Abstract:
A soft boot snowboard binding system having tool-less adjustments to permit a custom fit for maximum comfort and control. The adjustments, once made, are secure against unwanted release caused by environmental elements or hard use. A quick-release lever and buckle provide fast in and out action upon easy manual operation of the buckle, but resists all unwanted releases or jamming from snow build-up. A tool-less forward lean adjuster carries a concealed philips screwdriver bit which inserts into the adjuster plate to provide a screwdriver to tighten mounting screws or other fasteners on the snowboard binding, as needed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of snowboard bindings and more particularly pertains to snowboard bindings for a generic soft boot. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Snowboards use bindings to attach a rider&#39;s feet to the snowboard with one binding for each foot. The bindings are generally rigidly fixed to the snowboard and provide some mechanism for securing a rider&#39;s boot to the board. Ideally, a binding should hold a rider&#39;s boot firmly but comfortably and be easy to fasten and unfasten. One of the major disadvantages of some snowboard bindings are that it takes considerable effort to strap the boot into the binding and to remove a boot from the binding which has to occur each time the snowboard rider boards a lift. 
     Although the desirability of a snowboard binding that has a quick step-in and release feature has been addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,396 for securing a boot to a binding, U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,275 which shows a rear entry step-in snowboard binding, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,700 which shows a quick release snowboard binding for a soft boot, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,895 which provides for a quick release binding strap and locking bar assembly for use with a variety of support baseplates, none of these prior art patents, or the prior art in general has addressed the problem of custom fitting a snowboard binding to a rider&#39;s boot, as has the present invention, along with the ability to make critical comfort adjustments without the use of tools, or the ability to fasten screws that may have come loose during hard use on the mountain with the use of a tool that is accessible and ready for use as part of the binding itself. Moreover, the prior art has tried but failed to provide a quick-release buckle that cannot be accidentally opened by environmental conditions and does not become jammed by snow. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The snowboard binding system of the present invention provides tool-less adjustments to the binding for a custom fit providing maximum comfort and control. The adjustments are made by a cammed lever that provides screw attachment and locking resistance that prevents release by other than manual means. A tool-less back plate lean adjustment block for controlling lean of the back plate carries a screwdriver bit which can be used in conjunction with the lean adjustment block to tighten any baseplate mounting screws that may have loosened as the result of hard use. A quick release lever and buckle provides fast in and out action upon easy manual operation of the buckle which resists all unwanted releases and jamming from snow build-up by use of an interlocked latching member and disengaging lever. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The exact nature of this invention as well as its objects and many of its advantages will be readily appreciated as it becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the figures thereof and: 
     FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of the snowboard binding according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a portion of the snowboard binding of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a portion of the snowboard binding of FIG. 1, showing the lean block of the invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a back perspective view of a lean block according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the lean block of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 7 is an exploded view of certain parts of the snowboard binding of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 8 is an exploded view of the buckle according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the buckle in a closed position; 
     FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the buckle receiving the tongue portion of a strap; 
     FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the buckle receiving the tongue portion of the strap into a locked position; 
     FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the buckle in a locked position holding the tongue portion of the strap; and 
     FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the buckle with disengaging lever moved to a position to allow disengagement of the strap from the buckle. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1 shows the snowboard binding  11  of the present invention incorporating the features of the present invention. Snowboard binding  11  has three major structural parts that are connected together. The baseplate  15  is attached to the snowboard in a manner that is well known in the art and will not be described herein. A heel cup  17  is attached to the baseplate  15 . A highback or back plate  13  is in turn attached to the heel cup  17 . 
     An ankle strap  19  is attached by its one end to the heel cup  17  and by its other end to a quick release lever  35  which is in turn, attached to a buckle  39 , mounted on the other side of the heel cup  17 . A ratchet adjustment mechanism  25  riding on the ridged side  24  of the ankle strap  19  allows for tightening and loosening of the strap. 
     A toe strap  21  is attached by its one end to the front of the baseplate  15  and at its other end to the front of the quick release lever  35 . A ratchet mechanism  23  riding on the ridged side  47  of the toe strap provides for tightening and loosening of the toe strap  21 . 
