Patent Publication Number: US-2018049511-A1

Title: Snowboard accessory

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/376,959, filed 19 Aug. 2016, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for use of a snowboard accessory and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for use of a snowboard accessory for engagement with a snowboard boot and a snowboard. 
     BACKGROUND 
     At a ski resort, a chair lift is typically used by snowboarders and skiers to ride to the top of the ski hill. When snowboarders board a chair lift, they are required to remove one boot from its snowboard binding, leaving the lead boot strapped into its binding on the snowboard. Once the snowboarder is on the chair lift, the snowboard naturally hangs freely from the attached lead boot, so the snowboarder often rests the detached end of the snowboard on the detached boot for support. This can result in damage to the detached snowboard boot as the sharp edge of the snowboard digs or cuts into the supporting detached boot. Additionally, snowboarders could experience discomfort as they hold their rear ankle in an upward position to prevent the snowboard from falling off of their supporting, detached boot. 
     SUMMARY 
     In an aspect, a snowboard accessory for engagement with a snowboard boot and a snowboard is described. The snowboard accessory includes a support pad including a top support pad surface and a bottom support pad surface. At least a portion of the support pad is magnetically active. The top support pad surface is configured for both magnetic and physical supporting engagement with at least a portion of a snowboard. An elongated anchoring strap extends laterally from the support pad and includes at least one strap end laterally spaced from the support pad. The elongate anchoring strap is removably attached to the bottom support pad surface. The at least one strap end is configured for securement to the snowboard boot. 
     In an aspect, a system for supporting a snowboard is described. The system includes a snowboard boot including a tongue, an outer boot form, and laces securing the outer boot form and extending across the tongue. A snowboard accessory for engagement with a snowboard boot and a snowboard includes a support pad having a top support pad surface and a bottom support pad surface. At least a portion of the support pad is magnetically active. The top support pad surface is configured for both magnetic and physical supporting engagement with at least a portion of the snowboard. An elongated anchoring strap extends laterally from the support pad and includes at least one strap end laterally spaced from the support pad. The elongate anchoring strap is removably attached to the bottom support pad surface. The at least one strap end is configured for securement to the snowboard boot. 
     In an aspect, a method for supporting a snowboard is described. The method includes providing a snowboard boot including a toe region, a tongue, an outer boot form, and laces securing the outer boot form and extending across the tongue. A snowboard accessory is provided, including a support pad having a top support pad surface and a bottom support pad surface. At least a portion of the support pad is magnetically active. The snowboard accessory includes an elongate anchoring strap extending laterally from the support pad and including at least one strap end laterally spaced from the support pad. The elongate anchoring strap is removably attached to the bottom support pad surface. A snowboard is provided. The snowboard accessory is secured to the snowboard boot. The support pad is maintained longitudinally atop the toe region of the snowboard boot. The top support surface is selectively magnetically and physically engaged with at least a portion of the snowboard. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a better understanding, reference may be made to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1A  is a perspective top view of a snowboard accessory; 
         FIG. 1B  is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B in  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 2A  is a bottom view of an element of the snowboard accessory of  FIG. 1A ; 
         FIG. 2B  is a top view of an element of the snowboard accessory of  FIG. 1A . 
         FIG. 3A  is a perspective view of a system of supporting a snowboard, including the snowboard accessory of  FIG. 1A ; 
         FIG. 3B  is a perspective view of an alternate configuration of a system of supporting a snowboard, including the snowboard accessory of  FIG. 1A ; 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart depicting a method for supporting a snowboard; and 
         FIG. 5  is a partial cutaway view of a snowboard engaged with the snowboard accessory of  FIG. 1A . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF ASPECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of skill in the art to which the present disclosure pertains. 
     As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” can include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” as used herein, can specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. 
     As used herein, the term “and/or” can include any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being “on,” “attached” to, “connected” to, “coupled” with, “contacting,” etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, “directly on,” “directly attached” to, “directly connected” to, “directly coupled” with or “directly contacting” another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “directly adjacent” another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature, whereas a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” another feature might not have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature. 
     Spatially relative terms, such as “under,” “below,” “lower,” “over,” “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature&#39;s relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms can encompass different orientations of a device in use or operation, in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if a device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “under” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “over” the other elements or features. 
     It will be understood that, although the terms “first,” “second,” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. Thus, a “first” element discussed below could also be termed a “second” element without departing from the teachings of the present disclosure. The sequence of operations (or steps) is not limited to the order presented in the claims or figures unless specifically indicated otherwise. 
