WO2002053241A1

WO2002053241A1 - Snow board binding device

Info

Publication number: WO2002053241A1
Application number: PCT/KR2001/000006
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tae-Hun Park; Byung-Sun Kim; Young-Myoung Kim; Jong-Bae Park; Chang-Sung Kwon
Original assignee: Nanux Inc.
Priority date: 2001-01-03
Filing date: 2001-01-03
Publication date: 2002-07-11

Abstract

The present invention relates to a snow board binding device which could easily fix a base of rider's boot to a snow board. The snow board binding device includes a base binding plate, two side binding plates, a high back and an angle adjusting means for the high back. Two side binding plates are extended upward from the both edges of a base binding plate. The angle adjusting means for the high back, positioned in either of the rear positions of two side binding plates, which fixes the angle between the side binding plate and the high back on the wanted position.

Description

SNOW BOARD BINDING DEVICE

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a snow board binding device; and, more particularly, to a binding device for use in a snow board enabling an easy attachment/detachment of boots to/from a snow board and a free physical posture of a rider on the snow board.

Background of the Invention In general, snow-boarding is one of the winter sports which is similar to skiing in that a person wearing boots(hereinafter referred as "rider") which are fixed to a snow board enjoys sliding downhill on the snow. A configuration of the snow board used in such snow-boarding includes a single snow board 1 and a pair of boots fixed on the snow board 1 , as shown in Fig. 1. In snow-boarding, the rider secures the boots on the snow board 1 and slides downhill on the snow, directing the snow board 1. At the moment, the boots have to be firmly secured on the snow board 1 to permit the rider to properly control a direction of the snow board movement. For this, a binding device 4 for a snow board is employed.

Fig. 2 depicts a frontal elevational view of the snow board binding device in which the boots are fixed on the snow board.

As shown, in the snow board binding device 4, the boots 3 are secured by a binding band 6 provided with a buckle 10 and the snow board binding device 4 itself is firmly fixed to a snow board 1 through the use of bolts(not shown). Accordingly, the snow board binding device 4 serves to fix the boots 3 to the snow board 1. In the snow board binding device 4 constructed in this manner, the boots 3 are seated on the binding device 4 after handling the buckle 10 to untie the binding band 6 and then secured to the binding device 4 by tightening again the binding band 6.

However, with the snow board binding device described above, in a case that the rider tries to mount the boots 3 onto the snow board 1, standing on the snow, there's higher possibility for an inadvertent accident to occur since it is easy for the snow board to slide on the snow.

Therefore, the rider cannot help sitting on the snow for mounting the boots 3 onto the snow board 1. As a result, problems are made in that the rider feels displeasure at the time when his hips are contacted to the snow and his clothes get wet. Recently, in order to overcome these shortcomings, a snow board binding device for practical use has been developed, wherein a high back 5 of the binding device is firstly pulled back without necessitating loosening the binding band 6 and, secondly, boots are seated on a base binding plate 11 and then the high back 5 returns to its original position.

A side elevational view of such prior art snow board binding device is shown in Fig. 3.

As shown in Fig. 3, the prior art snow board binding device is provided with an operation lever 7 mounted to a rear portion of the high back 5 and the operation lever 7 has a steel wire through which a forward tensile force is exerted on the high back 5 formed through the operation lever 7. The base binding plate 11 constituting a lower portion of the snow board binding device has though-holes(not shown) formed through the base binding plate 11 and the snow board binding device is secured to the snow board 11 by using bolts passing through the though-holes.

In the snow board binding device constructed in this manner, the high back 5 can be rearwardly tilted when a top portion of the operation lever 7 is pulled back to remove the forward tensile force by the steel wire 8.

Accordingly, the rider can locate the boots onto the snow board binding device through a space widened by the tilted high back 5 without untying the binding band 6 and secure the boots to the binding device by returning the high back 5 to its original position and then pushing the operation lever 7 forwardly, whereby the boots and the snow board are combined into a unit.

