EP2837414A1

EP2837414A1 - Hand strap with an integrated thumb support

Info

Publication number: EP2837414A1
Application number: EP20140180209
Authority: EP
Inventors: Taoufik Khamitov
Original assignee: KV2 SAGL
Current assignee: KV2 SAGL
Priority date: 2013-08-12
Filing date: 2014-08-07
Publication date: 2015-02-18
Also published as: EP2837413A1; EP2837415A1

Abstract

A hand strap for sport poles characterised for the presence of an integrated thumb support. Said thumb support maximise the transfer of the force from the user hand to the tip of said pole.

Description

The present invention relates to a hand strap for sport poles, characterised for the presence of an integrated thumb support. Said thumb support maximise the transfer of the force from the user hand to the tip of said pole.

Background

Conventional handles of ski and other sports poles comprise a grip member of a substantially cylindrical shape disposed at the upper end portion of the ski pole with a hand strap in the form of a closed loop attached thereto, through which the user's hand is inserted upwardly. Usually, the point of attaching said hand strap to the grip is on the top of said grip. Such a hand strap provides a proper grip for transfer of pushing forces to the pole. The hand strap however, does not keep the pole handle accommodated in the hand if the grip of the hand around the grip element ceases. When the hand drops the grip element while the pole is not in contact with a support surface, the pole will fall somewhat down and will hang in the strap, while will lie across the back of the hand or the wrist.
Poles having a hand strap capable to keep the hand accommodated also if the grip of the hand around the grip element ceases have been described. An elastic auxiliary strap that is fastened to the grip element and is adapted to keep the grip element in a grip position relatively to the hand even if the hand releases the grip element is described in US5248163 .
WO0134255 describes a ski pole handle with a possibility of adjusting the effective length of the hand strap according to the hand of the users.
EP0266329 describes a ski pole handle device comprising a laterally protruding element that forms a supporting surface for the palm of the hand.
WO2007077544 describes a grip handle having a main wrist strap and an additional strap in the form of a closed loop, wherein the point of attaching the additional strap to the grip handle member is disposed on the opposite side and higher in relation to the attaching point of the main wrist strap.
WO2012176053 describes a connection assembly between a pole and the hand of the user comprising one hooking means wherein two rings are present, one to host the thumb, the other the forefinger of the user's hand.
However, the cited ski pole handles are not capable to maximise the effectiveness of forces transmitted to the ski pole by the user and, in some of them, they do not leave the thumb of the user capable of free movement.
A first object of the present invention is a hand strap that maximises the effectiveness of the forces transmitted by the user.

Summary of the invention

The present invention relates to a hand strap for sport poles, characterised for an integrated thumb support that maximise the transfer of the force from the user hand to the tip of said pole.
The construction of the present invention surprisingly maximises the transfer of pushing forces from the user's hand to the pole tip, as it will become evident from the figures and description that follow. The present invention surprisingly solves the problem of entirely collecting the forces exerted by the user's hand forearm and arm and the problem of direct them entirely to the tip of the pole, without wasting part of said forces, as it commonly happens when using prior art constructions. The present invention thus allows the maximization of the boost achievable by the user.

Description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hand strap of the present invention inserted into the user's hand.
FIG. 2 is a further perspective view of the embodiment of
FIG. 1 of the hand strap.
FIG. 3 is a front view of an embodiment of the coupling mean.
FIG. 4 is a top view of the embodiment of FIG. 3 of the coupling mean.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the hand strap of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a further perspective view of the embodiment of
FIG. 3 of the hand strap inserted into the user's hand.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the kit comprising a pole and the hand strap of the present invention.

