After three long years of waiting John Martin and Bobby Meeks finally get their patent for their “snowboard boot with liner harness. Patent No. 7,386,947.
1. A sports boot comprising:
an outer shell having a semirigid sole and an upper attached to the sole;
a harness assembly fixedly attached to the outer shell and disposed within the outer shell, the harness assembly including a flexible panel having left and right edges defining a gap therebetween and a plurality of cord keepers disposed on either side of the gap;
a cord slidably engaging the cord keepers; and
a tensioning mechanism that engages the cord to maintain a desired tension in the cord such that the left and right edges of the flexible panel are urged toward each other;
a liner that is removably insertable into the outer shell such that the harness assembly flexible panel wraps about a portion of the liner;
wherein the tensioning mechanism is fixedly attached to one of the upper and the harness flexible panel.
[Link: US Patent Office via Deseret News]
