The present disclosure relates generally to buckles and more particularly to a system and method for a controlled release of a buckle.
Athletes in various sports desire footwear that is designed to meet the particular challenges presented by their sport. For example, in many sports, athletes may desire to adjust the tightness of their shoes or other footwear in a relatively fast and easy manner. Such sports may include, but are not limited to, road cycling, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, and rollerblading. Cycling shoes, for example, may be constructed of material that loosens as it warms up due to the heat generated by a cyclist during a ride. As such, a cyclist may at times wish to tighten their shoes in the middle of a ride. On the other hand, a cyclist may also experience swelling of their feet during a ride. As such, a cyclist may at times wish to loosen their shoes during a ride. Moreover, whether in a race or out on a friendly group ride, a cyclist may wish to make such adjustments easily without dismounting from the bicycle.
In accordance with the present disclosure, a controlled release buckle may comprise a buckle lock configured to engage a strap in a manner preventing the strap from moving in a loosening direction when the buckle lock is in a resting position, and to disengage the strap when the buckle lock is forced into a disengaged position, and a buckle lever configured to move the strap in a tightening direction when the buckle lever is pulled in a first direction, and to engage the strap in a manner preventing the strap from moving in a loosening direction when the buckle lever is pressed in a second direction.
The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of at least the features, elements, and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
A more complete and thorough understanding of the present embodiments and advantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:
In accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure, a method and system for providing a controlled release of a buckle is provided.
Although the disclosure describes various embodiments of controlled release buckle 100 as it may be used on a cycling shoe, the various embodiments may be utilized on any type of shoe requiring tightening and loosening, including, but not limited to, road cycling shoes, mountain biking shoes, snow board boots, ski boots, and rollerblades. As such, the term “shoe” may be used to describe any type of footwear, including, but not limited to, various types of athletic shoes, boots, and rollerblades. Moreover, various embodiments of controlled release buckle 100 may be used in applications beyond footwear. Controlled release buckle 100 may be used in any application in which controlled loosening and/or tightening may be desired, for example, a belt buckle or a tie-down strap.
Strap 130 may include one or more rails 131 and multiple strap teeth 132. In some embodiments, strap 130 may be connected, at one end, to a flap (not illustrated) of a shoe. Accordingly, the shoe may be tightened or loosened as the position of strap 130 is adjusted by buckle lever 140 and buckle lock 150. Strap teeth 132 on strap 130 may be configured to allow buckle lever 140 and buckle lock 150 to engage strap 130 while tightening and/or loosening the shoe. For the purposes of the present disclosure, the surface of strap tooth 132 facing the tightening direction may be referred to as the “leading surface,” and the surface facing the loosening direction may be referred to as the “following surface.” In some embodiments, strap teeth 132 may have a sawtooth shape with the leading surface sloping at an angle and the following surface extending at an angle roughly perpendicular to the strap. In some embodiments, however, the leading surface and the trailing surface of strap tooth 132 may extend from the base of strap 130 at a sloping angle.
In some embodiments, a user may pull up on buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144 to ratchet the strap and the shoe tighter. In some embodiments, a user may also press down on buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144 to controllably release strap 130 and thus controllably loosen the shoe. Moreover, a user may press down on buckle lock 150 to fully release strap 130 and thus fully loosen the shoe. The interaction between buckle lever 140, buckle lock 150, and strap 130 is described in further detail below with reference to
Rails 131 may be configured on one or both sides of strap 130. Rails 131 may provide a consistent thickness to at least the outside portions of strap 130. Accordingly, rails 131 may improve strap 130's resistance to wear, fatigue, and potentially harsh weather conditions.
Buckle base 120 may include various openings that may be utilized by various components of controlled release buckle 100 to hold those components in place. For example, buckle base 120 may include a pin hole 121, a slotted lever hole 122, a lock hole 123, and a lock spring hole 124.
