Patent Application
20070045989
1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to straps for snowboard boots and snowboard bindings.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Strap type bindings for securing a snowboard boot of a rider to a snowboard are known and typically include one or more straps, such as an ankle strap and/or a toe strap, which may be tightened across the top of the boot to firmly secure the rider to the binding. Similar straps are used to at least partially secure a rider's foot within a boot in many step-in binding systems. Conventional straps (e.g., for a binding or step-in boot) include an elongated strip, slightly bowed, that extends across the top of the boot. The elongated strip includes a ratchet buckle that engages ratchet teeth of a free end of a mating serrated strap to allow the rider to incrementally tighten strap down over the boot. The strap pieces may be loosened or separated from each other, typically by disengaging a locking pawl from the serrated strap.
In one embodiment, an apparatus comprising a strap a tightening element is provide. The strap includes a boot-engaging strap piece, a locking element coupled to the boot-engaging strap piece and an engagement strap that engages with the locking element in one of a plurality of positions. The tightening element is constructed and arranged to pull the locking element relative to the engagement strap to tighten the strap about a snowboard boot.
In another embodiment, an apparatus comprising a strap a tightening element is provide. The strap includes a locking element coupled to the boot-engaging strap piece and an engagement strap that engages with the locking element in one of a plurality of positions. The tightening element is coupled to the strap and constructed and arranged to tighten the strap about a snowboard boot. The tightening element is disposed exclusively on or within the strap.
In yet another embodiment, an apparatus comprising a snowboard binding and a snowboard binding strap is provide. The snowboard binding includes a baseplate and a highback attached to the baseplate. The snowboard binding strap is attached to the binding. The binding strap includes a tightening element constructed and arranged to tighten the binding strap about a boot via tensioning of the tightening element. The tightening element is operatively coupled to the binding strap and the base without an operative coupling to the highback.
In still another embodiment, an apparatus having a strap and a tightening element is provided. The tightening element is operatively coupled to the strap. The tightening element has a first portion, wherein the strap is tightenable by tensioning the tightening element. A retraction device is coupled to the tightening element and is adapted to gather the first portion of the tightening element.
In another embodiment, a snowboard binding is provided. The binding includes a baseplate and a strap coupleable to the baseplate. The strap includes a boot-engaging strap piece, a locking element coupled to the boot-engaging strap piece, and an engagement strap piece that engages with the locking element. A tightening element is coupled to the locking element. The tightening element is constructed and arranged to pull the locking element relative to the engagement strap to tighten the strap about a snowboard boot. The tightening element is routed through a path configured to provide a mechanical advantage in tightening the strap about the boot when the tightening element is pulled, whereby a first force applied on the tightening element results in a second force on the strap. The second force is greater than the first force. A gathering device is configured to gather a portion of the tightening element.
In another embodiment, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus has a snowboard binding a first binding strap constructed and arranged to engage a snowboard boot and at least partially secure the boot to the binding, and a first tightening element coupled to the first binding strap. The first binding strap comprising an engagement strap configured as a serrated strap. A first tightening element path is provided and is configured to provide a mechanical advantage in tightening the first binding strap about a boot when the first tightening element is pulled, whereby an applied force applied on the first tightening element results in a resultant force on the first binding strap that is greater than the applied force.
In still another embodiment, an apparatus having a strap, a first tightening element and at least one guide element is provided. The strap is constructed and arranged to engage a snowboard boot. The strap includes a boot-engaging strap piece and an engagement strap piece. The first tightening element is coupled to the strap to tighten the strap about the boot. At least one guide element is arranged on the strap. The first tightening element path travels around the at least one guide element in a manner to provide a mechanical advantage in tightening the strap about a boot when the first tightening element is pulled, whereby an applied force applied on the first tightening element results in a resultant force on the strap that is greater than the applied force.
In still another embodiment, a method of preparing a snowboard binding apparatus for insertion or removal of a boot is provided. The snowboard binding apparatus including a base, a boot-engaging strap and an engagement strap. The method includes grasping at least one of the boot-engaging strap and the engagement strap and unhooking an end of the engagement strap from the binding apparatus base so as to free the end from the binding apparatus base by an amount sufficient for insertion or removal of the boot.
Various embodiments of the present invention provide certain advantages. Not all embodiments of the invention share the same advantages and those that do may not share them under all circumstances.
Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure of various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings are not intended to be drawn to scale. In the drawings, each identical or nearly identical component that is illustrated in various figures is represented by a like numeral. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. In the drawings:
Embodiments of the invention described herein are not limited in their application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Other embodiments are capable of being practiced or carried out in different ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” “involving,” and variations thereof herein, is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.
In one embodiment, a strap for a snowboard binding or snowboard boot is provided with one or more features, which may be utilized alone or in any suitable combination, that allow a snowboard rider to easily, rapidly and/or effectively tighten and/or loosen the strap about his or her boot. The strap may include a boot-engaging strap piece, configured as an elongated strip that may be slightly bowed and that is adapted to extend across the top of a snowboard boot. The boot-engaging strap piece (which optionally may be padded and thus may be referred to as a padded strap piece) engages with an engagement strap piece coupleable to the boot (e.g., a step-in binding boot), or to the binding, as may be the case with strap-type bindings. The boot-engaging strap piece and mating engagement strap include one or more arrangements for facilitating tightening/loosening of the two strap pieces so that a rider can slip his or her foot into or out of the boot, or fasten the boot to or loosen it from a snowboard binding or component thereof. The resulting strap may be configured to hold a boot in the binding or a rider's foot in the boot and impart sufficient retention of the boot and/or foot to withstand the forces exerted while snowboard riding. The strap may further include a mounting strap that adjustably mounts to the boot-engaging strap.
According to one aspect of the invention, the strap includes an arrangement for incrementally tightening the boot-engaging strap and the engagement strap, thereby securing the strap to the boot or binding. The tightening arrangement includes a tightening element (e.g., a cord, lace, or strap, although the invention is not limited in this respect) suitably coupled to one or both strap pieces such that a rider can pull on the tightening element to move the strap pieces relative to each other and tighten the strap. In this manner, a rider merely reaches for the tightening element and pulls it, much like pulling on a footwear lace. Because the tightening element is coupled to one or both strap pieces, they are pulled or moved toward each other to effect closure. The strap pieces are held in the tightened position with a suitable releasable locking arrangement.
As will be described in greater detail below, in one embodiment the boot-engaging strap piece includes a locking element that engages with the engagement strap piece. Of course, the present invention is not limited in this regard, as the locking element may be disposed on the mating engagement strap piece rather than on the boot-engaging strap piece. The tightening element is anchored to the locking element and when the free end of the tightening element is pulled, the locking element is drawn over the opposite strap piece and locks the engagement strap to the boot-engaging strap. In one embodiment, the tightening element draws the boot-engaging strap piece and the engagement strap piece relative to each other in a manner the whereby little or no twisting moment toward the surface of the boot-engaging strap piece is created at the connection of the two strap pieces.
In one embodiment, the tightening element is housed entirely on or within the strap so that no portion of the tightening element, except for the free end that is to be pulled to tighten the strap, engages with other components of the boot and/or binding. It should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to pulling an end of the tightening element. Rather any portion of the tightening element to impart the desired motion and/or tension may be pulled. In one embodiment, the tightening element is not itself responsible for keeping the two strap pieces tight relative to each other. Rather, according to an aspect of the invention, the tightening element merely facilitates moving one strap piece relative to the other. Once the desired tightness is achieved, the tension on the tightening element may be relieved and the straps are held fast via a releasable locking arrangement and/or element between the straps.
The tightening element may be coupled to the strap piece(s) in a manner such that pulling on the tightening element corresponds directly to the amount of tension in the strap. Alternatively, according to another aspect of the invention, the tightening arrangement is configured to provide a mechanical advantage, whereby the amount of force exerted to tighten the strap is less than the amount of tension in the strap. That is, a force applied to the tightening element results in a greater force applied to the strap. In one embodiment, the tightening element is routed through a path configured in a manner whereby the force to pull the tightening element is reduced while the amount of travel of the tightening element is increased. In this regard, while the force applied to the tightening element is relatively low, the amount of work (i.e., force multiplied by distance) necessary to tighten the strap is the same as if no mechanical advantage were provided. Yet, to a user, the effort necessary to tighten the strap is low. In one embodiment, this mechanical advantage may be accomplished by routing the tightening element about suitable capstans, posts, pins, pulleys or other structures used separately or together, as will be described in further detail below.
