# US 4,398,485 A · Device for detachably securing a centerboard to a sailboard or the like

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- Number: US 4,398,485 A
- Document ID: US4398485A
- Status: Granted
- Kind: A
- Application number: 06/236,441
- Filed: 1981-02-20
- Granted: 1983-08-16
- Earliest claimed: 1980-02-22
- Inventors: Bernard Diziere
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US4398485A

## CPC

- B63B 41/00: Drop keels, e.g. centre boards or side boards {; Collapsible keels, or the like, e.g. telescopically; Longitudinally split hinged keels (keels integral with hull B63B3/38; foils or keels on surf-boards B63B32/50; stabilising foils B63B39/06)}
- B63B 32/66: Arrangements for fixation to the board, e.g. fin boxes or foil boxes
- B63B 2035/009: {Wind propelled vessels comprising arrangements, installations or devices specially adapted therefor, other than wind propulsion arrangements, installations, or devices, such as sails, running rigging, or the like, and other than sailboards or the like or related equipment}
- B63B: SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING (arrangements of vessel ventilation, heating, cooling, or air-conditioning B63J2/00; floating substructures as supports of dredgers or soil-shifting machines E02F9/06)

## Abstract

The device comprises a casing adapted to be secured, as by gluing, to the sailboard, the casing having a downwardly opening, mortise-defining recess surrounded at its lowermost end by a peripheral flange, the centerboard having a tenon at its upper end adapted to be received in the mortise, the centerboard having a shoulder at its front end adapted to engage the peripheral flange, the tenon terminating rearwardly in an outwardly opening bore having resilient lips adapted to be snap-fitted around a hinge pin extending horizontally between the opposite sides of the mortise, the mortise including a self-locking attachment adjacent its front end releasably engagable with the front end of the tenon to secure the centerboard in the mortise in its normal position of use, the centerboard being readily inserted in and removed from the mortise and pivotable about the hinge pin if it strikes an obstruction.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A device for detachably mounting a centerboard on a sailboard or the like, said device comprising a casing adapted to be adhesively secured to the sailboard, said casing having an elongated downwardly opening recess therein defining a mortise having front and rear walls and opposing side walls, a peripheral flange surrounding the lowermost end of said recess, said flange being adapted to be seated on the undersurface of the sailboard to provide a bearing surface, a centerboard having a tenon forming portion at its upper end of a size to be fitted in the recess in the casing and a forwardly projecting shoulder adapting to seat on said peripheral flange, said tenon having front and rear ends, a horizontally disposed hinge pin extending between the opposite side walls of the mortise adjacent its rear end and intermediate its top and bottom, said tenon terminating rearwardly in an outwardly opening bore having an opposing pair of resilient lips adapted to be snap-fitted around said hinge pin to permit rearward pivotal movement of said centerboard relative to said mortise, and self-locking attachment means adjacent the front end of said mortise releasably engagable with the front end of said tenon to secure the centerboard in the mortise in its normal position of use, whereby the centerboard may be readily inserted in and removed from the sailboard and pivoted rearwardly about the hinge pin if it strikes an obstruction.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

A device according to claim 1 wherein said resilient lips are integrally formed in said tenon and are defined by opposed curved slots in said tenon.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The device according to claim 1 including a lug on the upper rear end of said tenon engagable with a stop-forming nose at the upper end of said mortise when said centerboard is pivoted rearwardly, said lug and said nose preventing removal of the centerboard when in its rearwardly pivoted position.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1, 2, 3)

A device according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein said self-locking attachment means comprises a resilient tongue projecting downwardly into the recess in said mortise adjacent its front end, said tongue having a projection thereon engagable with a depression in the front end of said tenon when said tenon is seated in said mortise.