Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B63—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; RELATED EQUIPMENT
  • B63B—SHIPS OR OTHER WATERBORNE VESSELS; EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPPING 
  • B63B32/00—Water sports boards; Accessories therefor
  • B63B32/30—Water skis fastened to the user's feet; Accessories specially adapted therefor
  • B63B32/35—Bindings

Definitions

• the present invention relates to equipment for the practice of skiboard and water skiing in its most varied forms, such as ski jumping, speed skiing, sla ⁇ lom skiing, figure skiing, and more particularly equipment. connecting a skier to a ski ⁇ board or a water ski.
• Conventional equipment for connecting a skier to a skiboard is in particular in the form of two straps fixed on the skiboard and in which the skier respectively introduces each of his feet, generally without any particular footwear.
• This connecting means has in particular the disadvantage of not rigidly binding the skier to the skiboard and therefore limits the directional possibilities of the skiboard by the skier.
• Conventional equipment for connecting a skier to one or more ski (s) is in the form of an envelope, generally made of rubberized material, fixed on a ski and into which the practitioner introduces his foot. It should be noted that such a means of main ⁇ wraps only the practitioner's foot, possibly part of the ankle or the entire ankle, and does not allow precise tightening of the foot in the envelope.
• the guide of the ski (s) by the practitioner which is carried out by the foot and possibly a part of the ankle or the whole ankle, is relatively imprecise due to the absence of contribution of the lower leg in the guiding of the ski (s) and due to the flexibility of the rubberized material of the envelope.
• the front boot is fixed to the ski by its front part by means of a releasable safety stop, and by its rear part by means of a releasable stirrup which also serves as a means of fixing the front part of the rear boot.
• the rear part of the rear shoe is fixed by means of a releasable safety stop.
• the shoe used only maintains the practitioner's foot and ankle, which leads to the drawbacks already mentioned above in the example of conventional equipment for the practice of water skiing.
• the present invention overcomes these various drawbacks. More specifically, it consists of equipment for connecting a skier to a water ski comprising, a first and a second footwear body comprising respectively a first and a second flexible booties, respectively enveloping at most a first and a second feet, a first and a second ankles, and a first and a second lower leg of said skier, and a first and a second lockable rigid support structures respectively enveloping said first and second flexible shoes more fully and having respectively at least a first and a second sole respectively provided with a first and a second heel, a first and a second metatarsal belts, a first and a second instep belts, a first and a second upper, said first and second footwear being placed respectively one behind the other on said ski, cara ctérisé in that said connecting equipment
• This feature has the advantage of involving the lower leg in guiding the ski, by means of the rigid rod, which makes it possible to obtain greater possibilities for driving the ski, in particular making tighter turns, which is advantageous.
• the sole and its heel, the metatarsal belt and the instep belt, rigid participate in a rigid connection between the lower part of the lower limb and the ski, which results in particular in increased precision in guiding of skiing, the whole of the support structure giving the skier the possibility of reacting with the entire part of the lower limb enveloped by said support structure by means of the boot, thus obtaining a better distribution of the forces, in particular during accelerations, straight in traction, or centripetal in turns.
• the two releasable rear safety stops ensure the transmission of forces between the ski and the two support structures by rigid connection, this in complete safety in the event of a fall, by triggering said rear stops which release the ski support structures independently.
• a practical advantage of the independence of the rear stops consists in allowing the practitioner after a fall to be able to engage the fixing means without external assistance while being in the water.
• said first and second releasable rear safety stops comprise means of engagement respectively on a first and a second posterior parts respectively of said first and second lockable rigid support structures, in the upper part respectively a first and a second heel of said skier to allow contiguous positioning of said first and second footwear respectively one behind the other.
• This characteristic advantageously offers on the one hand the possibility of a contiguous positioning of the footwear one behind the other, and on the other hand the total clearance of the space located immediately behind a footwear, by the rear stop.
• the equipment for connecting a skier to a water ski comprises a first front stop, mounted on said ski, for an introduction therein of a first cover carried by a first front part of said first lockable rigid holding structure, said first front stop surrounding said first cover to allow contiguous positioning of said first and second footwear respectively one behind the other.
• Figure 1 shows a front view of a footwear body according to the invention comprising in particular a lockable rigid support structure with a flexible liner inside.
• Figure 2 shows in perspective independent means for releasably securing a boot, mounted on a ski, said means being constituted by a front stop, and a releasable rear safety stop used in ski touring.
• FIG. 3 represents a front view of a footwear body according to FIG. 1, fixed on a water ski by means of independent releasable fastening means according to FIG. 2.
• Figure 4 shows a front view of two footwear according to Figure 1, fixed one behind the other on a water ski by means of releasable securing means independent of safety according to Figure 2.
• Figure 5 represents the independent releasable fastening means according to the
• the footwear body 3 shown in Figure 1 comprises a flexible bootie 31, capable of wrapping a foot, an ankle, and a lower leg of a practitioner, who introduces his foot into said bootie in a conventional manner, the latter being advantageously locked by any known means, once the practitioner's foot is introduced.
