EP0306365A1 - Safety device for the foot-retaining means of a wind surf board or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

Safety device for the foot strap of a windsurfing board or the like, in which the said foot strap comprises a strap fixed at one end to the board, and which is characterised in that the other end of the strap (8) is rigidly connected to a bolt (20) capable of being engaged and locked in a locking body (10), the engagement (or release) being effected by way of the resilient arms (23 and 24) of the bolt, whilst the locking (or unlocking) is achieved via a plate device (51) equipped with a spring which interacts with the part (22) of the bolt (20). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a toe clip for windsurfing or similar sporting device sliding or rolling on a support medium, for which the user, who acts on the position of an orientable mast by means of 'a boom or a wishbone attached to the sail, has its feet which rest on the board or a profiled support, moving on its support medium while being propelled by the effect of the wind acting on the sail.

We know that in a machine of this kind, the body of the user is normally positioned laterally with respect to the longitudinal direction of the board, by swinging with his arms holding the wishbone to balance the reaction of the wind on the sail. and ensure the stability of the machine at the same time as the control of the evolutions of the board, its speed gain or on the contrary its braking. During these movements, the user must most of the time have his feet immobilized on the surface of the board to ensure good support of the board without the risk of it inadvertently slipping, causing not only an unpleasant fall but which, if necessary, can lead to an accident if it is accompanied by a sudden twist or flexion of the leg or foot in an orientation contrary to a natural movement.

To overcome this drawback, manufacturers of sailboards have long planned to have on top of these boards, in suitable places, flexible poles generally known by the English term "Foot strap", where the user engages each its feet, these hoops forming a toe clip and being usually constituted by a strap fixed at its ends to the board. But, with these conventional embodiments, if the user actually has his feet suitably immobilized on the board during the use of the latter, all the more so since the strap is suitably tightened leaving only a clearance limited between the foot and the internal face of the strap, the risk of accident is not ruled out and may even be increased in the event of a fall, if the user cannot immediately release his feet which remain thus blocked vis-à-vis board screw. This is particularly so in the case of acrobatic figures where the user makes, above the waves, removed jumps where the risks of falling are greater, with the resulting consequences.

The present invention relates to a safety device which avoids these drawbacks, by making it possible, in the event of an abrupt twisting or bending of the feet or of the leg of a user, in particular during a fall thereof, to instantly release the toe clips in which the user has normally engaged each of his feet.

To this end, the safety device according to the invention in which the toe clip comprises a strap fixed at one end to the board is characterized in that the other end on the strap 8 is secured to a bolt 20 capable of be engaged in a locking body 10 with a first elasticity in a first determined direction and then to be locked in said locking body 10 with a second elasticity in a second direction perpendicular to the first determined direction, so that under the effect of '' a pulling force of the bolt in the second direction, the bolt unlocks while remaining engaged in the locking body and only under the effect of a shearing force of the bolt in the first direction, the bolt is released from the locking body and opens the hoop.

The first elasticity is achieved by means of the bolt which is made up of two parallel branches rigidly connected on one side and elastically on the other. The elastic mounting of the parallel branches makes it possible, on the one hand, to engage the bolt in the locking body but, on the other hand, to disengage it from said locking body in the case of a shearing force which tends to reduce the opening of said branches. The engagement of the bolt on the locking body is carried out by means of lugs carried by the ends of the parallel branches on the elastic side.

The second elasticity is obtained in the locking body by a sliding element, one end of which cooperates with a spring working in compression, and the other end of which has a bearing face which cooperates with a corresponding bearing face of the pin. so as to lock said bolt on the locking body. A determined tearing force on the arch of the toe clip causes the sliding element and the escape of the bolt to move relative to the locking body by sliding from one bearing face to the other. .

The compression of the spring is adjustable by a wheel, fixed in translation, which cooperates with a threaded axis, fixed in rotation, one end of said axis cooperating with said spring, so that the rotation of the wheel more or less compresses the spring, this which makes it more or less difficult to lock and unlock the targette.

• - La figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'une planche à voile schématisant la position relative de l'utilisateur porté par celle-ci.
• - La figure 2 est une vue en perspective coupe d'un cale-pied de sécurité, réalisé conformément à l'invention et adapté à être monté sur la planche à voile de la figure 1.
• - La figure 3 est une vue en transversale de la boucle 9 du cale-pied de la figure 2.
• - La figure 4 est une vue en coupe transversale du corps de verrouillage et de la targette selon l'invention.
• - La figure 5 est une vue éclatée en partie en coupe du corps de verrouillage selon l'invention, et
• - La figure 6 est une vue en coupe transversale d'un exemple particulier de réalisation d'un arceau de longueur réglable selon l'invention.

