Patent Application
20140183842
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to devices that allow a user to glide over snow, and more particularly to recreational use snowboards. Specifically, the present invention relates to snowboards with a foot securing system and a mechanical braking system to prevent runaway boards.
2. Description of the Related Art
When it snows, and especially if school is closed, many people in the neighborhood flock to a local hill or park to take their children sledding. A variety of devices can be used to glide down a hill or embankment, providing a thrilling experience to the rider. The devices vary from wooden and plastic sliders, sleds with rails, blow up snow tubes, and skateboard-type boards called snowskates. These devices generally do not have any kind of binding to secure the rider.
The sled, slider or tube rider typically lies flat or sits on the device though the more adventurous may try to stand. The snowskate rider stands on the device. Riders may also use alpine skis and snowboards, which also are ridden standing up. Alpine skis and snowboards differ from the other devices in that they have devices to hold the rider to the skis or board.
Alpine skis and snowboards require the rider to wear large and heavy boots, which are secured to the ski or board with a complicated binding mechanism. There are some slip-on type bindings found on some snowboards, which are like slider slippers, where a user may slide their foot under a strap, but are also clumsy and do not allow the user to release easily when stopping or in a fall, nor do they arrest the board. The binding of the foot to the skis or board enables the user to turn and brake by tilting the device sideways, so that the lateral edge of the device digs into the snow, creating friction, resulting in a turn or stop. Without this binding, a skier or snowboarder would be less able to effectively turn and stop, unable to remain on the board during use and while going over jumps and other obstacles, and unable to have the device stop on its own if the rider were to fall off, absent a separate arresting device. However, the binding and braking mechanisms of alpine skis and snowboards are complicated and impractical for light recreational use, and thus these skis and snowboards are generally not used on smaller hills outside of alpine resorts.
As specialized boots and complicated binding mechanisms are also impractical for recreational sleds, sliders, tubes and snowskates, often the only means of initiating turns and stops on such a device is for the rider to lean on one or the other lateral edge. Without such specialized boots and binding mechanisms, another way of arresting the movement of the board must be found, or the board will continue to move without the rider, potentially becoming runaway or causing harm to property and/or persons. Thus, the typical sled, slider, tube, or snowskate lacks any real means of easily securing a rider to the device, in addition to a braking system that prevents a runaway device should the user disengage or fall from it.
The instant apparatus and system, as illustrated herein, is clearly not anticipated, rendered obvious, or even present in any of the prior art mechanisms, either alone or in any combination thereof. A snowboard binding system that secures the rider to the board, and additionally brakes the board from travelling on its own. Thus the several embodiments of the instant apparatus are illustrated herein.
It is therefore an object of the present system, in one example, to quickly secure the foot of a rider to a snowboard.
It is another object of the invention, in one example, to provide a braking mechanism for a snowboard that prevents the snowboard from gliding away when not in use.
It is a further object of the invention, in one example, to simultaneously secure the foot of a rider to a snowboard while releasing the braking mechanism.
It is another object of the invention, to provide a binding system that allows for an individual user of the board to remain on the board during use and while going over jumps and other obstacles.
It is another object of the invention, to provide a binding system that works in conjunction with the forces supplied by an individual user's front foot and a brake control actuator.
It is another object of the invention, to provide a binding system that requires a user only to secure one foot on the board, and allows the rear foot to remain secure until the user of the system releases the brake control actuator or in a fall, allows the user to freely release.
It is another object of the invention in an alternative embodiment to provide a binding system that enables a user to easily switch between regular and goofy foot riding by means of sliding the binding back and forth on an interchangeable riding system.
It is another object of the invention in an alternative embodiment to provide a binding system with a pair of braking mechanisms for a snowboard that prevents the snowboard from gliding away when not in use.
It is another object of the invention to provide a binding and braking system that includes a side cut on either side of the board for greater control by a user and to improve the overall riding experience.
The invention results, in one example, from the realization that the dual problems of binding a foot to and providing a brake once the user disengages from the board for a light use recreational snowboard are solved by a binding/braking mechanism that simultaneously secures the rider's feet while releasing a brake.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the binding and braking system in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty, which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein and these aspects are indicative of the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein can be practiced and all aspects and equivalents thereof are intended to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In one embodiment, the braking system 30 is attached to the brake mechanism base 82; in particular the braking system 30 includes a spring-loaded hinge 22, wherein the spring-loaded hinge 22 is mounted in a way that during non-use, a distal end 23 of the hinge 22 is parallel with the top surface 12 of the board 10. The braking system 30 further includes a braking arm 24 attached to the bottom of the distal end 23 of the spring-loaded hinge 22. During use of the instant invention, when the hinge 22 is at rest and parallel with the top surface 12, the braking arm member 24 extends downwardly through the middle cavity 20 and in a perpendicular direction with respect to the orientation of the board 10, thereby coming into contact with the snowy surface below and arresting movement of the board 10. In one embodiment, the braking arm member 24 may be released by having a user engage a brake control member 26, which is attached to a top side of the spring-loaded hinge 22, thus causing the braking arm 24 to angle up through the middle cavity 20 and into a parallel direction with respect to the orientation of the board 10 thereby allowing the board 10 to glide freely.