However, although such snow board binding device can allow a simple mounting of the boots onto the snow board binding device, separate operations have to be performed before the boots are inserted into the binding device, in order to adjust an angle between the high back 5 supporting a rear portion of the boots and the base binding plate 11 jointed to the high back 5, according to the rider's preference.

Meanwhile, since the rider poses his own special style of posture during the snow-boarding, the high back supporting the rear portion of the boot must be easily and freely adjusted in its upward, downward, leftward and rightward movements.

However, in the prior art snow board binding devices, the upward, downward, leftward and rightward adjustments of the high back 5 for fitting the high back 5 into various physical positions of the riders cannot be properly obtained, so that the high back cannot efficiently support the rear portion of the boots. As a result, the rider cannot take his free physical positions on the snow board during the snow-boarding.

Disclosure of the Invention

It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide a binding device for a snow board enabling an easy attachment/detachment of boots to/from a snow board and free physical postures or positions of a rider on the snow board. Another object of the invention is to provide a snow board binding device, wherein the rider is always capable of easily adjusting angular orientations of a high back with respect a vertical axis and a transversal axis of a boot, respectively, or a height of the high back, standing on his feet on the snow after temporarily suspending his snow- boarding. The above and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing a snow board binding device comprising: a base binding plate, a pair of side binding plates each vertically extending from a lateral portion of said base binding plate, a high back rotatably mounted to rear ends of the side binding plates, and a high back inclination adjustment means provided in the rear end of one of the side binding plates, for fixing an inclination of the high back with the respect to said side binding plates at a desired angular position.

In accordance with one feature of the present invention, the high back inclination adjustment means includes: a circular strap fixed to said rear end of the one side binding plate to protrude outside the side binding plate and having a ratchet wheel formed therearound, a drum provided in a lower end of the high back corresponding to said rear end of the one side binding plate and positioned around an outer peripheral surface of the circular strap, a stopper lever provided with at its one end a ratchet pawl cooperating with said ratchet wheel of the circular strap and, at the other end thereof, a pressing area, thereby preventing the high back from being rotated in one direction by means of a mutual engagement between the ratchet pawl and the ratchet wheel of the circular strap, a stopper lever fixing pin mounted through pin holes formed through one side of the drum to keep the stopper lever in a rotatable condition, and a return spring through which the stopper lever fixing pin is positioned, one end of the return spring being engaged with the stopper lever while the other end being engaged with the drum of the high back, thereby exerting a restoring force on the stopper lever so as to allow the ratchet pawl of the stopper lever to be engaged with the ratchet wheel of the circular strap.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, an arcuate lock rotatably mounted to the drum by using a pin-engagement is provided for preventing the pressing area from being lowered, with a leading portion of the arcuate lock located under the pressing area.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a ring-like lock rotatably mounted to the pressing area of the stopper lever is further provided, the ringlike lock being rotated in a first direction so as to come into contact with the drum for locking the pressing area and being rotated in a second direction reverse to the first direction for releasing the locking of the pressing area.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, the present invention further includes a high back locking means provided in the rear end of the other of the side binding plates, for setting the inclination of the high back in a state which a rider wants.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, said high back locking means includes: a housing fixed to the rear end of the other of the side binding plates having a cutout formed on its outer peripheral surface in a predetermined angular range along a circumference thereof and a hole formed on a center of the housing, a housing sleeve provided in a lower end of the high back corresponding to said rear end of the other of the side binding plate positioned around a periphery of the housing and having on its inner surface a serration, a stopping member positioned on the cutout of the housing and having a serration mating with a serration of the housing sleeve, a vertical motion lever inserted into the hole formed on the center of the housing to ascend and descend the stopping member within the cutout depending upon its rotational direction, thereby locking a rotation of the high back and releasing the locking of the high back, and a cover engaged with the housing for preventing the vertical motion lever from deviating in an axial direction from a desired position.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, a spring-receiving groove is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the vertical motion lever and a compression spring for assisting the ascending movement of the stopping member when the compression spring comes into contact with the stopping member by the rotation of the vertical motion lever is received by the spring-receiving groove, while a leading portion of the compression spring being covered with a U-shaped spring cover for preventing the compression lever from being directly entangled with the stopping member.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, the cutout is positioned above a horizontal line passing through the center of the housing.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, said high back locking means includes: an elongate hole of an arcuate shape positioned on the rear end of the other of the side binding plates in a co-axial relationship with the circular strap, a though-hole formed on a lower end of the high back corresponding to said elongate hole of the arcuate shape, a locking bolt extending through the elongate hole and the though- hole for a clamping, and a locking nut cooperating with the locking bolt.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a snow board binding device comprising: a base binding plate, a pair of side binding plates each vertically extending from a lateral portion of said base binding plate, a lower high back mounted to both rear ends of the side binding plates and having a upper and a lower elongate holes or a left and a right elongate holes formed therethrough, an upper high back assembled with the lower back and having a upper and a lower elongate holes or a left and a right elongate holes formed therethrough, which correspond to those holes of the lower high back, respectively, and a claming means for clamping together the upper high back and the lower high back through the holes is provided. The clamping means includes: a nut plate positioned inside the upper high back and passing through the elongate holes, high back fixing bolts engaged into the nut plate 75 from an outside of the lower high back, and high back fixing washers fixed around the heads of the high back fixing bolts, respectively. In accordance with another feature of the present invention, guide slots formed on an periphery of the elongate holes of the lower high back are provided to restrict and guide peripherals of the high back fixing washers when the high back fixing bolts are moved.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects and features of the instant invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a snow board and a rider riding on the snow board; Fig. 2 depicts a perspective view of a prior art snow board binding device in which boots are mounted to a snow board;

