Selectively Releasable Buckle

Abstract

A buckle is provided for use in footwear. The buckle includes a lever arm that feeds a strap into the buckle in a ratcheting fashion and a lock that secures the strap relative to the buckle when the lever arm is released. To release the strap from the buckle, a user may impart rotational motion onto the lock to remove it from engagement from teeth associated with the strap. Alternatively, pressure may be applied to the lever arm, which releases a locking pawl from the strap and allows the strap to incrementally move a predetermined amount.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention are generally related to a fastening system for footwear. One embodiment of the present invention is a fastening system for a cycling shoe that employs a ratcheting buckle that selectively receives and secures a corresponding strap and that allows for the strap to be incrementally loosened.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cycling shoes are often used with clipless pedal systems wherein a cleat incorporated into the bottom surface of the shoe selectively interconnects with a pedal. Like in other types of footwear, some cycling shoes employ laces to maintain the user's foot. More commonly, however, the shoes include a primary strap that is selectively secured to a buckle. Systems that employ a ratcheting buckle also include one or two auxiliary straps to further secure the shoe to the user's foot. The strap includes a plurality of teeth that selectively interact with one or more pawls associated with the buckle in a ratcheting fashion. More specifically, to tighten the strap, the user repeatedly rotates a lever portion of the buckle that includes a feed pawl that engages successive teeth of the strap to incrementally move the strap relative to the buckle. Once the desired strap tension is achieved, a locking pawl on the buckle is used to hold the strap in place. To allow loosening of the strap or complete removal of the strap from the buckle, the locking pawl is rotated away from the strap which removes all interferences that would prevent relative motion between the buckle and the strap.

During use, the cyclist's foot can become swollen and thus there is often a need to alter the tension applied by the primary strap, e.g., loosen the strap to maintain comfort. In addition, often cyclists will wish to adjust shoe tension to accommodate specific peddling circumstances associated with peddling uphill, downhill, on flat terrain, etc. Thus there is a continuous compromise between comfort and support—loosening the strap too much will not provide sufficient support and tightening the strap to increase support will often lead to foot pain and possibly injury.

To address this issue, some buckles allow the user to incrementally release the strap relative to the buckle and thus loosen the shoe in a controlled, incremental fashion. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,877,845 to Signori discloses a controlled release fastening device that employs a buckle having a tightening component, a release component, and an incremental release component that allows for selective movement of the strap relative to the buckle. More specifically, the first component of the buckle is used to tighten the strap, the second component is used to maintain the location of the buckle relative to the strap, and the third component is used to selectively move the locking component to the next tooth i.e., the distance associated with the “pitch” of the strap teeth.

Another method of selectively releasing the buckle is disclosed in European Patent Application No. EP1611811 to Giusti. Giusti discloses a gradual release mechanism that is comprised of multiple components wherein the release and locking mechanism employs cogs that selectively interface with the teeth of the strap. Similar to Signori, the locking release system as comprised of three primary components.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,555 to Lin discloses a fastener that allows for micro adjustment that possesses an extended outer profile and thus may not be desirable to be used in many applications.

Thus it is a long felt need to provide a buckle that allows for incremental loosening of the interconnected strap and associated shoe, is low profile, and less complicated to manufacture and use. The following disclosure describes an improved buckle that allows for selective, incremental release of the strap relative to the buckle that is achieved by moving the mechanism associated with tightening the strap in a direction opposite to that associated with tightening the strap.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one aspect of the present invention to provide a buckle that selectively receives a strap. The buckle is generally comprised of a base portion that interconnects to a shoe upper. A frame is interconnected to the base portion and spaced a predetermined distance therefrom to define an opening for receipt of an end of the strap. The base also provides a channel that helps maintain the position of the strap relative to the base. The frame includes a lock pin and a lever pin for securing a lock and a lever arm, respectively. The lever arm includes a feed pawl at a proximal end that selectively engages successive teeth of the strap when the lever arm is repeatedly rotated away from and toward the base to tighten the strap in a ratcheting manner. The lock is rotatably interconnected to the lock pin and includes a locking pawl that engages a tooth of the strap to hold the strap relative to the buckle when the lever arm is in a neutral position. To release the strap, the lock pawl is rotated away from the tooth to which it is engaged.