Detailed description

By hand strap is here meant that element into which a hand user is inserted to hold the grip of a pole.
By grip element is here meant that element which is suitable to be gripped by the hand.
The hand strap of the present invention is schematically depicted in FIG. 1 and 2. Said hand strap (103, 203) comprises a dorsal portion (D) and a palmar portion (P). Said dorsal portion (D) and palmar portion (P) are kept together by at least a first (112, 212), a second (113, 213) and a third (114, 214) connecting portion. Said connecting portions (112, 113, 114, 212, 213, 214) define at least a palm opening (104, 204) fitting the palm of the user's hand, a fingers opening (105, 205) from which emerges the fore finger, the middle finger, the ring finger and the small finger and a thumb opening (106, 206) from which emerges the thumb finger. Said palm, fingers and thumb openings comprise a hedge (104', 105', 106') along said dorsal and palmar face of said hand strap.
On said palmar portion (P) are defined an upper profile corresponding to said third connecting portion (114), a lower profile, corresponding to the palmar hedge (104') of said palm opening (104) and two lateral profiles, corresponding to the palmar hedge (105') of said fingers opening (105) and the palmar hedge (106') of said thumb opening (106). On said lateral profile corresponding to the palmar hedge (105') of the fingers opening (105) is defined a portion (150) proximal to the third connecting portion (114). On said lateral profile corresponding to the palmar hedge (106') of the thumb opening (106) is defined a portion (151) proximal to the third connecting portion (114).
The user's hand is inserted into said hand strap (103, 203) to hold a grip. Once the user's hand is closed on the grip, the palmar portion (P) of said hand strap will enter into contact with said grip.
Suitable non-slip elements are properly applied on said palmar portion (P) of said hand strap, or said palmar portion (P) is made by a non-slip fabric.
To facilitate the insertion of the user's hand into said hand strap and to guarantee that the hand will be firmly kept into said hand strap during usage, said hand strap is preferably provided with suitable adjustable means. In a preferred embodiment, the first connecting portion (112, 212) will be conveniently adjustable to the hand size, preferably by Velcro or by any other suitable means.
It is worth emphasizing that the hand strap of the present invention may be worn by a gloved hand of an athlete or by a naked hand, as shown in figure 1, depending on the feeling of the user.
Said hand strap (103, 203) is provided with a tongue (109, 209) to fasten said hand strap to said grip via coupling means.
Said tongue (109, 209) protrudes from said hand strap from the third connecting portion (114, 214).
Once the user's hand is inserted into said hand strap, as it is evident form FIG. 1, said tongue (109) sticks out between the thumb and the forefinger.
In a preferred embodiment, presented in FIG. 3, said coupling mean (307) on said tongue (309) is a clip which is a bar-shaped element having a core (311a) which is an extension of the webbing (311), said core being covered by a cover (307a), preferably by a plastic cover. The cover (307a) is provided on the upper face (307_up), on the lower face (307_low) and on the terminal side (307_term) of said core. Said bar-shaped clip has a thickness ranging from 1 to 15 mm, or ranging from 3 to 8 mm, or of about 5 mm and a length ranging from 5 to 40 mm, or from 15 to 30 mm, or of about 20 mm and a width ranging from 5 to 30 mm, or from 8 to 20 mm, or of about 13 mm.
In a further preferred embodiment, depicted in FIG. 4, said coupling mean (407) which is the bar-shaped clip above described comprises an opening (440) running through it in its thickness. Preferably, said opening (440) is circular. Said opening (404) is defined as a female element.
A clip having a core covered by a cover (307a) on the upper face (307_up), on the lower face (307_low) and on the terminal side (307_term) of said core offers the following advantages with respect to clip completely covered by plastic:

to equal width of said clip, a wider webbing may be used, since there is no space used by an eventual plastic cover on the front and on the back portion of the clip itself and a wider webbing means a clip more resistant, especially when said clip comprises an opening running though it in its thickness;
a clip only partially covered by plastic is more flexible than a clip completely covered by plastic, and to a greater flexibility corresponds a greater resistance.