Other characteristics of a safety device for a windsurfing toe clip or the like will become more apparent from the following description of a exemplary embodiment, given by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• - Figure 1 is a perspective view of a windsurfing diagram showing the relative position of the user carried by it.
• - Figure 2 is a sectional perspective view of a safety toe clip, produced in accordance with the invention and adapted to be mounted on the windsurfing board of Figure 1.
• - Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the loop 9 of the toe clip of Figure 2.
• - Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the locking body and the bolt according to the invention.
• FIG. 5 is an exploded view partly in section of the locking body according to the invention, and
• - Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of a particular embodiment of an arch of adjustable length according to the invention.

As shown very diagrammatically in FIG. 1, a windsurf board 1 comprises, in a well-known manner, an adjustable mast 2, fixed in the axis of the latter by means of a nozzle 3, allowing a user 4 to tilt the mast vertically as well as forwards or backwards as necessary, to ensure the evolutions and in particular the catch in the wind of the craft. To this end, the user 4 holds in his hands a boom or a wishbone 5, fixed to the mast 2 and making it possible to tension and orient a sail 6, all these provisions being perfectly conventional in the technique of using a such a board. In addition, during the implementation thereof, the user engages his feet inside toe clips 7, fixed on the top of the board 1 with an appropriate orientation, so as to ensure him on the board a fixed support, allowing it to laterally shift the weight of its body to balance the wind hold of the sail 6 and cause the board to propel. In the event of a fall, it can therefore be seen that the user risks twisting or bending his feet or his legs in a direction which could, if necessary, lead to an accident.

Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 illustrate on a larger scale the detail of the realization of a toe clip 7 according to the invention, the latter being provided with a safety device allowing, in normal operation, d '' maintain the immobilized foot of the user engaged in it but, in the event of a torsional force or sudden bending beyond a predetermined threshold, in particular during a fall, to release this foot without risk a sprain or even a fracture.

As shown in these figures, the clip 7 essentially consists of a strap 8, non-elastic, consisting of a braid or a flat ribbon, fixed at one end to a loop 9 secured to the upper face of the board 1 and at the other end on a locking body 10, this strap thus forming between the loop and the lock a kind of arch delimiting with the board a space 11 where the user engages his foot in a manner previously explained .

The strap 8 is actually formed of two strands respectively 12 and 13, secured to each other after passing through the loop 9, itself immobilized on the board 1 by construction. This loop can thus include a housing 14, laterally provided with two holes for mounting fixing screws and comprising a transverse slot 16 and a central bar 17. In usual manner, the strand 12 of the strap, after passing through the slot 16 on one side of the bar 17 passes under it then is extended by the strand 13 which emerges from the housing 14 through the same slot 16 but on the opposite side of the bar, thereby immobilizing the strap. The strands 12 and 13 are advantageously secured to each other for the major part beyond the housing 14 by sewing or the like, and are advantageously covered with a coating 18 made of plastic foam or of another material of the same kind, allowing in the closed position of the toe clip 7, to apply the strap against the user's foot without risking injury to the user.

At the opposite end of the strap 8, the strands 12 and 13 are separated to form an eyelet which serves to fix this end of the strap on a bolt 20 by means of an axis 21 carried by the bolt. This bolt 20 has the general shape of the letter U which includes a base 22 and two lateral branches 23 and 24. In addition to the base 22, these two lateral branches 23 and 24 are connected by the pin 21 for holding the strap and by a spacer 25 disposed at the opening end of the U opposite the base 22. The branches 23 and 24 and the spacer 25 have a certain elasticity so as to allow the ends of the branches to move in a direction parallel to the base 22. The ends of the branches of the U carry pins or pins 26 and 27 which project outwards from the U, perpendicular to the branches 22 and 23 and parallel to the base 22.

All of the elements of the bolt 20, with the exception of the axis 21, are, for example, made of plastic material at an appropriate thickness to obtain good mechanical resistance to the forces coming from the strap by means of the axis 21 while allowing a displacement of the ends of the lateral branches 23 and 24 at the pins 26 and 27. It is noted that the spacer 25 has the shape of the letter V whose tip 28 is disposed inside the branches 23 and 24 while the points 29 and 30 are integral with the ends of said branches.

The axis 21 is, for example, made in the form of a stainless steel rod which is held in two bores drilled in the branches 23 and 24. One end of the rod or axis 21 is terminated by a head while the the other is threaded so as to cooperate by screwing with one of the two bores which is tapped. The head of the rod is, for example, a countersunk screw head, which allows the rod 21 to be screwed into the tapped bore using a screwdriver.

As shown in Figure 4, the lower 22 is shaped to produce a bearing face having a boss 66 whose role will be explained below.

The bolt 20, which has just been described, cooperates with the locking body 20. For this purpose, the latter comprises a sole 34 of rectangular shape whose long sides are flanked by cheeks or flanges 35 and 36 having a height greater than the thickness of the sole 34. These cheeks are each pierced, at one end, with an orifice 37 and 38 in which the pins 26 and 27 of the bolt snap in so as to allow the latter to rotate around the axis produced by the pins 26 and 27. This explains the presence of the spacer 25 and the elasticity of the latter and of the branches 23 and 24, which makes it possible to set up the bolt 20 on the locking body 10 but also, as will be explained below, the exhaust or the release of said bolt from the locking body when determined directional forces are applied to the arch by the foot.

The sole 34 has orifices such as that referenced 39, to allow it to be fixed to the windsurf board by a screw as referenced 40.

Between the cheeks 35 and 36, the sole 34 serves as a support for an actual locking device for the bolt 20. This device comprises a heel 41 disposed on the side of the orifices 37 and 38 and integral with the sole. This heel 41 extends over a certain length of the sole and has two cavities 52 and 53. The cavity 52 serves as a housing for an axis 42, fixed in rotation associated with a wheel 43 fixed in translation. One end 44 of the axis 42 is square and is supported by a notch of square section 46 serving as blocking of the axis while the other end is supported by a cylindrical bore 45 serving as a bearing. This axis 42 has a thread which cooperates with the threaded orifice of the wheel 43. This wheel 43 can therefore rotate around the axis 42 by the effect of the threads indicated above, and its rotation is obtained by the fact that its outer peripheral periphery is accessible outside of the heel 41 via an opening 47 formed on the side opposite the sole. Of course, this sole is provided with a housing 48 for the periphery of the wheel 43. This wheel / axis arrangement makes it possible to move the axis 42 longitudinally in one direction or another as indicated by the double arrow 49.

For mounting the axle 42 in the wheel 43, provision is made to make an opening on the rear of the heel 41 and to close it with a cap 71. The cap 71 is fixed to the heel 41 using 'a screw 72.

The cavity 53 serves as a housing for a spring 50 which cooperates, on the one hand, on one side with the axis 42 and, on the other hand, on the other side with a plate 51 having a particular cut and shape . This plate 51, of substantially rectangular shape, is cut, on one side, that of the heel 41, to present three legs, a central leg 54 and two lateral legs 55 and 56. The central leg enters the housing 43 through a slot 57 of the heel 41 and its end cooperates with the spring 50. The notches 58 and 59 between the central leg 54 and the legs lateral 55 and 56 correspond to the thickness of the lateral walls of the heel 41, which allows displacements of the plate 51 in the directions materialized by the double arrow 49. The ends of the lateral tabs 55 and 56 are bent downwards in direction of the sole and these curved ends 60 and 61 are housed in notches in the sole such as that referenced 62.

The end 62 of the plate 51 opposite to that carrying the legs 54, 55 and 56 is bent upwards and this curved end 62 has a suitable shape, in particular a recess 73, for cooperating with the base 22 (boss 66) of the bolt 20 so as to snap the bolt onto the end 62 and lock the bolt the latter in the closed position. The plate 51 is held in place against the sole 34 by bosses 63 and 64 carried by the cheeks 35 and 36, these bosses have a groove for the sliding of the plate 51. The sliding length is limited by the length of the notches 62 provided for the curved ends 60 and 61 of the legs 55 and 56. This length of the notches is markedly shorter than that shown in FIG. 5 in order to allow adjustment of the hardness of the snap-fastening and therefore of the unlocking of the bolt.

It will be noted that the plate 51 has a central opening to allow access to the head of the fixing screw 40.

The operation of the safety device for a windsurfing toe clip or the like is then as follows. By pinching the branches 23 and 24 of the bolt 20, the pins 26 and 27 are engaged in the holes 37 and 38 of the cheeks 35 and 36, the arch of the toe clip then has the position shown in Figure 2. By lowering the bolt 20 in the direction of arrow 65, the boss 66 of base 22 comes into contact with the curved end 62 of plate 51. By forcing this movement, plate 51 tends to move towards heel 41 against the action of spring 50 which works in compression, this which allows the latching of the bolt on the curved end 62 and its locking. In Figure 4, there are shown three positions of the bolt, one A in the open position, another B during latching and a last C in the locking position. Two positions of the curved end 62 of the plate 51 have also been shown, one D corresponding to the position B of the bolt and the other E corresponding to the locking position C.

In the locking position, the hardness of this locking can be adjusted by rotating the wheel 43 in one direction or another in accordance with the indications + and - carried on the heel 41 near the wheel. Of course, this hardness can also be adjusted before the bolt clicks into place.