To incrementally move the strap relative to the buckle, a distal end of the lever arm is moved past its neutral position, i.e., depressed towards the strap. When depressed, the lever arm of one embodiment rotates the locking pawl away from the tooth to which it is engaged. A distal end of the lever arm additionally includes release pawls that engage corresponding teeth of the strap to incrementally shift the strap relative to the locking pawl. Once the distal end of the lever arm is released and allowed to return its neutral position, the strap is able to move incrementally relative to the buckle, i.e., loosen, until the locking pawl engages a tooth adjacent to the one which it was previously engaged. That is, after the strap moves the predetermined amount, the locking pawl will fall into the space between two adjacent teeth and abut against the tooth adjacent to the tooth from which it was displaced when the distal end of the lever was depressed. In this manner, a user may incrementally release the strap from the buckle one tooth at a time, for example.

It is another aspect of the present invention to provide an incrementally releasing buckle with that employs fewer components than found in the prior art. Here, as opposed to the embodiments of the prior art described above, a buckle is provided that uses the lever arm to achieve incremental release as opposed to a separate component. The contemplated buckle is thus low profile, easy to use, and less expensive to manufacture. More specifically, unlike the buckles of the prior art, which include separate mechanisms or components to impart an incremental release of the strap, embodiments of the present invention use the lever arm to both tighten and incrementally release the strap. The shape and spacing of the release pawls located on the lever arm dictate the amount of travel the locking pawl experiences relative to the strap when the lever arm is depressed. Furthermore, the release pawls maintain the position of the strap relative to the buckle and act as an auxiliary lock that prevents total release of the buckle when the locking pawl is removed from the strap teeth. Once pressure is removed from the lever arm, the lock resiliently deflects into engagement with a strap to again hold the strap relative to the buckle.

It is yet another aspect of the present invention to provide a buckle that is easy to operate. More specifically, the contemplated buckle includes two ways to release the strap. First the lock includes a release button common on most ratcheting buckles that rotates the locking pawl away from the strap teeth and removes all interferences between the buckle and the associated strap that would prevent removal of the strap from the buckle. Furthermore, the distal end of the lever arm includes a “button” that when pressed, allows for the buckle to be incrementally released from the strap as described above. The contemplated system is easy to access by a user for release when the shoe is clipped into a pedal, for example. Furthermore, the distal end of the lever arm may be upwardly sloped to allow the user to easily access the same with a single digit to tighten and re-tighten the strap, if needed.

It is yet another aspect of the present invention to provide a buckle that is low profile. More specifically, most embodiments of the present invention are made of two fixed components and two rotating components. As will be appreciated upon review of the figures, this assembly renders a low profile, easy to manufacture, and easy to use system. Furthermore, the majority of the components of the buckle are made of lightweight and moldable materials, such as plastic, which facilitates manufacturability.

It is still yet another aspect of the present invention to provide a buckle adapted for tightening and selectively securing a strap having a plurality of teeth, comprising: a base having a channel for receiving the strap, said base also including a first hub and a second hub positioned on opposite sides of said channel; a frame that includes a lock pin that is operably associated with said first hub and said second hub, said frame also having a lever pin that is spaced from said lock pin; a lock positioned between said first hub and said second hub and rotatably interconnected to said lock pin and, said lock having a locking pawl, which is adapted for selective engagement with a tooth of the strap, on a first end and a release button on a second end; and a lever arm rotatably interconnected to said lever pin on a first end and wherein a second end of said lever arm includes a release pawl directed towards said base that is adapted for selective engagement with the teeth of the strap when the second end of said lever arm is defected towards said base, said first end of said lever arm also including a feed pawl adapted for selective engagement with the teeth of the strap when said second end of said lever arm is directed away from said base.

It is still yet another aspect of the present invention to provide a buckle adapted for tightening and selectively securing a strap having a plurality of teeth, comprising: a base; a frame associated with said base and having a laterally extending lock pin and a laterally extending lever pin spaced from said lock pin; a lock rotatably interconnected to said lock pin and, said lock having a locking pawl, which is adapted for selective engagement with a tooth of the strap, on a first end and a release button on a second end; and a lever arm rotatably interconnected to said lever pin on a first end and wherein a second end of said lever arm includes a release pawl directed towards said base that is adapted for selective engagement with the teeth of the strap when the second end of said lever arm is defected towards said base.

It is yet another aspect of the present invention to provide a buckle adapted for tightening and selectively securing a strap having a plurality of teeth, said buckle comprising a base defined by lateral edges, a frame associated with said base and having a laterally extending lock pin and a laterally extending lever pin spaced from said lock pin, a lock rotatably interconnected to said lock pin, and a lever arm having a first end rotatably interconnected to said lever pin, the improvement comprising: a release pawl positioned on downward-facing surface of a second end of said lever arm that is adapted for selective engagement with the teeth of the strap when the second end of said lever arm is defected towards said base.

