US 2004/0164520 A1Published application

Safety device for snowboards

OwnerJoshua Charles Harrisoninventor

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Abstract

A safety release mechanism for snowboards functions with standard contemporary snowboarding boots and bindings. Bindings that would normally be fastened to the snowboard are instead both fastened to a single binding support platform. A platform retention assembly, fastened to the snowboard, includes preloaded compliant members that form interfaces with contours on the binding support platform. The interfaces prevent the binding support platform from separating from the snowboard except when a force or torque applied to the snowboard exceeds a set threshold. The platform retention assembly also includes firm features that contact firm mating features on the binding support platform to prevent translation of the binding support platform relative to the platform retention assembly in the plane of the snowboard. The firm features and the firm mating features are arranged such that the contacts between them, when projected onto the plane of the snowboard, are all tangent about one mutual center point.

Claims16

Dependent claims

In snowboarding equipment that includes a snowboard, two boots, one boot for each of two feet of a snowboarder, and two bindings, each binding designed to secure one boot to the snowboard, a safety device comprising:

a binding support platform fashioned to enable fastening of both bindings, the bindings being fastened to the binding support platform rather than to the snowboard;
and
a platform retention assembly that is fashioned to be fastened to the snowboard;
the platform retention assembly including a plurality of preloaded compliant members that form interfaces with contours on the binding support platform;
said interfaces preventing the binding support platform from separating from the platform retention assembly except when a force or torque applied to the snowboard exceeds a set threshold;
and
the platform retention assembly including a plurality of firm features that contact firm mating features of the binding support platform;
said firm features and firm mating features being arranged such that the contacts between them that limit relative in-plane translation, when projected onto the plane of the snowboard, are all tangent about one mutual center point;
and
wherein all of the preloaded compliant members of said platform retention assembly are located in an inner region between the bindings.

7 more elements

a binding support platform assembly and,
at least one platform retention plate fashioned to be fastened to the snowboard,
wherein the binding support platform assembly includes
a binding support platform fashioned to enable fastening of both bindings, the bindings being attached to the binding support platform rather than to the snowboard, and
a plurality of preloaded compliant members that form interfaces with contours on the platform retention plate,
said interfaces preventing the binding support platform assembly from separating from the platform retention plate except when a force or torque applied to the snowboard exceeds a set threshold, and
wherein the platform retention plate includes one or more firm features that contact one or more firm mating features of the binding support platform assembly,
said firm features and firm mating features being arranged such that the contacts between them that limit relative in-plane translation, when projected onto the plane of the snowboard, are all tangent about one mutual center point.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.