Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02724948 2010-12-10
Our Ref.: 1071P001CA01
Adiustable Rowing Shoe Device
Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for use in engaging or disengaging rowing
shoes in rowing boats. The
invention also relates to a shoe incorporating the present engagement device.
Background
Rowing boats used in the sport of rowing, often called shells, are lightweight
and can come in single-
rower, double rower, four-person and eight-person configurations. The rowing
boats are ordered with
all auxiliary equipment, such as seats, rudders, riggers, shoes and shoe
frames.
Rowing shoes are generally provided with the rowing boat and screwed onto a
frame, called a foot
stretcher, which is built into the inside of the rowing boat. The foot
stretcher can be slightly adjusted
to lengthen or shorten the distance between the rower's seat and feet, thereby
providing some limited
adjustment to accommodate the rower's length of legs. Typically, the shoes
come installed with the
boat and shoes are usually custom ordered by professional rowers, along with
their boat specifications.
In this way the professional rowers gets both a boat and a shoe that are sized
for them.
However, the purchase of customized boats and shoes for a particular rower or
rowing team is not
universal. In the case of amateur rowers and student rowers, such athletes can
rarely ever afford to
purchase their boats. Instead, they take memberships in local rowing clubs
which provide access to a
fleet of boats, exercise equipment and rowing times, etc. Rowing clubs
generally stock a selection of
boats including, men's and ladies' single, double, quad and eight-person
boats, all fitted with shoes. In
order to maximize usage of the rowing boats in a rowing club's fleet, rowing
clubs often order large
sized rowing shoes with their boats. Rowers with smaller feet are forced to
wear multiple socks in order
to fit the shoes. Rowers with large feet make do by not fully wearing the
shoe, or leaving their heels out
of the shoe. Shoes are only replaced if they become worn out, damaged or
otherwise unusable.
A number of problems exist in the present arrangement. Firstly, improper shoe
fit makes rowing more
difficult and uncomfortable for the rower. Secondly hygiene becomes a concern
in circumstance in
which multiple rowers are sharing shoes. With the sweat and moisture that
inevitably occurs from
heavy exertion, foot fungi, athlete's foot and bacterial foot infections are
common. When boats are left
outside overnight or in the rain, dampness and cold in the rowing shoe also
give rowers considerable
discomfort. Without proper muscle warm up, rowers can suffer from poor
performance, cramping,
colds and illness.
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CA 02724948 2010-12-10
Our Ref.: 1071P001CA01
There is therefore a need to develop a system for regularly interchanging
rowing shoes in rowing boats,
to allow rowers to purchase and use their own rowing shoes in common or shared
rowing boats.
Summary
The present invention provides a device for attaching a rowing shoe to a foot
stretcher of a rowing boat.
The device comprises a shoe segment having a first surface for attachment to
the rowing shoe and a first
locking means. The device also comprises a stretcher segment comprising a
second surface for
attachment to the foot stretcher and a second locking means for releasably
engaging with the first
locking means.
The present invention further provides a rowing shoe comprising a shoe segment
on a bottom of the
rowing shoe for releasable engagement with a corresponding stretcher segment
of a foot stretcher of a
rowing boat.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The present invention will now be described in greater detail, with reference
to the following drawings,
in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the shoe segment of the
present device;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the stretcher segment of
the device;
Figures 3a and 3b are cross sectional views, illustrating one embodiment of
the positioning aids; and
Figure 4 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the second locking means
of the stretcher segment.
Description of the Invention
The present invention relates to detachable rowing shoe device that allows
users to quickly and easily
engage and disengage rowing shoes in rowing boats. The present invention also
relates to rowing shoes
built with the present device.
The present device can be simply retrofitted onto existing rowing shoes and
rowing foot stretchers.
Alternatively, the device can be incorporated into newly configured shoes and
foot stretchers that allow
for quick engagement and disengagement. The device is preferably sized to fit
within bottom footprint
of the rowing shoe, plus allowing some room for movement.
The device comprises two parts, a shoe segment 2 and a stretcher segment 4.
The shoe segment 2 is
shown in greater detail in Figure 1 and the stretcher segment 4 is shown in
greater detail in Figure 2.
With reference to Figure 1, the shoe segment 2 comprises a first surface 6
that is preferably affixable to
a rowing shoe, more preferably by screwing the shoe segment 2 to a bottom
surface of the rowing shoe,
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CA 02724948 2010-12-10
Our Ref.: 1071PO01CA01
although other means of affixing the shoe segment 2 to a rowing shoe bottom
surface can be utilized
and are understood to be encompassed by the present invention. Alternatively,
it is possible to build
the rowing shoe with the shoe segment 2 as an integral part of the rowing
shoe.
The shoe segment 2 further comprises a first locking means 8 for releasably
engaging with the stretcher
segment 4 of the device. Preferably, the first locking means 8 comprises a
slot, as seen in Figure 1 or a
series of holes (not shown).
Optionally, the shoe segment 2 further comprises positioning aids 10 that
allow the position of the
rowing shoe on the foot stretcher to be adjusted. The positioning aids 10 may
be incorporated as part
of the first locking means 8 or as part of the first surface 6. In the first
case, the first locking means 8 can
comprise a series of holes for receiving one or more pins from the stretcher
segment 4. Position of the
rowing shoe is determined by the position of the pins along the series of
holes.
