Ratchet-type buckle

The present invention relates to a ratchet buckle, in which a tape is slidably received within a housing, which has toothing on at least one section of a surface with tooth flanks preferably extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the strip, wherein on the housing via a first axis a pawl is pivotally mounted, which can be brought into engagement by pivoting with the toothing of the band, to prevent a shift of the band in one direction but to allow freely in the opposite direction, and wherein, for free movement of the belt, a lever engageable with teeth via the teeth is provided on the housing.

As a sport that has recently become very popular, snowboarding requires operating conditions and physical demands on the shoe buckles that are not unlike those of other ski sports. When snowboarding, the snowboarder stands with both feet on the snowboard, much like a slalom water ski. In view of the sophisticated construction of the currently produced shoes for ski sports and the operating conditions to which the shoes are exposed, is a reliable and firm connection between the athlete's foot and ankle and the shoe needed. To accomplish this, a complex mechanism and a considerable amount of effort on the part of the user to properly operate the buckle mechanism are often required.

Many of the above-mentioned difficulties have been solved by the provision of a ratchet buckle. This ratchet buckle provides a great mechanical advantage to a user and allows for increasing shoe tightening in steps determined by the dimensions of the ratchet teeth. Examples of these ratchet buckles known in the art are disclosed in US Pat. 4,326,320, issued on the 27th. April 1982 to Riedel (Riedel), and in US Pat. 4,547,980, issued on the 22nd. October 1985 to Olivieri (Olivieri ").

Without prejudice to the preceding ratchet buckle assemblies continue to encounter major problems. The straps of the ratchet buckle are usually tensioned by pivoting a lever about the axis of a pin. In addition to the lever arm, an additional element, such as a pawl, must be used to prevent the strap from being retracted in the non-tightening direction, ie, to place the strap in a unidirectionally locked position.

With ratchet buckles, it is necessary to provide a release mechanism to release or unlatch the pawl from the strap to allow the strap to retract to the non-tightening direction. However, it is also important to ensure that the ratchet buckle does not allow unintentional unlocking of the strap in the non-tightening direction. In the latch mechanism disclosed by Riedel, it may easily happen that the cocking lever is inadvertently pivoted to a position causing accidental unhooking of the rack. With the ratchet mechanism by Olivieri, accidentally depressing one portion of the pawl causes accidental unlatching of the band.

Such a ratchet pawl is thus intended to allow the tape to be progressively moved in a tightening direction while at the same time preventing unintentional unlocking of the tape from the unidirectionally locked position, with a lever provided which, when the tape is tightened, will not force it represents a burdened member.

In a known training according to the aforementioned type, namely EP 0 572 373 A1, a housing is provided, in which a provided with serrated band is slidably guided, wherein the housing is provided a pawl which engages in the toe to a sliding back to prevent the band and wherein in addition a pivot lever is mounted on the housing, which causes by means of an engagement tooth, the feed of the belt during its pivoting. In this embodiment, two separate pivot axes are provided on the housing, namely one for the pawl and the other for the pivot lever, which results in that the housing must have a greater extension in the tape direction to provide enough space for the two separate axes and the thereto to create hinged levers. In addition, it is necessary that the tooth for the advancement of the tape on the pivot lever is mounted so that it can slide over the teeth of the belt ratchet-like. This can be the like, in particular when actuated in deep snow or the like. cause the ratchet-like articulation of the driving tooth stuck on the pivot lever or freezes, so that a reliable operation of the known ratchet buckle is not given.

The invention has for its object to provide a ratchet buckle, which requires fewer parts and thus smaller and easier to manufacture. Moreover, it is a further object of the present invention to make the ratchet buckle assembly of its manufacture simple and inexpensive, yet reliable in use and efficient.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the lever is pivotally mounted on the housing by means of one or more pivotally hinged to him intermediate Hebei on the first axis. This ensures that only a single axis is provided on the housing, whereby the housing

AT 404 662 Β can be made correspondingly small. In addition, a simple way of engaging the teeth of the pivot lever with the teeth of the belt is possible without locking lever or the like. must be provided.

Advantageously, the lever in the region of the teeth about a second axis spaced from the first axis pivotable on the or be articulated to the intermediate levers, whereby a uniform pull on the band is achieved with the same force applied to the lever. Furthermore, the lever arm may have a band-directed projection which is movable relative to the lever arm between a first position and a second position, the projection being in the first position away from the pawl and in the second position with the pawl in Contact is when the lever is in a given pivot orientation. This ensures that by means of the lever arm and the pawl is actuated. For this purpose, when the projection is in the second position and the lever arm pivoted in the predetermined orientation, the contact between the projection and the pawl can release the pawl from the rack. It is thus achieved that by movement of the lever arm and the pawl in the sense of a release of the rack and thus releasing the tape is actuated, wherein in another position of the projection of the lever can be pivoted so that a release of the pawl does not occur. So there is a significant simplification of the operation of the ratchet buckle according to the invention.

