Snowshoe
DCFirst Claim
1. A snowshoe, comprising frame means, and binding means for a boot including support housing means of semi-rigid material and toe binding means having a toe strap, said support housing means having lateral support arms extending rearwardly upwardly a predetermined distance, said support housing means together with its rearwardly upwardly extending lateral support arms of semi-rigid material providing lateral support to increase lateral stability and thereby to securely hold a wearer'"'"'s footwear when traversing and scrambling, and a heel strap attached to the lateral support arms near the free ends thereof.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A snowshoe binding providing facilitated entry and exit which includes a support housing made of semi-rigid material having rearwardly extending lateral support arms integral with the support housing to increase lateral support. The toe binding utilizes a yoke assembly that requires only a single, relatively short strap extending both in the transverse as well as forward direction by the use of a yoke member which permits the strap to remain flat for wearer comfort. By the use of a modified buckle, the free end of the heel strap extends toward the body so that ergonomic cinching is possible. Additionally, facilitated attachment and detachment of a crampon without the use of tools is made possible by the particular pivotal arrangement of the toe stop of the toe binding part.
39 Citations
44 Claims
- 1. A snowshoe, comprising frame means, and binding means for a boot including support housing means of semi-rigid material and toe binding means having a toe strap, said support housing means having lateral support arms extending rearwardly upwardly a predetermined distance, said support housing means together with its rearwardly upwardly extending lateral support arms of semi-rigid material providing lateral support to increase lateral stability and thereby to securely hold a wearer'"'"'s footwear when traversing and scrambling, and a heel strap attached to the lateral support arms near the free ends thereof.
- 8. A snowshoe comprising frame means, and binding means for a boot including support housing means of semi-rigid material, said toe binding means including a toe strap and a toe stop member, and further comprising means including said toe stop member for detachably connecting a crampon to the bottom of the binding means.
- 11. A snowshoe, comprising frame means and binding means for a boot including support housing means of semi-rigid material having a sole plate and rearwardly upwardly extending lateral support arms, said support housing means together with its rearwardly upwardly extending lateral support arms of semi-rigid material providing lateral support to increase lateral stability and thereby to securely hold a wearer'"'"'s footwear when traversing and scrambling, toe binding means fixed to said support housing means, said toe binding means including foot support means, a toe stop member and a yoke-like strap assembly between said foot support means and said toe stop member, said yoke-like strap assembly including a toe strap and yoke means to enable lateral as well as fore-and-aft directional cinching of the toe strap, and a heel strap support at the lateral support arms.
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25. A snowshoe binding providing facilitated entry and exit, comprising a support housing means made of semi-rigid material and having rearwardly extending lateral support arms integral with the support housing means to increase lateral support, toe binding means including a yoke assembly that requires only a single, relatively short toe strap adapted to extend both in the generally transverse as well as generally longitudinal directions by the use of a yoke means operable to permit the strap to remain relatively flat for wearer comfort, a heel strap, means connecting the heel strap to said lateral support arms including buckle means for the free end of the heel strap so that the free end of the heel strap extends toward the snowshoer'"'"'s body to enable ergonomic cinching of the heel strap, and means to enable facilitated attachment and detachment of a crampon without the use of tools including a pivotal arrangement of a part of the toe binding means.
- 26. A yoke member which permits lateral as well as fore-and-aft directional cinching of a strap, comprising a plate-like member of predetermined shape which is provided with two pairs of slots, the slots of one pair converging toward one another to define an angle and being disposed in the plate-like member laterally of the slots of the other pair, the other pair of slots being generally parallel to one another and being located at least partially within the area defined by the angularly disposed slots of the one pair, and each slot of the one pair being disposed at a predetermined angle with respect to the next adjacent slot of the other pair.
- 37. A buckle which provides a two-stage latching action and allows free-flowing strap movement, comprising a buckle base portion having a bottom side and a top side and including eye means at both ends thereof forming openings, latching means fixed to and disposed on the top side of said base portion to define a latching space directly between said top side and said latching means, and the outer portions of said eye means being offset away from the bottom side with respect to a plane including the base portion and the inner eye portions in a direction opposite to the latching means so that a fastening strap for floatingly fastening the buckle can extend underneath the base portion after passing through the eye means from above and another strap can extend through one of the eye means form above into the space between the fastening strap and the bottom side of the base portion and after passing through the other eye means and subsequent reversal of direction, can extend into the space between the top side of the base portion and the latching means and can be latched in the space between the top side of the base portion and the latching means.
Specification