It is still yet another aspect of the invention to provide a method of selectively releasing a buckle that is interconnected to a strap, comprising: providing a buckle comprised of a base, a lever arm rotatably associated with said base and having a laterally extending finger, and a lock rotatably associated with said base and having a laterally extending projection, said strap having a plurality of teeth and positioned between said lock and said base; rotating said lever arm towards said base such that said finger contacts said projection to rotate said lock away from said strap thereby allowing said strap to move and incremental amount.

The Summary of the Invention is neither intended nor should it be construed as being representative of the full extent and scope of the present invention. Moreover, references made herein to “the present invention” or aspects thereof should be understood to mean certain embodiments of the present invention and should not necessarily be construed as limiting all embodiments to a particular description. The present invention is set forth in various levels of detail in the Summary of the Invention as well as in the attached drawings and the Detailed Description of the Invention and no limitation as to the scope of the present invention is intended by either the inclusion or non-inclusion of elements, components, etc. in this Summary of the Invention. Additional aspects of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the Detail Description, particularly when taken together with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the general description of the invention given above and the detailed description of the drawings given below, serve to explain the principles of these inventions.

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the buckle of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the buckle and associated strap of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of the base of the buckle of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of the frame of the buckle of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a top perspective of the lock of the buckle of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a bottom perspective view of a lever arm of the buckle of one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the buckle and associated strap showing a lock in a locked position;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the buckle and associated strap showing the lock in an open position that allows for the strap to be completely released from the buckle;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing the buckle and associated strap wherein the buckle has been released to allow for incremental movement of the strap relative to the buckle;

FIG. 12 is a detail of FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a detail view similar to that of FIG. 12 showing a distal end of the lever arm approaching the strap;

FIG. 14 is a detail view similar to that of FIG. 12 showing release pawls of the distal end contacting teeth of the strap;

FIG. 15 is a detail view of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 16 shows the buckle and associated strap integrated into a cycling shoe.

To assist in the understanding of one embodiment of the present invention the following list of components and associated numbering found in the drawings is provided herein:

#   Components
2   Buckle
6   Base
10  Hub
14  Lock pin aperture
18  Opening
22  Guide
26  Channel
30  Leading edge
34  Strap
38  Frame
42  Lock pin
46  Lever pin
48  Groove
50  Lever arm
54  Lock
58  Teeth/Tooth
62  Release button
66  Distal end
70  Locking pawl
74  Spring
78  Feed pawl
82  Proximal end
86  Tooth Face
90  Lock spring
94  Stop
98  Strap guides
102 Projection
106 Finger
110 Lever pin aperture
114 Inner release pawl
118 Outer release pawl
122 Inner surface
126 Sloped surface
130 Sloped surface
134 Release pawl face
138 Tip
142 Shoe

It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale. In certain instances, details that are not necessary for an understanding of the invention or that render other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It should be understood, of course, that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1-4, a buckle 2 of one embodiment of the present invention is shown that comprises a base 6 having upwardly extending hubs 10 with lock pin apertures 14. The base 6 also includes an opening 18 bounded by guides 22 that lead into a channel 26 that receives the leading edge 30 of the strap 34. The buckle 2 also includes a frame 38 having a lock pin 42, which is received within the lock pin aperture 14, and a lever pin 46. The lever pin 46 rotatably supports a lever arm 50 and the lock pin 42 rotatably supports a lock 54. The strap 34 possesses a plurality of teeth 58 that are selectively engaged by the lock 54 in a ratcheting fashion. The lever arm 50 and a lock 54 are rotatably interconnected to the frame 38 and are spring-biased such that a locking pawl 70 of the lock 54 is urged towards the strap 34 when the lever arm 50 is in its neutral position as shown. Similarly, the lever arm 50 is urged towards the base 6 by a spring 74.

