Adjustable foot equipment
OwnerDavid J. Piotrowskiinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The adjustable foot equipment is adaptable to ski boots, in-line roller skates, ice skates, water skis and snowboards, and includes a base formed with a depending appendage adapted to be joined with a support member. The appendage and the support member are formed with complementary engaging curved surfaces that permit relative pivotal movement between a foot holding portion of the foot equipment and the support member. Once a desired offset angular orientation between the support member and the foot holding portion is determined, a securing arrangement locks the support member to the appendage. The securing arrangement can be easily released to permit resetting of a selected offset angular orientation. Some embodiments of the invention permit permanent adjustment of a selected offset angular orientation.
Claims30
Adjustable foot equipment comprising:
- a) a boot having a toe end and a heel end for accommodating a foot, said boot having a base portion with a curved bottom surface,
- b) substantially rigid support means at said base portion, said support means including a toe portion at the toe end of the boot and a heel portion at the heel end of the boot configured to receive the curved bottom surface of said base portion such that the toe portion and the heel portion of said support means engage said base portion to permit relative rotatable movement between said boot and the toe and heel portion of said support means to selected angular orientations with respect to each other about an axis extending longitudinally of the base portion of said boot, and
- c) securing means for locking said support means and said base portion together at one of said selected angular orientations between the toe and heel portions of said support means and said boot.
Adjustable foot equipment comprising
- a) foot holding means having a toe end and a heel end for accommodating a foot, said foot holding means having a base portion,
- b) substantially rigid support means at said base portion, said support means including a toe portion at the toe end of the foot holding means and a heel portion at the heel end of the foot holding means,
- c) engagement means on said support means and said base portion to permit relative pivotable movement between said foot holding means and the toe and heel portions of said support means to selected angular orientations with respect to each other about an axis extending longitudinally of the base portion of said foot holding means, and
- d) securing means for locking said support means and said base portion together at a predetermined angular orientation between the toe and heel portions of said support means and said foot holding means and wherein said base portion includes a depending appendage, said appendage having an outside surface constituting the engagement means on said base portion, and the toe and heel portions of said support means having a conforming surface complementary with the outside surface of said appendage to constitute the engagement means on said support means and wherein said appendage includes a hollow portion.
Adjustable foot equipment comprising,
- a) boot with a toe end, a heel end and a base portion having a depending appendage formed with a curved convex surface,
- b) substantially rigid support means including a toe portion at the toe end of the boot and a heel portion at the heel end of the boot, said toe and heel portions each being formed with a curved concave surface to engage the convex surface of said appendage to permit relative rotatable movement between said boot and the toe and heel portions of said support means to selected angular orientations with respect to each other about an axis extending longitudinally of the base portion of said boot, and
- c) securing means for locking said support means and said appendage together at one of said selected angular orientations between the toe and heel portions of said support means and said boot.
A method of compensating for off-vertical leg orientation comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a boot with a toe end, a heel end and a base;
- b) forming the base with a depending appendage having a curved surface at the toe and heel ends of the boot;
- c) forming a support for the boot with a toe portion at the toe end of the boot and heel portion at the heel end of the boot;
- d) configuring the toe and heel portions with a surface that is complementary to the curved surface of the appendage to receive the curved surface of the appendage and permit adjustable rotatable movement between the boot and the toe and heel portions;
- and
- e) locking the support to the appendage at a selected angular orientation between the toe and heel portions of the support and the boot.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.