Fig. 3 gives a perspective view of another embodiment of the prior art snow board binding device;

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of an inventive snow board binding device; Fig. 5 presents an enlarged exploded perspective view of a portion A shown in

Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 represents a side elevational view of an arcuate lock employed in the present invention;

Fig. 7 offers a side elevational view of a ring-shaped lock employed in the present invention; Fig. 8 discloses an exploded perspective view of a portion B shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 9 sets forth a side elevational view of a high back locking means employed in the present invention;

Fig. 10 shows a perspective view of an inventive high back portion which is divided into an upper high back and a lower high back;

Fig. 11 presents a side elevational view of a combined state of the upper high back and the lower high back shown in Fig. 10; and

Figs. 12a through 12d are rear elevational views showing operations of the high back shown in Fig. 10, respectively.

Modes of carrying out the Invention Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in Fig. 4, a snow board binding device 4 includes a base binding plate 11 , a pair of side binding plates 13 and a high back.

The base binding plate 11 on which boots of the rider are seated has its inside a means(not shown) for combining the snow board binding device 4 with a snow board.

The side binding plates 13 extending upright from lateral portions or edges of the base binding plate 11, respectively, support the lateral portions of the boot and have through-holes 15 formed therethrough, through which a binding band(not shown) is connected for fixing the boots into the snow board binding device 4.

Rear ends of the side binding plates 13 are connected to a high back 5 supporting a rear portion of the boot.

In the connection of the rear ends of the side binding plates 13 with the high back 5, the high back 5 can be freely rotated or pivoted rearwardly in order to allow the boot to be seated on the snow board binding device 4 without loosening the binding band as shown in the prior art, when the rider mounts the boot into the snow board binding device 4.

In addition to such configuration, preferably, in the course of rotating the high back 5 forwardly after the boot is seated on the snow board binding device 4, the high back 5 can be stopped and maintained in a certain angular position for supporting the rear portion of the boot.