In one embodiment, the mechanical advantage provides a 2:1 ratio of resulting force to applied force (that is, the force acting between the strap components in the tightening direction to the force required to pull on the tightening element). In another embodiment, the mechanical advantage provides a 3:1 ratio. In yet another embodiment, the mechanical advantage provides a 4:1 ratio. It should be appreciated that the invention is not limited in this respect, as other suitable ratios may be provided, including for example, 1.5:1; 2.5:1; 3.5:1, etc. Thus, according to this aspect of the invention, any mechanical advantage of greater than 1:1 (that is, where the resulting force is greater than the applied force) may be employed, as the present invention is not limited in this regard. Further, in applications where two or more straps are used to secure a boot, each strap may have the same or different mechanical advantages. For example, in one embodiment, a snowboard binding ankle strap utilizes a 3:1 ratio whereas the toe strap utilizes a 2:1 ratio, although the invention is not limited in this regard and different ratios including ratios where the mechanical advantage provided on the toe strap is greater than that provided on the ankle strap may be employed.
Any free end of the tightening element generated after the strap is tightened can be stowed in a suitable manner. While the free length can be stowed in a pocket, tied up, wrapped around itself or another component or otherwise suitably stowed, according to one aspect of the invention, this free amount of tightening element is accommodated about a spool. In one embodiment, the free-end of the tightening element is coupled to the spool such that a rider can pull on the spool to tighten the strap. The spool may be a self-winding spool such that when the rider releases his or her grasp on the spool, the spool automatically gathers any excess amount of tightening element and retracts toward the strap. Alternatively, the spool may require manual actuation whereby, after the tightening element is drawn, the excess amount is manually wound around the spool.
To allow sufficient room to enable a rider to slip his or her foot into the boot or to allow the rider to insert the boot into the binding, the strap components typically spread apart by an adequate amount. As in conventional straps, this may be accomplished by separating the boot-engaging strap from the engagement strap. In one embodiment, however, these two strap pieces are coupled together via the tightening element. In such an embodiment, upon separating the two strap pieces, the tightening element coupled between the two strap pieces may become exposed, and the tightening element is long enough to create sufficient slack to enable the separation. According to one aspect of the invention, instead of separating the boot-engaging strap from the engagement strap, the rider may unhook an end of one of the straps from the mating component (e.g., boot or binding) so as to free the strap end from that component by an amount sufficient for insertion/removal of the foot from the boot or the boot from the binding. Once the foot is inserted in the boot, or the boot is inserted in the binding, the strap may be placed over the boot and re-hooked to the component. In one embodiment, a catch is disposed at an end of the engagement strap, and the catch is unhooked from, and hooked to, a hook that is disposed on the component. Alternatively, a hook may be provided on the engagement strap, and a corresponding catch may be provided on the mating component. In some embodiments, the hook or the catch may be provided at an end of the boot-engaging strap instead of or in addition to being provided at an end of the engagement strap. IN another embodiment, the hook or catch may be provided on the boot-engaging strap, and the other of the hook or catch may be provided on the engagement strap. In this regard, the boot-engaging strap and engagement strap may be separated from each other.
The above aspects of the invention may be employed in any suitable combination as the present invention is not limited in this respect. Also, any or all of the above aspects may be employed in a snowboard binding or snowboard boot; however, the present invention is not limited in this respect, and aspects of the invention may be used on any type of footwear or binding. Various aspects and embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail with respect to the accompanying drawing figures. The invention is not, however, limited to the aspects and embodiments shown.
A strap assembly 100 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, which incorporates several of the above-described aspects, is illustrated in
To tighten strap assembly 100 about a boot, such as a snowboard boot, a tightening element 210, which may be configured as a pull cord, is coupled to locking element 204. By tensioning pull tightening element 210, a rider pulls locking element 204 relative to serrated strap 202, thereby progressively tightening strap assembly 100 about a boot. In this regard, pawl 206 engages a tooth on the serrated strap to hold the strap pieces to each other in a locked fashion. According to an aspect of the invention, the strap is configured with a locking pawl than engages ratchet teeth of the serrated strap and a tightening element to tighten the pawl on the ratchet teeth, without a ratchet lever typically found in snowboard straps to tighten the strap.
In the illustrated embodiment, tightening element 210 is attached to a component of locking element 204; however, in other embodiments, the tightening element may be attached directly to boot-engaging strap 110, or coupled to the locking element in another suitable manner. In still other embodiments, tightening element 210 may be attached to the engagement strap (e.g., serrated strap 202) and configured to pull the engagement strap relative to the locking element.
