Buoys – rafts – and aquatic devices – Water skimming or walking device – With lashing
Patent
1994-06-29
1997-01-07
Avila, Stephen
Buoys, rafts, and aquatic devices
Water skimming or walking device
With lashing
A63C 1500
Patent
active
055910602
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a retention assembly.
The invention has particular but not exclusive application to a retention assembly for retaining a user's foot in contact with a supporting surface. The invention is particularly suitable for maintaining foot contact between a rider and a surfboard or the like and for illustrative purposes reference will be made herein to such an application. However it will be understood that the retention means is also suitable for use with sailboards on land, sea or ice, with towed or propelled skis, and with bodyboards, snowboards, skateboards, kneeboards and the like.
Furthermore, the invention is not limited to recreational use as described above. The invention can be used in other applications where it is desired that a user's foot be securely retained. Foe example, the invention can establish secure foot holds when climbing.
BACKGROUND ART
The art of surfboard riding is rapidly changing as the skills and manoeuvres developed in windsurfing on sailboards are adopted for surfboards. However unlike windsurfing where control of the sailboard is maintained by the rider's hands in holding the sail as well as by the position of and pressure exerted by the rider's feet on the board, in boardsurfing the only control of the surfboard is via the feet. It is therefore desirable that foot contact with the board be maintained.
Surfboard riders now practice routines in which the surfboard loses contact with the water. Typical of such manoeuvres is the so-called "aerial" when the rider and board run along and then up the face of a wave and become airborne as the board progresses over the lip of the wave, and a "floater" when the rider drops down a wave from the lip to the base through the air or cushioned only by aerated foam. It is particularly desirable both for high performance and safety that foot contact be maintained with the surfboard during such manoeuvres. During aerial manoeuvres it is known for surfboard riders to hold the board as skateboard riders do, but this means that the arms are not free for balancing.
A number of arrangements are known whereby contact between a surfboard rider's foot and the surfboard is maintained or facilitated in an attempt to enhance control.
In one known arrangement disclosed in Australian Patent 601941 to Burrows and Reimers, a fixed post or "rocket block" is located adjacent the tail of the surfboard so that a rider's foot abuts against the block. Some such blocks are slightly concave so that a rider's heel and sidefoot can adopt a number of positions. Such a device has a number of disadvantages. Positive contact with the foot is not maintained during aerial manoeuvres; it is fixed to the board and not adaptable for easy relocation; being fixed and upstanding, it can cause scratching and grazing to a rider's leg which is dragged across the tail block during the action of standing up on the board from a lying position. Furthermore, if located in the forward area of the board such rocket blocks impede the rapid and frequent foot movements necessary for control and also hinder a rider lying prone on a board when swimming.
Another arrangement is disclosed in Australian patent application 16137/92 to Sunbum Pty Limited. This application relates to a foot strap for a sailboard which is fixedly attached to the board. Such footstraps maintain the foot in contact with the relatively heavy sailboard by looping over the foot which is jammed in between the board and the underside of the foot strap. Attempts have been made to utilise such sailboard footstraps on surfboards to enhance control during aerial manoeuvreing on the surfboard. However the straps have certain disadvantages. In particular they prevent the heel to toe transitions essential for fine control in high performance competitive surfboarding. Moreover the straps can be dangerous if the rider's foot becomes caught in the strap during a fall from the surfboard.
Australian patent application 21600/88 to Look S.A. discloses a foot strap assembly having a release mechanism o
REFERENCES:
patent: 4592734 (1986-06-01), Metiver
patent: 4624646 (1986-11-01), Strohmeier
patent: 4645466 (1987-02-01), Ellis
patent: 4960063 (1990-10-01), Bontemps
patent: 5167553 (1992-12-01), Wilson
Avila Stephen
Bednarek Michael D.
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