• the shoe 31 can advantageously be made of spongy material, in order to be able to constitute a mattress soaked in water at a temperature close to that of the practitioner's body, in use, so as to have a good thermal comfort.
• the footwear body 3 according to FIG. 1 further comprises a rigid support structure 30, advantageously made of plastic material, enveloping the flexible bootie 31, having a rigid sole 301 comprising a rigid heel 307, a rigid metatarsal belt 305 advantageously lockable , a rigid instep 306 also advantageously lockable, a rigid rod 302, likewise advantageously lockable, having a joint 308, passing through an axis of rotation substantially equal to that defined by the pin during a forward bending.
• the two foot belts, metatarsal and instep make it possible to ensure the support of the parts of the foot concerned, respectively on the sole and the heel of the support structure, by means of the liner. way to get an optimal connection of the foot on the ski.
• the articulated rod 302 makes it possible to partially secure the lower leg of the foot so as to involve the leg in guiding the ski, while allowing front flexion by means of the articulation 308, movement necessary in particular to keep control of the ski in case of heavy waves.
• the two belts and the upper are provided with all known advantageously independent locking means, for example adjustable hooks, as shown in Figure 1, only for the purpose of enclosing the liner as closely as possible and thus ensuring a optimal connection with the least possible play between the lower part of the lower limb and the ski.
• the rigid holding structure 30, shown in Figure 1 further comprises means cooperating with the releasable fixing means 2 of safety shown in Figure 2.
• a front portion 303 of the holding structure 30 has a cover 300 whose shape is capable of being inserted into the front stop 21. Once the footwear body is inserted into the front stop, the latter surrounds said cover. Thus the space located immediately in front of the fitting body is released by the front stop.
• a rear part 304 of the holding structure 30 comprises a housing 309, advantageously in the upper part of the heel of the skier, capable of cooperating with the releasable rear stop 22 of safety to effect a rigid connection of the holding structure 30 to the ski, as this is shown in Figure 3.
• the releasable safety fastening means of a footwear body 3, represented in FIG. 2, comprise a front stop, advantageously constituted by a flange 21 fixed by any known means on the ski, for example by screws, immobilizing the front part 303 of the rigid retaining structure 30, by introducing the latter into the flange 21, and a releasable rear safety stop, advantageously constituted by a releasable rear safety stop 22 of the type of those used in ski touring bindings , immobilizing the rear portion 304 of the rigid holding structure, both by being supported in the flange 21 and on the surface of the ski.
• the holding structure 30 is rigidly linked to the ski, as shown in FIG.
• the flange 21 can advantageously be made from light metallic materials or steel, covered at least partially with a plastic sheath at the level of the footwear-flange contact, in particular in order to avoid footwear marking.
• the flange 21 and the rear stop 22 are independent in the fixing of the boot body 3, which in particular makes it possible to link two boot bodies 3 independently, advantageously joined to a monoski. one behind the other as shown in Figure 4.
• the two rear stops 22 are advantageously identical, as are the two flanges 21, so as to ensure interchangeability between the footwear 3 between them on the fixing means.
• the housings 309 on the rigid holding structures are also identical. Therefore, a monoski provided with such equipment according to the invention can be used either by a right-handed or left-handed skier.
• a skiboard 1 is provided with releasable safety fastening means shown in Figure 4.
• the bodies footwear can advantageously be similar to the footwear 3 shown in FIG. 4.
• the releasable safety fastening means comprise two flanges 21 and two releasable rear safety stops 22 for independently binding two footwear respectively to the skiboard 1.
• Each footwear body is advantageously linked to the skiboard as shown in FIG. 3.
• the flange 21 and the rear stop 22 for each fitting body are fixed on the skiboard 1 advantageously by means of a plate 23, the essential purpose of which is to enable both the possibility of modifying the angular orientation relative of the longitudinal axes A1 and A2 of the footwear therebetween, and a possibility of modification of the angular orientation of the latter relative to a longitudinal axis A3 of the skiboard.
• pos ⁇ sibilities for modifying the angular positioning of the footwear allow the skier to be able to adapt the position for fixing the feet to the skiboard before use, in particular as a function of their morphology or of preferred positions for the practice of this sport.
• the flange 21 and the rear stop 22 are advantageously fixed to the plate 23 according to any known means, advantageously removable to allow interchangeability of these elements, for example by screws.
• the plate 23 is fixed to the skiboard 1 by means of screws 24 placed substantially circumferentially to advantageously allow any angular positions of the axes Al and A2 relative to the axis A3, according to an angular pitch for example close to 5 °.
• the plate 23 can be of substantially circular shape and for example be produced from light metallic materials or rigid composite plastic materials.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Ocean & Marine Engineering (AREA)
• Footwear And Its Accessory, Manufacturing Method And Apparatuses (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=9448866

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Families Citing this family (9)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 1993
  • 1993-06-28 FR FR9308157A patent/FR2707589B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 1994
  • 1994-06-17 DE DE69403078T patent/DE69403078D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1994-06-17 WO PCT/FR1994/000734 patent/WO1995000387A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 1994-06-17 US US08/571,850 patent/US5785566A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1994-06-17 EP EP94919730A patent/EP0705196B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events