Diving board and method of making

Abstract

A diving board comprising elongated rods carried by a hollow shell, and a method of making the diving board comprising steps for installing the rods in the shell.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A diving board comprising;
 a hollow shell formed in the general shape of a diving board; and   an elongated rod carried by and disposed within the shell between an upper inner surface and a lower inner surface of the shell in a generally longitudinal orientation.   
     
     
         2 . The diving board of  claim 1  in which:
 the diving board includes a mass of flexible material disposed within the shell; and 
 the rod is at least partially embedded in the mass of flexible material. 
 
     
     
         3 . The diving board of  claim 2  in which the flexible material comprises urethane. 
     
     
         4 . The diving board of  claim 1  in which at least a portion of the rod is carried by a rod support extending inward from an inner surface of the shell, the rod support being configured to resist displacement of the rod by an inflow of the flexible material into the shell interior during manufacture. 
     
     
         5 . The diving board of  claim 4  in which the rod is supported by multiple rod supports extending from the lower inner surface of the shell. 
     
     
         6 . The diving board of  claim 5  in which the rod supports are integrally formed with the shell as a single unitary piece. 
     
     
         7 . The diving board of  claim 1  in which an upper surface of the rod support is shaped to receive and positively position a portion of the rod relative to the shell. 
     
     
         8 . The diving board of  claim 1  in which the rod comprises fiberglass. 
     
     
         9 . The diving board of  claim 1  in which the shell comprises a thermoplastic material. 
     
     
         10 . The diving board of  claim 1  in which the shell has a shell opening through which the rod is insertable into engagement with the rod support. 
     
     
         11 . The diving board of  claim 10  including an end cap carried by the shell and covering the shell opening. 
     
     
         12 . A method of making diving boards, the method comprising, for each diving board, the steps of:
 forming a hollow shell in the general shape of a diving board, the shell carrying rod supports shaped and positioned to receive elongated rods within the shell;   inserting the elongated rods longitudinally into the shell and into engagement with the rod supports; and   filling the shell with a flexible material.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  including the additional steps of:
 forming an opening at an end of the shell to permit the rods to be inserted into the shell; and 
 closing the opening by securing an end cap over the opening after the step of filling the shell. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12  in which the step of forming the shell further includes forming the rod supports with the shell as a single unitary piece such that the supports extend integrally upward from a lower inner surface of the shell. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12  in which the step of forming the shell comprises one or more manufacturing techniques selected from the group of techniques consisting of blow molding, twin sheet thermoforming, thermoforming, and rotomolding. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12  in which the step of inserting the rods includes inserting a number of rods corresponding to the degree of elasticity desired for the finished diving board. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 12  in which:
 the step of forming a hollow shell includes forming a plurality of hollow shells, all having the same general diving board shape, and each shell carrying rod supports shaped and positioned to receive elongated rods within; 
 the step of inserting the elongated rods includes inserting at least two different numbers of rods into at least two respective shells of the plurality of hollow shells, the two different numbers of rods having been predetermined to impart two different diving board elasticity values to respective finished diving boards. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12  in which the step of filling the shell with a flexible material comprises filling the shell with uncured urethane. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , including the additional step of trimming off any excess urethane once the urethane has cured. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12  including the additional step of cutting holes into the diving board, which are configured and positioned to allow the diving board to be attached to a diving board base.