Boots – shoes – and leggings – Boots and shoes – Occupational or athletic shoe
Patent
1996-02-07
1998-02-24
Kavanaugh, Ted
Boots, shoes, and leggings
Boots and shoes
Occupational or athletic shoe
36122, 280600, A43B 504
Patent
active
057201200
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to snow shoes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a snow shoe device which increases the user's footprint area, allowing increased support and aids in traction whilst traversing upon soft surfaces such as snow.
Many present devices are rather complex and relatively heavy assemblies requiring moving parts to function. These moving parts tend to wear and foul with ice build-up. Their weight makes them cumbersome. The older traditional tennis racket style snow shoes tend to fail after prolonged use on abrasive surfaces or particles such as ice and grit, which wear the cords that comprise the base. The size of these older type snow shoes tend to make them awkward to use. Also, known shoes are normally relatively long and rigid making them difficult to use on steep slopes.
According to the present invention there is provided a snow shoe comprising: platform characterised in that the platform is substantially imperforate and that at least peripheral zones of the platform can be resiliently flexed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problems described above are substantially overcome by the present invention. The platform can be constructed of a wear-resistant and semi-flexible plastic able to tolerate sub-zero temperatures. The heel and toe of a sole of the user's footwear is bound by the binding means so that it is unable to separate away from or move laterally or longitudinally on the platform whilst secured.
Preferably, the platform is able to flex along with the sole of the user's shoe or boot but preferably is least flexible across the ball of the foot area of the platform.
Preferably further, the platform is fastened to a person's footwear by adjustable and releasable straps, and adjustable locating blocks, without any part of the fasteners being included on the person's footwear.
Traction can be enhanced by indentations and/or cleats on the base of the platform.
Preferably further, the front and rear of the platform are curved upwards and can flex to aid the user in motion.
In one form of the invention, the upward curved front of the platform enables clearance with the surface of the snow during the motion of the user's step. The curve is directly at the front of the toe area of the platform. The platform then flattens out to a plane as it approaches the front edge of the platform. The curved upward front of the platform is flexible to enable a person's toe area on the platform to remain on or about the surface of the snow, when a downward force is acting on the toe area, and the heel is raised sufficiently so that the flat portion of the base on the curved upward front of the platform is on the surface of the snow. If the heel continues to be raised, the front of the platform is able to flex to enable the toe area to remain on or about the surface of the snow.
To assist in traction, the surface of the base of the platform may include machined or moulded shallow indentations across its entirety, except under and adjacent to cleats and at the perimeter of the base. The shallow indentations grip by allowing snow to intrude into and fill them, with a force exerted downward and perpendicular to the platform onto the top of the indentation.
The snow captured inside the indentation is then put into shear with the snow directly under it, if any force sideways is applied by the side of the indentation to the captured snow. The indentations are shallow so as not to retain the snow when the platform is lifted off the surface of the snow. To increase traction on firmer snow surfaces a load-carrying platform may flex to approach the irregular shape of the surface it is upon. This increases the surface area and amount of indentations on the platform's base which are in contact with and traction to the surface of the snow. On softer snow surfaces the platform is rigid enough to support the load of a person that the platform was intended for. The surface of the underside of the platform fittings has no indentations in regions where cleats are to be mounted.
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