Land vehicles – Skates – Shoe attaching means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-29
2004-11-16
Fischmann, Bryan (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Skates
Shoe attaching means
C280S014220
Reexamination Certificate
active
06817622
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bindings for snowboards and the like, and more particularly to such bindings that comprise a disk that allows the bindings to be adjusted with respect to their angular orientation to the longitudinal centerline of the snowboard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Snowboarding is a sport wherein a person uses a snowboard for recreational travel down a snow-covered inclined surface. In recent years, there has been a tremendous growth of the sport of snowboarding, and concomitantly more attention has been given to some of the problems experienced by snowboarders.
A typical snowboard is essentially a single, wide ski that has fore and aft binding assemblies that are secured to the board in a manner to support both feet at a substantial angle with respect to the longitudinal centerline of the board. This cross orientation of the bindings allows the user to assume a side-forward position necessary for optimum control of the board during active snowboarding. It is also noted that snowboarders often desire to modify the angle of the feet relative to the centerline of the board to achieve better performance during their run. Such changes in the angle of the feet are made for personal preference and riding style. Fine tuning of the angle is critical to achieving optimum performance.
It has become evident that one way to address these problems would be in providing bindings that are adjustable with respect to their angular orientations to the board centerline. State of the art bindings are mounted to snowboards by a circular disk that is positioned in a circular opening in a binding base plate designed to receive a person's foot and secured with screws to mating elements in the snowboard. There are currently two standard systems in common use in the snowboard industry. Many other systems have been envisioned but the industry has settled on the following two systems: the non-proprietary four-hole system and a proprietary three-hole system. Therefore, it is necessary to provide two separate disks with every binding in order to insure that the binding may be fitted on most snowboards.
Snowboard bindings are also preferably provided with means to allow adjustment in a direction that is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline of the snowboard (i.e., from side to side). Such an adjustment allows the rider's boot to be centered laterally on the snowboard and thereby eliminates toe and heel drag: conditions that occur when either the toe of the boot or the heel of the boot extends beyond the turning edge of the snowboard. When several different boot sizes are to be accommodated by a single binding, the lateral adjustment of the binding is critical. This is done by providing elongated holes in the disk so that it may be adjusted relative to the longitudinal axis of the snowboard.
The 3-hole system is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,261,689, 5,354,088 and 5,356,170.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,689 (Carpenter & al.) teaches a hold down plate with at least three holes extending in a common direction, a base plate forming a part of a binding for receiving the boot of a user and having an aperture for receiving the hold down plate in at least two rotational orientations, and a means defining a pattern of second holes in a snowboard formed such that first holes are aligned with a like number of second holes when the hold-down plate is placed over the snowboard for permitting the hold down plate to assume at least two spaced apart positions along the snowboard, each corresponding to a different rotational orientation of the hold down plate. This patent teaches the means to orient the hold down plate in at least two different orientations with respect to the snowboard central axis. This capability is afforded by the unique pattern of holes in the snowboard and in the hold down plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,088 (Vetter & al) teaches another device which allows a finite number of discrete angular orientations of the boot with respect to the snowboard. An inherent consequence of this device is that the boot is substantially raised above the surface of the snowboard. This device does not require a plurality of holes in the snowboard itself.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,170 (Carpenter et al.) also show snowboard boot binding systems of a popular type that employs a “mounting disk” that engages a circular opening in a boot mounting plate whose bottom is supported on a snowboard. A number of vertical bores through the “mounting disk” allow it to be secured to threaded bores in the board using threaded bolts or screws, and ordinarily there are extra pairs of threaded bores in the board to allow adjustment between the fore and aft bindings in several different longitudinal positions, to accommodate the desired feet-apart stance of the rider. There are ridges or splines on the “mounting disk” that engage complementary ridges or splines on the binding plate, to secure the plate at a given angular orientation.
The 4-hole system is described in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,216 (Ratzek) teaches a “mounting disk” that allows a continuous selection of orientation angles of the binding with respect to the central snowboard axis.
The means by which the rotation of the base plate with respect to the hold down plate is arrested involves a friction lining in combination with the axial force of the fasteners that has a direction generally normal to the surface of the snowboard.
Another approach to the need for rotatably adjustable bindings is revealed in U.S. Pat., No. 5,499,837 (Hale). The system of the Hale patent appears to be an improvement, however it's locking mechanism that depends on specially formed vertically opposed undulating surfaces that can be brought in and out of engagement, appears unduly complex and expensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,883 (Erb) teaches a device which allows adjustment of the orientation of the binding with respect to the snowboard central axis. It is, however, limited to discrete angular positions and requires a mating circular pattern of holes in the snowboard. This mating hole pattern is undesirable because it is expensive, weakens the snowboard and most importantly does not allow for any adjustment to the location of the pivot axis with respect to the snowboard central axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,826,910 (Ricks) teaches a swivelable bindings assembly for a snowboard for selective rotational adjustment of the bindings about an axis normal to the upper surface of the snowboard which includes a rotatably adjustable bindings plate having a bottom surface, an upper portion adapted for releasably supporting a user's boot, and a relatively large diameter circular opening in the central portion of the plate. The assembly includes a holds-down disk that is received in the plate opening and is adapted to slidably engage edge portions of the plate opening to restrain the plate against upward separation from the disk and to hold the plate with its bottom surface slidably engaged with, and vertically supported by, the low-friction planar surface of a sheet of material secured to the top of the snowboard, the disk also serving to mount the plate for rotation about an axis through the center of the disk. Mechanism for releasably locking the plate at selected rotational positions includes a locking pin with an elongate shaft that engages a horizontal bore extending from an edge of the base plate to the base plate opening, the plate being rotatable to bring the bore in alignment with at least one recess in the outer edge of the disk whereby the pin shaft can be engaged in a selected recess to secure the plate against rotation. These bindings for snowboards can be adjusted with respect to its angular orientation to the longitudinal centerline of the snowboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,899 (Carlson) describes a complex binding system that can be fitted on a 4-hole pattern snowboard and is characterized by a quick release feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,755 (Metzger & al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,779 (Dawes & al), U.S.
Bourque & Associates P.A.
Fischmann Bryan
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