     To provide for custom placement of the pad on ankle strap  19  to eliminate pressure points on the foot, tool-less adjustment mechanism  33  may be utilized to center the pad correctly. Likewise, for the toe strap  21 , tool-less adjustment mechanism  31  permits for centering of the pad to eliminate pressure on the toe joints. 
     After all adjustments are made and a boot inserted into the binding, the binding is fastened by the quick release lever  35  engaging a catch  37  at its front end and slipping into the locking buckle  39  at the other end. 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, we see an exploded view of how the toe strap  21  and ankle strap  19  are fastened to the binding, and the location and function of a back plate lean adjustment. The baseplate  15  has located at its front section, along both sides a plurality of apertures  71  for fastening the toe strap  47  to one side of the front of the baseplate. The fastening mechanism utilized to fasten the strap  47  to the baseplate permits pivotal motion of the strap  47  without permitting disengagement. The fastening mechanism consists of a bolt  79  with a threaded shaft which fits through aperture  73  at one end of the strap  47  and through one of the plurality of apertures  71  on the baseplate  15 . Located between the head of the bolt  79  and the surface of the strap, around aperture  73 , is a ratchet washer bolt  75  and a split washer  77  riding on the ratchet washer. The threaded portion of the bolt  79  engages a nut (not shown). The ratchet washer  75  and the split washer  77  allow the shaft of bolt  79  to rotate without loosening it from the nut. 
     The ankle strap  19 , which is similar in construction to the toe strap  21 , has an aperture  63  at one end by which it is fastened to the heel cup  17  through one of the multiple apertures  61  in heel cup  17 . A bolt  69  with a threaded shaft passes through the aperture  63  in strap  24  and one of the multiple apertures  61  in the heel cup. A ratchet washer  65  and a split washer  67  is located between the head and the surface of the strap around aperture  63 . A portion of bolt  69  threads into a cylinder-type nut  59  which receives the threaded shaft of bolt  69  without jutting into the interior of the heel cup. This arrangement allows the bolt-nut pair to rotate without loosening. 
     Base plate  15  has a first angled row of apertures  55  and a second angled row of apertures  57  running parallel thereto on both sides of the baseplate  15 . A pair of bolts  51  and  53  fit into complementing apertures on the first row  55  and the second row  57  and through a single pair of apertures on the heel cup  17  (not shown) to thread into a nut plate  49  on the inside of the heel cup. The plurality of parallel apertures  55  and  57  allow the user to custom locate the heel cup with respect to the baseplate by permitting both a forward-backward and up-down relationship movement. 
     A lean adjustment block  45  fits into a recess  41  in the back plate  13 . The lean adjustment block  45  causes back plate  13  to lean forward towards the toe, or back towards the heel of baseplate  15 , as the back plate pivots on the nut and bolt arrangement that fastens it to the heel cup. The lean adjustment block  45  moves downward in recess  41  of back plate  13  whenever the back plate pivots forward and moves upward in recess  41  when the back plate  13  is upright or is pivoting backwards. A hand tightening and releasing lever  43  permits manual tightening and releasing of the lean adjustment block  45  against the back plate  13  while providing a secure locked position. 
     Referring now to FIG. 3, we see an exploded view of the lean adjustment block  45  and the manually manipulatable fastening lever  43 . The lean adjustment block  45  has a slotted aperture  87  therethrough which overlaps an aperture  85  in the back plate  13 . A cylindrical nut  81  and the flat washer  83  are located on the inside of the back plate  13  for receiving a threaded portion  93  on a shaft  91 . Shaft  91  has an aperture  95  through the end opposite its threaded portion. A washer  97  fits over the apertured end of shaft  91 . The apertured end of shaft  91  enters into a recess between two cam surfaces  99  and  101  on lever  43 . A pin  105  passing through apertures  103  in the cam surfaces  99  and  101  also passes through the aperture  95  in shaft  91 , thereby holding it to lever  43 , but permitting lever  43  to rotate on its cam surfaces against washer  97 . Rotation of lever  43  around its axis will cause the threaded portion  93  of shaft  91  to thread into cylindrical nut  81  on the other side of the back plate  13 , thereby tightening or loosening the lean adjustment block  45  with respect to the back plate  13 . After hand tightening, locking the lean adjustment block into place is accomplished as follows. Because cams  99  and  101  have a high and a low surface, rotating lever  43  about the axis of pin  105  to a position wherein the high surfaces of cams  99  and  101  engage washer  97 , causes the lean adjustment block  45  to be locked to the back plate  13 . 