For this, the high back 5 is rotatably connected to the rear ends of the side binding plates 13 and a high back inclination adjustment means 100 for maintaining the high back 5 in a desired angle with respect to the side binding plates 13 is provided in one of the rear ends of the side binding plates 13.

Referring to Fig. 5, the high back inclination adjustment means 100 includes a circular strap 20 having a ratchet wheel 21 with sloped teeth on its peripheral surface and secured to one end of the rear ends of the side binding plates 13, a drum 23 provided in a lower portion of the high back 5 and positioned around the circular strap 20, and a stopper lever 25 having a ratchet pawl 26 cooperating with the ratchet wheel 21 of the circular strap 20 and mounted to the drum 23.

The ratchet pawl 26 of the stopper lever 25 endures against a rotational force of the ratchet wheel 21 of the circular strap 20. For this, the stopper lever 25 is rotatably mounted on the drum 23 by the stopper lever fixing pin 27 which passes through a pin hole 28 formed through the drum 23; and a return spring 29 for providing a restoring force to the stopper lever 25 is provided between the stopper lever 25 and the drum 23 of the high back 5.

Provided on a side of the stopper lever 25 is a pressing area 24. When the pressing area 24 is depressed by, e.g., the rider, the ratchet wheel 21 formed around the circular strap 20 and the ratchet pawl 26 formed on the stopper lever 25 are disengaged from each other, whereby the high back 5 is put into a freely rotatable condition.

It will be appreciated that since the ratchet pawl 26 of the stopper lever is engaged with the ratchet wheel 21 of the circular strap 20, preventing the rotation of the ratchet wheel 21 by catching the teeth thereof, while the pressing area 24 is not depressed, the high back 5 can rotate in the forward direction and cannot rotate in the rearward direction.

Meanwhile, Fig. 6 illustrates one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention further including an arcuate lock 31. The arcuate lock 31 is rotatably mounted to one side of the drum 23 positioned on the lower portion of the high back 5 through a pin. The arcuate lock 31 serves to prevent the pressing area 24 from being inadvertently lowered, by being positioned below the pressing area 24 as its leading portion comes into a contact with the peripheral surface of the drum 23 provided in the lower portion of the high back 5 during a locking mode. This functions to prevent the pressing area 24 from being inadvertently lowered and hence to remove the possibility for the high back 5 to be undesirably pulled back during snow-boarding.

Further, Fig. 7 illustrates one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention further including a ring-like lock 33. The ring-like lock 33 is rotatably mounted to the pressing area 24 of the stopper lever 25.

A locking motion occurs when the ring-like lock 33 rotates in one direction to come into a contact with the drum 23 provided in the lower portion of the high back 5, and the locked state is released when the ring-like lock 33 rotating in a contrary direction. With this function, the inadvertent depression of the pressing area 24 during snow-boarding which may cause the high back 5 to be undesirably pulled back is prevented.

Further, a high back locking means 200 for setting and maintaining an inclination of the high back 5 at an angle which the rider wants is provided in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention.

The high back locking means 200 ensures that the high back 5 is not pivoted rearward during the snow-boarding.

As shown in Fig. 8, the high back locking means 200 is provided with a housing 43 fixed to the other side of the rear ends of the side binding plates 13, a housing sleeve 41 positioned around a periphery of the housing 43 and having on its inner surface a serration

44, a stopping member 45 connected with the stopping housing 43, a vertical motion lever 47 for raising or lowering the stopping member 45 and a cover 49 covering the vertical motion lever 47.

The housing 43 has a cutout 42 formed on and along a periphery of the housing 43 within a predetermined angular range and a circular hole 40 formed on a center of the housing 43.

The stopping member 45 having a serration corresponding to the serration of the housing sleeve 41 is positioned in the cutout 42 of the housing 43.

The vertical motion lever 47 is inserted into the circular hole 40 formed on the center of the housing 43 to allow the stopping member 45 to be raised or lowered in the cutout 42 of the housing 43 in response to rotational movements thereof.

