Patent Application
20110143607
This invention relates to a device for use in engaging or disengaging rowing shoes in rowing boats. The invention also relates to a shoe incorporating the present engagement device.
Rowing boats used in the sport of rowing, often called shells, are lightweight and can come in single-rower, double rower, four-person and eight-person configurations. The rowing boats are ordered with all auxiliary equipment, such as seats, rudders, riggers, shoes and shoe frames.
Rowing shoes are generally provided with the rowing boat and screwed onto a frame, called a foot stretcher, which is built into the inside of the rowing boat. The foot stretcher can be slightly adjusted to lengthen or shorten the distance between the rower's seat and feet, thereby providing some limited adjustment to accommodate the rower's length of legs. Typically, the shoes come installed with the boat and shoes are usually custom ordered by professional rowers, along with their boat specifications. In this way the professional rowers gets both a boat and a shoe that are sized for them.
However, the purchase of customized boats and shoes for a particular rower or rowing team is not universal. In the case of amateur rowers and student rowers, such athletes can rarely ever afford to purchase their boats. Instead, they take memberships in local rowing clubs which provide access to a fleet of boats, exercise equipment and rowing times, etc. Rowing clubs generally stock a selection of boats including, men's and ladies' single, double, quad and eight-person boats, all fitted with shoes. In order to maximize usage of the rowing boats in a rowing club's fleet, rowing clubs often order large sized rowing shoes with their boats. Rowers with smaller feet are forced to wear multiple socks in order to fit the shoes. Rowers with large feet make do by not fully wearing the shoe, or leaving their heels out of the shoe. Shoes are only replaced if they become worn out, damaged or otherwise unusable.
A number of problems exist in the present arrangement. Firstly, improper shoe fit makes rowing more difficult and uncomfortable for the rower. Secondly hygiene becomes a concern in circumstance in which multiple rowers are sharing shoes. With the sweat and moisture that inevitably occurs from heavy exertion, foot fungi, athlete's foot and bacterial foot infections are common. When boats are left outside overnight or in the rain, dampness and cold in the rowing shoe also give rowers considerable discomfort. Without proper muscle warm up, rowers can suffer from poor performance, cramping, colds and illness.
There is therefore a need to develop a system for regularly interchanging rowing shoes in rowing boats, to allow rowers to purchase and use their own rowing shoes in common or shared rowing boats.
The present invention provides a device for attaching a rowing shoe to a foot stretcher of a rowing boat. The device comprises a shoe segment having a first surface for attachment to the rowing shoe and a first locking means. The device also comprises a stretcher segment comprising a second surface for attachment to the foot stretcher and a second locking means for releasably engaging with the first locking means.
The present invention further provides a rowing shoe comprising a shoe segment on a bottom of the rowing shoe for releasable engagement with a corresponding stretcher segment of a foot stretcher of a rowing boat.
The present invention will now be described in greater detail, with reference to the following drawings, in which:
a and 3b are cross sectional views, illustrating one embodiment of the positioning aids; and
The present invention relates to detachable rowing shoe device that allows users to quickly and easily engage and disengage rowing shoes in rowing boats. The present invention also relates to rowing shoes built with the present device.
The present device can be simply retrofitted onto existing rowing shoes and rowing foot stretchers. Alternatively, the device can be incorporated into newly configured shoes and foot stretchers that allow for quick engagement and disengagement. The device is preferably sized to fit within bottom footprint of the rowing shoe, plus allowing some room for movement.
The device comprises two parts, a shoe segment 2 and a stretcher segment 4. The shoe segment 2 is shown in greater detail in
The shoe segment 2 further comprises a first locking means 8 for releasably engaging with the stretcher segment 4 of the device. Preferably, the first locking means 8 comprises a slot, as seen in
Optionally, the shoe segment 2 further comprises positioning aids 10 that allow the position of the rowing shoe on the foot stretcher to be adjusted. The positioning aids 10 may be incorporated as part of the first locking means 8 or as part of the first surface 6. In the first case, the first locking means 8 can comprise a series of holes for receiving one or more pins from the stretcher segment 4. Position of the rowing shoe is determined by the position of the pins along the series of holes.
