Device for use on ski pole handles

Device for use on ski pole handles, as an aid for keeping the handle against or in close vicinity to the user's hand, comprising an element adapted to be fastened by insertion of an attachment member on the element in a strap aperture in the handle, whereby a portion of the element protrudes from the handle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a device for use on ski pole handles. 
2. Related Art 
A well known problem within ski sport, and in particular within competition 
sport, is that a skier who during motion loses the grip around a pole 
handle usually will have a problem in reestablishing the grip, because the 
pole will be hanging in the wrist strap in such a manner that the handle 
is situated lower than the hand. This is of little importance to a 
noncompeting skier, but it may be of great importance during competitions. 
Handles which solve the problem and having a special design have been 
proposed , whereby the handles comprise elements which more or less 
prevent the pole from falling down when the grip around the handle ceases. 
For instance DE Patent 2506221 shows a pole handle equipped with an upper 
plate which during use is situated above the user's hand. The handle has a 
special design adapted for the mounting of the plate, and the plate cannot 
be mounted on other types of handles. EP Patent 0081439 shows i.a. a 
handle having an upper thickening. The latter will, in cooperation with a 
wrist strap, only to a small degree prevent the pole from falling down 
when the grip around the handle ceases. This takes place only when the 
strap is very tight. DE Patent 2510608 shows a pole handle having a hoop 
in front of the grip portion of the handle, whereby the user's fingers, 
except for the thumb, are kept inserted through the hoop during use of the 
pole. 
A condition for all these known solutions is that the pole is equipped with 
a specially designed handle. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a device which permits mounting on most of 
the known types of ski pole handles. 
The device according to the invention is for use on ski pole handles, as an 
aid for keeping the handle against or in close vicinity to the user's 
hand, and the device comprises an element adapted to be fastened by 
insertion of an attachment member on the element in a strap aperture in 
the handle, whereby a portion of the element protrudes from the handle. 
The device according to the invention is a separate element which can be 
mounted on a pole handle by use of an aperture for the wrist strap. The 
element has an attachment member which can be inserted in the strap 
aperture. In the inserted position the attachment member can be locked in 
any manner. An appropriate manner is to use a screw or pin. Some pole 
handles, in particular for alpine skiing, are of such a structure that the 
handle has a screw in its uppermost portion for fastening of the strap, 
which has a hole for the screw. Other pole handles have an upper locking 
member comprising at least one pin, and the locking member and the pin can 
be forced down in the handle, whereby the pin is guided through a hole in 
the handle and the strap, analogous with screwing down a screw. The strap 
may be doublefolded when inserted in the aperture in the handle, and the 
strap may have two holes near the fold, whereby the holes are in registry 
with each other after the folding. When the aperture in the handle in 
which the strap and the element according to the invention are to be 
inserted is not occupied farthest in, the innermost end of the attachment 
member may have a thickening, which will be situated inside the end of the 
strap and be locked thereby. 
The protruding portion of the element may be mainly planar or slightly 
curved, and it may protrude approximately in a right angle to the main 
direction of the handle or slightly sloping relatively to this direction. 
The circumferential shape of the protruding portion of the element may be 
varied within wide limits. An appropriate shape is approximately oval or 
rectangular with rounded corners. The protruding portion may have an 
approximately even thickness, but it may also have longitudinal ribs for 
reinforcement, in particular on its upper side. 
The dimensions of the attachment member must be adapted to the dimensions 
of the strap aperture, while the dimensions and shape of the protruding 
portion can vary within a large range. A suitable length dimension of the 
protruding member is between 3 and 6 cm, but these limits do not 
constitute any limitation. The maximum width of the protruding member may 
also vary within a large range. 
Thus, a device has been provided which can be mounted on many types of pole 
handles. The only condition is that the strap aperture gives room for the 
attachment member in addition to the strap itself. The attachment member 
may be rather thin, having for instance a thickness of approximately 1 mm 
or less. A particularly small thickness can be used when the attachment 
member is metallic, for instance a steel plate, which may be moulded into 
or fastened to the remainder of the element in another manner. The 
remainder of the element may conveniently be of plastics or rubber. If the 
aperture does not give room for the attachment member in addition to the 
strap, the strap may be replaced by a thinner strap. 
The attachment member is inserted in the strap aperture above the strap, 
whereby, when a hand is inserted in the strap from below, the protruding 
portion of the element will be situated above the hand against the edge of 
the hand palm, near the thumb. The protruding portion is presupposed to 
have such a stiffness that it can keep the pole elevated and maintain the 
pole handle in a grip position relatively to the hand in cooperation with 
the wrist strap. 