Said clip comprising an opening (440) engages with said grip by entering into a cavity on said grip through an opening. An entrapping element comprising a male element hosted by said grip fixes said clip to the grip itself. Preferably, said male element is a pivot pin carried by said entrapping element, wherein said entrapping element is removable and, once in use, it is inserted on the top of said grip.
Said hand strap (103, 203) comprises a lateral support (180, 280) for the thumb, as depicted in FIG. 1 and 2. Said lateral support (180, 280) is an integral part of said hand strap. Said lateral support protrudes from the palmar hedge (106', 206') of the thumb opening (106, 206). Said lateral support (180, 280) is adjacent to the third connecting portion (114, 214), and preferably it extends in length for about a half of said palmar hedge (106', 206'). The protruding portion of said lateral support (180, 280) is essentially semi-circular, having a diameter of about 2 - 5 cm, or about 2.5 - 4 cm, or about 3 cm.
Said lateral support (180) protrudes in an essentially semi-circular manner from the portion (151) proximal to the third connecting portion (114) of the palmar hedge (106') of the thumb opening (106) on said hand strap (183).
Said lateral support (180, 580, 680) is realized in any kind of semi-rigid fabric or leather. In a preferred embodiment, said lateral support is in carbon fibre. The man skilled in the art will made the choice of the proper material in order to have a lateral support flexible enough to adapt itself to the conformation of the user's thumb and rigid enough to hold up the thumb.
In a preferred embodiment schematically depicted in FIG. 5 and Fig. 6, said lateral support (580, 680) is an element applied on the palmar portion (P) of said hand strap. In this embodiment, the shape of said lateral support (580, 680) resembles a quadrangle, which is attached, preferably sewn, to the palmar portion of the hand strap. Preferably, said support cover about the half-superior portion of said palmar portion (P). Said lateral support has a bottom (582, 682), an upper (584, 684) and two lateral (581, 583, 681, 683) profiles, a fingers lateral profile (581, 681) and a thumb lateral profile (583, 683), respectively. In a preferred embodiment, said bottom profile (582, 682) is positioned approximately in the middle of said palmar portion (P); said upper profile (584, 684) is positioned along the third connecting portion (514), wherein said upper profile (584, 684) exceeds in length said third connecting portion (514), protruding in the direction of said thumb opening (506); said fingers lateral profile (581, 681) is positioned along the palmar hedge (505') of the fingers opening (505) and said thumb lateral profile (583, 683) protrudes from the portion (551) proximal to the third connecting portion (514) of the palmar hedge (506') of the thumb opening (506).
The upper profile (584) of said lateral support (580) has a fingers portion (585), proximal to the fingers opening (505) and a thumb portion (586), proximal to the fingers opening (506), protruding in the direction of the thumb opening (506). Said thumb lateral profile (583) has a thumb portion, proximal to the upper profile (584) and a palmar portion (588) proximal to the bottom profile (582).
Said lateral support which is an essentially quadrangle element applied on the half superior portion of said palmar portion protrudes from the palmar hedge of the thumb opening proximal to the third connecting portion (551) of said hand strap. The protruding portion (590, 690) is essentially semi-circular and it is delimited by the thumb portion (586) of the upper profile (584) and the thumb portion (587) of the lateral profile (583) of said thumb lateral support (580).
Preferably, said lateral support (580, 680) is a patch in carbon fibre sewn on the upper half of said palmar portion (P).
The thumb of the user's hand, once inserted into said hand strap, is supported by the lateral support (680), in particular the thumb leans on the lateral support (680) protruding portion (690) delimited by the thumb portion (686) of the upper profile (684) and the thumb portion (687) of the lateral profile (683) of said lateral support (680).
Said lateral support leaves the thumb free to exercise the necessary movement and supports it during the transmission of the thrust force to the pool, thus increasing the force transmitted.
The hand strap of the present invention, comprising the here described lateral support for the thumb, allows to collect an additional force generated by the user, additional force which is not collected but lost with the constructions of the prior art.
It is further claimed a kit comprising a pole (701) and a hand strap (703), said pole (701) comprising a grip (702), a shaft (753) and a tip (751), wherein said pole has a longitudinal axis (L), said shaft, grip and tip being aligned along the same longitudinal axis (L), said hand strap comprising a tongue (709) to fasten said hand strap to said grip (709) via coupling means (707), said tongue (709) protruding from said hand strap from said third connecting portion (714), the point from which protrudes said tongue from said third connecting portion defining a connection point (X) characterised by the fact that said connection point (X), when said hand strap (703) is connected, via coupling means (707), to the grip (702) is located on said longitudinal axis (L).
Said shaft is made in any material and has any one of the forms suitable and known to the man skilled in the art.
The kit of the present invention, comprising the here described hand strap and pole, allows a substantial increase of the intensity of the forces transmitted to the tip of said pole by the user's hand, thereby accelerating the boost effectiveness.
In a preferred embodiment, said pole is a cross-country ski pole. In an alternative embodiment, said pole is a Nordic walking pole.
The location of the connection point (X) of the hand strap (703) of the present invention on said longitudinal axis (L) offers the unique opportunity that the boost operated by the user is entirely focused on the longitudinal axis (L) of said pole, thus making said boost entirely available to the tip.
Poling force effectiveness depends on positioning of the trunk, shoulder, elbow, hand and pole. Axial force is transmitted through each pole and has force components in the vertical and horizontal (propulsive) directions. The here described hand strap and grip and the manner in which they are engaged surprisingly result in a maximisation of the force in the horizontal direction, thus to a maximisation of the propulsive forces generated.
With reference to ski pole, when using the ski pole constructions of the prior art, the boost occurs in a retracted position, so that, with the same intensity of the boost, the force which is transmitted to the tip is of a lower intensity with respect to the force transmitted when using the kit of the present invention.
The kit of the present invention, comprising a pole (701) and a hand strap, wherein said pole has a longitudinal axis (L) along which are aligned the shaft (753), the grip (702) and the tip (751), wherein the above defined connection point (X) of said hand strap is located on said grip on said longitudinal axis (L) on the tread of a step forming the upper portion of said grip, allows to obtain the maximisation of the effectiveness of the forces transmitted by the user during the boost, by directing them entirely on the tip of the ski pole and avoiding their dispersion in different direction.

