Molded heel and toe piece for a wakeboard binding and method of making

Abstract

A toe and heel piece for a wakeboard binding are formed as free standing three dimensional shapes prior to binding assembly. The toe piece has a center body portion that extends from a front edge to a rear edge, the body center body portion including a curvature that approximates the curvature between the top part of the user's foot and a shin part of the user's leg. The toe piece also has a pair of opposing flaps, each flap curving downward from the center body portion. The flaps can terminate in a flange, and the toe piece can include means for binding it to hardware of the wakeboard. The heel piece tapers in width from a bottom portion to a top portion, and is molded to follow the contour of the user's of calf, ankle, and/or heel.

1 . In a wakeboard binding including a separate heel piece and toe piece, the improvement comprising: 
 a toe piece molded in a permanent three dimensional shape to generally follow the contours of the top part of a user's foot, and the curvature between a top part of the user's foot and a shin part of the user's leg; and    a heel piece molded in a permanent three dimensional shape to generally follow the contours of a user's heel.    
   
   
       2 . A heel and toe piece combination for a wakeboard comprising: 
 a heel piece made of a polymeric material and having a free standing three dimensional shape, the heel piece tapering in width from a bottom portion to a top portion, the heel piece molded to generally follow the contour of the heel of a foot; and    a toe piece made of a polymeric material and having a free standing three dimensional shape, the toe piece including: 
 a center body portion that extends from a front edge to a rear edge of the toe piece, the center body portion including a curvature that approximates the curvature between the top part of the user's foot and a shin part of the user's leg, and  
 a pair of opposing flaps, each flap curving downward from the center body portion and terminating in a flange; and  
 means to attach the heel piece and the toe piece to hardware of the wakeboard binding.  
   
   
   
       3 . The binding of  claim 1 , further including means to attach the heel piece and the toe piece to binding hardware of the wakeboard.  
   
   
       4 . The combination of  claim 2 , wherein the attaching means further comprises a plurality of openings in the flanges of the toe piece and the bottom portion of the heel piece.  
   
   
       5 . The binding of  claim 3 , wherein the attaching means further comprises a plurality of openings in flanges located at opposing sides of the toe piece and a plurality of openings in a bottom portion of the heel piece.  
   
   
       6 . A toe piece for a wakeboard comprising a free standing three dimensional shape made of a polymeric material, the toe piece including: 
 a center body portion that extends from a front edge to a rear edge, the body center body portion including a curvature that approximates the curvature between the top part of the user's foot and a shin part of the user's leg, and    a pair of opposing flaps, each flap curving downward from the center body portion and terminating in a flange; and    means to attach the toe piece to binding hardware of the wakeboard.    
   
   
       7 . A heel piece for a wakeboard comprising a free standing three dimensional shape made of a polymeric material, the heel piece tapering in width from a bottom portion to a top portion, the heel piece molded to follow the contour of the heel of a foot; and 
 means to attach the heel piece to binding hardware of the wakeboard.    
   
   
       8 . In a method of making a wakeboard binding wherein a two dimensional heel piece and a two dimensional toe piece are attached to binding hardware of the wakeboard, said attaching step imparting a shape to the toe and heel pieces, the improvement comprising, first forming the heel piece into a three dimensional shape and the toe piece into a three dimensional shape, and then attaching the three dimensional-shaped toe and heel pieces to binding hardware of the wakeboard, wherein the three dimensional shape of the toe piece includes a curvature generally matching the curvature between the top part of the user's foot and a shin part of the user's leg, and the three dimensional shape of the heel piece is contoured to generally match the contour of a heel, calf, and ankle of a foot of a user.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the toe piece is made of a polymeric material and further comprises: 
 a center body portion that extends from a front edge to a rear edge, the body center body portion including said curvature; and    a pair of opposing flaps, each flap curving downward from the center body portion and terminating in a flange; and    means to attach the toe piece to binding hardware of the wakeboard.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the heel piece further comprises a free standing three dimensional shape made of a polymeric material, the heel piece tapering in width from a bottom portion to a top portion, the heel piece molded to follow the contour of the heel of a foot; and means to attach the heel piece to binding hardware of the wakeboard.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the heel piece further comprises a free standing three dimensional shape made of a polymeric material, the heel piece tapering in width from a bottom portion to a top portion, the heel piece molded to follow the contour of the heel of a foot; and means to attach the heel piece to binding hardware of the wakeboard.