For a particularly simple operation of the projection of the lever arm may comprise a plate which is slidably disposed on a surface opposite to the projection, wherein the plate is fixedly connected to the projection. It can therefore be selected by mere adjustment of the plate, whether the pawl should be actuated by pivoting the lever arm or not.

In another preferred embodiment, the pawl may have a first end and a second end, the pawl engaging the tooth at the first end and the lever arm having a window opening through which the second end of the pawl projects. As a result, a simple operation of the pawl is possible, wherein it is not necessary to wegzuschwenken the lever arm with its free end of the housing.

Finally, the band may have an end which is opposite to the toothing, wherein the band end is fixedly secured to the housing. This gives a circumferential band, which can be pulled through the shoe or the binding, for example, by a loop, and thus a circumferential closure or abutment of the band at the foot of the driver is achieved.

In the drawings, embodiments of the subject invention are shown. FIG. 1 Figure 11 is a perspective view of a snowboarder on a snowboard having a ratchet buckle assembly according to the present invention; FIG. 2 Fig. 12 is a side view of a ratchet buckle assembly according to the present invention; FIG. 3 shows a sectional view along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 seen in the direction of the arrows; FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3 seen in the direction of the arrows; FIG. 5 Figure 1 illustrates a top view of a ratchet buckle assembly according to the present invention; FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5 seen in the direction of the arrows; FIG. 7 Fig. 12 is a partially broken plan view of another embodiment of a ratchet buckle assembly according to the present invention; FIG. 8th shows a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 7 seen in the direction of the arrows; and FIG. 9 FIG. 4 illustrates a sectional view along line 9--9 of FIG. 8th seen in the direction of the arrows.

In Fig. 1 For example, a snowboard 10 of conventional design and a snowboard ratchet buckle assembly 12 according to the present invention are shown with the feet of a snowboarder 14 mounted in the system. The snowboarder 14 is mounted on the board 10 by holding his / her feet and ankles in a shoe 16. The snowboarder 14 may tighten the strap of the shoe in stages by moving a lever arm of the ratchet buckle assembly.

With reference now to FIG. 2 For example, the ratchet buckle assembly includes a housing 18 and a strap 20 slidably received within the housing 18. The band 20 includes a toothing 22 which is disposed at a first end of the band 20 on an upper surface of the band 20; assuming that here adjectives of relative orientation such as upper, lower, etc. may be used to simplify the present description without limiting the orientation of the buckle assembly when assembled for use. The band comprises a rack 21 adjacent shoulder 21st

A lever 24 is connected to the housing 18 via a pair of links or intermediate levers 28. The intermediate levers 28 are connected via a pin 27 about a first axis 26 pivotally connected to the housing 18. The lever 24 is connected via a pin 31 about a second axis 30 pivotally connected to the Zwischenhebein 28. Accordingly, the lever 24 is about both the first axis 26 and to the

AT 404 662 Β second axis 30 pivotally mounted on the housing 18. As illustrated, the second axis 30 is spaced from the first axis 26.

A pawl 32 (see FIG. 4 and 6) is pivotally mounted about the pin 27 about the first axis 26 on the housing 18 and disposed between the two intermediate levers 28. The pawl 32 includes a pawl portion 34 at a first end thereof. In addition, the pawl 32 includes a second end 33, which is arranged opposite to the pawl portion 34. The pawl 32 is biased by a spring 36 so that the pawl 34 is in engagement with the toothing 22 which is disposed on the upper surface of the belt 20. The spring-loaded pawl 34 makes it possible to move the belt 20 stepwise in a tightening direction or first direction, which is generally indicated by arrow A in FIG. 4 is displayed, and prevents movement of the belt 20 in the direction which is substantially opposite to the tightening direction and indicated by arrow B in Fig. 6 is shown.

The Hebei 24 includes teeth 36 which are arranged at a first end of the lever arm 24. The teeth are disposed about the second axis 30 substantially along a common radius remote from the second axis 30. The lever 24 further includes a downwardly depending projection 40, which is best seen in FIG. 5 and 6. The projection 40 may be moved longitudinally with respect to the lever 24 between a first position, generally designated 42, and a second position, generally designated 44. A plate 46 is integrally attached to the projection 40 and disposed on an upper surface of the lever 24. The plate 46 may have a plurality of ribbed projections 48 on its upper surface to allow the user to more easily adjust the position of the projection 40 between the first position 42 and the second position 44.

The housing 18 is preferably attached to the shoe 16 and may also be attached to the second end 50 of the strap 20. The housing includes a downwardly depending projection 52 in the form of a rivet to allow the housing to be fixedly connected to the second end 50 of the band 20. Of course, the housing 18 may be secured to the shoe 16 in any manner known to those skilled in the art.

