EP0018336B1

EP0018336B1 - A ski binding

Info

Publication number: EP0018336B1
Application number: EP80850044A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Sven Ivar Dysthe
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1979-04-02
Filing date: 1980-04-01
Publication date: 1983-10-05
Also published as: NO791083L; CA1128564A; NO144320B; FI66755B; DE3065118D1; EP0018336A1; NO144320C; FI801004A; FI66755C; ATE4862T1

Abstract

A ski binding with means for pulling a ski boot into the keeper means (1) of the binding and to retain it therein by means of clamping devices (7, 8), preferably being adjustable. The means consist of a preferably U-shaped fixing strap (2) arranged in guides on said keeper means (1), the upwardly extending free ends (4) of the strap (2) being coactable with holes in the front sole portion of the boot. The transverse portion (9) of the fixing strap (2) is in engagement with the clamping device (7, 8) in such a manner that the free ends (4) of the strap (2) upon depression of a tensioning arm (7) hinged to said keeper means (1) pull the ski boot forwardly in the longitudinal direction and into the keeper means (1). The clamping device (7, 8) incorporates an intermediate piece (8), preferably adjustable in length, which is hinge-connected to the tensioning arm (7) and snapped onto said transverse portion (9) at its other end. The binding may be released by letting the front end portion (12) of the intermediate piece (8) be caused to tilt about a section (11) above the top surface of the ski.