An engagement of the serrations 46 and 44 formed on both the stopping member 45 and the housing sleeve 41, respectively, which occurs when the stopping member 45 is raised by the rotation of the vertical motion lever 47 restrains the rotation of the high back 5. For this, a portion of the vertical motion lever 47 coming into a contact with the stopping member 45 has a cam profile for raising and lowering the stopping member 45.

A spring-receiving groove 48 is formed on a periphery of the vertical motion lever 47 and a compression spring 51 for assisting the upward movement of the stopping member 45 when it comes into a contact with the stopping member 45 during the rotation of the vertical motion lever 47 is inserted into the spring-receiving groove 48 to properly raise the stopping member 45 when the compression spring 51 is directly below the stopping member 45. The raise of the stopping member 45 under the assistance by the compression spring 51 may prevent a case that the stopping member 45 is not completely engaged with the housing sleeve 41 due to a play caused by, e.g., machining allowances of the serrations 44 and 46 of the housing sleeve 41 and the stopping member 45.

A spring cover 53 may be positioned on the leading portion of the compression spring 51 to prevent the compression spring 51 from being entangled with the stopping member 45. It is preferred that the cutout 42 be located above a horizontal line running through the center of the housing 43, so that the stopping member 45 can descend by its self-weight when a force by the vertical motion lever 47 raising the stopping member 45 is removed.

A stopping member cover 49 is combined with the housing 43 to prevent the vertical motion lever 47 from being deviated in an axial direction from the desired place.

On the other hand, the high back locking means may be configured otherwise.

As shown in Fig. 9, a high back locking means 300 in another embodiment includes an elongate hole 61 positioned on the side binding plate 13, a though-hole(not shown) positioned in a position of the lower portion of the high back 5 corresponding to the elongate hole 61, a locking bolt 62 passing through the elongate hole 61 and the though-hole for a clamping action, and a locking nut engaged with the locking bolt 62.

The locking nut is not illustrated and it is located inside the side binding plate 13.

The high back locking means 300 constructed in this manner may be located in the same one side of the side binding plate 13 as the side in which the high back inclination adjustment means 100 is mounted, or in the other side of the side binding plate

13.

The elongate hole 61 can always correspond to the though-hole formed on the lower portion of the high back 5 even if the high back 5 is rotated, since the elongate hole 61 has an arcuate shape whose center is coincide with the center of the circular strap 20. The high back locking means 200 and 300 may be used as an auxiliary means for the high back inclination adjustment means 100 or may replace the same 100.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the high back 5 is divided into an upper high back 60 and a lower high back 50 and the high back 5 can properly support the rear portion of the boot by rendering the upper high back 60 movable in upward, downward, leftward and rightward directions and hence enabling adjustments of the height and the transversal angle of the high back.

In general, the rider poses various different physical positions during snow- boarding. For this reason, the boot exerts various forces in different directions on the high back. Accordingly, the position, the height and the transversal angle of the high back have to be freely adjusted according to the rider's style for the proper snow-boarding.

For this, as shown in Fig. 10, in the present invention, the lower high back 50 having an upper and a lower elongate holes 55 is connected to the rear ends of the side binding plates 13; and the upper high back 60 having a right and a left elongate holes 65 which correspond to the upper and the lower elongate holes 55, respectively, is connected to an upper portion of the lower high back 50.

The upper and the lower holes 55 and the right and the left holes 65 formed through the lower high back 50 and the upper high back 60, respectively, may be formed in a contrary manner to this embodiment. A means for clamping the upper high back 60 and the lower high back 50 through the elongate holes is used to fix the lower high back 50 on the upper high back 60.

As shown in Fig. 11, the clamping means includes a nut plate 75 positioned inside the upper high back 60 and passing through the elongate holes, high back fixing bolts 71 engaged into the nut plate 75 from an outside of the lower high back 50, and high back fixing washers 73 fixed around the heads of the high back fixing bolts 71, respectively.