More preferably, the positioning aids 10 are comprised of multiple positioning
ridges 12 on the first
surface 6 that interact with corresponding ridges on the stretcher segment 4
to allow for positioning and
adjustment of the rowing shoe on the foot stretcher, to account for the
position of the rower's legs. By
allowing this adjustment it is possible for the rower to optimize their power
input into each stroke. The
positioning ridges 12 may be of any suitable cross-section, including but not
limited to triangular,
square, rectangular or waveform. Most preferably, as seen in Figure 3a the
positioning ridges 12 are
square or rectangular in cross section.
With reference to Figure 2, the stretcher segment 4 of the device comprises a
second surface 14 which
can be affixed to a foot stretcher in a rowing boat. The stretcher segment 4
is preferably screwed onto
the foot stretcher, although other means may be used and would be obvious to a
person of skill in the
art. Alternatively, the foot stretcher may be built with the stretcher segment
4 as an integral part of the
foot stretcher. The stretcher segment 4 is preferably affixed to the foot
stretcher in such a way that
allows for pivoting of the stretcher segment 4 on the foot stretcher. Most
preferably, as seen in Figure
2, one screw 16 is used to pivotably affix the stretcher segment 4 to the foot
stretcher, where in the one
screw 16 acts as a pivot point. This pivoting desirably allows for
corresponding pivoting of the rower's
foot and ankle, to account for differing stances as well as differences in
rowers' leg shape and bone
alignments. Although the second surface 14 of the stretcher segment 4 is
depicted in Figure 2 as having
an extending portion on which the screw 16 is affixed, this is merely one
optional embodiment, used
particularly for rowers in the steering position. It is also possible for the
second surface 14 to omit this
extending portion and have a more rectangular shape, similar to the first
surface 6.
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CA 02724948 2010-12-10
Our Ref.: 1071P001CA01
The stretcher segment 4 comprises a second locking means 18 of releasable
engaging with the first
locking means 8 on the shoe segment 2 of the device. Preferably, the second
locking means 18
comprises one or more pins 22 that are inserted into a slot or a series of
holes in the first locking means
8. Further preferably, the pins 22 are elastically connected to the stretcher
segment 4, so that they
provide some resistance to being inserted into the first locking means 8 and
are only releasable from the
first locking means 8 when actively unlocked by the rower. This helps to
ensure that once locked, the
shoe segment 2 of the device will not accidentally become disengaged from the
stretcher segment 4
during rowing. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, elasticity is
preferably imparted to the pins 22
by means of semi-flexible strips 24 from which the pins 22 protrude. Further
illustrated in Figure 4 are
tabs 26 at the ends of the semi-flexible strip 24 that can be engaged by the
rowers' thumbs or fingers to
release the pins 22 from the slot or series of holes. In this preferred
embodiment, the semi-flexible
strips 24 may be bent by hand to restore resistance and elasticity, if the
strips 23 should lose some
resistance over time. It will be understood that other means are conceivable
for imparting elasticity and
resistance to the pins in engagement with the first locking means 8, and that
such means are also
considered to be encompassed by the present invention.
In one embodiment, the second locking means 18 engage with positioning aids 10
on the first locking
means 8 to allow the position of the rowing shoe on the foot stretcher to be
adjusted. In this
embodiment, the first locking means 8 can comprise a series of holes for
receiving the one or more pins
from the stretcher segment 4. Position of the rowing shoe is determined by
where along the series of
holes the pins are inserted.
More preferably, the stretcher segment 4 comprises multiple positioning ridges
20 that interact with
corresponding positioning ridges 12 on the shoe segment 2 of the device to
allow for position
adjustment. The positioning ridges 20 may be of any suitable cross-section,
including but not limited to
triangular, square, rectangular or waveform. Most preferably, as seen in
Figure 3b, the positioning
ridges 20 are square or rectangular in cross section.
The shoe segment 2 and the stretcher segment 4 can be made of any suitably
lightweight and durable
materials commonly known in the art. Suitable materials can include but are
not limited to metals
and/or metal alloys, plastics and plastic composites, plywood, particle board,
resins, laminates, aramids
such as Kevlar TM and fibreglass. Suitable metals and alloys can include
aluminum, aluminum alloys,
titanium and titanium alloys. Alternatively, the shoe segment 2 and the
stretcher segment 4 can each
be made of multiple materials, for example a metal with a plastic or resin
attached thereto. Most
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CA 02724948 2010-12-10
Our Ref.: 1071PO01CA01
preferably, the segments are made of a metal such as aluminum, with a ridged
sheet of plastic or resin
attached thereto, the ridges forming one preferred embodiment of the
positioning aids 10.
In use, the rower would simply wear their personal rowing shoes, with the shoe
segment 2 of the
present device attached thereto, position his or her feet in a comfortable
position relative to the seat of
the rowing boat and then lock the shoe segment 2 to the stretcher segment 4
that is already affixed to
the foot stretcher in the boat. The shoe segment 2 of the device will stay
locked to the stretcher
segment 4 until released by the rower. When finished, the rower can take his
or her shoes with them,
and the rowing boat can be used by another rower.
Examples
The following examples serve merely to further illustrate embodiments of the
present invention,
without limiting the scope thereof, which is defined only by the claims.
The present device was tested at the Calgary Rowing Club in Calgary, Alberta,
Canada. The devices were
installed on a heavyweight pair's rowing boat in the bow position and in a
lightweight quad rowing boat,
in the stroke position. Both rowing boats were tested over a full rowing
season, which lasted about 6
months. The boats were used by both men and women, wearing rowing shoes
provided by the Rowing
Club. The rowers reported noticing little difference in performance with the
present device. A number
of rowers appreciated the ability to wear shoes that fit their feet properly
and also the ability to pivot
their feet to a comfortable position for rowing.
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with specific
embodiments thereof;
however, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made
thereto without
departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention.
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