Land vehicles – Skates – Shoe attaching means
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-13
2004-03-23
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Skates
Shoe attaching means
C280S014210, C280S619000, C280S014220
Reexamination Certificate
active
06709003
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a tool free system for adjusting the mounting location of an engagement member and, particularly, relates to a system for repositioning the mounting end of an engagement member within a base while the base is mounted to a substrate and without the assistance of external tools.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Binding devices are employed to secure a rider to boards and other devices configured for gliding, such as snowboards, snow skis, water skis, wake boards, surf boards and the like. For purposes of this patent, “gliding implement” will refer generally to any of the foregoing boards as well as to other devices which allow a rider to traverse a surface.
Certain types of bindings, known as strap or tray bindings, employ elongated straps to mount a rider's foot or boot to a gliding implement. A strap type snowboard binding
10
is shown in FIG.
1
and includes a baseplate
12
adapted to receive a rider's boot
14
and one or more straps extending across the boot receiving area for securing the boot
14
to the binding
10
. Typical are a toe strap
16
and an ankle strap
18
, each of which includes a ratchet strap
20
and a boot engagement strap section
22
that are separated from each other to provide an opening for the rider to place his or her boot
14
into the binding
10
. The strap portions
20
and
22
are then rejoined and tightened around the seated boot
14
to securely hold the boot
14
on the snowboard
1
.
An end of each strap section
20
and
22
includes an eyelet
24
that is registrable with a mounting hole
26
extending through a sidewall of the baseplate
12
. A threaded bolt is inserted through the aligned openings and then tightened with a t-nut or other fastener to secure the strap section to the binding. Because different mounting locations of a strap are better suited to a particular style of riding, and because the comfort and fit of a boot to a binding may be varied by adjustment of the strap position, strap-type snowboard bindings typically include a series of spaced mounting holes
26
in the sidewall allowing a rider to selectively change the strap mounting location. Using a screwdriver, wrench and/or other tool, the rider loosens the fastening hardware and then repositions the strap so that the eyelet
24
aligns with a different mounting hole
26
. The hardware is then reassembled and tightened with the appropriate tools so that the toe and/or ankle strap extends across the rider's boot in a location suitable for the type of riding intended or for the desired comfort.
Recently, Burton Snowboards, the assignee of the present application, introduced a snowboard binding with a toe strap that was moveable from a first mounting location to a second mounting location on the binding without requiring the rider to use external tools. As shown in
FIG. 2
, the toe strap again included a ratchet strap section
20
and a boot engagement section (not shown). Two generally cylindrical shaped bosses
28
projected sideways from a mounting end of each section of the toe strap. The bosses
28
were engageable with a pair of opposed catches
30
(first mounting location) located in respective slots on each side of the baseplate. A second pair of opposed catches
32
(second mounting location) were located in each slot approximately twenty millimeters rearward from the first pair of catches
30
.
To move the toe strap from the first mounting location to the second mounting location, the binding
10
first had to be removed from the snowboard
1
because the top surface of the snowboard
1
at the bottom
34
of the slot prevented the strap from being moved downward out of engagement with the catches
30
. Once the binding
10
was removed from the snowboard
1
, the top portion of the toe strap extending away from the baseplate was grabbed and pushed toward the bottom of the baseplate, moving the strap past the bottom
34
of the slot and freeing the bosses
28
from the first pair of catches
30
. The strap
16
was then slid rearwardly until the bosses
28
were aligned with the second pair of catches
32
. Drawing the top of the strap
16
upwardly seated the bosses
28
in the other pair of catches
32
, placing the toe strap
16
in the second mounting location. To secure the binding
10
to the board with the toe strap in the new mounting location, a hold down mount, e.g., a hold down disc (not shown), was nested in a slightly smaller aperture in the baseplate floor. Screws or bolts were then passed through openings in the hold down mount and mated to threaded inserts in the snowboard
1
, mounting the baseplate
12
to the snowboard
1
. While this Burton arrangement did not require tools to reposition the toe strap between the first and second mounting locations on the binding, tools were necessary to first unfasten the binding from the snowboard, providing the necessary clearance for advancing the toe strap sufficiently beneath the bottom of the baseplate to release the bosses
28
from the catches
30
or
32
at the first or second mounting location and move the toe strap to the other mounting location. Thus, the prior Burton binding did not provide on-board, tool free adjustment of the toe strap mounting location.
Although the bottom
34
of the toe strap slot was open in the Burton binding shown in
FIG. 2
, the toe strap did not fall out of the slot because the baseplate was mounted flush to the snowboard surface. The portion of the sidewall where the ankle strap was mounted, however, was elevated well above the snowboard surface. A slotwall-type mounting arrangement was not suitable here as the ankle strap could have slipped out of the baseplate without a snowboard surface available to seal the slotwall bottom opening. Consequently, in the Burton binding configured with a tool free toe strap, the ankle strap was mounted to the outside of the baseplate sidewall with a screw and t-nut in the conventional fashion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one embodiment in accordance with an aspect of the invention there is provided a tool free system for adjusting a mounting location of an engagement member on a base while the base is mounted to a substrate. The engagement member is conformable to an object which is to be restrained and the base is adapted to receive at least a portion of the restrained object. The engagement member has a mounting end that is engageable with the base at a first mounting location and is arranged for tool free disengagement from the first mounting location and movement to a second mounting location while the base is attached to the substrate. The engagement member may be moveable by a user to disengage the mounting end from the first mounting location.
In another aspect of the invention, a binding for securing a foot or a boot to a gliding implement includes a base that receives the foot or boot and is attachable to the gliding implement. At least one strap that is conformable to a surface of the foot or boot is engageable on said base at a first mounting location and at a second mounting location. The at least one strap is disengageable tool free from the first mounting location and movable to said second mounting location while remaining attached to said base and while said base is attached to the gliding implement.
In another aspect of the invention, a binding for securing a foot or a boot to a gliding implement includes a base that receives the foot or boot and is attachable to the gliding implement. At least one strap that is conformable to a surface of the foot or boot as it is tightened thereagainst is mountable to the base at a first mounting location. The base and the at least one strap include complementary locking members for attaching the at least one strap to the base at the first mounting location, and one of the at least one strap and the base are biased to urge the complementary locking members into engagement while the at least one strap is in an untightened state.
In another aspect of the invention, a snowboard binding includes a baseplate with an
Beck Benjamin
Coulter Ryan
Laughlin James
Powers Thomas
Walter Glen V.
Campbell Kelly E
Johnson Brian L.
The Burton Corporation
Wolf Greenfield & Sacks P.C.
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