Claims

A hand strap (103, 203) for sport poles comprising a dorsal portion (D) and a palmar portion (P), said dorsal portion (D) and palmar portion (P) being kept together by at least a first (112, 212), a second (113, 213) and a third (114, 214) connecting portion, said connecting portions (112, 113, 114, 212, 213, 214) defining at least a palm opening (104, 204) fitting the palm of the user's hand, a fingers opening (105, 205) from which emerges the fore finger, the middle finger, the ring finger and the small finger and a thumb opening (106, 206) from which emerges the thumb finger, said hand strap comprising a lateral support (180, 280) for the thumb characterised in that said lateral support (180, 280) protrudes from the portion (151) proximal to the third connecting portion (114) of the palmar hedge of the thumb opening (106) of said hand strap.
The hand strap according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion of said lateral support (180, 280) is essentially semi-circular and has a diameter of about 2 - 5 cm, or about 2,5 - 4 cm, or about 3 cm.
The hand strap according to claim 1, wherein said lateral support (580, 680) is an element attached on the palmar portion (P) of said hand strap.
The hand strap according to claim 3, wherein said lateral support (580, 680) has a bottom (582), an upper (584) and two lateral (581, 583) profiles, a fingers lateral profile (581) and a thumb lateral profile (583) respectively, wherein said bottom profile (582) is positioned approximately in the middle of said palmar portion (P); said upper profile (584) follows the third connecting portion (514); said fingers lateral profile (581, 681) is positioned along the palmar hedge (505') of the fingers opening (505) and said thumb lateral profile (583, 683) protrudes from the portion (551) proximal to the third connecting portion (514) of the palmar hedge (506') of the thumb opening (506).
The hand strap according to claim 4, wherein said lateral support (580) protrudes from the palmar hedge of the thumb opening proximal to the third connecting portion (551) of said hand strap and said protruding portion (590) is defined by the thumb portion (586) of the upper profile (584) and the thumb portion (587) of the thumb lateral profile (583) of said lateral support (580).
The hand strap according to any of the claims from 3 to 5, wherein said lateral support is a patch in carbon fibre sewn on the upper half of said palmar portion (P).
The hand strap according to any of the claims from 1 to 6, wherein said hand strap comprises a tongue to fasten said hand strap to a grip via coupling means, said tongue protruding from said hand strap from said third connecting portion, wherein said coupling mean is a clip which is a bar-shaped element having a core which is an extension of the webbing, said core being covered by a cover, preferably a plastic cover, characterised in that said cover is provided on the upper face, on the lower face and on the terminal side of said core.
The hand strap according to claim 7, wherein said bar-shaped element comprises an opening (440) running through it in its thickness.
A kit comprising:
- a hand strap according to any one of the claims from 1 to 8;

- a pole;
said pole comprising a grip, a shaft and a tip.
Use of a kit according to claim 9 for cross-country ski or for Nordic walking.