1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to snow boards and snow board bindings. More specifically, this invention relates to the threaded inserts that are cemented in the holes bored into snow boards for securing bindings to the boards.
2. Related Art
Snow boarding is a sport that is fast-growing in popularity. The snow board is broader and shorter than a ski and is typically made of a wood core wrapped in fiberglass. The tips, tails and top of the board are typically covered in ABS plastic, and the edges are typically carbon steel. The snow board bottom, or base, is covered with P-Tex.TM..
A snow board is typically used with the snow boarder's feet held by two bindings on a single board. The bindings are of many designs, but usually include bottom flanges or brackets that extend out from both sides of the binding and are screwed or bolted onto the snow board. The screws or bolts are screwed into metal inserts that are imbedded in the board.
A standard insert is rivet-shaped piece, with a cylindrical-shaped shaft, which has a threaded hollow interior, and a round base, which has a circular outer perimeter edge. Some standard inserts have texture on the exterior surface of the shaft.
During manufacture of the board, the standard insert is pushed up into a two-diameter hole bored through the board from the bottom to the top. The cylindrical-shaped shaft extends up into the smaller-diameter portion of the hole, reaching up about flush with, or slightly below, the top surface of the snow board, so that the threaded interior surface can receive the binding screws. The round base rests in the larger-diameter portion of the hole. Cement, epoxy, adhesive, or other filler is poured into the hole around the insert to secure it in place and to fill the hole, and P-Tex.TM. is applied over the hole on the bottom of the snow board to create a smooth snow board base.
These standard inserts are typically installed in 8-16 holes, which lie in various arrangements on the snow board to accept different types of bindings and to allow for adjustment in the position of the bindings on the board. The plurality of holes and inserts allows the user to set up the binding positions for his/her stature, snow boarding style, and ability.
The insert base is a circular flange that provides an anchor to prevent the insert from being pulled out of the hole by the forces on the bindings. The diameter of the base typically is about 1.75-2.5 times the diameter of the cylindrical shaft. This base diameter provides a large surface area ledge that abuts up against the portion of the snow board that surrounds the smaller-diameter portion of the hole. Because typically more than half of the thickness of the snow board lies above the insert base, the base, and consequently the whole insert, is held securely in the hole.
The standard inserts do tend, however, to become loose and rotate inside the holes. Over-tightening of the binding screws, or just the repeated torque on the inserts from adjustment and use, can break the inserts loose from the cement. The inserts then can rotate in the holes, making installation or removal of the bindings difficult, if not impossible.
What is needed is an improved method of securing bindings to snow boards. What is needed is an improved system that may be installed during manufacture of snow boards or that may be retrofit into snow boards that are already in use.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds