STIRRUPS FOR EQUESTRIAN SPORTS (Amd.)

Abstract

Stirrups for equestrian sports attachable to a saddle with a stirrup leather strap is easy and economical to produce, and ensures the rider's foot to be securely held during riding and safely released in an emergency situation. The stirrup is surprisingly easily formed, including a single slightly curved side piece (1) and a foot rest (2) with the side piece (1) comprises an eyelet (3) on the upper end through which a stirrup leather strap is guided. The foot rest (2) is arranged on the lower end of the slightly curved side piece (1) such that it is approximately at a right angle, and carries a guiding element (4) in the form of a flat-topped pin on the end thereof facing away from the mount. The guiding element (4) points towards the end of the stirrup side piece (1) which comprises the eyelet (3), with the longitudinal extension thereof.

Claims

1. A stirrup attachable to a stirrup strap and a saddle of a mount, comprising: a single slightly bent side piece (1) and a foot rest (2), wherein the side piece (1) having at its upper end an eyelet (3) for passing through the stirrup strap and the foot rest (2) is arranged at the lower end of the slightly curved side piece (1) approximately at a right angle thereto and carries at its end facing away from the riding animal a guide element (4) shaped as a flattened pin and pointing in its longitudinal extent toward the end of the side piece (1) having the eyelet (3).

2. The stirrup according to claim 1, wherein the foot rest (2) has a recess (5).

3. The stirrup according to claim 2, further comprising a tread piece (6) inserted into the recess (5) of the foot rest (2).

4. The stirrup according to claim 3, wherein a surface (7) of the tread piece (6) has a non-slip structure.

5. The stirrup according to claim 4, wherein the non-slip structure of the surface (7) of the tread piece (6) is comprised of a plurality of truncated pyramids (8).

6. The stirrup according to claim 1, wherein the guide element (4) has a clamping element (10) which is arranged on a side of the guide element (4) facing the side piece (1).

7. The stirrup according to claim 6, wherein the clamping element (10) is made of an elastic material and has a head region (11) and a shaft region (12) projecting approximately perpendicular from the head region (11), wherein the head region (11) has a planar design which corresponds to a surface of the guide element (4) facing the side piece (1) and the shaft region (12) is arranged in a clamping manner in a recess in the guide element (4).

8. The stirrup according to claim 7, wherein the shaft region (12) has a bore-shaped recess into which a retaining pin (13) clampingly engages.

Description

[0021] The invention and its advantages will now be described in more detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment. The accompanying drawings show in

[0022] FIG. 1: a perspective view of the stirrup according to the invention,

[0023] FIG. 2: a top view of the stirrup according to the invention,

[0024] FIG. 3: a side view of the stirrup according to the invention with a tread piece,

[0025] FIG. 4 a sectional view of the guide element, and

[0026] FIG. 5 the front view of a retaining pin.

[0027] FIG. 1 shows the stirrup with its components side piece 1 and foot rest 2. The side piece 1 is slightly curved and has at one end an eyelet 3 through which a stirrup strap is guided when the stirrup is to be connected to a saddle by this stirrup strap.

[0028] The foot rest 2 is designed as a flat foot plate and is arranged on the end of the side piece 1 opposite the eyelet 3 such that this opposite end of the side piece 1 and the foot plate plane of the foot rest 2 enclose an approximately right angle. The foot plate is designed as a rectangle with profoundly rounded corners and carries a guide element 4 disposed at the end facing away from the side piece 1. The guide element 4 is designed as a flattened pin which protrudes at an approximately right angle from the surface of the foot plate of the foot rest 2. The dimensions of the elements of the stirrup according to the invention depend on the physical attributes of the rider's foot, i.e. the width of the foot or sole of the rider's footwear.

[0029] FIG. 2 shows the stirrup according to the invention in an embodiment in which the foot plate of the foot rest 2 has a recess 5. The recess 5 in the foot plate of the foot rest 2 is used on the one hand to reduce the weight and save material in the production of the stirrup, but on the other handas FIG. 3 showsenables an embodiment of the stirrup with improved functionality, as briefly described below.