Thus, the device will prevent the pole from falling down even if the grip 
around the handle ceases, presupposed that the strap is normally 
tightened. 
The device according to the invention will in the following be explained 
more detailed with reference to the accompanying drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The element 1 shown in FIG. 1 may be made in one piece, for instance of 
plastics or rubber, and for instance by casting. The element may also be 
punched out of a sheet material, whereby the element will have an even 
thickness. The shown element 1 comprises a portion 1' constituting the 
active part of the element and an attachment member 1" for fastening the 
element 1 to a pole handle. The portion 1' is shown having a recess 4, but 
this has no technical function and may be omitted. The recess 4 makes the 
portion 1' more resilient than an element without a recess. Between the 
portion 1' and the attachment member 1 " is a partition line 3, which may 
be a step between portions of different thicknesses. 
FIG. 2 shows a ski pole handle 5, which in the shown embodiment is an 
alpine handle. The handle has in a known manner a bore 6 for being mounted 
on a pole, and a strap 7 is fastened to the handle. The attachment means 
for the strap 7 is of a known type, and comprises an upper plate 8 from 
which two pins 9 and 10 depend. The strap 7, being doublefolded at the 
insertion end, has been inserted in an aperture 11 in the handle 5. In the 
same aperture 11 an element 1 in accordance with the invention has been 
mounted, whereby the attachment member 1" is situated in the aperture 11, 
while the portion 1' protrudes from the handle 1, rearwardly relatively to 
the direction of movement and above the strap 7. The strap 7 has holes 
which in the inserted position of the strap are in registry with the hole 
2 (FIG. 1) in the element 1, and the pin 9 on the plate 8 has been 
inserted through all the holes, in a bore 12 in the handle 5. The strap 7, 
possibly also the attachment member 1", may have a reinforcement around 
the hole, for instance an eye (not shown). The step 3 is situated 
immediately outside the mouth of the strap aperture 11 of the handle 5. 
The pin 10 is merely an auxiliary part and may have a thickening, for 
instance a circumferential bead (not shown), in order to secure fastening 
of the plate 8 to the remainder of the handle, in that the thickening 
exerts a pressure against the corresponding hole in the handle 5. 
The strap 7, of which is only shown the portion nearest to the handle 5, 
forms a loop, and may in a known manner be equipped with a buckle for 
adjustment of the effective strap length. 
In the shown embodiment the thickness of the attachment member 1" comprises 
approximately 20% of the thickness of the doublefolded strap 7. If the 
aperture 11 does not give room for an attachment member having such a 
thickness, the attachment can be made even thinner. In order to achieve a 
sufficient strength the attachment member may be made as a thin steel 
plate, which may be moulded into the portion 1'. Thereby, the attachment 
member may be given a thickness which comprises less than 10% of the strap 
thickness. 
The protruding portion 1' is in FIG. 1 shown as being symmetrical about a 
longitudinal axis, but the portion 1' may also be asymmetrical about the 
longitudinal axis. In order to achieve a suitable bending stiffness with a 
small consumption of material the portion 1' may have longitudinal ribs on 
the upper side. Such ribs will not interfere with the hand during use. 
In the shown embodiment of the handle 5 the attachment member 1" may also 
be formed with a thickening on the innermost end, i.e. the free end, 
whereby the thickening will be situated inside the folded strap end in the 
aperture 11. Thereby, the strap 7 will constitute a retainer for the 
element 1, whereby fastening of the element 1 is not exclusively, or not 
at all, based on the hole 2 and the pin 9. 
The element 1 can also be mounted on a handle which does not have any plate 
with a pin at its top. In some handles a screw is used for fastening the 
strap, and such a screw can be used for fastening an element in accordance 
with the invention. By post-mounting of such an element on a pole handle 
not previously equipped with such an element the screw is screwed out, the 
element is inserted in the aperture, and the screw is re-screwed into the 
hole. Also in this case the attachment member may have a thickening to be 
placed inside the strap end, provided that the strap aperture gives room 
for such a thickening. In handles which do not comprise a plate with a 
pin, nor a screw and a screw hole, a screw hole can be drilled and a screw 
can be screwed through the hole in the attachment member after inserting 
the latter in the strap aperture. 
The invention is not limited for use on alpine poles but can be used on all 
types of ski poles. Plastics, possibly combined with metal for the 
attachment member, is not a limitation with respect to materials. For 
instance rubber is well suited, in particular for the protruding portion 
1'.