In operation, the buckle 2 receives the strap 34 wherein rotation of the lever arm 50 away from and towards the base 6 repeatedly moves the strap 34 relative to the buckle 2 to tighten the strap 34. More specifically, to tighten the strap 34, the strap 34 is first positioned within the channel 26. Next, the lever arm 50 is rotated away from the base 6 (counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 2), which engages a feed pawl 78 associated with a proximal end 82 of the lever arm 50 onto a tooth face 86. Further motion of the lever arm 50 will feed the strap 34 into the buckle 2. Once the lever arm is released, the strap 34 is secured relative to buckle 2 by the lock 54. Complete release of the strap 34 relative to the buckle 2 is achieved by depressing a release button 62 associated with the lock 54 which rotates the locking pawl 70 away from the teeth 58 and removes all obstructions to relative motion of the strap 34 relative to the buckle 2. Alternatively, depressing the lever arm 50 towards the base 6 will incrementally release of the strap 54 relative to the buckle 2, which will be described in further detail below.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the buckle 2 showing the primary components discussed above. Additionally, the lever spring 74 is shown that is positioned around the lever pin 46 wherein the free ends of the spring 74 are associated with the frame 38. The lever arm 50 is thus predisposed to return to its neutral position. Similarly, the lock 54 is also biased by spring 90 such that the locking pawl 70 is urged towards the strap. One of skill in the art will appreciate that the lever arm 50 and the lock 54 may be biased towards the base 6 in other ways such as by way of leaf springs, magnets, etc., without departing from the scope of the invention. Further, the lever arm 50 and the lock 54 may be resiliently interconnected to the base and predisposed to return to a neutral position when released. For example, the lock 54 and/or lever arm 50 may be molded or otherwise affixed to the base and be able to resiliently deflect relative to the base when a force is applied thereto and return to a neutral position adjacent to the base when such force is released.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the base 6 showing the pin-receiving hubs 10 that extend therefrom. Furthermore, the base 6 includes a stop 94 that prevents the lever arm from rotating past a predetermined point. The base 6 also includes the channel 26 that receives and maintains the position of the strap 34. The location of the strap 34 also maintained with strap guides 98 that are located on either side of the channel 26.

FIG. 6 shows the frame, which may be made of a metallic material. The frame includes a lock pin 42 and a lever pin 46. The lock pin 42 and lever pin 46 receive corresponding springs as shown in FIG. 4. The grooves 48 incorporated on the frame 38 receive the ends of the spring.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the lock 54 of one embodiment of the present invention. The lock 54 includes on one end the locking pawl 70 and on the other end the release button 62. The lock 54 also includes a projection 102 extending from a side thereof. When the projection 102 is contacted by a corresponding finger 106 of the lever arm 50 (see FIG. 8), the lock 54 will rotate about the lock pin 42 which will lift the locking pawl 70 away from the strap.

FIG. 8 is a bottom perspective view of the lever arm 50 that includes a lever arm aperture 110 that defines its rotational axis. The proximal end 82 of the lever arm 50 includes the feed pawl 78 which contacts a strap tooth when the distal end 66 of the lever arm 50 is rotated away from the strap. The distal end 66 of the lever arm 50 includes an inner release pawl 114 and an outer release pawl 118. Finally, a finger 106 is provided on an inner surface 122 of the lever arm 50 that selectively contacts the projection 102 of the lock 54 shown in FIG. 7 to rotate the locking pawl away from the strap teeth to allow incremental release of the strap.

Referring now to FIGS. 9-15, the operation of one embodiment of the present invention is shown. More specifically, FIGS. 9 and 12 show the strap 34 locked relative to the buckle 2 wherein the locking pawl 70 engages a face 86a of a strap tooth 58a. The strap 34 is thus unable to move relative to the buckle 2 in one direction, i.e., the strap 34 cannot be loosened. To tighten the strap 34, the lever arm 50 is rotated in a direction of Arrow A, which engages the feed pawl 78 onto the tooth face 86 located aft of tooth 58a that is currently engaged against the locking pawl 70. Repeatedly allowing the lever arm 50 to return to its neutral position and rotating the lever arm 50 in the direction of Arrow A will tighten the strap 34 in a ratcheting fashion. Once the lever arm 50 is released, its associated spring 74 will return it to the neutral position as shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 shows the locking pawl 70 rotated away from the teeth 58 of the strap 34. More specifically, when pressure is applied to the lock release button 62 in the direction of Arrow B, the lock 54 will rotate about the locking pin 42, which will move the locking pawl 70 out of engagement from tooth 58a. As all obstructions are removed, the strap 34 will be able to remove freely with respect to the buckle 2. Due to the spring-biased nature of the lock 54, removal of pressure from the release button 62 will return the locking pin against the strap 34 and eventually the locking pawl 70 will engage the face 86b of a tooth 58b that is spaced from the tooth 58a to which the locking pawl 70 was originally engaged.