Description

The present invention relates to a ski binding for use in racing and cross country skiing. More specifically the invention relates to a ski binding with a keeper means and means for pulling a ski boot into said keeper means and to retain it therein by means of a clamping device wherein said pulling means comprises a generally U-shaped fixing wire arranged in guides on said keeper means, its free ends extending upwardly to be coactable with holes in the front sole portion of the boot, and wherein the transverse portion of the generally U-shaped fixing wire is engagable with said clamping device, so that the free ends of the wire upon depression of a tensioning arm of said clamping device pull the ski boot forwardly into the keeper means of the binding.
There is related a number of problems to the new boot sole standards of lighter ski boots. This is primarily the case of the 50 mm "Nordic Racing Norm". Said standard implies very small binding with small contact faces for the boot and such binding is therefore dependent on very small tolerances. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a solution where these tolerance requirements may be reduced in that the boot, as in previously known ski bindings, is pulled or pushed into a substantially plow shaped keeper means. This has also the advantage that wear on the front sole portion and on the vertical contact faces of the binding is compensated by pulling the boot into the binding.
In Norwegian Patent 132.576 there is arranged two pins which are fixed relative to the longitudinal direction of the ski but movable in vertical direction through a tiltable mounting about a mounting point.
In Norwegian Patent 47.867 the boot is pulled into a binding either by means of a hook connected to the front-most end of the boot or by means attached to the heel.
Norwegian Paten 107.796 is to some extent comparable with what is shown in Norwegian Patent 47.867. A bracket is attached to the boot and a clamping device can by means of an adjustable intermediate piece be brought in engagement with a hook on said bracket, so that the boot may be pulled into and retained in the ski binding. However, it is not advantageous to have such brackets on boots, both because these increase the cost of the boot itself and because a binding consisting of several separate parts requires a very accurate and thus time consuming installation.
Norwegian Patent 78.181 relates to a ski binding intended for slalom and down hill racing with means for releasable blocking of the swing action of the boot heel up from the ski by means of a rigid, possibly somewhat resilient arm or plate extending in a rearward direction relative to the keeper means and intended to enter into a channel, an indentation or the like in the heel portion of the boot for thereby to cause locking of the heel to the ski. The said arm or plate is formed by an extension of the bottom plate of the keeper means or is fixedly attached to the keeper means or the upper face of the ski.
Norwegian Patent 47.051 relates to a ski binding without any rear strap, comprising tabs known per se with inwardly directed projections bearing against the upper edge of the sole. A plate known per se and shiftable in the direction of the ski has on its upper face suitable means (e.g. spikes) which can be brought in engagement with the lower side of the sole, blocking devices being arranged to prevent the plate when moved in between said tabs to be pulled out again, so that the boot when arranged on the plate and moved therewith in between, said tabs will be firmly locked to the ski in coaction with said devices on the upper side of the shiftable plate, the blocking device and said inwardly bent projections on said tabs. Thus the boot is moved in the longitudinal direction of the ski during the clamping process. The clamping itself is provided by means of a resilient plate upon which a knob is placed being coactable with holes in said plate. If the boot should be of a form to most suitably be clamped by hole number two of the holes, it may so happen that this is not possible and that clamping therefore must take place by the first hole, whereby the risk is that the boot will not fit properly in the binding. The solution is therefore not particularly advantageous in practice.
Norwegian Patent 63.959 relates to a binding consisting of two separate and on- screwable parts, one part consisting of a clamping device with an adjustable intermediate piece and where a rear strap loop is intended to grip about the heel of the boot.
Norwegian Patent 84.786 relates to a pretensioner for a ski binding where a tensioning device fixed to the ski is connected with the front end of a helical spring, the other end of which for regulation purposes is in thread engagement with a screw spindle connected to the rear strap. The screw spindle extends through the means supporting the front portion of the straps, and on the rear side thereof is provided with a service button for regulation of the connection and the tensioning is transferred to the rear strap. It is here the case of two separate main parts.
In Norwegian Patent 130.563 there are fixed pins which are brought in engagement with corresponding holes in the toe part of the boot and where strap means may be clamped by means of a clamping device over the top of the front sole edge, thus to keep the boot retained in the keeping means of the binding.
Swiss patent 299.398 refers to a ski binding in accordance with the preamble of claim 1 into which the ski boot is pulled by a spring connected at one end to a torque arm, there being a hook directed upwards at the other end intended for engagement with a corresponding hold at the underside and front section of the boot sole. To obtain the required side stability it is important, however, to fix the boot at the rear edge thereof and to this end said patent discloses a hold for obtaining this.
The present invention has an object to provide a ski binding which overcomes the many disadvantages of the known bindings and which is simple and cheap to manufacture and advantageous upon installation on the ski.
The ski binding according to the invention is characterized in that the clamping device comprises an intermediate piece into one end of which said transverse portion of the fixing wire may be snapped and the other end of which is hinged to a middle portion of the tensioning arm, one end of which tensioning arm is hinge-connected to a front portion of the said keeper means and the other end of which upon depression causes forward pushing of the fixing wire via the intermediate piece, and in that a forward end portion of the intermediate piece is shaped to form contact face for an acting means, e.g. a ski pole pin, the binding being releasable by further depression of said forward end portion.
According to another feature the intermediate piece may be adjustable in length by letting it consist of two parts, one being in the form of a screw and the other being internally threaded.
According to still another feature of the present invention the fixing wire compasses substantially most of the clamping device.
The invention is now to be described further with reference to the enclosed drawings illustrating the present invention as examples thereof.

Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of the binding, seen from above, according to the invention.
Figure 2 shows a longitudinal vertical central section through the binding in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a side view of the binding in Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a second embodiment of the binding, seen from above, according to the invention.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical central section through the binding in Figure 4.
Figure 6 is a side view of the binding in Figure 4.
Figure 7 shows a cross-section of the binding according to Figures 1 and 4, section VII-VII.

