12 and the connection board 13 with each other, the rear board 12 has a connection hole 14 formed at the rear end portion thereof for inserting a connection ring 15 thereinto.

[38] Therefore, the user can step the user's foot on not only the front board 11 and the rear board 12 but also the connection board 13. Furthermore, according to the skate board shown in FIG. 5, two users can ride on the skate board in such a way that one of the users steps the user's feet on the front board 11 and the rear board 12 and the other steps the user's feet on the rear board 12 and the connection board 13 side by side.

[39] While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. Industrial Applicability

[40] As described above, according to the present invention, the user can separately drive the front board and the rear board using the supporting means, and even the beginner can easily keep balance since he or she can drive the skate board through a bearing force provided by the supporting means. Moreover, the present invention can easily rotate even at a steep curve area due to its small radius of rotation, and is convenient to carry since it is foldable.

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