     The invention comprises, consists of, or consists essentially of the following features, in any combination. 
       FIGS. 1A and 1B  depict a snowboard accessory  100  for engagement with a snowboard boot  302  and a snowboard  400 . The snowboard accessory  100  comprises a support pad  102  including spaced top  104  and bottom  106  support pad surfaces, with at least a portion of the support pad  102  being magnetically active, and the top support pad surface  104  being configured for both magnetic and supporting engagement with at least a portion of the snowboard  400 . The top support pad surface  104  and the bottom support pad surface  106  may be made of a durable plastic or metal composite, or from any other suitable material or combination of materials. 
     The snowboard accessory  100  further comprises an elongate anchoring strap  108  extending laterally from the support pad  102  and includes at least one strap end  110  laterally spaced from the support pad  102 . The “lateral” direction, as used herein, is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and is the side-to-side direction, in the orientation of  FIG. 1B , as opposed to the up-and-down direction of the longitudinal direction. The elongate anchoring strap  108  is removably attached to the bottom support pad surface  106 . The elongate anchoring strap  108  and the at least one strap end  110  are configured for securement to the snowboard boot  302 . The anchoring strap  108  may be comprised of a durable, flexible material (e.g., plastic or rubber) that is capable of maintaining its shape and may be malleable for manipulation when being secured to the snowboard boot  302 . 
     The top support pad surface  104  includes a groove  112  for selectively accepting, and physically supporting, at least a portion of the snowboard  400 . The groove  112  extends laterally across the top support pad surface  104 . The groove  112  may have any suitable configuration to support the snowboard  400 . The groove  112  may be configured to resist sliding of the snowboard  400  laterally relative to the top support pad surface  104 . 
     The portion of the top support pad surface  104  adjacent to the groove  112  may be comprised of magnetic and nonmagnetic material or a composition thereof. In one embodiment, at least one magnetic component (shown schematically as  114  in  FIG. 1B ) may be located (e.g., embedded) within the support pad  102 , between the top support pad surface  104  and the bottom support pad surface  106 . The at least one magnetic component  114  of the snowboard accessory  100  may be comprised of one or more magnets. Furthermore, the at least one magnetic component  114  may have any desired shape, size, placement, orientation, or any other physical properties for a particular use environment. Likewise, in an embodiment where the at least one magnetic component  114  is comprised of multiple magnets, the magnets may each, and all collectively, have any desired shape, size, placement, configuration, or any other physical properties for a particular use environment. For example, the magnetic component may be comprised of two short magnets and one long magnet, with the long magnet in between the two small magnets. 
     The anchoring strap  108  may be configured to extend over the tongue  304  of the snowboard boot  302 . The anchoring strap  108  may extend past the support pad  102 . At least one strap end  110  is configured to extend laterally from the support pad  102 . The at least one strap end  110  may extend past the edge of the support pad  102 . In an embodiment where there are two or more strap ends  110 , the two or more strap ends  110  may be configured to extend laterally from the support pad  102  in different, or even opposite, directions from each other, such as laterally in opposite directions across the tongue  304 . The at least one strap end  110  may be sufficiently malleable to allow the ends to turn or bend up longitudinally to secure the snowboard accessory  100  in place as desired. 
     In another configuration, the at least one strap end  110  may extend longitudinally beneath the laces  308  of the snowboard boot  302  and extend up the length of the tongue  304 . Yet another potential configuration may include a strap that wraps around either the outside of the ankle or foot of a snowboard boot  302 , in place of the at least one strap end  110  that that fits beneath the laces  308 . One of ordinary skill in the art will understand the minor adjustments that could be made to allow the snowboard accessory  100  to be used with any configuration of snowboard boot  302 , without harm to the present invention. 
       FIGS. 2A and 2B  depict elements of a rotation mechanism  200  for selective axial rotation of the support pad  102  relative to the center of the support pad  102 . The rotation mechanism  200  includes a plurality of ridges  210  protruding from the bottom support pad surface  106 , each ridge  210  being configured for selective engagement with at least one complementary notch  220  in the elongate anchoring strap  108 . 
