Foldable Snow Shoe

Snowshoes are, of course, commonly known in the art and the shoe disclosed herein, in its open, use condition is, in appearance, similar in structure and use to the conventional snow shoe. However, as is well known, conventional snow shoes are large, bulky items and are not convenient to store or to transport when not in use. Accordingly, the use of these articles is limited by reason of their lack of portability. A conventional shoe may extend anywhere from 3 to 5 feet in length from tip to tip and may be as much as 11/2 to 2 feet in width. A structure of this size, in addition to being awkward to store and transport is relatively heavy, in pairs, and for this reason also is difficult to transport.

The present invention is directed to the provision of an improved snow shoe structure and specifically is directed to a light, foldable snow shoe that is easy to store and transport.

A foldable, easily transported snow shoe is especially desirable in today's leisure time activities such as cross country skiing and hiking, snowmobiling and other similar activities. It can readily be seen that a conventional, bulky, heavy snow shoe would not be convenient, or desirable, for these activities.

A primary object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved snow shoe structure which is light, foldable for convenience in storing and portability, easy to use and which is durable in use.

The novel features which are considered to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof will best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the shoe of the present invention showing the shoe as folded for storage;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the shoe shown in its use position; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view showing the hinge locking and stabilizing means associated with the shoe structure.

Referring more particularly now to the drawings, the shoe assembly is indicated generally at 10.

The frame of the shoe 10 is defined, in the preferred embodiment, by formed aluminum tube elements 12, 14, 16 and 18, as schematically shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. It should be noted that the frame assembly may be formed of any suitable metal, synthetic or natural material. Aluminum was selected in one form constructed for test purposes because it is a light material having sufficient inherent strength for the purpose. While the shoe may be required to support 200-300 pounds in use it is readily apparent that this load is distributed over a relatively large area and, as such, unusually high strength materials are not required.

The frame members 12 and 14 are joined at the front by a hinge member 20 which permits the frame elements to be moved toward and away from each other. The hinge member 20 may be riveted to the frame members 12 and 14 or joined thereto by any other suitable means.

The other, or rear, end of the frame member 12 is joined to the frame member 16 by another hinge element 22. In the form shown, the hinge element 22 has tubular sections which fit over the mating frame members to join the hinge to the respective frame members with the hinge pivot being externally defined, as illustrated.

The other end of the frame member 14 is joined to the frame member 18 through the hinge member 24, the hinge member 24 being the same as member 22 and providing the same hinge function.

In addition to the above noted hinge elements a rear hinge member 26 may be provided to join the rear terminal portions 17 and 19 of frame members 16 and 18 to provide stability at the rear of the shoe and to define the folding function required to move the frame elements to the folded position schematically represented in FIG. 1. The hinge member 26, as shown, is an abbreviated piano-type hinge for purposes of illustrating the inventive concept herein. It should be noted that a synthetic material may be employed as the hinge element here since this member serves primarily to define a stable rear section of the shoe.

A plurality of rings 28 are slidably positioned over the frame members in spaced apart relation thereon with each of the rings 28 having a section of webbing 30 fastened thereto. It can readily be seen that the rings 28 serve to anchor the webbing 30 to the frame of the shoe 10 and also serve to securely position the webbing 30 with respect to the frame members thereby defining means for further distributing the load on the shoe over a large area to keep the users foot on top of the snow being traversed with the shoes.

A spreader board 32 is pivotally secured at one end thereof to the frame member 12 by the pin 34 thereby defining means for pivotal movement of the board 32 with respect to the frame member 12.

The spreader board 32 is provided with a tensioning member 36 to assemble the board with respect to the frame members and to define means for spreading the frame members in assembled, use condition. The tensioning member 36 is hingedly secured to an inboard portion of the board 32 by the hinge element 38. In assembly of the shoe to its open, use position, a slot (not shown) in the free end of the tensioning member 36 is slipped over the bolt 40, which bolt is securely mounted with respect to the frame member 14 as an assembly member for the shoe. The spreader board 32 then is pressed down to spread the frame members of the shoe assembly and the opening 42 of the board 32 is brought into registration with the bolt 40 of the assembly. The board 32 then is dropped over the bolt and the wing nut 44 is threaded onto the bolt 42 to secure the assembly in its open, use condition.

The distance between the inboard terminal of the slot in the free end of the tensioning member 36 and the hinge 38 thereof is slightly less than the distance between the opening 42 and the hinge member 38 thereby requiring slight tension of the spreader board on the frame members to bring the openings 42 into registration with the bolt 40 defining means to securely anchoring the assembly in its use condition.

The shoe 10, in assembled relation, is further stabilized by use of the push rod and stabilizer plug assemblies 46. As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the stabilizer assemblies 46 include a push rod 48 and stabilizer plug 50. In assembled condition the stabilizer assemblies are moved inwardly so that the plug 50 is positioned in the hinge areas 22 and 24 between frame ends 12 and 16, and frame ends 14 and 18, respectively. This plug 50, when inserted in the area noted, will freeze the hinges 22 and 24 in open, use condition thereby preventing the frame members 16 and 18 from moving about the hinge elements 22 and 24 in use of the shoes.

It should be noted that in actual use of the foldable shoe the push rods 48 and plug elements 50 are inserted first into the hinge joints of hinges 22 and 24 and then the spreader board is moved into position as described herein. In spread position the sections 12 and 14 are moved into tight frictional engagement with the plug elements 50 to securely capture the plug elements in locking position thereby preventing inadvertent release.

When the shoes are to be folded, the stabilizer assemblies 46 are moved to withdraw the plugs 50 from the hinge areas thereby permitting the frame member elements 16 and 18 to be folded about the hinges 22 and 24, respectively.

Folding of the shoes is accomplished by removing the plug elements 50 from the hinge areas as noted above. Then the wing nut 44 is removed from the bolt 40 and the spreader board is withdrawn from the bolt. These two simple actions serve to free the shoes for folding, as required. The frame members 12 and 14 are folded about the hinge element 20 and the frame members 16 and 18 are folded about the hinge elements 22 and 24, respectively, thereby bringing the shoes to the folded position schematically represented in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The spreader board 32 is pivoted about the pin 34 to bring it into the folded area of the frame members for convenience in storage of the shoe in its folded condition.

The terminal portions 17 and 19 of the frame members 16 and 18, respectively, are slightly curved to prevent accidental withdrawal of the stabilizer plugs 50 from the frame members.

While a specific embodiment of the present invention is shown and described it will, of course, be understood that other modifications and alternative constructions may be used without departing from the true spirit and scope of this invention. It is intended therefore by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and alternative constructions as fall within their true spirit and scope.