FIG. 11 illustrates how the strap 34 is released incrementally relative to the buckle. Here, when pressure as shown by Arrow C is applied to the distal end 66 of the lever arm 50, the lever arm 50 will rotate about the lever pin 46. The finger 106 will eventually contact the projection 102 of the lock 54, thereby rotating the lock 54 in a direction shown by Arrow D, which is similar to the rotation imparted when the release button 62 is depressed. The sloped face 126 (see FIGS. 12-15) of the release pawls 114 and 118 will interact with the slope faces 130 of the teeth 58 to incrementally urge the strap 34 in the direction of Arrow E which loosens the strap 34 incrementally. Once the pressure indicated by Arrow C is released, the release pawls 114 and 118 will disengage the teeth 58, wiggling of the user's foot will cause the strap to loosen, and the locking pawl 70 to fall into contact with the face 86c of an adjacent tooth 58c. Repeatedly performing the action of pressing down on the distal portion 66 of the lever arm 50 will incrementally loosen the strap one tooth at a time which corresponds to the pitch (P) of the strap teeth. The release pawls 114 and 118 also prevent substantive movement of the strap 34 when the locking pawl 70 is displaced. More specifically, the release pawl face 134 will contact the nearest tooth face 86 as shown in FIG. 15 and prevent complete release of the strap from the buckle when the locking pawl is disengaged.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 12-15, the mechanics of the incremental release are described in further detail. Initially, the distal end 66 of the lever arm 50 is spaced from the strap 34. The distal end 66 includes the outer release pawl 118 and inner release pawl 114, each having a face 134 and a sloped surface 130. Similarly, the teeth 58 of the strap 34 includes a face 86 and a sloped surface 126. As shown in FIG. 12, the locking pawl 70 is engaged onto the face 86a of a tooth, which prevents motion of the strap 34 relative to the buckle 2 in one direction.

As the distal end 66 is moved towards the strap 34, as shown in FIG. 13, the finger 106 of the lever arm 50 contacts the protrusion 102 of the lock 54, thereby moving the locking pawl 70 away from the face 86a of the tooth to which it was engaged. Further motion of the distal end 66 towards the strap 34 will engage the tips 138 of the release pawls 114 and 118 onto the sloped surfaces 130 of a corresponding strap teeth 58. This contact will incrementally force the strap 34 in the direction of Arrow E, thereby loosening the strap, a fraction of a tooth width (W). That is, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, once the strap 34 moves incrementally along Arrow E, the locking pawl 70 will be positioned near or rest on the upper portion of the tooth 58a. As there is no obstruction to further movement of the strap 34 relative to the buckle 2, the strap 34 will further move along Arrow E as shown in FIG. 15. Eventually, however, the release pawl faces 134 will contact at least one face 86c of another tooth 58c, which will stop relative motion along Arrow E. Once the pressure is removed from the distal end 66, the lever arm 50 will return to its neutral position as shown in FIG. 14, thereby allowing the locking pawl 70 to drop into engagement with the face 86c of a tooth 58c adjacent to the tooth 58a to which it was originally engaged. Thus incremental release of the strap is provided. Again, repeatedly pressing down on the distal end 66 of the lever arm 50 will release the strap 34 one tooth 58 at a time.

FIG. 16 shows the buckle 2 of one embodiment of the present invention incorporated onto a shoe 142. One skilled in the art will appreciate that such configuration is easy to use such that the user can simply bend down and tighten the strap 34 by rotating the lever arm 50, if needed. Furthermore, pressing on the lever arm 66 and/or release button 62 will release the strap relative to the buckle and loosen the shoe incrementally or completely.

While various embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it is apparent that modifications and alterations of those embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be expressly understood that such modifications and alterations are within the scope and spirit of the present invention, as set forth in the following claims. Further, the invention(s) described herein is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. In addition, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.

Claims

1. A buckle adapted for tightening and selectively securing a strap having a plurality of teeth, comprising:

a base having a channel for receiving the strap, said base also including a first hub and a second hub positioned on opposite sides of said channel;

a frame that includes a lock pin that is operably associated with said first hub and said second hub, said frame also having a lever pin that is spaced from said lock pin;

a lock positioned between said first hub and said second hub and rotatably interconnected to said lock pin and, said lock having a locking pawl, which is adapted for selective engagement with a tooth of the strap, on a first end and a release button on a second end; and

a lever arm rotatably interconnected to said lever pin on a first end and wherein a second end of said lever arm includes a release pawl directed towards said base that is adapted for selective engagement with the teeth of the strap when the second end of said lever arm is defected towards said base, said first end of said lever arm also including a feed pawl adapted for selective engagement with the teeth of the strap when said second end of said lever arm is directed away from said base.

