Inspired by mountain crampons, designed to prevent mountaineers from slipping and falling on hard ice, Yvon Chouinard (2016), the famous environmentalist, inventor of mountain climbing tools, and founder of the sportswear company Patagonia Inc., designed river wading crampons. River wading crampons are intended to provide traction, preventing fishermen from slipping, on the wet, slimy, algae-covered rocks, beneath their feet. The Chouinard wading crampons invention is recited in the US utility patent US9918518B2, titled Wading crampon, awarded March 20th 2018 to Yvon Chouinard, and assigned to Patagonia Inc.
The patent discloses a non-cleated crampon that attaches to a wading shoe or boot, alternatively that could be permanently fixed to the outer sole of a wading shoe or boot. The crampon is made of a soft, malleable metal, such as aluminum, designed to “resiliently conform” or “grab” slippery, wet rocks, beneath the surface of the water. The crampon is attached with a binding system, which is strap-like in the embodiments depicted, although unlimited to this particular type of attachment system.
The abstract of the invention is included below, together with the invention Figure 3, extracted from the patent, and an image of the Patagonia river wading boots, equipped with the invention wading crampons.
Specifically, according to the Figure 3 drawing, extracted from the patent, and the recitation of the invention, a perspective view of an embodiment the invention 200 is depicted, where the invention traction device 204 is strapped to a wading boot footwear item 202. The traction device 204 comprises a front shank 206 and a heel shank 208, joined with a hinged connecting bar 210, allowing rotation of the front shank 206, relative to the heel shank 208. The traction device also comprises front L-shaped brackets 212, and heel brackets 214, respectively attached to the front (206), and heel (208) shanks. Front and heel semi-rigid attachment members, 216 and 218, designed to conformingly receive the footwear 202, are respectively secured to the L-shaped brackets 212 and 214. A strap 220 and cinching buckle 222 are further provided to adjust and tighten the traction device 204 to the footwear 202.
A non-cleated, soft metal traction device reduces or eliminates slippage on wet and hard surfaces , such as mossy rocks beneath the water surface of a body of water . The traction device includes at least one external metal shank, plate or bar attachable to a footwear item with a desired binding system. The shank is preferably made from a soft metal material, such as a non-heat- treated aluminum alloy, so it is soft enough to grip and elastically conform to moist , wet or otherwise slippery rock and shale . The contact surface of the shank may include grooves, ribs, spaced apart ridges , or other small surface variations to improve the traction of the device in transition environments. [Abstract US9918518B2]
References
Chouinard, Y (2016). Let my people go surfing: The Education of a reluctant business man. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Patagonia Inc. https://www.patagonia.com
No comments:
Post a Comment