     The notches  220  may be arranged to allow for incremental rotation of the support pad  102  relative to the elongate anchoring strap  108  by set degrees, up to a maximum rotation amount. For example, the rotation mechanism  200  may allow for maximum rotation of 10 degrees in either direction, and may be adjusted in increments of 5 degrees. Therefore, such an embodiment would account for 5 positions: a position at 0 degrees, and two positions in each direction to allow for incremental rotation of 5 degrees. To accomplish this, such an embodiment might include a plurality of ridges  210  (four shown in  FIG. 2A ) protruding from the elongate anchoring strap  108 , equally spaced along the circumference of the elongate anchoring strap  108 , and four groups of corresponding notches  220  in the bottom support pad surface  106 , each group comprising a plurality of ridges  210  and each group equally spaced along the circumference of the bottom support pad surface  106 . Each ridge  210  may engage with a selected plurality of corresponding notch  220 , providing for one of the available rotational positions. 
     The rotation mechanism  200  may include an attachment bore  230  configured to accept a means of attachment, such as a screw or pin (not shown). The attachment means may fasten the support pad  102  to the elongate anchoring strap  108 . As the support pad  102  is tightened to the elongate anchoring strap  108  by the attachment means, the ridges  210  of the elongate anchoring strap  108  engage with the selected corresponding notches  220  of the bottom support pad surface  106  to lock the support pad  102  into the selected rotational position. 
     In another embodiment, the snowboard accessory  100  may include a rotation bearing (not shown), instead of the ridge  210  and notch  220  system of  FIGS. 2A-2B , that allows the support pad  102  to rotate independently of (and optionally freely with respect to) the elongate anchoring strap  108  during use of the snowboard accessory  100 . 
       FIGS. 3A and 3B  depict a system  300  for supporting a snowboard  400 . The system  300  includes a snowboard boot  302  including a tongue  304 , an outer boot form  306 , and laces  308  securing the outer boot form  306  and extending across the tongue  304 , and a snowboard accessory  100  for engagement with the snowboard boot  302  and a snowboard  400 . 
       FIG. 3A  depicts the snowboard accessory  100  secured to the snowboard boot  302 , where the elongate anchoring strap  108  is secured beneath the laces  308  and the at least one strap end  110  extends outside of the outer boot form  306 . The force generated by tightened laces  308  longitudinally compresses the elongate anchoring strap  108  onto the tongue  304  and retains the elongate anchoring strap  108  beneath the laces  308 . 
     An alternative configuration of the system  300  using the snowboard accessory  100  is depicted in  FIG. 3B , where the elongate anchoring strap  108  is secured beneath the laces  308  of the snowboard boot  302 , with the at least one strap end  110  extending laterally beneath the outer boot form  306 , atop the wearer&#39;s foot. The force generated by tightened laces  308  on the outer boot form  306  longitudinally compresses the outer boot form  306  onto the at least one strap end  110 , and frictionally retains the at least one strap end  110  between the outer boot form  306  and the wearer&#39;s foot. 
       FIG. 4  depicts a flowchart of a method for supporting a snowboard  400 , and  FIG. 5  depicts a resulting interaction between a snowboard accessory  100 , a snowboard boot  302 , and a snowboard  400 . In first action block  402 , the method begins by providing a snowboard boot  302 . The snowboard boot  302  may include a toe region  310 , a tongue  304 , an outer boot form  306 , and laces  308  securing the outer boot form  306  and extending across the tongue  304 . The snowboard boot  302  may include other features, as well, and may be of any suitable form, size, color, or style. 
     In second action block  404 , the method progresses by providing a snowboard accessory  100 . The snowboard accessory  100  may include a support pad  102  having top  104  and bottom  106  support pad surfaces, at least a portion of the support pad  102  being magnetically active. The snowboard accessory  100  may also include an elongate anchoring strap  108  extending laterally from the support pad  102  and including at least one strap end  110  laterally spaced from the support pad  102 . The elongate anchoring strap  108  may be removably attached to the bottom support pad surface  106 . Additionally, the snowboard accessory  100  may include a groove  112  on the top support pad surface  104  for selectively accepting and physically supporting at least a portion of a snowboard  400 . 
     The snowboard accessory  100  may also include a rotation mechanism  200  for selective rotation of the support pad  102  relative to the center of the support pad  102 . The rotation mechanism  200  may then be positioned in an orientation that facilitates engagement of the groove  112  on the top support pad surface  104  of the snowboard accessory  100  with at least a portion of the snowboard  400 . The rotation mechanism  200  may be rotated/actuated manually by action of the user and/or automatically, through engagement with the snowboard  400 . The rotational orientation of the support pad  102  may be either preset before use of the snowboard accessory  100  for a single rotational position throughout use, or the support pad  102  could “swivel” or otherwise reorient rotationally during use, as desired. 