More preferably, the positioning aids 10 are comprised of multiple positioning ridges 12 on the first surface 6 that interact with corresponding ridges on the stretcher segment 4 to allow for positioning and adjustment of the rowing shoe on the foot stretcher, to account for the position of the rower's legs. By allowing this adjustment it is possible for the rower to optimize their power input into each stroke. The positioning ridges 12 may be of any suitable cross-section, including but not limited to triangular, square, rectangular or waveform. Most preferably, as seen in
With reference to
The stretcher segment 4 comprises a second locking means 18 of releasable engaging with the first locking means 8 on the shoe segment 2 of the device. Preferably, the second locking means 18 comprises one or more pins 22 that are inserted into a slot or a series of holes in the first locking means 8. Further preferably, the pins 22 are elastically connected to the stretcher segment 4, so that they provide some resistance to being inserted into the first locking means 8 and are only releasable from the first locking means 8 when actively unlocked by the rower. This helps to ensure that once locked, the shoe segment 2 of the device will not accidentally become disengaged from the stretcher segment 4 during rowing. In the embodiment illustrated in
In one embodiment, the second locking means 18 engage with positioning aids 10 on the first locking means 8 to allow the position of the rowing shoe on the foot stretcher to be adjusted. In this embodiment, the first locking means 8 can comprise a series of holes for receiving the one or more pins from the stretcher segment 4. Position of the rowing shoe is determined by where along the series of holes the pins are inserted.
More preferably, the stretcher segment 4 comprises multiple positioning ridges 20 that interact with corresponding positioning ridges 12 on the shoe segment 2 of the device to allow for position adjustment. The positioning ridges 20 may be of any suitable cross-section, including but not limited to triangular, square, rectangular or waveform. Most preferably, as seen in
The shoe segment 2 and the stretcher segment 4 can be made of any suitably lightweight and durable materials commonly known in the art. Suitable materials can include but are not limited to metals and/or metal alloys, plastics and plastic composites, plywood, particle board, resins, laminates, aramids such as Kevlar™ and fibreglass. Suitable metals and alloys can include aluminum, aluminum alloys, titanium and titanium alloys. Alternatively, the shoe segment 2 and the stretcher segment 4 can each be made of multiple materials, for example a metal with a plastic or resin attached thereto. Most preferably, the segments are made of a metal such as aluminum, with a ridged sheet of plastic or resin attached thereto, the ridges forming one preferred embodiment of the positioning aids 10.
In use, the rower would simply wear their personal rowing shoes, with the shoe segment 2 of the present device attached thereto, position his or her feet in a comfortable position relative to the seat of the rowing boat and then lock the shoe segment 2 to the stretcher segment 4 that is already affixed to the foot stretcher in the boat. The shoe segment 2 of the device will stay locked to the stretcher segment 4 until released by the rower. When finished, the rower can take his or her shoes with them, and the rowing boat can be used by another rower.
The following examples serve merely to further illustrate embodiments of the present invention, without limiting the scope thereof, which is defined only by the claims.
The present device was tested at the Calgary Rowing Club in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The devices were installed on a heavyweight pair's rowing boat in the bow position and in a lightweight quad rowing boat, in the stroke position. Both rowing boats were tested over a full rowing season, which lasted about 6 months. The boats were used by both men and women, wearing rowing shoes provided by the Rowing Club. The rowers reported noticing little difference in performance with the present device. A number of rowers appreciated the ability to wear shoes that fit their feet properly and also the ability to pivot their feet to a comfortable position for rowing.
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with specific embodiments thereof; however, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims priority on U.S. patent application Ser. No. 61/285,553, filed Dec. 11, 2009.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61285553 | Dec 2009 | US |