     This structure of fastening lever  43  is utilized for the manual adjustment mechanism  33  on the ankle strap  19  and the manual adjustment mechanism  31  on the toe strap  21  shown in FIG.  1 . 
     Lean adjustment block  45  has an additional aperture  89  cut into its front side  113  for receiving a screwdriver bit  107 . Screwdriver bit  107  has a tip  109  and a sloped opposite end  111  having a shape which mates with an aperture in the base  90  of lean adjustment block  45 . 
     Referring now to FIGS. 4,  5 , and  6 , we see a more detailed view of the lean adjustment block  45 . The lean adjustment block  45  has a back  114 , a front  113 , and a base  90 . The screwdriver bit  107  fits into an aperture in the base  90  of block  45 , allowing the lean adjustment block  45  to be used as a handle for the screwdriver bit  107  to tighten any loose bolts on the mounting plate of the snowboard binding, as required. The front  113  of the lean adjustment block  45  has a plurality of ridges which mate with like ridges on the back plate  13  (not shown) in recess  41 . These mating ridges allow the lean adjustment block  45  to move in step increments against the back plate  13  without slipping. 
     Reference is now made to FIG. 7 for a more detailed view of the interconnection and interaction of the three structural parts of the binding, the back plate  13 , the heel cup  17  and the baseplate  15 , with the quick release lever  35  and the buckle  39 . 
     The back plate  13  has a plurality of apertures  139 ,  138  on opposite sides which mate with one of a plurality of apertures  137 ,  140  on heel cup  17 . Back plate  13  slips into the inside of heel cup  17 , allowing the back plate to be moved forward or backward as it mates with the different set of apertures  137 ,  140  on heel cup  17 . The back plate  13  is pivotally attached to heel cup  17  through selected apertures. A cylindrical nut  135  passes through aperture  139  of back plate  13  and the selected one of apertures  137  on the heel cup, to engage a threaded portion of bolt  145 , which passes through a split washer  143  and ratchet washer  141 . On the other side of the heel cup  17 , a cylindrical nut  136  passes through aperture  138  on the back plate  13  and a respective one of apertures  140  on heel cup  17  to engage the threaded portion of a nut  146  which passes through a split washer  144  and ratchet washer  142 . This fastening mechanism of cylindrical nut, split washer, ratchet washer and threaded bolt, allows for rotatably holding of the back plate  13  to the heel cup  17  without loosening. 
     The heel cup  17  is fastened to the baseplate  15  by a pair of bolts that thread into a nut plate on each side of the heel cup  17 . On one side of heel cup  17 , bolts  121  and  127  pass through one of the apertures in the aperture rows  123 ,  117 , respectively, in the base plate and through apertures  119 ,  125  in the heel cup  17  to thread into cylinder nut plate  115  which has a pair of internally threaded cylinder nuts,  116  and  118 , that mate with the threads of bolts  121 ,  127 , respectively. The spacing of cylinders  116  and  118  on nut plate  115  corresponds with the spacing between the parallel rows of apertures  117  and  123 . These parallel rows of apertures  117  and  123  allow the user to adjust the heel cup both in a forward-rearward direction and an upward-downward direction. On the other side of the heel cup  17 , another pair of bolts  131 ,  133  pass through apertures on that side of the heel cup and baseplate to another bolt plate  129 . Heel cup  17  is preferably located within the upward extensions of the baseplate  15  but could be located on the outside, if so desired. 
