TWI904035B - A fin structure - Google Patents

Abstract

A fin structure, which has a long sheet-shaped fin board, the front end of the fin board is used to combine with a shoe cover, the fin board has a cross fiber board, a first light-transmitting layer is stacked downward and combined with a first upper surface of the cross fiber board, the lower surface of the first light-transmitting layer has a first pattern layer, the first pattern layer is sandwiched between the first light-transmitting layer and the first upper surface of the cross fiber board; and a second light-transmitting layer has the same shape and material as the first light-transmitting layer, the second light-transmitting layer is stacked upward and combined with a first lower surface of the cross fiber board, thereby reducing the overall weight, generating sufficient strength, preventing distortion and deformation, and allowing the first pattern layer to maintain its original appearance after long-term use.

Description

Frog-shoe structure

This work relates to a fin structure, specifically one that possesses sufficient strength to reduce overall weight while allowing the patterns on the fin's surface to maintain their original appearance.

Whether diving with an oxygen tank or snorkeling on the surface, wearing fins effectively increases propulsion in and out of the water. Whether it's slip-on fins that you slip directly onto your feet or adjustable fins that require wearing overshoes first, fins made of rubber, PU, or other composite plastics don't significantly affect kicking efficiency. As long as the material is strong enough and not too soft, they still provide good propulsion.

To reduce overall weight while maintaining sufficient strength and elasticity, fins typically employ a multi-layered fiber structure for their long fin plates. This involves stacking multiple fiber layers of the same size and shape, bonding them with resin, and then hardening them through heating and pressurization. The resulting fin plate possesses sufficient material strength without being too soft and affecting propulsion during swooping. Furthermore, to enrich the colors of the fin plates, various patterns and colors are often combined with printing, pasting, or spraying techniques to attach them to the surface. However, in actual use, after prolonged use, the patterns and colors on the fins may become worn or eroded by seawater, causing them to lose their original appearance.

In view of this, and in order to provide a structure and method different from conventional technologies, and to improve upon the aforementioned shortcomings, the creator, drawing on years of experience and continuous research and development, has produced this work.

One objective of this invention is to provide a fin structure that solves the problem that after prolonged use, the patterns or colors on the surface of fins easily lose their original appearance due to wear or erosion. This fin structure is achieved by bonding a first translucent layer and a second translucent layer to the upper and lower surfaces of a cross-fiber plate, respectively, and bonding a first pattern layer to the surface below the first translucent layer. This first pattern layer is sandwiched between the first translucent layer and the cross-fiber plate. This fin plate structure reduces overall weight, provides sufficient strength, prevents twisting and deformation, and allows the first pattern layer to maintain its original appearance, thus ensuring product quality.

To achieve the aforementioned creative purpose, the fin structure of this invention features a long, flat fin plate with a front end and a rear end along its length. The front end of the fin plate is attached to a shoe cover. Its main technical features are: the fin plate includes a cross-fiber plate, a first light-transmitting layer, a first pattern layer, and a second light-transmitting layer. The cross-fiber plate has a first upper surface and a first lower surface; the first light-transmitting layer is stacked downwards and attached to the first upper surface of the cross-fiber plate; the lower surface of the first light-transmitting layer has a first pattern layer, which is sandwiched between the first light-transmitting layer and the cross-fiber plate; the second light-transmitting layer has the same shape and material as the first light-transmitting layer, and is stacked upwards and attached to the first lower surface of the cross-fiber plate.

In practice, the cross-fiber board, the first light-transmitting layer, and the second light-transmitting layer have the same size and shape.

In practice, the cross-linked fiberboard is a carbon fiber board, and the first and second light-transmitting layers are both long sheets of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

In practice, this invention further includes a second pattern layer, which is stacked on and bonded to the upper surface of the second translucent layer, sandwiched between the second translucent layer and the cross-fiber plate.

