Claims
- 1. An apparatus for shifting the body weight of a skier from the skier's legs to a skier's ski or skis through the skier's boot or boots as the skier crouches over the ski or skis comprising:
- a spring assembly stretchable during crouching movement of a skier's legs between a standing position and a fully crouched position of the skier, said spring assembly having a bottom end connected to the skier's boot or boots;
- rigid pole means having a bottom end detachably connected to said boot or boots and a top end with a bearing therein disposed vertically above said boot or boots;
- a cord having a bottom end connected to a top end of the spring assembly, said cord extending vertically over said bearing and terminating in a top end;
- thigh strap means disposable about the thigh or thighs of a skier's legs connected to the top end of said cord; and
- a ski pole assembly having a handle with a storage compartment therein for said rigid pole means including,
- a tubular slot in said handle forming an opening in a top portion of the handle through which the rigid pole means can be inserted and removed;
- spring means in the tubular slot for engaging the rigid pole means as said rigid pole means is inserted therein and biasing the rigid pole means toward said opening;
- latch means for selectively securing the rigid pole means in the tubular slot against the biasing force of the spring means and allowing release of the rigid pole means.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said rigid pole means includes an enlarged cylindrical portion near a top end thereof having a recess for engagement by the latch means and a bottom shoulder for engaging the spring means in the tubular slot, said latch means including a latch lever with horizontal and vertical arms, the horizontal arm having a protrusion on one end for mating in the recess of the rigid pole means, the horizontal arm being disposed within a slot in the top of the ski pole handle, the vertical arm extending down into said handle and resting on a pivot surface therein, whereby depressing the horizontal arm of the latch into the handle releases the protrusion from the recess and permits release of the top end of said rigid pole means.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application is a divisional of prior application Ser. No. 07/644,240 filed Jan. 22, 1991 and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,970.
The present invention relates to a performance enhancing assembly for skiers or snowboarders. More specifically, the present invention relates to an assembly which shifts the upper body weight of a skier or snowboarder from their legs to the skis or snowboard during crouching movement of their legs between a standing position and a fully crouched position.
Skiing has been a very popular sport for many years. The sport is enjoyed by virtually all age groups, and the ski season extends for most of the year for the majority of skiers and the entire year for the world traveler. Due to the popularity of skiing, a major world industry has developed for ski equipment. In recent years ski equipment has advanced significantly to enhance skiing performance and safety. The skier and manufacturers of ski equipment are constantly looking for innovations in the standard ski components which will enhance the performance of skiers and make the sport even more pleasurable. Additionally, a lot of attention has been given to the need for better conditioning of skiers to enhance their performances and extend their hours of enjoyable skiing over the course of a typical vacation.
Skiing generally and turning techniques particularly, place unusual strain on the skiers legs. Consequent fatigue is painful and decreases skiing time and the enjoyment of the sport. A substantial amount of the strain on the legs is caused by the upper body weight of the skier and the impact of the skis on the ski slope. While great strides have been made in designing good exercise routines to prepare the skier for the strain experienced on the skiers legs during the skiing, these exercise routines do not completely prepare even the most diligent exercisers for the real life conditions one would experience on a mountain trail. Because many skiers are unprepared for these real life conditions the result in fatigue increases the risk of injury and decreases the skiers performance and enjoyment.
However, even with proper conditioning and following many days of skiing under real conditions, a skiers legs are still subject to a tremendous amount of strain and pressure. Even the professional downhill racers experience this strain and fatigue and are in search of ways to enhance their skiing performance. Furthermore, the older or less conditioned the skier, the greater amount of strain on the legs.
Snowboarding has also become a very popular sport in recent years. Snowboarding is performed primarily by teenagers and the young and those who are inclined to jump and acrobatically navigate slopes or half pipes. Even these young snowboarders experience leg strain and fatigue. This fatigue of course limits their jumping and acrobatics. Accordingly, snowboarders as well as skiers have a need for an assembly which could enhance their performance by lessening the strain on their legs.
