The present invention relates to a strap closure device for a snowboard binding.

The invention can be applied in the sports field, in the sector of snowboard technical articles.

Currently, in the snowboard sector, systems for fastening the boot to the board generally provide for the use of a binding, which is anchored to the board.

This binding comprises a base plate, on which the sole of the boot rests, a high back, for supporting the portion above the heel, and two or more straps which are closed and adjusted in order to secure the foot to the board.

Normally, a strap is present proximate to the tip of the foot and a strip is present proximate to the instep.

These straps have an anatomically contoured band for wrapping around foot portions ending with a tab on which there is a plurality of sawtooth protrusions adapted to be inserted in a buckle with a detent to close and fasten the straps around the foot.

Usually, the strap proximate to the tip of the foot is adjusted only once and then left closed.

The strap around the instep, instead, is closed, before each run, in order to secure the foot to the snowboard, and opened, after use, in order to be able to release the foot from the board.

The anatomically contoured shape of the bands entails that the straps tend to remain substantially always in the active position and this generates difficult and slow foot insertions or extractions.

In order to speed up the operation for closing this instep strap, in some models there is a rotation pivot, which is anchored to an element which is fixed with respect to the base plate and a return spring which tends to move the tab closer to the buckle. This background art has drawbacks.

The foot insertion and extraction operation is awkward as a result of the space occupation due to the anatomically contoured band and to the tab always kept proximate to the buckle.

Moreover, because of the elastic return generated by the spring, the user must use both hands to release the foot from the binding once the strap has been opened.

Moreover, he must keep the tab spaced from the buckle, using both hands, in order to counteract the return force of the spring and be able to insert the foot, during foot insertion.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a strap closure device that is capable of improving the background art in one or more of the aspects mentioned above.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a strap closure device that allows to anchor easily the foot to the binding of the snowboard and to release it equally easily from the same binding.

Another object of the invention is to provide a strap closure device that allows, after the opening of the strap, to release the foot from the binding with the aid of a single hand.

Not least object of the invention is to provide a strap closure device that is highly reliable, relatively easy to provide and at competitive costs.

This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a strap closure device for a snowboard binding, having a base plate, said device of the type comprising a buckle, which has a tab for insertion in said buckle, and comprising a first portion, which is anchored to an element which is fixed with respect to said base plate, and a second portion, which is articulated to said first portion by means of a first pivot, said tab extending from said second portion, characterized in that an interconnection element is present between said first portion and said second portion, said interconnection element having a first end coupled to said first portion and a second end coupled to said second portion, said first end having a shape which defines, with the respective region of interaction of said first portion, two stable configurations for said second portion, a first open configuration and a second closed configuration.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment, of the strap closure device according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an overall perspective view of a snowboard binding with a device according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the device of Figure 1 in a first stable configuration;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the device of Figure 1 in a second stable configuration;

Figure 4 is a view of a detail of the device according to the invention.

With reference to the figures, a strap closure device according to the invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10.

The device 10 is installed, in the example shown in the figures, on a snowboard binding 11 which has a base plate 34, on which the sole of the boot rests.

The device 10 comprises a buckle 12, which is fixed to a portion 13 of the strap, and a tab 14 adapted to be inserted in the buckle 12.

In particular, the buckle 12 is of the type with a detent and the tab 14 has a plurality of sawtooth protrusions 15 in order to ensure the correct fastening of the strap around the foot after the insertion of the tab 14 in the buckle 12.

The device 10 comprises a first portion 16 which is anchored to an element 17 which is fixed with respect to the base plate 34 of the binding 11, and a second portion 18, which is articulated to the first portion 16 by means of a first pivot 19.

The tab 14 extends from the second portion 18.

The first portion 16 is anchored to the fixed element 17 by means of a screw 20.

One of the particularities of the invention is that an interconnection element 21 is present between the first portion 16 and the second portion 18.

This interconnection element 21 has a first end 22 coupled to the first portion 16 and a second end 33 coupled to the second portion 18.

In particular, the first end 22 of the interconnection element 21 has a such a shape as to define, with a respective region 23 of interaction of the first portion 16, two stable configurations for the second portion 18: a first open configuration, shown in Figure 2, and a second closed configuration, shown in Figure 3.

The interconnection element 21 is, for example, a spring-loaded pin.

With reference to Figures 2 to 4, the interconnection element 21 has two end heads: a first head 24, which is fixed to the first portion 16 by means of a second pivot 26, and a second head 25, which is opposite with respect to the preceding head 24 and is fixed to the second portion 18 by means of a third pivot 27.

The second pivot 26 is arranged in a region of the first portion 16 that protrudes in the opposite direction with respect to the foot of the user, and its axis lies on a plane that is different with respect to the plane on which the axes of the first pivot 19 and of the third pivot 27 lie.

A tubular element 28 extends from the first head 24 in the direction of the second head 25, while a cylindrical element 29 extends from the second head 25 in the direction of the first head 24.

In particular, the cylindrical element 29 has an axis of extension that coincides with the axis of extension of the tubular element 28 and is inserted therein with the possibility to slide inside it. The cylindrical element 29 has the end 30, which is opposite with respect to the one that is integral with the second head 25, which is threaded and has a larger diameter than the rest of the element.

Likewise, the tubular element 28 has an inlet 31 with an inside diameter that is comparable with that of the end 30 of the cylindrical element 29 and is threaded complementarily with respect to it.

The inlet 31 of the tubular element 28 has an inside diameter that is larger than the diameter of the cylindrical element 29 and the rest of the tubular element 28 has an inside diameter that is larger than the diameter of the end 30 of the cylindrical element 29.

In this manner it is possible to insert the cylindrical element 29 in the tubular element 28 by screwing the end 30 to the inlet 31 until it moves beyond the inlet portion.

Once the end 30 has moved beyond the inlet 31 and is inside the tubular element 28, the cylindrical element 29 can slide inside the tubular element 28 without being able to exit completely as a result of the interference between the end 30 and the inlet 31.

The spring 32 is arranged between the two end heads 24 and 25 and on the outside of the tubular element 28 and is adapted to move apart the two heads 24 and 25, tending to keep them at a preset distance.

The operation of the device, according to the invention, is as follows.

When one wishes to open the strap, the tab 14 is moved away from the buckle 12, rotating the second portion 18 about the first pivot 19 until it reaches the first stable configuration, the open one.

As a result of the interaction between the shape of the first end 22 of the interconnection element 21 and the region 23 of the first portion 16 and by virtue of the effect of the spring 32, the second portion 18 is kept stably in the open configuration.

When one wishes to close the strap, the tab 14 is moved closer to the buckle 12, rotating the second portion 18 about the first pivot 19 and overcoming the open configuration with a certain effort.

As a result of the elastic return of the spring 32, the second portion 18 maintains a second stable closed configuration, with the tab 14 proximate to the buckle 12.

In practice it has been found that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects, providing a strap closure device that allows to perform easily and quickly the foot insertion and extraction operations of the snowboard binding.

Moreover, by means of the invention, a strap closure device has been devised which allows, after the opening of the strap, to release the foot from the binding with the aid of a single hand.

Moreover, by means of the invention, a strap closure device has been devised which allows two stable configurations, an open one and a closed one.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the appended claims; all the details may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, so long as they are compatible with the specific use, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to the requirements and the state of the art.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. 102018000005231 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.