The braking system 30 also features a means for quickly binding a user's foot to the board 10 while simultaneously releasing the braking arm 24, without any need for a specialized boot or shoe. The board 10 also includes a foot securing member 28, wherein the foot securing member 28 preferably clips into either the left section 36 or right section 38 of the tail section 18 of board 10, (depending on the rider's stance) through a pair of eye bolts 32 located on each end of the tail section 18. In this embodiment, one end of the foot securing member 28 is affixed to the brake control member 26, so that when the brake control member 26 is engaged, the foot securing member 28 moves with it. The braking system 30 may also be constructed in a manner that allows the rider to modulate the brake control member 26, allowing the user to easily disengage from the board 10 and once disengaged, the board 10 will cease movement by the braking arm 24 making contact with the ground or surface. In alternate embodiments, the position of the braking system 30 could be moved longitudinally along the board 10 to more comfortably accommodate a rider's stance. In this particular configuration, the spring-loaded hinge 22 at rest causes braking arm 24 to extend through the middle cavity 20 and past the bottom surface 14. The braking arm 24 comes into contact with the substrate below, preventing the board member 10 from sliding away. If the spring-loaded hinge 22 is pulled open by pulling brake control member 26, the braking arm 24 is no longer in contact with the substrate below, and the board 10 can freely move.
Additionally, a rider's foot may be lightly secured with a foot support member 62, in this embodiment, a five inch section of flexible vinyl tubing. Preferably, the foot support member 62 is fastened to a proximal end 21 of the spring-loaded hinge 22 at one end, with the other end of the foot support member 62 fastened to a proximal end 53 of the brake mechanism base 82 such that the foot support member runs longitudinally across the brake mechanism base 82. The foot support member should fit within the arch of the rider's shoe or boot, preventing the rider's foot from moving towards either edge of the board member 10.
The instant invention further includes a brake control actuator 88, wherein the brake control actuator 88 is secured to a distal end 31 of the foot securing member 28, in this embodiment a five foot strand of nylon rope. The brake control actuator 88 extends from the distal end 31 of the foot securing member 28 through a first aperture 15 in the nose section 16 of the board member 10, and returns back through a second aperture 13. The rider of the board 10 may then grip the brake control actuator 88 threaded through the second aperture 13 and pull it upwards, tightening the foot securing member 28 against the top of the rider's shoe or boot.
In one embodiment of the instant invention, a user may be secured to the board 10 by engaging the brake control actuator 88; in another embodiment, the user's foot may be snapped or secured into place; however the user still would need the brake control actuator 88 from the user's arm to function. Additionally, the brake control actuator 88 at the nose section 16 of board 10 is preferably counteracted by the pushing down of the front foot of the user, and the two forces are even with the force of the back foot. In yet another embodiment, the brake control actuator 88 may act alone to hold a user's foot in place, or the user's foot may be secured separately while the brake control actuator 88 acts as the trigger, or the brake control actuator 88 could act in conjunction with the foot securing member 28.
Therefore, in the preferred embodiment of the instant invention, a user pulling the brake control actuator 88 simultaneously tightens the foot securing member 28 around the user's boot, and in turn lifts the braking arm 24 up so that the board 10 may freely glide along a surface. Conversely, by releasing the brake control actuator 88, tension is relieved on the spring-loaded hinge 22, which simultaneously loosens the foot securing member 28 and places the braking arm 24 in contact with the substrate below the board 10 to apply an arresting action once the user removes themselves or falls away from the board and binding system.
In the preferred operation of the instant invention, a user of the board 10 first slides his foot underneath the foot securing member 28 and brake control member 26. Next, the user engages the brake control actuator 88 and thereby pulls foot securing member 28 down over the top of the user's foot and snaps it in place on the board, simultaneously releasing the braking arm 24. In alternate embodiments, the brake control member 26 may be secured to the board in a variety of ways, including clipping or tying it to the board surface. The safely secured rider of the board 10 may now glide down a hill or other embankment. When the rider reaches the bottom of the hill, he or she may release the brake control member 26 through relieving tension on the brake control actuator 88, and then remove his or her foot; through this action the braking arm 24 is also released, preventing the board from gliding away.
In conclusion, herein is presented a snowboard binding and braking system for securing a user of the system to the board in conjunction with the forces of the user's front foot and the brake control actuator. The invention is illustrated by example in the drawing figures, and throughout the written description. It should be understood that numerous variations are possible, while adhering to the inventive concept. Such variations are contemplated as being a part of the present invention.
This applications claims priority to and takes the benefit of United States Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/748,607 filed on Jan. 3, 2013, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61748607 | Jan 2013 | US |