An excellent performance enhancement assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,570 to Walter Dandy, III (a co-inventor of the present invention) issued Jul. 26, 1988. The Dandy assembly makes use of a rigid pole and spring assembly combination which transfers the weight of the upper body of a skier from the skiers legs to the skis during crouching movement of a skier. The Dandy assembly was a revolutionary breakthrough in this area and performs exceptionally well to reduce leg fatigue in skiers and enhance their performance. However, the preferred spring assembly in the Dandy apparatus in spite of its general effectiveness has certain potential disadvantages in practice. For example, the metal spring bands will not tolerate slack caused by sudden changes in positions of the skier's legs. The Dandy assembly of the '570 patent also has a limited lifetime since it is subject to breaking caused by quick recoil of the steel bands and the sharp edges on these spring bands could be hazardous. Furthermore, the Dandy '570 spring assembly is relatively heavy and bulky, relatively expensive to manufacture.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a system for enhancing the performance of a skier or snowboarder which has an improved spring assembly over that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,570 to Dandy.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a more compact and reliable spring assembly in a performance enhancement system of the type disclosed in the Dandy '570 patent.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a less expensive spring assembly for use in a skier performance enhancement system of the type described in the Dandy '570 patent.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide unique coupling means between the spring assembly of the present invention and the adjacent components of the performance enhancement system to which the spring is attached, which is not subject to failure or breakage for prolonged periods of time.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a unique harness and pants design for use with the performance enhancement system of the present invention which is worn about the thighs and torso of the user in a comfortable fashion, and with an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
The objects of the present invention are fulfilled by providing an apparatus for shifting the body weight of a skier from the skier's legs to a skier's skis through the skier's boot or boots as the skier crouches over the ski or skis comprising: a spring assembly including a loop of elastic rod-shaped material stretchable during crouching movement of a skiers legs between a standing position and a fully crouched position of the skier, a housing defining an elongated channel for enclosing a portion of said loop for stretchable longitudinal movement and parallel rod-shaped branches terminating in a base bend, means for securing the base bend of the loop within the housing; a socket defined by said housing of the spring assembly; rigid pole means having a bottom end detachably supported in said socket and a top end with a bearing therein; a cord having a bottom end connected to a top bend of the loop of rod-shaped elastic material which is not enclosed within said housing, said cord extending vertically over said bearing and terminating in a top end; strap means disposable about the thigh or thighs of a skier's legs connected to the top end of said cord; and means for supporting the housing of the spring assembly on the boot or boots of the skier; whereby said spring assembly supports a portion of the skier's body weight as a skier crouches during skiing, thereby shifting that portion of body weight from the skier's legs to the ski or skis through the skier's boot or boots.
The base and top bends of the loop of elastic rod-shaped material are thickened to provide a larger cross-section than adjacent portions of the loop in order to strengthen the loop at these portions where connections are made to adjacent components of the performance enhancement system. Since in a preferred embodiment the loop of elastic rod-shaped material is rubber these thickened portions are provided by molding the loop with thicker rubber portions at these connection regions.
The rubber loop is securely held within the spring assembly housing by feeding the loop and the lower bend thereof through the elongated slot. The housing has a removable cover portion adjacent the bottom and a threaded transverse aperture for receiving a threaded bolt. The lower bend of the rubber loop is fed over the bolt. That is, when the cover is in place the bolt extends through the housing within the loop and in juxtaposition to the lower bend. Therefore, the bolt restrains the lower bend from movement within the housing.
The thickened portion of the upper bend of the loop is coupled through a special connector to cords which pass over bearings on the top of the rigid poles for attachment to the harness on the thighs of the skier. The special connector includes a U-shaped wire member through which the upper bend of the loop is fed and has two prongs which snap fit into a plastic connector having mating apertures. The top portion of the plastic member has an eyelet portion to which the cord is attached.
The body harness of the present invention may be worn under the pants of the skier if the pants are provided with properly positioned eyelets disposed a predetermined distance above the points of attachment of the cords on the skiers thighs, so that the cords may be fed through these eyelets and attached to the harness.
The present invention also provides a specially designed handle for ski poles including a cylindrical channel, a bias spring and a latch to enable the rigid poles of the performance enhancement system of the present invention to be snap fit into the channels and completely recessed therein during traveling by the skier up a ski lift.
It should be understood that the term skier used herein is intended to include downhill skiers, cross-country skiers, snowboarders, water skiers or the like.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 2238038 |
Feb 1973 |
DEX |
| 2718939 |
Nov 1978 |
DEX |
| 426891 |
Nov 1947 |
ITX |
| 191261 |
Apr 1937 |
CHX |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
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| Parent |
644240 |
Jan 1991 |
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Patent Grant
5131685