Lever pin 125 may extend from pin hole 121 on one side of buckle base 120 to an opposing pin hole 121 on an opposing side of buckle base 120. When buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144 is pushed downward, buckle lever 140 may rotate about lever pin 125. Similarly, lever bar 149 may extend from slotted lever hole 122 on one side of buckle base 120 to an opposing slotted lever hole 122 on an opposing side of buckle base 120. Lever bar 149 may be rotatably coupled to buckle lever 140. Moreover, lever bar 149 and buckle lever 140 may be spring-loaded such that lever bar 149 may be disposed in the lower portion of slotted lever hole 122 when buckle lever 140 is in a resting position, but may move within slotted lever hole 122 depending on the forces that may be applied to buckle lever 140. For example, when a downward force is applied to buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144, buckle lever 140 may rotate about lever pin 125 as described above, and lever bar 149 may move to a higher position within slotted lever hole 122. On the other hand, if an upward force is applied to buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144, buckle lever 140 may rotate about lever bar 149.
Lock bar 159 may extend from lock hole 123 on one side of buckle base 120 to an opposing lock hole 123 on an opposing side of buckle base 120. When buckle lock 150 is pushed downward, buckle lock 150 may rotate about lock bar 159.
As shown in
Buckle lock 150 may include lock extension 151. As described above, lock extension 151 may align with lever indent 141 such that lock extension 151 does not limit buckle lever 140's range of motion when buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144 is pulled upward and rotates about lever bar 149. However, in some embodiments, lock extension 151 may be configured such that it does make contact with underlying portions of buckle lever 140 when buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144 is pushed downward and the underlying portions of buckle lever 140 rotate about lever pin 125 toward buckle lock 150. The interaction between buckle lock 150 and buckle lever 140 when buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144 are pushed downward are discussed below in further detail with reference to
Similar to lever spring 260, some embodiments of lock spring 270 may include two attachment ends 271, two coiled portions 272, and a middle portion 273. Lock spring 270 may be configured such that its attachment ends 271 are disposed within lock spring holes 124 of buckle base 120. The coiled portions 272 may be disposed around lock bar 159, and the middle portion 273 may come in contact and provide bias forces to buckle lock 150. For example, lock spring 270 may provide a rotational bias for buckle lock 150 when buckle lock 150 is pushed downward and rotates about lever bar 159. As described in greater detail below with reference to
As shown in
In some embodiments, buckle lock 150 may include a lock tooth 351. As shown in
As shown in
When buckle lever 140 is subsequently released, the spring bias applied to buckle lever 140 and buckle lock 150 may force buckle lever 140 and buckle lock 150 to move back to their respective resting positions. As lever stopper 345 disengages from strap 130, strap 130 may be allowed to begin moving in a loosening direction. However, with buckle lock 150 back in a resting position, lock tooth 351 may re-engage strap 130 by catching the next strap tooth 132, and may prevent strap 130 from moving any further in a loosening direction. Accordingly, the loosening of strap 130 may occur in a controlled manner. In some embodiments, buckle lever 140 and buckle lock 150 may be configured such that the total distance that strap 130 moves during a single controlled loosening action (i.e., the pressing of buckle lever 140 and a subsequent release of buckle lever 140) may be the distance between a first strap tooth 132 and a second strap tooth 132. Moreover, in some embodiments, the second strap tooth may be adjacent to the first strap tooth. Thus, in such embodiments, a single pressing of buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144 may provide a predetermined amount of loosening that is equal the distance between adjacent strap teeth 132. Such controlled loosening may allow a cyclist, for example, to simply to reach down and controllably loosen their shoe by simply pushing and releasing buckle lever 140 with one finger. Moreover, a cyclist could repeat this simple action one or more times until the shoe is loosened to an ideal setting. Such an ergonomic and simple method for controllably loosening a shoe may allow a cyclist to perform a controlled loosening of their shoe without dismounting from their bicycle.