Although a pull cord is shown in the illustrative examples, the present invention is not limited in this regard, as other suitable tightening elements, such as straps or laces may be employed.
To secure the tightening element 210 to locking element 204, in one embodiment, tightening element 210 is attached to element 213. Tightening element 210 travels from this attachment through an opening 212a and along and interior channel 214 formed in engagement strap 202. Opening 216 into channel 214 provides access to tightening element 210 such that the rider can pull the tightening element. In one embodiment, the tightening element exits the channel through the opening and is coupled to a pull element 218 to provide the rider with an element to grasp. In one embodiment, tightening element 218 terminates at the pull element 218; however, the present invention is not limited in this respect, as the pull element can be attached to the tightening element at any suitable location spaced from the end of the tightening element.
In the illustrated embodiment, to couple tightening element 210 to boot-engaging strap 110, an element, such as an anchor, is employed, and it is incorporated as a component of locking element 204. The present invention is not limited in this regards, and element 213 is not required, as tightening element 210 simply be anchored to locking element 204 or to boot-engaging strap 110, for example through a hole in either component. As mentioned above, tightening element 210 may be attached to another location on boot-engaging strap 110, or attached to serrated strap 202. Accordingly, element 213 or another anchoring feature may be provided separately from locking element 204—in some embodiments separately on the same strap, and in other embodiments, separately on a different strap.
In one embodiment, the tightening element draws the boot-engaging strap piece and the engagement strap piece relative to each other in a manner the whereby little or no twisting moment toward the surface of the boot-engaging strap piece is created at the connection of the two strap pieces. That is, the attachment location of the tightening element to the locking element is arranged so that the locking element does not pivot towards the surface of the boot-engaging strap piece when the strap is tightened. In one embodiment, the locking element sees no moment. In another embodiment, the locking element experiences a moment that is in a direction away from the surface of the boot-engaging strap piece.
In some instances, it may be desirable to prevent the serrated strap from disengaging entirely from the boot-engaging strap. Thus, in one embodiment, serrated strap 202 also includes a blocking element 224 that prevents serrated strap 202 from entirely disengaging from locking element 204. In the embodiment illustrated in
Pull element 218 may be a circular handle, or a handle of any suitable shape and may be made of any suitable material, although in some embodiments the outer components are made of plastic. For example, pull element 218 may be a handle that has a loop attached to the tightening element. Pull element 218 also may be a looped end of tightening element 210, such that a separate device is not provided at the end of tightening element 210.
The use of an engagement strap that lockably engages the locking element 204 allows the rider to incrementally tighten strap assembly 100. According to one aspect, the engagement strap and boot-engaging strap also carry the tension of the strap assembly when the tension on tightening element 210 is released. Thus, the loads placed on the strap during riding may be carried by strap assembly 100 in a manner similar to conventional ratchet strap configurations. By using the engagement strap and the locking element to hold the strap in tension, the rider may simply release the tightening element after tightening the strap, and the tightening element need not be locked or held in a tensioned state. In this regard, in one embodiment, the tightening element merely facilitates moving one strap piece relative to the other.
In one embodiment, the engagement strap is configured as a toothed strap (also referred to as serrated strap), with the teeth individually engaging with the pawl to hold the strap in a tightened state. However, it should be appreciated that the present invention is not limited to such a stepwise selection of tightening. While a serrated strap provides distinct levels of strap tightness which are selectable in small increments, the engagement strap may be configured to frictionally engage a locking pawl. In such an embodiment, the strap assembly can provide tightness selection in minute increments. Other suitable engagement strap and associated locking element configurations may be employed, as the present invention is not limited in this regard.
Tightening element 210 may be implemented in any one of numerous ways, and various embodiments of the present invention are not limited to any particular implementation. Tightening element 210 may be formed from a monofilament or a multistrand line. In accordance with one illustrative embodiment of the invention, tightening element 210 is formed of a low-friction material capable of supporting tensile force. In some embodiments, it may be advantageous to use a tightening element capable of withstanding a tensile force of 1,200 Newtons. A tightening element with any suitable outer diameter may be used, but in one embodiment, tightening element 210 has an outer diameter of approximately 1.2 mm. While not limited to any particular material or any particular form (e.g. woven, braided, twisted, monofilament, etc.), examples of materials that may be used for tightening element 210 include various types of natural or man-made fibers or fabrics, plastics, and/or metal. In one embodiment, tightening element 210 is a steel cable. In another embodiment, a tightening element comprising polyethylene may be used, for example, Spectra® brand fibers made by Honeywell International, Inc. In other embodiments, a steel cable, or other metal or non-metal cables, may be coated with a nylon coating, a fluoropolymer such as a Teflon® fluoropolymer coating, or other suitable coating.
In the embodiment illustrated in
Although the embodiment shown and described in
Embodiments of the strap assembly described above are not limited for use as an ankle strap on a binding. As illustrated in
To reduce the force exerted to tighten strap assembly 100 about the boot in embodiments that employ tightening element 210, an arrangement that provides a mechanical advantage when pulling on tightening element 210 may be employed, whereby the force applied to the tightening element (e.g., tightening element 210) is less than the resulting force applied to the strap. One example of an arrangement that provides such a mechanical advantage is where the tightening element is routed about other guide elements, such as capstans, pins and/or pulleys in a manner that reduces the amount of force that a rider needs to use on tightening element, such as tightening element 210, to tighten strap assembly 100. In one embodiment, the strap is provided with at least one capstan, pin, post and/or pulleys.
As shown in the diagrammatic representation of
From attachment location 306, tightening element 210 exits element 213 at opening 212a and travels around a first capstan 302 located within the interior channel of serrated strap 202. The tightening element re-enters element 213 through opening 212b, travels around a semi-circular path which forms a second capstan 304, and exits element 213 through opening 212c. The tightening element is directed toward strap opening 216 by walls 220 within serrated strap 202, where a portion of tightening element 210 is available for the rider to grasp.
In operation, the rider pulls on tightening element 210, which draws element 213, and thus the entire locking element, over serrated strap 202. The arrows shown on tightening element 210 indicate the direction of force applied to tightening element 210 when the rider pulls on pull element 218. Arrows A and B indicate the direction of movement of element 213 and serrated strap 202 relative to one another. As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, because three support sections of tightening element are present between attachment location 306 and element 218 during pulling, a mechanical advantage of 3:1 is provided. That is, a force applied to the grasping portion of the tightening element results in a three-times greater resulting force applied to tighten the binding strap.
As illustrated in
In some embodiments, both the ankle strap and a toe strap are configured to provide a mechanical advantage when tightening. The ankle strap and the toe strap may provide the same ratio of mechanical advantage, or they may provide different ratios of mechanical advantage. For example, an ankle strap may provide a mechanical advantage ratio of 3:1 while a toe strap may provide a mechanical advantage ratio of 2:1. Similarly, the ankle strap may be configured to provide a mechanical advantage ratio of 2:1, whereas the toe strap may be configured to provide a mechanical advantage ratio of 3:1. Other suitable mechanical advantage ratios may be provided for each strap (which may be the same ratio or different ratios), as the present invention is not limited in this respect.
The particular shape or materials of construction of the capstans are not critical, and any suitable shape and/or material may be used. Preferably, in some embodiments, the capstans are made of a low-friction material, or include a low-friction coatings or surface, but such materials are not required. In the illustrated embodiment, semi-circular pathways having circular or semi-circular cross-sections are provided in components formed of molded resin, for example, Delrin® acetal resin. In some embodiments, the diameter of a capstan on the engagement strap is approximately 16 mm and the diameter of a capstan on the padded strap is approximately 20 mm, but any suitable sizes may be used for the capstans. In some embodiments, capstans having different shapes, such as elliptical shapes, may be used. For purposes herein, the term “capstan” is intended to include posts, pins, and other structures suitable for changing the direction of a tightening element without creating an unsuitable amount of friction.
Instead of non-rotatable capstans, rotatable pulleys may be used to define the path for tightening element 210. Such pulleys may be formed of the same materials, shapes, and sizes of the capstans. Of course, additional elements (capstans or pulleys) may be used such that a larger mechanical advantage is provided.
As described above, an excess length of tightening element 210 may be present after the binding strap has been tightened. According to one aspect of the invention, this excess amount of tightening element may be accommodated by a retraction device such as for example a spool. The spool may be incorporated within pull element 218, which can provide an extra benefit of holding pull element 218 against strap assembly 100.