Further, in the present invention, guide slots 77 formed on an inner periphery of the elongate holes 55 of the lower high back 50 are preferably provided to restrict and guide peripherals of the high back fixing washers 73 when the high back fixing bolts 71 are moved within and along the elongate holes 55.

With this configuration, since the peripherals of the high back fixing washers 73 are restricted within the guide slots 77, the high back fixing bolts 71 are also restricted, thereby assisting a prevention of the unwanted movement of the upper high back 60 during snow-boarding. Moreover, a high back pad 76 may be further provided on the upper high back 60 and the nut plate 75.

Operations of the present invention are now described with the reference to accompanying drawings.

The rider has to fix the boot into the snow board binding device 4 secured on the snow board in order to enjoy snow-boarding. For this, after lowering the pressing area 24 of the high back inclination adjustment means 100 and then pivoting the high back rearward as shown in Fig. 5, the rider inserts the boot onto the base binding plate 11 with a bottom surface of the boot coming into a contact with the surface of the base binding plate 11. Next, the high back is rotated forwardly to support the rear portion of the boot.

At the moment, the forward rotation of the high back is achieved without pressing the pressing area 24 of the high back inclination adjustment means 100, since the engagement between the ratchet wheel and the ratchet pawl is designed to permit the rotation of the high back in the forward direction and to prevent its rotation in the opposite direction. With these configurations, the snow board binding device 4 in accordance with the present invention allows a convenient fitting of the boot into the device without loosening the binding band as mentioned in the prior art.

After fixing the boot into the snow board binding device 4, the leading portion of the arcuate lock 31 shown in Fig. 6 is located below the pressing area 24 to prevent the inadvertent lowering of pressing area 24 which causes the high back 5 to be undesirably pulled back.

In other words, when the arcuate lock 31 is rotated clockwise when viewed in Fig. 6a after the high back 5 is rotated and maintained at desired angle, the leading portion of the arcuate lock 31 is located below the pressing area 24 as shown in Fig. 6b. The leading portion of the arcuate lock 31 positioned below the pressing area 24 comes into a contact with the peripheral surface of the drum 23 provided in the lower portion of the high back 5 to hinder the pressing area 24 from being lowered.

In order to pivot the high back 5 rearward, the arcuate lock 31 must be previously rotated counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 6c before the pressing area 24 is actuated. The rotation of the arcuate lock 31 causes the leading portion of the arcuate lock 31 to deviate from the position below the pressing area 24, leaving the pressing area 24 to be in a condition where it can be lowered.

Further, in a case that the ring-like lock 33 is used instead of the arcuate lock 31 , the same operations may be performed. That is, once the ring-like lock 33 of a rectangular shape shown in Fig. 7 is rotated and finally contacted with the drum 23 of the high back 5, the pressing area 24 cannot be lowered, thereby preventing the high back 5 from being undesirably pulled back.

When the ring-like lock 31 is rotated counterclockwise when viewed in Fig. 7a after the high back 5 is rotated and maintained at desired angle, one end of the ring-like lock 33 comes into a contact with the drum 23, hindering the pressing area 24 from being lowered, as shown in Fig. 7b.

In order to rotate the high back 5 rearward, the ring-like lock 33 must be firstly rotated clockwise as viewed in Fig. 7c for releasing the locking mode and then the high back 5 can be rotated rearward, while the pressing area 24 being depressed. On the other hand, in the present invention, in order to further ensure that the high back 5 is undesirably rotated rearward, one of the high back locking means 200 and 300 is provided as a separate measure in addition to the high back inclination adjustment means 100.

The high back locking means 200 shown in Fig. 8 is mounted to the side of the side binding plates 13 opposite to the side at which the high back inclination adjustment means 100 is installed.

In this case, the rider fixes the boot into the snow board binding device 4 by operating the high back inclination adjustment means 100 and simply rotates the vertical motion lever 47 of the high back locking means 200 to definitely prevent the rotation of the high back 5. When the vertical motion lever 47 is manually rotated, the stopping member 45 inserted into the cutout 42 of the housing 43 fixed to the side binding plate 13 is raised due to a restoring force of the compression spring 51 received in the spring- receiving groove 48 of the vertical motion lever 47.

Then, the serration 46 formed on the stopping member 45 is engaged with the serration 44 formed on the housing sleeve 41.

Meanwhile, in a case that the high back locking means 300 shown in Fig. 9 is mounted, the rotation of the high back 5 is prevented by manually rotating the locking bolt 62 for allowing it to be engaged with the corresponding locking nut.

In other words, the high back 5 is surely secured, when the locking bolt 62 shown in Fig. 9a is rotated clockwise when viewed in Fig. 9b after the high back 5 being rotated by the desired angle as shown in Fig. 9a.

Further, in order to rotate the high back 5 rearward, the locking bolt 62 is firstly rotated counterclockwise as shown in Fig. 9c and then the high back is rotated rearward, while the pressing are 24 being depressed. On the other hand, the present invention may enable the rider to pose free physical postures during snow-boarding by providing the high back whose height and transversal angle can be adjusted for allowing the high back to properly support the rear portion of the boot according to the preference of the rider.

For this, firstly the upper high back 60 is positioned on the desired position as shown in Fig. 11.

Next, the nuts formed on the nut plate 75 are inserted from the inside of the upper high back 60 through the elongate holes 65 of the upper high back 60 and the elongate holes 55 of the lower high back 50.

Then, the high back fixing bolts 71 are engaged into the nuts formed on the nut plate 75, respectively, thereby securing the upper high back 60 to a desired place. On the other hand, Fig. 12 depicts various different positions of the upper high back 60 assembled with the lower high back 50.

Fig. 12a shows a position of the upper high back 60 in a normal state, while Fig. 12b shows a position of the upper high back 60 in which the upper high back 60 is raised with respect to the lower high back 50 for supporting the rear portion of the boot over a widened area thereof. Fig. 12c shows a preferred position of the upper high back 60 in a case that the rider exerts a major force to the boot in a left-rearward direction and Fig. 12d illustrates a preferred position of the upper high back 60 in a case that the rider exerts a major force to the boot in a right-rearward direction. Meanwhile, in the configuration where the lower high back 50 is mounted to the upper high back 60 in the manners described above, the upper high back 60 can be simply moved upward, downward, leftward and rightward after the high back locking bolt 71 is slightly loosened.

That is, only if the high back locking bolt 71 is loosened by only a small degree of rotation instead of completely being disengaged from the nut formed on the nut plate 75, the upper high back 60 can be in a movable condition for a desired location. Then, the high back locking bolt 71 is tightened up again to firmly secure the upper high back 60 to the lower high back 50 after moving the upper high back 60 to a desired position.

Although the inventive snow board binding device has been shown and described with respect to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A snow board binding device comprising: a base binding plate; a pair of side binding plates each vertically extending from a lateral portion of said base binding plate; a high back rotatably mounted to rear ends of the side binding plates; and a high back inclination adjustment means provided in the rear end of one of the side binding plates, for fixing an inclination of the high back with the respect to said side binding plates at a desired angular position.

2. The snow board binding device of claim 1, wherein the high back inclination adjustment means includes: a circular strap fixed to said rear end of the one side binding plate to protrude outside the side binding plate and having a ratchet wheel formed therearound; a drum provided in a lower end of the high back corresponding to said rear end of the one side binding plate and positioned around an outer peripheral surface of the circular strap; a stopper lever provided with at its one end a ratchet pawl cooperating with said ratchet wheel of the circular strap and, at the other end thereof, a pressing area, thereby preventing the high back from being rotated in one direction by means of a mutual engagement between the ratchet pawl and the ratchet wheel of the circular strap; a stopper lever fixing pin mounted into pin holes formed through a portion of the drum for keeping the stopper lever in a rotatable condition; and a return spring into which the stopper lever fixing pin is inserted, one end of the return spring being engaged with the stopper lever while the other end being engaged with the drum of the high back, thereby exerting a restoring force on the stopper lever so as to allow the ratchet pawl of the stopper lever to be engaged with the ratchet wheel of the circular strap.