In some embodiments, a frictional force may be applied to strap 130. Such a frictional force may improve the consistency with which the controlled release buckle 100 operates, including when strap 130 is in a state of high tension and the shoe is very tight. For example, in some embodiments, a lock pin (not expressly shown) may extend from one lock spring hole 124 on one side of buckle base 120 to an opposing lock spring hole 124 on the opposing side of buckle base 120. In such embodiments, lock spring 270 may include connecting ends that may be connected to the lock pin. Moreover, lock spring hole 124 and the lock pin may be located at a height on buckle base 120 such that the lock pin comes into contact with strap 130 and causes a frictional resistance to strap 130 moving in the tightening or the loosening direction. Such a frictional resistance may oppose a strong loosening force that may cause skipping of strap teeth 132 when the shoe is in a very tight setting.
In some embodiments, buckle lock 150 and buckle lever 140 may be configured such that lock tooth 351 may disengage strap teeth 132 at a sufficient distance before lever stopper 345 engages strap teeth 132 for the user to manually control the loosening of strap 130 by manually adjusting the downward pressure applied to buckle lever 140. For example, in some embodiments, the user may manually adjust the pressure applied to buckle lever 140 as lever stopper 345 comes into contact with consecutive strap teeth 132 in order to let a desired number of strap teeth 132 pass. In such embodiments, a single pressing of buckle lever 140 and/or lever extension 144 with a manually adjusted pressure may provide any manually controlled amount of loosening desired by the user.
The mechanism for providing a controlled release of strap 130 illustrated in
At step 602, method 600 may require pressing buckle lever 140. Buckle lever 140 may be pressed, for example, by a user of the shoe on which controlled release buckle 100 may be placed.
At step 604, method 600 may require forcing a buckle lock 150 into a disengaged position relative to strap 130. In some embodiments, when buckle lever 140 is pressed, buckle lever 140 may come into contact with buckle lock 150 and in turn force buckle lock 150, and in particular lock tooth 351, into a disengaged position. In some embodiments, however, buckle lock 150 may also be forced into a disengaged position relative to strap 130 by a user pressing on buckle lock 150 in a manner that may cause buckle lock 150 to rotate about buckle axis 329, and thus may cause lock tooth 351 to disengage from strap 130.
At step 606, method 600 may require allowing strap 130 to move a controlled distance in a loosening direction. As buckle lock 150 disengages from strap 130, the strap may be allowed to move slightly in a loosening direction until a strap tooth 132 of strap 130 comes into contact with buckle stopper 345 as described in further detail below with reference to step 608.
At step 608, method 600 may require engaging strap 130 with buckle lever 140 to prevent strap 130 from moving further in the loosening direction. During step 608, buckle lever 140, and in particular buckle stopper 345, may come into contact with strap tooth 132 as strap 130 moves in the loosening direction, and thus may prevent strap 130 from moving any further in the loosening direction.
At step 610, method 600 may require releasing buckle lever 140 and disengaging buckle lever 140 from strap 130. For example, after pressing buckle lever 140, a user may release buckle lever 140. At that time, the spring bias applied to buckle lever 140 may return buckle lever 140 to a resting position in which buckle lever 140, and in particular lever stopper 345, may be disengaged from strap 130.
At step 612, method 600 may require engaging the buckle lock to prevent the strap from moving further in the loosening direction. In some embodiments, strap 130 may be allowed to move slightly in a loosening direction as lever stopper 345 disengages from strap 130 in step 610. However, as buckle lever 140 returns to a resting position, the force on buckle lock 150, whether directly from a user or indirectly through contact with buckle lever 140, may be released. Accordingly, the spring bias on buckle lock 150 may return buckle lock 150 to its resting position, in which buckle lock 150 may re-engage strap 130. At this time, buckle lock 150, and in particular lock tooth 351, may catch strap tooth 132 as it moves in a loosening direction, and prevent strap 130 from moving any further in the loosening direction.
During the steps provided by method 600, strap 130 may, in some embodiments, move in the loosening direction a total distance defined by the distance between adjacent strap teeth. In such embodiments, if a user desires to loosen the strap further, the steps of method 600 may be repeated.
Although
Although the above disclosure may refer to strap 130 tightening in the “clockwise” direction and loosening in the “counterclockwise” direction, those directions are merely exemplary for purposes of referring to the specific embodiments depicted in