After fitting and adjusting the different toe clips, the user can then use the windsurf board. In the event of excessive pulling forces exerted by the feet on the arch perpendicular to the board, a force is exerted on the axis 21 of the bolt in the direction of opening. If the component of this force along the axis of the spring 50 is greater than the locking force of the latter, the plate 51 moves towards the heel by compressing the spring, which releases the boss 66 and with it the bolt 20. As a result, the arch of the toe clip is no longer tensioned, which allows the release of the foot.

In the event that these forces are exerted also or only in a direction parallel to the board, a component is exerted perpendicular to the branches 23 and 24 of the bolt, in one direction or the other, which decreases the opening width between said branches and possibly releases one of the lugs 26 or 27 from its housing and thereby releases the bolt from the locking body 10; the arch of the toe clip therefore opens fully and no longer holds the foot in position.

The exemplary embodiment of the safety device for a windsurfing toe clip which has just been described in relation to FIGS. 2 to 5 does not include means for adjusting the length of the arch to adapt it to the dimensions feet of various windsurfers. This adjustment can be carried out in different ways and one of them will now be described in relation to FIG. 6.

In this FIG. 6, the strap 8, on the targette side is provided on either side with a band called "Velcro" 67 and 68 while the strands 12 and 13 of the part attached to the loop 9 are, on a certain length, not sewn together so as to allow their spacing, and their facing faces are also provided with a band called "Velcro" 69 and 70. By pressing the strands 12 and 13 against the strap 8, the arch is produced the length of which can be varied at will by the relative position of the strands 12 and 13 and of the strap 8. It is clear that such an assembly by so-called "Velcro" strips must have a resistance to the opening of the hoop greater than that obtained with the safety device according to the invention.

Claims (13)

1. Safety device for a windsurfing toe clip or the like, wherein said toe clip has a strap fixed at one end to the board (1), characterized in that the other end of the strap (8) is integral with a bolt (20) able to be engaged in a locking body (10) with a first elasticity in a first determined direction and then to be locked in said locking body (10) with a second elasticity in a second direction perpendicular to the first determined direction, so that under the effect of a pulling force of the bolt in the second direction, the bolt unlocks while remaining engaged in the locking body and only under the effect of a shear force of the bolt in the first direction, the bolt is released from the locking body and opens the hoop. 2. Safety device according to claim 1, characterized in that the bolt (20) comprises means (23 to 27) for resiliently engaging the locking body (10) and in that the locking body (10) comprises means (50 51) for resiliently locking said bolt (20). 3. Safety device according to claim 2, characterized in that the locking body (10) further comprises adjustment means (42, 43) of the second elasticity. 4. Safety device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the elastic engagement means of the bolt (20) comprise two parallel branches (23 and 24) whose ends on one side are held rigidly (22) one with respect to the other while the other two ends are maintained resiliently with respect to each other, the latter comprise means of engagement (26, 27) of the locking body (10). 5. Safety device according to claim 4, characterized in that the engagement means of the locking body (10) comprise lugs (26, 27) which cooperate with orifices carried by the locking body (10). 6. Safety device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the means for obtaining the first elasticity comprise the parallel branches (23, 24) associated with elastic spacing means (25) disposed between said branches. 7. Safety device according to claim 6, characterized in that the elastic spacing means comprise a spacer (25) having the shape of the letter V, the ends of which are integral with the parallel branches (23, 24). 8. Safety device according to any one of the preceding claims 2 to 7, characterized in that the means for resiliently locking said bolt (20) comprise a sliding element (51) over a certain length and a spring (50) cooperating with said sliding element so as to maintain the latter in a certain position. 9. Safety device according to claim 8, characterized in that the sliding element (51) has one end, opposite that of the action of the spring (50), a bearing face (62) on which is locked a corresponding bearing face (66) of the bolt (20). 10. Safety device according to claim 9, characterized in that the bearing faces (62 and 66) of the sliding element and of the bolt are shaped so as to allow locking and unlocking by relative sliding of the bearing faces. 11. Safety device according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the means for adjusting the second elasticity comprise a thumb wheel (43) associated with a threaded axis (42), said axis being fixed in rotation while that the wheel is fixed in translation, one end of said axis cooperating with said spring (50), so that the rotation of the wheel (43) causes the displacement of the axis (42) and more or less compression large of said spring (50). 12. Safety device according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that the sliding element (51) comprises means (60, 61, 62) for limiting the length of its movement. 13. Safety device according to claim 12, characterized in that the means for limiting the length of the displacement of the sliding element comprise at least one lug (60 or 61) carried by said sliding element (51) said lug cooperating with a notch (62) made in the locking body (10).

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