[0030] The bottom part 9 of a tread piece 6 can be inserted in recess 5, thereby achieving a significant improvement in holding the foot or the footwear of the rider in the stirrup. This effect can be further enhanced when the tread piece 6as also shown in FIG. 3.has a structured non-slip surface 7. Such a surface structure can for example be achieved with an arrangement of a plurality of truncated pyramids 8.

[0031] FIG. 4 shows the guide element 4, which has an additional clamping element 10 arranged on the side of the guide element 4 facing the side piece 1. This clamping element 10 is made of an elastic material such as, for example, natural or synthetic rubber and has a head region 11 and a shaft region 12 projecting approximately vertically from the head region 11. The head region 11 of the clamping element 10 has a planar configuration which corresponds to the surface of the guide element 4 facing the side piece 1. The shaft region 12 is clamped inside a recess of the guide element 4 and likewise has a bore-shaped recess. A retaining pin 13 is also clamped in this bore-shaped recess, thus ensuring a secure but releasable attachment of the clamping element 10 and the retaining pin 13 to the guide element 4.

[0032] The presence of the elastic clamping element 10 on the guide element 4 further improves the grip of the rider's foot or the rider's footwear in the stirrup: the clamping element 10 reinforces the contact of the rider's footwear with the guide element 4 by a slight clamping effect on the sole edge of the footwear, without impairing the safe release of the rider's foot or the rider's footwear in the event of danger. This effect of the clamping element 10 is already achieved with a thickness of the head region 11 of the clamping element 10 of a few millimeters. However, in embodiments with a greater thickness of the head region 11, the clamping element 10 can be used to adapt the stirrup according to the invention to different sizes of the rider's foot or the rider's footwear. In such cases, the head plate of the retaining pin 13 can have information about the size of the rider's footwear. In the example in FIG. 5, this information is the shoe or boot size specification 42, with an additional specification of the size 8 in the specification customary in the United Kingdom.

[0033] By designing the stirrup according to the invention with only the single side piece 1 and the guide element 4 arranged at the end of the foot rest 2 facing away from the riding animal, a stirrup has been developed which on the one hand meets the requirements of rider safety, namely to release in the event of danger the rider's foot or the rider's footwear without problems, and on the other hand ensures a sufficiently secure grip of the rider's foot or the rider's footwear during normal riding.

[0034] The design of the foot rest 2 with the tread piece 6 with structured surface 7 inserted in the recess 5, in conjunction with the guide element 4, prevents the rider's footwear from slipping into a foot posture that is detrimental to the riding process.

[0035] The design of the guide element 4 with an additional clamping element 10 further improves the grip of the rider's foot in the stirrup.

[0036] The stirrup according to the invention can be produced from metal or from sufficiently strong plastic and is simple and inexpensive due to the small number of uncomplicated construction elements. Therefore, the stirrup according to the invention can also be manufactured economically and efficiently in various sizes of the foot rest, thus eliminating complex adjustment elements otherwise required to adapt to different sizes of rider's feet or sizes of the rider's footwear.

[0037] The stirrup according to the invention has been tested on different user groups, such as children, young and more mature adults. No adverse differences in the user behavior compared to conventional stirrups were observed. The handling by the rider was identical when mounting and dismounting, and no behavior deviating from the usual behavior was observed in the posture of the rider when riding at a walking pace, trotting pace and galloping pace.

[0038] The main advantage of the stirrup according to the invention is the enormous increase in safety due to the elimination of all components of the stirrups of the prior art, which are prone to the risk of an unwanted and dangerous connection of the rider's foot or the rider's footwear to the stirrups when the riding animal shows behavior that can no longer be controlled by the rider. Because the side piece 1 is implemented only once, an open space is created between the side piece 1 and the foot rest 2 in which prevents the rider's foot or the rider's footwear from becoming wedged or jammed.

[0039] In addition, the stirrup according to the invention has significantly improved handling, since it does not require additional handling steps, such as fastening of elastic holding bands or closing of releasable connections in the event of danger, as required by some stirrups of the prior art.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0040] 1 side piece [0041] 2 foot rest [0042] 3 eyelet [0043] 4 guide element [0044] 5 recess [0045] 6 tread piece [0046] 7 surface [0047] 8 truncated pyramid [0048] 9 lower part [0049] 10 clamping element [0050] 11 head area [0051] 12 shaft area [0052] 13 retaining pin