     In third action block  406 , the method progresses by providing a snowboard  400 . The snowboard  400  may be of any form, size, color, style, or the like. The snowboard  400  may include bindings that removably connect the snowboard boot  302  to the snowboard  400 . The snowboard  400  may also have an edge surrounding the perimeter of the snowboard  400 . The edge may be made of metal, such as a magnetically attractive metal material. However, the snowboard accessory  100  could also be used with a nonmagnetic edged snowboard  400 . 
     In fourth action block  408 , the method progresses by the snowboard accessory  100  being secured to the snowboard boot  302 . Securing the snowboard accessory  100  to the snowboard boot  302  may include arranging the elongate anchoring strap  108  across the tongue  304  of the snowboard boot  302  and beneath the laces  308  of the snowboard boot  302 , as shown in  FIGS. 3A-3B . Securing the snowboard accessory  100  to the snowboard boot  302  may further include tightening the laces  308  of the snowboard boot  302 . Additionally, securing the snowboard accessory  100  to the snowboard boot  302  may further include inserting the at least one strap end  110  laterally beneath the outer boot form  306 , as shown in  FIG. 3B . 
     In fifth action block  410  of  FIG. 4 , the support pad  102  is maintained atop the toe region  310  of the snowboard boot  302 . In action block  412 , the top support surface  104  is selectively magnetically and physically engaged with the snowboard  400 . This can occur by engaging at least a portion of the snowboard  400  with the groove  112  on the top support pad surface  104  of the support pad  102 . The support pad  102  may then be able to physically and/or magnetically support the snowboard  400  on the support pad  102 . 
     In other words, to use the snowboard accessory  100 , the snowboarder will reach the lift, disengage the snowboard boot  302  with the attached snowboard accessory  100  from the snowboard  400 , and mount the lift. As depicted in  FIG. 5 , with the snowboard accessory  100  secured to the snowboard boot  302 , the snowboarder will slip the heel-side edge of the snowboard  400  into the groove  112 , where the groove  112  will either magnetically and/or physically hold the edge of the snowboard  400  in place, thus alleviating the discomfort to the user of excess weight hanging from the other snowboard boot  302  that is still bound to the snowboard  400 . Once the lift has completed its ascent, the snowboarder will remove the edge of the snowboard  400  from the groove  112  by pulling the snowboard boot  302  with the snowboard accessory  100  away from the snowboard  400  (or vice versa). The snowboarder will then dismount the lift, reattach the snowboard boot  302  with the snowboard accessory  100  to the snowboard  400 , and descend the slope on the snowboard  400 . 
     While aspects of this disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the example aspects above, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various additional aspects may be contemplated. For example, the specific methods described above for using the apparatus are merely illustrative; one of ordinary skill in the art could readily determine any number of tools, sequences of steps, or other means/options for placing the above-described apparatus, or components thereof, into positions substantively similar to those shown and described herein. In an effort to maintain clarity in the Figures, certain ones of duplicative components shown have not been specifically numbered, but one of ordinary skill in the art will realize, based upon the components that were numbered, the element numbers which should be associated with the unnumbered components; no differentiation between similar components is intended or implied solely by the presence or absence of an element number in the Figures. Any of the described structures and components could be integrally formed as a single unitary or monolithic piece or made up of separate sub-components, with either of these formations involving any suitable stock or bespoke components and/or any suitable material or combinations of materials. Any of the described structures and components could be disposable or reusable as desired for a particular use environment. Any component could be provided with a user-perceptible marking to indicate a material, configuration, at least one dimension, or the like pertaining to that component, the user-perceptible marking potentially aiding a user in selecting one component from an array of similar components for a particular use environment. The term “substantially” is used herein to indicate a quality that is largely, but not necessarily wholly, that which is specified—a “substantial” quality admits of the potential for some relatively minor inclusion of a non-quality item. Though certain components described herein are shown as having specific geometric shapes, all structures of this disclosure may have any suitable shapes, sizes, configurations, relative relationships, cross-sectional areas, or any other physical characteristics as desirable for a particular application. Any structures or features described with reference to one aspect or configuration could be provided, singly or in combination with other structures or features, to any other aspect or configuration, as it would be impractical to describe each of the aspects and configurations discussed herein as having all of the options discussed with respect to all of the other aspects and configurations. A device or method incorporating any of these features should be understood to fall under the scope of this disclosure as determined based upon the claims below and any equivalents thereof. 
     Other aspects, objects, and advantages can be obtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims.