Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02333889 2001-02-05
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"DEVICE TO CLOSE FOOTWEAR AND CLAMP
FOOTWEAR TO SPORTS EQUIPMENT"
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns a device to close footwear and to
clamp it to sports equipment such as snowboards, skis,
skates or suchlike, on which the user rests his feet.
The invention is able both to allow to close the footwear,
in particular ski-boots, and also to selectively clamp the
footwear onto the sports equipment, allowing a quick and
easy adjustment of the closing/clamping constraint.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The state of the art includes devices employed to close
footwear, in particular ski-boots, and/or to clamp said
footwear onto sports equipment such as snowboards, skates or
similar.
The devices normally comprise two strip elements which can
be associated with each other and attached on opposite sides
of the footwear or the seating on which the user's foot
rests.
A first strip element is provided with attachment means
(such as a lever, a pin or similar) able to cooperate
selectively with a plurality of mating constraining seatings
(such as teeth, holes or suchlike) made on the second strip
element.
The footwear is closed or clamped by coupling the
attachment means to a specific constraining seating which is
chosen according to the degree of closure/clamping desired.
It is not always easy for the user to chose the most
appropriate constraining seating, however, and even when it
has been identified, it is difficult to recognize it in
subsequent uses.
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In fact, every time the user has to close the footwear or
clamp it on the equipment, he is obliged to choose the
constraining seating only according to his own memory; this
choice is therefore very often wrong, or in any case
improper, and obliges the user either to use the footwear
and equipment incorrectly or to continuously adjust the
device, with considerable loss of time and interruptions to
the sports activity.
The present Applicant has devised and embodied this
invention to overcome these shortcomings and to obtain other
advantages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is set forth and characterized in the main
claim, while the dependent claims describe other
characteristics of the invention.
The purpose of the invention is to achieve a device to
close footwear, and to clamp the latter to sports equipment,
which will allow maximum flexibility in adjustment, and will
permit the user, once the most appropriate degree of
closure/clamping has been defined, to reconfigure the device
to the same degree easily and immediately, in subsequent
uses too.
Another purpose of the invention is to embody a closing
and clamping device which is simple and economical, but at
the same time effective and safe.
The device according to the invention comprises two strip
elements; the first is provided with attachment means able
to cooperate selectively with a plurality of mating
constraining Beatings made on the second in order to achieve
a defined degree of closure/clamping.
According to the invention, the constraining Beatings are
associated with respective identification elements to
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identify the different degree of closure/clamping which they
are able to achieve.
This allows the user to easily memorize the identification
element corresponding to the degree of closure/clamping most
suitable for him and therefore to immediately recognize the
identification element when the footwear or sports
equipment, with which the device is associated, is
subsequently used.
In a preferential embodiment, the constraining seatings
are arranged aligned with each other and close together, and
the relative identification elements, all together, define a
graduated scale.
In a first form of embodiment, the identification elements
consist of letters or numbers arranged in progressive order.
According to a variant, they consist of different colors.
According to another variant, they consist of symbols,
images or graphic motifs which are easy to memorize and
recognize.
These two last solutions are particularly advantageous if
the users are people who are not able to comprehend and
recognize the alphanumeric characters shown on the device,
such as for example children not yet able to read or people
from countries which use alphanumeric characters which are
different from those shown.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other characteristics of the invention will
become clear from the following description of a preferred
form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example, with
reference to the attached drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 shows a device according to the invention employed to
close a ski-boot;
Fig. 2 is a part view of a detail of a snowboard provided
with two devices according to the invention;
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Fig. 3 is a three-dimensional view of the closing/clamping
device according to the invention;
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 3;
Fig. 5 shows a variant of Fig. 3.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to the attached drawings, a closing and
clamping device 10 according to the invention is shown in
two different applications in Figs. 1 and 2.
In Fig. 1 the device 10 is associated with an article of
footwear 12, consisting of a ski-boot, to ensure it is
closed, in this case in cooperation with laces 22.
In Fig. 2, instead, two devices 10 are associated with an
attachment 15 of a sports equipment 11, for example a
snowboard, and allow to clamp an article of footwear 12 into
a supporting seating 13 defined by the attachment 15 itself.
The device 10 comprises two strip elements 14a and 14b
able to be attached on opposite sides of the article of
footwear 12 or the attachment 15 and able to be associated
with each other.
A first strip element 14a is provided with a buckle 16
equipped with an attachment lever 17 and a drawing lever 18.
The attachment lever 17 is associated with elastic means,
not shown here, able to keep it thrusting downwards.
The second strip element 14b is provided with a toothing
119 comprising a plurality of teeth 19 on which the
attachment lever 17 is able to selectively engage due to the
thrust of the relative elastic means.
According to a characteristic feature of the invention,
the toothing 119 has a graduated scale, in this case
increasing from the free end to the fixed end of the second
portion 14b, so that each tooth 19 is marked with a
respective identification element 20 in this case on the
upper side.
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In the embodiments shown here, the identification elements
20 consist of alphanumeric elements 21; to be exact, numbers
in the case of Figs. 1-3 and letters in the embodiment shown
in Fig. 5.
According to a variant which is not shown here, the
identification elements 20 consist of different colors.
According to another variant, the identification elements
20 consist of symbols or figures which are easy to memorize
and recognize.
To close the article of footwear 12 or to clamp the
article of footwear 12 to the equipment 11, the user inserts
the second strip element 14b inside the buckle 16 and,
acting on the drawing lever 18, causes the two strip
elements 14a and 14b to be superimposed, taking the
attachment lever 17 to engage on the desired tooth 19
according to the degree of closure/clamping required.
Once the most appropriate tooth 19 on which to engage the
attachment lever 17 has been identified, the user can easily
memorize the identification element 20 shown thereon, in
this case by observing it through an aperture 18a made on
the drawing lever 18, so that in subsequent uses he is able
to recognize the previously chosen tooth 19 easily and
immediately.
In this way the closure and/or clamping of the article of
footwear 12 is obviously the most suitable for the
requirements of the user, so he is not obliged to
continuously interrupt his sporting activity in order to
adjust the device 10.
The user also has the option of choosing two or more
closure/clamping positions, depending on the changing
conditions under which the sporting activity is carried out
( for example according to the type of route to be followed,
the different consistency of the snow, etc.).
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It is obvious, however, that modifications and/or
additions may be made to the closing and clamping device 10
as described heretofore, without departing from the spirit
and scope of the invention.
Thus the strip elements 14a and 14b can be made
differently and can be provided for example with pin-type
clamping means able to be inserted into constraining
seatings consisting of holes which have the identification
elements 20 at the side.
It is also obvious that, although the invention has been
described with reference to specific examples, a skilled
person shall certainly be able to achieve many other
equivalent forms of the closing and clamping device, all of
which shall come within the field and scope of the
invention.