In practice, this invention further includes a first covering layer and a second covering layer, the first covering layer being stacked downwards and bonded to the upper surface of the first light-transmitting layer, and the second covering layer being stacked upwards and bonded to the lower surface of the second light-transmitting layer.

In practice, the cross-linked fiber board includes a top layer, an intermediate layer, and a bottom layer stacked sequentially. Each of the top, intermediate, and bottom layers is an elongated fiber board. The top layer has a first length in its longitudinal direction, the intermediate layer has a second length in its longitudinal direction, and the bottom layer has a third length in its longitudinal direction. The first length is shorter than both the second and third lengths, and the third length is shorter than the second length.

In practice, the top layer and the middle layer have the same size and shape at one end along their length, allowing the top layer to be fully stacked and joined to one end of the middle layer.

In practice, the top layer has a first width in its short direction, and the middle layer has a second width in its short direction, with the first width being shorter than the second width.

In practice, this invention further includes a supporting rib layer, which is a long strip of fiber plate. The upper layer has a left edge and a right edge in its shorter direction. The supporting rib layers are stacked and connected to the upper layer, with the supporting rib layer located in the middle between the left and right edges of the upper layer.

To further understand this creation, the following are preferred embodiments, along with diagrams and figure numbers, to explain in detail the specific composition and effects achieved by this creation:

1: Frog Shoe Structure

10: Frog-shoe board

11: Curved section

12: Shoe covers

2: First drapery

3: First translucent layer

4: First Pattern Layer

5,5’: Cross-fiber plate

51: First upper surface

511: Left edge

512: Right edge

52: First lower surface

53,53’: Upper layer

54:Middle layer

55: Lower layer

56: Supporting ribs

6: Second Pattern Layer

7: Second translucent layer

8: Second overlying layer

L1: First Length

L2: Second Length

L3: Third Length

W1: First width

W2: Second width

[Figure 1] is a schematic top view of the first embodiment of this invention.

[Figure 2] is an exploded view of the components of the fin board in the first embodiment of this invention.

[Figure 3] is an exploded view of the components of the cross-fiber board in the first embodiment of this invention.

[Figure 4] is an exploded view of the components of the cross-fiber board in the second embodiment of this invention.

The fin structure of this invention features a fin plate, the front end of which is attached to a shoe cover. The fin plate mainly comprises a cross-fiber plate, a first translucent layer, a first pattern layer, and a second translucent layer. The cross-fiber plate has a first upper surface and a first lower surface. The first translucent layer is stacked downwards and attached to the first upper surface of the cross-fiber plate. The lower surface of the first translucent layer has the first pattern layer, which is sandwiched between the first translucent layer and the cross-fiber plate. The second translucent layer has the same shape and material as the first translucent layer, and is stacked upwards and attached to the first lower surface of the cross-fiber plate.

Please refer to Figure 1. The structure 1 of this invention is elongated, featuring a fin plate 10. The fin plate 10 has a front end and a rear end along its length. The front end of the fin plate 10 is connected to a shoe cover 12 via a bend 11. This allows the rear end of the design to swing relative to the front end when the user wears the shoe cover 12, increasing forward thrust in or on the water's surface.

Figure 2 shows a first embodiment of the fin structure 1 of this invention. The fin plate 10 mainly includes a first covering layer 2 and a first light-transmitting layer 3, a first pattern layer 4, a cross-fiber plate 5, a second pattern layer 6, a second light-transmitting layer 7 and a second covering layer 8 stacked and combined in sequence from below the first covering layer 2. The first cladding layer 2, the first light-transmitting layer 3, the cross-linked fiber plate 5, the second light-transmitting layer 7, and the second cladding layer 8 have the same size and shape, and the first cladding layer 2 and the second cladding layer 8 are both rectangular glass fiber plates. The first cladding layer 2 is stacked downwards and bonded to the upper surface of the first light-transmitting layer 3, while the second cladding layer 8 is stacked upwards and bonded to the lower surface of the second light-transmitting layer 7, thereby achieving the effect of light transmission and protecting the first light-transmitting layer 3 and the second light-transmitting layer 7 respectively.