The binding has a keeper means 1 known per se for the front sole portion of the ski boot. The ski boot is provided with grooves or recesses 3 providing free passage for a movable, substantially U-shaped wire 2, e.g. a metal wire, with upwardly protruding end portions 4 co- acatable with holes in the front sole portion of the boot, which holes may be arranged in accordance with accepted standards.
The wire 2 is freely movable in the longitudinal direction of the ski and may thereby together with the boot be pulled forwardly and into the binding. The advantage of using a wire with the said configuration is based both on productional reasons and use. As regards production the number of parts are reduced because the upwardly projecting end portions coact with the boot. The advantage in use is the free movement of the wire in the spacy grooves or recesses 3. The movability of the wire is not barred by collection of snow or formation of ice, a problem that may be encountered with some of the known solutions.
As illustrated in Fgiures 1-3 the binding has a tensioning mechanism 7, 8 consisting of a tensioning arm 7 and an intermediate piece 8. The tensioning arm is hinge-connected 5 to the keeper means 1 and the intermediate piece 8 is at one end hinged 6 to substantially a middle portion of the tensioning arm 7 and at its other end snapped onto the transverse portion 9 of the wire 2. Upon depression of the tensioning arm 7, the upwardiy extending ends 4 of the wire will be pulled into the keeper means 1 together with the boot. At the lower position of the tensioning arm 7, the hinge 6 forms a dead point so that the movement of the tensioning device in said position is locked.
The reference numerals 13 indicate holes for attaching the binding to the ski by means of screws (not shown). Three holes will normally be sufficient for the installation.
In Figures 4 to 6 the intermediate piece 8 is provided with a longitudinal hole for introduction of a threaded bolt 10 adapted to be hinge-connected 6 to the middle portion of the tensioning arm. If the intermediate piece is made of e.g. plastics, the bolt itself may provide the necessary internal threads in the intermediate piece, and expensive tools for casting the required threads or making threads through machining are unnecessary. However, it may still be suitable to make the length adjustable piece from e.g. brass or other suitable metal. A construction with a clamping mechanism being locked through a dead point is known, but since this function is acting conversely, so that the wire in a new manner lies around the structure, the components will be subjected to compression instead of tensioning. One may thereby consider a slimmer dimensioning than for the known solutions and thereby also reduction of weight. It is however important that by turning the construction one obtains an intermediate piece 8 at the front in such a manner that the binding may be released by a ski pole pin by letting the wide end portion 12 at one end of the intermediate piece in snap engagement with the wire branch 9 tilt about a front portion 11 of the keeper means when said end portion 12 is acted upon by said ski pole pin, whereby the hinged point 6 is brought above the dead point such that the binding is released.
The is thus provided a ski binding which is more compact in that the clamping mechanism lays within the contour of the wire. The keeper means 1 and the tensioning arm 7 are preferably made from a suitable plastic material. The intermediate piece 8 with its integral end piece 12 may be made from e.g. reinforced plastic material or a metal. Thus, there is provided a binding which is small and light and which repesents substantial technical advantages relative to the prior art bindings.

Claims

1. A ski binding with a keeper means (1) and means (2) for pulling a ski boot into the keeper means and to retain it therein by means of a clamping device (7, 8) wherein said pulling means comprises fixing means having hooks arranged on said keeper means, the hooks extending upwardly to be coactable with holes in the front sole portion of the boot, which fixing means is engageable with said clamping device, so that the hooks upon depression of a tensioning arm (7) of said clamping device pull the ski boot forwardly into the keeper means (1) of the binding, characterized in that the fixing means comprises a generally U-shaped fixing wire (2) arranged in guides (3) on the keeper means its free ends (4) extending upwardly to form the hooks and its transverse portion being engageable with said clamping device, which latter comprises an intermediate piece (8) into one end of which said transverse portion (9) of the fixing wire (2) may be snapped and other end of which is hinged (6) to a middle portion of the tensioning arm (7), one end of which tensioning arm is hinge-connected (5) to a front portion of the said keeper means (1) and the other end of which upon depression causes forward pushing of the fixing wire (2) via the intermediate piece, and in that a forward end portion of the intermediate piece (8) is shaped to form contact face for an acting means, e.g. a ski pole pin, the binding being releasable by further depression of said forward end portion.

2. A ski binding as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the intermediate piece (2) is adjustable in length, said intermediate piece being in two parts, one of which is in the form of a screw (10) and the other is internally threaded.

3. A ski binding as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the fixing wire (2) encompasses substantially the complete clamping device.