2. The buckle of claim 1, wherein said lock is capable of rotatably moving from a first position where the locking pawl is abutted against a strap tooth such that the strap cannot move relative to said buckle in one direction and a second position of use wherein said locking pawl is positioned away from the strap teeth, thereby allowing the strap to move relative to said buckle, said second position being achieved by either actuating said release button or by deflecting said second end of said lever arm toward said base.

3. The buckle of claim 2, wherein said lock includes a laterally extending projection located adjacent to said release button and said lever arm includes a laterally extending finger located adjacent to said first end of said lever arm wherein when said lever arm is deflected towards said base, said finger will contact said projection and move said lock to its second position of use.

4. The buckle of claim 2, wherein when said second end of said lever arm is deflected towards said base, said release pawl is adapted to be positioned adjacent to a tooth of the strap such that complete release of the strap from said buckle is prevented.

5. The buckle of claim 1, wherein said locking pawl and said second end of said lever arm are biased toward said base.

6. The buckle of claim 1, wherein said lever arm includes a second release pawl that is spaced from said release pawl.

7. The buckle of claim 1, wherein deflecting said lever arm towards said base allows said strap to move the distance between two adjacent teeth.

8. The buckle of claim 1, wherein said second end of said lever arm possesses a curved profile.

9. A buckle adapted for tightening and selectively securing a strap having a plurality of teeth, comprising:

a base;

a frame associated with said base and having a laterally extending lock pin and a laterally extending lever pin spaced from said lock pin;

a lock rotatably interconnected to said lock pin and, said lock having a locking pawl, which is adapted for selective engagement with a tooth of the strap, on a first end and a release button on a second end; and

a lever arm rotatably interconnected to said lever pin on a first end and wherein a second end of said lever arm includes a release pawl directed towards said base that is adapted for selective engagement with the teeth of the strap when the second end of said lever arm is defected towards said base.

10. The buckle of claim 9, wherein said lock is capable of moving from a first position where the locking pawl is abutted against a strap tooth and a second position of use wherein said locking pawl is positioned away from the strap teeth, said second position being achieved by either actuating said release button or by deflecting said second end of said lever arm toward said base.

11. The buckle of claim 10, wherein when said second end of said lever arm is deflected towards said base, said release pawl is adapted to be positioned adjacent to a tooth of the strap such that complete release of the strap from said buckle is prevented.

12. The buckle of claim 9, wherein said locking pawl and said second end of said lever arm are biased toward said base.

13. A buckle adapted for tightening and selectively securing a strap having a plurality of teeth, said buckle comprising a base defined by lateral edges, a frame associated with said base and having a laterally extending lock pin and a laterally extending lever pin spaced from said lock pin, a lock rotatably interconnected to said lock pin, and a lever arm having a first end rotatably interconnected to said lever pin, the improvement comprising:

a release pawl positioned on downward-facing surface of a second end of said lever arm that is adapted for selective engagement with the teeth of the strap when the second end of said lever arm is defected towards said base.

14. The buckle of claim 13, wherein said lock is capable of rotatably moving from a first position where the locking pawl is abutted against a strap tooth and a second position of use wherein said locking pawl is positioned away from the strap teeth.

15. The buckle of claim 14, wherein a locking pawl is associated with a first end of said lock and a release button is associated with a second end of said lock, said lock further including a laterally extending projection located adjacent to said release button, and said lever arm includes a laterally extending finger located adjacent to said first end of said lever arm wherein when said lever arm is deflected towards said base, said finger will contact said projection and move said lock to its second position of use.

16. The buckle of claim 13, wherein when said second end of said lever arm is deflected towards said base, said release pawl is adapted to be positioned adjacent to a tooth of the strap such that complete release of the strap from said buckle is prevented.

17. A method of selectively releasing a buckle that is interconnected to a strap, comprising:

providing a buckle comprised of a base, a lever arm rotatably associated with said base and having a laterally extending finger, and a lock rotatably associated with said base and having a laterally extending projection, said strap having a plurality of teeth and positioned between said lock and said base;

rotating said lever arm towards said base such that said finger contacts said projection to rotate said lock away from said strap thereby allowing said strap to move and incremental amount.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising contacting a release pawl associated with a distal end of said lever arm with a face of a tooth that is spaced from said locking pawl to incrementally move said strap relative to said buckle.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein when said lever arm is rotated adjacent to said base, an inner release pawl contacts a sloped surface of said strap tooth to incrementally urge the strap relative to said lock.