The cross-fiber board 5 has a first upper surface 51 and a first lower surface 52 on its upper and lower sides, respectively. The first light-transmitting layer 3 and the second light-transmitting layer 7 have the same shape and material. In this embodiment, the first light-transmitting layer 3 and the second light-transmitting layer 7 are both long, transparent sheets of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). A first pattern layer 4 is stacked and bonded to the lower surface of a first light-transmitting layer 3, thereby sandwiching the first pattern layer 4 between the lower surface of the first light-transmitting layer 3 and the first upper surface 51 of the cross-fiber board 5. In practice, the first pattern layer 4 has at least one pattern or color. A second pattern layer 6 is stacked and bonded to the upper surface of a second light-transmitting layer 7, thereby sandwiching the second pattern layer 6 between the upper surface of the second light-transmitting layer 7 and the first lower surface 52 of the cross-fiber board 5. In practice, the second pattern layer 6 has at least one pattern or color. A second pattern layer 6 is stacked and bonded to the upper surface of a second light-transmitting layer 7, thereby sandwiching the second pattern layer 6 between the upper surface of the second light-transmitting layer 7 and the first lower surface 52 of the cross-fiber board 5. In practice, the second pattern layer 6 has at least one pattern or color.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the cross-fiber plate 5 is a stacked plate comprising a top layer 53, a middle layer 54, and a bottom layer 55 stacked sequentially from top to bottom. The top layer 53, middle layer 54, and bottom layer 55 are each woven fiber plate. In this embodiment, the top layer 53, middle layer 54, and bottom layer 55 are each elongated carbon fiber plate, and each carbon fiber plate is formed by bonding and hardening carbon fiber cloth with resin. In this embodiment, any carbon fiber plate can also be formed by stacking two carbon fiber cloths, each with diagonal carbon fibers. Similarly, the diagonal carbon fibers of the two layers of carbon fiber cloth can be interwoven to generate high structural strength.

The top layer 53 has a first length L1 along its length, the middle layer 54 has a second length L2 along its length, and the bottom layer 55 has a third length L3 along its length. The first length L1 is shorter than both the second and third lengths L2 and L3, and the third length L3 is shorter than the second length L2. Furthermore, one end of the top layer 53 and the middle layer 54 along their lengths has the same size and shape, allowing the top layer 53 to be fully stacked and bonded to the surface of one end of the middle layer 54.

Therefore, when the user wears the shoe cover 12 and swings the swivel between the rear and front ends of the swivel plate 10, the stacking of the upper layer 53, middle layer 54, and lower layer 55 of different lengths creates different thicknesses in different areas of the swivel plate, resulting in different strength and softness distributions. This effectively reduces the overall weight while maintaining sufficient strength. Furthermore, a first pattern layer 4 is sandwiched between the lower surface of the first light-transmitting layer 3 and the first upper surface 51 of the cross-fiber plate 5, and a second pattern layer 4 is sandwiched between the upper surface of the second light-transmitting layer 7 and the first upper surface 51 of the cross-fiber plate 5. By sandwiching a second pattern layer 6 between the first and second light-transmitting layers 52, the first and second pattern layers 4 and 6 can be protected from wear and tear even after prolonged use, thus maintaining their original appearance and ensuring product quality. Furthermore, by bonding the first light-transmitting layer 3 to the first upper surface 51 of the cross-fiber plate 5 and the second light-transmitting layer 7 to the first lower surface 52 of the cross-fiber plate 5, and by ensuring that the first and second light-transmitting layers 3 and 7 have the same shape and material, the fin board 10 can remain flat to prevent twisting and deformation.

Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of the frog-shoe structure 1 of this invention. The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is that: the upper layer 53' of the cross-fiber plate 5' has a first width W1 in its short direction, with a left edge 511 and a right edge 512 on each side of the first width W1; the middle layer 54 has a second width W2 in its short direction, with the first width W1 being shorter than the second width W2; a supporting rib layer 5 is overlapped and joined above the upper layer 53. 6. The supporting rib layer 56 is a long strip of fiber plate, located between the left edge 511 and the right edge 512 of the upper layer 53, and parallel to both edges 511 and 512. This increases the strength of the front end of the cross-fiber plate 5' and provides stronger sway support at the center line of the cross-fiber plate 5', thus increasing the bending strength and resulting in a smoother and greater rebound propulsion effect.

In conclusion, based on the content disclosed above, this invention indeed achieves its intended purpose, providing a swan-like structure that not only maintains the original appearance of the first and second pattern layers to ensure product quality, but also allows for different stacking thicknesses in different areas of the cross-fiber plate to produce varying strength and flexibility distributions, while reducing overall weight. Furthermore, the combination of the supporting rib layer and the upper layer increases the rebound thrust. This structure possesses significant industrial value, and therefore, an invention patent application is filed in accordance with the law.

10: Frog-shoe board

2: First drapery

3: First translucent layer

4: First Pattern Layer

5: Cross-fiber board

51: First upper surface

52: First lower surface

53: Top layer

54:Middle layer

6: Second Pattern Layer

7: Second translucent layer

8: Second overlying layer

Claims (7)

A fin structure comprising an elongated fin plate having a front end and a rear end along its length, the front end of which is attached to a shoe cover; characterized in that the fin plate includes: a cross-fiber plate having a first upper surface and a first lower surface; a first pattern layer; and a first light-transmitting layer, the lower surface of which is stacked and bonded to the first pattern layer, and the first light-transmitting layer being stacked downwards and bonded to the first upper surface of the cross-fiber plate, thereby sandwiching the first pattern layer between the lower surface of the first light-transmitting layer and the first upper surface of the cross-fiber plate. The system comprises: a second pattern layer; a second light-transmitting layer having the same shape and material as the first light-transmitting layer, the upper surface of which is stacked and bonded to the second pattern layer, and the second light-transmitting layer being stacked upwards and bonded to the first lower surface of the cross-fiber plate, thereby sandwiching the second pattern layer between the upper surface of the second light-transmitting layer and the first lower surface of the cross-fiber plate; a first cladding layer, the light-transmitting first cladding layer being stacked downwards and bonded to the upper surface of the first light-transmitting layer; and a second cladding layer, the light-transmitting second cladding layer being stacked upwards and bonded to the lower surface of the second light-transmitting layer. As in claim 1, the fin structure wherein the cross-fiber plate, the first translucent layer, and the second translucent layer have the same size and shape. As in the fin structure of claim 1, the cross-fiber plate is a carbon fiber plate, and the first and second light-transmitting layers are respectively elongated sheets of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The fin structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cross-fiber plate includes a top layer, a middle layer, and a bottom layer stacked together in sequence, wherein the top layer, the middle layer, and the bottom layer are each an elongated fiber plate, the top layer having a first length in its longitudinal direction, the middle layer having a second length in its longitudinal direction, and the bottom layer having a third length in its longitudinal direction, wherein the first length is shorter than the second length and the third length, and the third length is shorter than the second length. As in claim 4, the fin structure wherein the top layer and the middle layer have the same size and shape at one end along their longitudinal direction, allowing the top layer to be fully stacked and joined to that end of the middle layer. As in claim 4, the fin structure, wherein the upper layer has a first width in its short direction, the middle layer has a second width in its short direction, and the first width is shorter than the second width. The fin structure of claim 6 further includes a support layer, which is a long strip of fiber plate. The upper layer has a left edge and a right edge in its short direction. The support layer is stacked and bonded to the upper layer, and is located in the middle of the left and right edges of the upper layer.