The operation of the ratchet buckle assembly will be described below with reference to FIG. 2-6 described. The band 20 is arranged in the housing 18, as shown in FIG. 2 evident. At this time, the downward-hanging projection 40 should be moved to be in the first position 42. Usually, the strap 20 is loosely mounted within the housing 18 and must be tightened by the user so that the foot and ankle are suitably supported within the boot. To accomplish this, the user pivots the lever 24 about its first axis 26 until the lever reaches the position shown in FIG. 4 is shown in solid lines. The user then pivots the lever 24 about the second axis 30 until the lever reaches the position shown in FIG. 4 is shown in dashed lines. This pivoting movement. causes the teeth 38 to engage the toothing 22 of the band, thus pulling the band 20 in the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 4 specified step by step. When the lever 24 is rotated about the second axis 30 to tighten the band 20, the pawl portion 32 of the mandrel 32 is continuously spring loaded in continuous engagement with the toothing 22 of the band 20 to prevent the band from accidentally unlocking during the shifting operation becomes. In this way, the snowboarder can adjust the band to a desired tension by pivoting the lever 24 about the second axis 30 as often as required. It is believed that the shoulder 21 acts as a stop on the belt 20 to prevent the belt from being stretched beyond a predetermined limit.

To open the shoe, the pawl 34 must be released from the belt 20. First, it is necessary to move the position of the downwardly depending projection 40 from the first position 42 to the second position 44, as shown in FIG. 5 and 6. The user can do this simply by adjusting the position of the plate 46 on top of the lever 24. Once the projection 40 is in the second position 44, the user can then pivot the lever 24 about the first axis 26. The downwardly depending projection 40 comes into contact with the second end 33 of the mandrel 32. Continuously rotating the lever 24 about the first axis 26 causes the pawl portion 34 of the mandrel 32 to disengage from the toothing 22 (see FIG. 6). The band 20 is now free to be moved in either of the two directions indicated by arrows A and B, and the snowboarder may, if necessary, simply put on the band in the direction of arrow B to release the band.

It will be appreciated that the ratchet buckle of the present invention successfully prevents the strap 20 from being accidentally released from the unidirectionally locked position. The unlocking of the belt 20 requires the occurrence of two different operations. First, the projection 40 must be moved from the first position 42 to the second position 44. Then the lever 24 must be sufficient

AT 404 662 Β

Be rotated degree to cause the pawl 34 releases from the toothing 22. The likelihood that these two processes occur simultaneously by mistake is extremely low.

Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in Figs. 7-9. At this

Embodiment, many of the components are similar to those shown in FIGS. 1-6. Accordingly, like reference numerals of the 100 series are used to refer to these like components. For the sake of brevity, those components which are similar in construction and function to the first embodiment will not be further described.

A lever 124 is connected to the housing 118 via a pair of links or intermediate levers 128. The intermediate levers 128 are pivotally connected to the housing 118 via a pin 127 about a first axis 126. The lever 124 is connected via a pin 131 about a second axis 130 pivotally connected to the intermediate levers 128. Thus, the lever 124 is pivotally mounted to the housing 118 both about the first axis 126 and about the second axis 130. As illustrated, the second axis 130 is spaced from the first axis 126.

The lever 124 has a window opening 160 through which the second end 133 of the pawl 132 protrudes. The pawl 132 includes at a first end thereof a locking hook portion 134. The pawl 132 is spring loaded in a manner similar to the pawl 32, such that the pawl 134 functions as the pawl 34. Thus, the pawl 134 allows the band 120 to be gradually shifted in a tightening direction and prevents the movement of the band 120 in the opposite direction of the tightening direction.

To service the ratchet buckle assembly of this second embodiment, the strap 120 is placed in the housing 118, as shown in FIG. To tighten the strap 120, the user pivots the lever 124 about its first axis 126 until the lever reaches a position similar to that shown in FIG. 4 in solid lines. Thereafter, the band 120 is tightened similarly to the tightening of the band 20.

To open the shoe, the user can simply press on the second end 133 of the pawl 132, which protrudes through the window opening of the lever 124. By this operation, the pawl 132 is pivoted in the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 8 and causes the pawl portion 134 to disengage from the teeth 122 of the band 120. The band 120 is now free to move in either direction A or B.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a compact, inexpensive ratchet buckle assembly. The ratchet buckle is designed to allow easy operation while preventing accidental release of the strap from the unilaterally locked position. In addition, the lever is designed to be a non-loaded member when the band is tightened. Thus, in use, the lever does not pressurize the base of the housing during use, which could cause an unpleasant sensation to the foot of the user.

Having described the presently preferred embodiment of a new and improved ratcheting buckle assembly in accordance with the present invention, it is believed that other modifications, variations and changes will be suggested to those skilled in the art based on the teachings set forth herein. Accordingly, it should be understood that all such variations, modifications and changes are deemed to be within the scope of the present invention which is defined by the appended claims.