     A catch  191  for the quick release lever  35  is located at the toe section of baseplate  15 . Catch  191  is fastened to the baseplate  15  by a cylindrical nut  195  and a bolt  192  passing through the catch and aperture  193  in baseplate  15 . 
     The quick release lever  35  has a tongue portion  173  connected to the handle end  177  of the lever  35  by a nut  179  passing through apertures at the handle portion  177 , the aperture  171  in the tongue  173 , and an aperture  167  in ankle strap  29 , to cylindrical nut  165 . Toe strap  27  is attached to the front end of quick release lever  35  by a nut  189  passing through an aperture  187  in the front portion of quick release lever  35 , through an aperture  185  in toe strap  27  to cylindrical nut  181 . 
     A buckle shown in an exploded view has a frame  153  which is fastened to the heel cup  17  by a nut  147  passing through an aperture  149  in heel cup  17  through an aperture in spacer  151  and an aperture  152  in frame  153  to cylindrical nut  155 . The frame  153  has a plurality of holes through its sides through which three shafts  161  pass, respectively. A latching member  157  engages a pair of these shafts. A disengaging lever  159  engages a different pair of these shafts. A spring  163  forces the latching member to a closed position. 
     The details of the buckle  215  are more specifically illustrated in FIG. 8. A tongue  173  of the ankle strap is shown in a position to be inserted into the frame  153  of the buckle. The frame  153  contains a pair of rounded apertures  201  on the top, a pair of slotted apertures  203  in the middle, and another pair of rounded apertures  205  on the bottom. Shaft  161  a passes through apertures  201 , shaft  161   b  passes through the slotted apertures  203 , and shaft  161 c passes through the apertures  205 . Latching member  157  has a lengthwise aperture  208  through its top portion which is adapted to fit within the width of the frame  153 . Shaft  161   a  passes through apertures  201  in the frame  153 , through spring  163  and through aperture  208  on the latching member  157 . The spring  163  biases latching member  157  to a closed position, against the back  154  of frame  153 . The edge  212  of latching member  157  engages the ridge  199  of the tongue  173 , thereby holding it firmly against the back  154  of frame  153  when the tongue  173  has been fully inserted into the frame  153  of the buckle. 
     Shaft  161   b  passes through the slotted apertures  203  in the frame  153  and through apertures  209  in the bottom half of latching member  157  which is a pair of legs having a recess  210  therebetween. A disengaging lever  159  has an extended body with a slotted aperture  213  at its mid section which fits into the recess  210  of latching member  157 . When assembled, the shaft  161   b  passes through slots  203  of the frame  153 , circular apertures  209 , in latching member  157 , and slots  213  in the mid section of disengaging lever  159 . Shaft  161 c passes through apertures  205  in the frame  153  as well as through spring  207  and apertures  211  in the bottom portion of disengaging lever  159 . Spring  207  biases disengaging lever  159  to a closed position, towards the back  154  of frame  153 . 
     FIGS. 9,  10 ,  11 ,  12 , and  13  illustrate the operation of the latching buckle  215  during the various stages of insertion and release of the tongue  173 . As shown in FIG. 9, prior to insertion of tongue  173 , specifically the tip portion  197  of tongue  173 , into the buckle  215 , the latching member and disengaging lever are biased by the springs to tightly engage the back wall of frame  153 . The middle shaft  161 b is at one extreme of slots  203  in the frame, as shown. During insertion of tongue  173  into the frame, middle shaft  161 b starts to move towards the other extreme in slots  203  as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, until the ridge or tip  197  of a tongue  173  is caught by edge  212  (FIG. 8) of the latching member allowing shaft  161   b  to once again revert to its extreme closed position in slot  203  as shown in FIG.  12 . To extract the tongue  173  and specifically tip  197  of tongue  173  from the latched buckle  215 , disengaging lever  159  must be manually pulled down from the top, causing the bottom part of disengaging lever to rotate about shaft  161   c  as shaft  161   b  is moved to the other extreme in slot  203 . As a result of this movement of shaft  161   b  to the other extreme of slot  203 , the edge  212  of latching member  157  is moved away from the back of the frame allowing the tongue  197  to be removed from the latching buckle  215 .