3. The snow board binding device of claim 2, further including an arcuate lock rotatably mounted to a portion of the drum by using a pin, a leading portion of the arcuate lock being located under the pressing area for preventing the pressing area from being lowered.

4. The snow board binding device of claim 2, further including a ring-like lock rotatably mounted to the pressing area of the stopper lever, the ring-like lock being rotated in a first direction so as to come into contact with the drum for locking the pressing area and being rotated in a second direction reverse to the first direction for releasing the locking of the pressing area.

5. The snow board binding device of claim 1 , further comprising a high back locking means provided in the rear end of the other of the side binding plates, for setting the inclination of the high back at an angle which a rider wants.

6. The snow board binding device of claim 5, wherein said high back locking means includes: a housing fixed to the rear end of the other of the side binding plates having a cutout formed on its outer peripheral surface in a predetermined angular range along a circumference thereof and a hole formed on a center of the housing; a housing sleeve provided in a lower end of the high back corresponding to said rear end of the other of the side binding plate, positioned around a periphery of the housing and having on its inner surface a serration; a stopping member positioned on the cutout of the housing and having a serration mating with a serration of the housing sleeve; a vertical motion lever inserted into the hole formed on the center of the housing to raise and lower the stopping member within the cutout depending upon its rotational direction, thereby locking a rotation of the high back and releasing the locking of the high back; and a cover engaged with the housing for preventing the vertical motion lever from deviating in an axial direction from a desired position.

7. The snow board binding device of claim 6, wherein a spring-receiving groove is provided on an outer peripheral surface of the vertical motion lever; and a compression spring for assisting the rising movement of the stopping member when the compression spring comes into contact with the stopping member by the rotation of the vertical motion lever is received by the spring-receiving groove, while a leading portion of the compression spring being covered with a spring cover for preventing the compression lever from being directly entangled with the stopping member.

8. The snow board binding device of claim 6, wherein the cutout is above a horizontal line passing through the center of the housing.

9. The snow board binding device of claim 5, wherein said high back locking means includes: an elongate hole of an arcuate shape positioned on the rear end of the other of the side binding plates in a concentric relationship with the circular strap; a through-hole formed on a lower end of the high back corresponding to said elongate hole of the arcuate shape; a locking bolt extending through the elongate hole and the though-hole for a clamping action; and a locking nuts cooperating with the locking bolt.

10. A snow board binding device comprising: a base binding plate; a pair of side binding plates each vertically extending from a lateral portion of said base binding plate; a lower high back mounted to both rear ends of the side binding plates and having an upper and a lower elongate holes or a right and a left elongate holes formed therethrough; an upper high back assembled with the lower back and having a left and a right elongate holes or an upper and a lower elongate holes formed therethrough , which correspond to the upper and the lower elongate holes of the lower high back, respectively; and a claming means for clamping together the upper high back and the lower high back through the holes.

11. The snow board binding device of claim 10, wherein said clamping means includes: a nut plate positioned inside the upper high back and passing through the elongate holes; high back fixing bolts engaged into the nut plate from an outside of the lower high back; and high back fixing washers fixed around the heads of the high back fixing bolts, respectively.

12. The snow board binding device of claim 11, wherein guide slots formed on an periphery of the elongate holes of the lower high back are provided to restrict and guide peripherals of the high back fixing washers when the high back fixing bolts are moved along the elongate holes of the lower high back.