One embodiment of a retraction device 400 is illustrated in
The retraction device may operate automatically, such as with self-winding spool 402, or, in some embodiments, a spool or other retraction device may require the rider to actively retract the tightening element, such as, for example, by manually winding the spool. According to some embodiments, a retraction device may be used wherein the rider triggers a self-winding spool to operate. Other types of retraction devices and spools may be used including recoil mechanisms or other suitable devices.
As can be appreciated, retraction device imparts a force, albeit relatively small, to the tightening element and thus the serrated engagement strap portion. In some embodiments, the components through or about which the tightening element is routed are formed of low friction surfaces. When a rider wishes to loosen the strap, as mentioned above, the pawl is released and the engagement strap and the boot-engaging strap moved apart. However, when there is no resistance on the strap, the retraction device will impart some force tending to cause the strap to re-tighten. According to one embodiment, serrated strap 202 includes an impediment 222 to resist such self-closing movement of locking element 204 that may be caused by retraction device. When the strap has been loosened enough such that pawl 206 of locking element 204 is not within the serrated portion of serrated strap 202 (i.e., toward the left end of serrated strap 202 in
Instead of, or in addition to a self-winding spool assembly, a lock (not shown) may be provided on the boot, binding or strap assembly 100, and excess tightening element may be locked in the lock and stowed in a pocket to prevent the tightening element from hanging loose. As described below in more detail with reference to
In conventional ratchet strap assemblies, the rider inserts or removes his boot from the binding by separating the serrated strap from the padded strap. As mentioned above, the tightening element path of various embodiments described herein may prevent the sufficient separation of a serrated strap and a padded strap or otherwise may need to be sufficiently long to enable enough slack between the two strap pieces. According to one aspect of the present invention, and as illustrated in
Any suitable sizes, shapes and materials may be used for the hook and the catch; however, examples from one particular embodiment will now be described. The loop may be made of Delrin® acetal resin available from DuPont. The material forming the portion of the loop that engages with hook 254 has an approximately circular cross-section with an outer diameter of 6.5 mm. Loop 252 includes a rounded triangular-shaped opening 16 mm long by 22 mm wide. Hook 254 is made of nylon and forms a semi-circular channel with a diameter of 6.7 mm, in which loop 252 is engaged.
In the illustrated embodiment, hook and catch assembly 250 is provided on the serrated strap piece of strap assembly 100. In some embodiments, hook and catch assembly 250 may be provided on the boot-engaging strap piece of strap assembly 100. A hook and catch assembly also may be provided on both the serrated strap piece and the boot-engaging strap piece.
The relative placement of hook 254 and loop 252 may be reversed in some embodiments such that hook 254 is provided on a strap (either the boot-engaging strap piece or the serrated strap piece) and loop 252 is provided on the base, such as on baseplate sidewall 234 or heel hoop 232. Hook 254 or loop 252 need not be provided immediately adjacent base sidewall 234 or heel hoop 232, as in some embodiments, one of hook 254 and loop 252 (whichever element is not provided at the end of the strap) may be elongated such that it extends toward the top of the boot. Hook 254 or loop 252 also need not directly attach to baseplate sidewall 234 or heel hoop 232. For example, hook 254 or loop 252 may be attached to baseplate sidewall 234 or to the boot (as shown in
Rather than configuring the engagement strap to be separable from the binding base (or boot), in an alternative embodiment, the engagement strap may be coupled to the binding base (or boot, as the case may be) and a hook or catch is disposed on the boot-engaging strap and a corresponding mating component (e.g., the other of a hook and catch) is disposed on the engagement strap such that the two strap portions can be separated from one another at the junction of the two strap pieces. In this embodiment, the locking element is suitably coupled to the binding base or boot (instead of coupled to the boot-engaging strap as shown in
An alternative strap assembly embodiment is illustrated in
To hold the binding strap in a tightened configuration, and to resist forces applied to the binding strap during riding, tightening element 210 is secured in a lock, such as a cleat 606, in a tensioned state. Pull element 218 may optionally include a gathering device that gathers any excess tightening element present after tightening element 210 has been locked in cleat 606.
Embodiments of the various aspects disclosed herein have been illustrated for use with strap bindings and boots. In some embodiments, the strap assemblies and/or other features and aspects disclosed herein may be attached to other snowboard components, such as a snowboard binding interface that attaches to a boot via straps and couples to a binding via a step-in engagement member, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,688 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,390, each assigned to The Burton Corporation, and each of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.
Having thus described several aspects of at least one embodiment of this invention, it is to be appreciated various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only.
