Land vehicles – Ski or skate appliance or attachment – Ski pole
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-18
2002-08-27
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Ski or skate appliance or attachment
Ski pole
C024S191000, C024S2650EC
Reexamination Certificate
active
06439610
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention refers to a stick handle for ski, trekking and the like, equipped with an adjustable wrist strap, which is apt to tie the user wrist round.
A stick for ski or for trekking generally comprises a rod having a tip on one of its ends, and a handle on the other end.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The tip, generally made of metal, is apt to penetrate snow, ice or quite soft fields, as well as to grip a more solid field. The handle, generally made of plastic or composite material, has an ergonomic shape suitable to be easily tighten by the hand of the user. A strap, generally made of leather or synthetic material and commonly called wrist strap, is connected to the handle. The wrist strap is closed like a ring in order to form a loop apt to tie the user wrist round, so as to guarantee a steady grip and to avoid the loss of the stick.
In order to better perform its function, the wrist strap must be correctly tied round the wrist of the user and hence the wideness of its loop shall be apt to be adjusted.
In sticks according to the prior art, the loop adjustment of the wrist strap generally is obtained through a buckle. Infact, these wrist straps comprise two strips of belt connected to the stick handle. One of these two strips of belt has on its end a buckle, wherein the free end of the other strip is apt to be inserted and adjusted.
This system appears very uncomfortable for the user, especially in rigorous environmental conditions when the hands wear gloves, and it takes too long time to adjust the wrist strap.
The prior art also offers other adjusting systems for the wrist strap. For example EP-A-202,287 discloses a stick handle for ski, wherein the handle has a cam lever which can be operated by the hand of the user. Upon forming a loop of the desired dimension, the cam lever is closed pinching the strips of the wrist strap against a surface of the handle; the two free ends of the loop lay between the lever and the main body of the handle and then they come out below, parallel to the rod of the stick.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,560,014, 4,288,100 and 4,288,101 a device equipped with a cam lever and arranged on the upper part of the stick handle, is shown. The part of the wrist strap in excess is untidily gathered in a restricted housing inside the handle or is just let come out from the stick handle itself.
Nevertheless, in all these cases it has been noticed that the wrist strap is not enough steadily blocked, since the strips are almost “punctually” pinched—infact, the cam has a sharpened outline—and as a consequence, the friction surface is quite reduced. That implies a trend of the wrist strap to disengage itself from the cam of the lever, especially when it is subjected to repeated efforts, as in the case of use for the northern ski (known also as cross-country skiing). Moreover, the blocking of the wrist strap by this devices with the cam lever is absolutely ineffective if the thickness of these strips is not exactly the same as the expected one in the design. Infact, if the thickness of the strip is lesser or greater than the expected one, the cam lever is not able to steadily block the wrist strap or, respectively, it cannot be completely closed to the expected position. This is a serious drawback, because, as known, in the industrial production of sticks is neither always possible nor suitable to manufacture strips for wrist straps with a repeatable thickness and a restricted tolerance.
Finally, at least the free end of the adjustable strip of the strap is annoying to menage, because of its variable length.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to eliminate these drawbacks, providing a stick handle for ski, trekking and the like equipped with a device for adjusting the wrist strap which is comfortable and, at the same time, reliable.
Another object is to provide a stick handle wherein the adjusting device of the wrist strap can be correctly closed, tightly blocking the wrist strap, also for a thickness of strips which is not constant.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a stick handle equipped with a device for adjusting the wrist strap, wherein the part of the wrist strap with a variable length can be automatically and ordinarily accommodated inside the handle itself, so as to be hidden from the outside.
These objects are achieved, according to the invention, by the features listed in the enclosed claims.
A stick handle for ski, trekking and the like with an adjustable wrist strap, according to the present invention, provides on its upper part, an opening/closing lever housed in a corresponding seat located in the upper part of the stick handle. Inside this seat the wrist strap is made pass in such a way as to externally protrude from the stick handle to form a loop apt to tie the user wrist round. The opening/closing lever works as a cover for the stick handle and it is also pivoted in the upper rearward part of the same handle. In this way the opening/closing lever can swing from an open position, wherein the length of the wrist strap can be adjusted by making it slide in its own seat, to a close position, wherein the wrist strap is firmly blocked in its seat.
The cam lever has also a pivoting pawl apt to grip the wrist strap for any thickness of the strips, within a certain range, allowing to the main opening/closing lever to always reach its condition of optimal closing.
Elastic returning means to automatically retract the free adjustable end of the wrist strap into the stick handle, are also provided.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2442266 (1948-05-01), Davis
patent: 3297333 (1967-01-01), Schwedt et al.
patent: 3560014 (1971-02-01), Bruckl
patent: 4005872 (1977-02-01), Rischert et al.
patent: 4057261 (1977-11-01), Koblick
patent: 4130293 (1978-12-01), Hinterreiter
patent: 4288100 (1981-09-01), Aho
patent: 4288101 (1981-09-01), Aho
patent: 4593933 (1986-06-01), Nunno
patent: 4779896 (1988-10-01), Ingalls
patent: 5470108 (1995-11-01), Goode et al.
patent: 5806145 (1998-09-01), Chen
patent: 6029320 (2000-02-01), Monneret et al.
patent: 296841 (1972-02-01), None
Gipron Giuseppe Pronzati S.p.A.
Johnson Brian L.
Young & Thompson
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