EP0413013B1 - Front clamp of a safety ski binding - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to front clamps for safety ski bindings with a support which, under excessive lateral forces, can swing sideways against the force of a spring of a locking device and bears two side clamps supporting the boot sole sideways and forwards, and which forms the coupler of a four-bar linkage, the levers of which swivel on vertical axes integral with the base plate, where the side clamps are normally kept immovable with respect to the coupler. However, after the four-bar linkage has swung outwards to a certain extent, the side clamps at the front in the direction of movement do swing to release the boot sole, whereupon in addition the side clamps are extended beyond the axes on the coupler and are supported over these extensions on a lever arm borne on the coupler parallel in axis to the side clamps, whereupon the corresponding support lever arm releases the forward side clamp in the direction of swing at the end of the swinging movement of the four-bar linkage and where, after the boot sole has been released, all moving parts automatically return to their initial positions. In order to design and construct the front clamps of the invention so that they are not only simpler and hence cheaper to produce but also generate less friction and are more reliable, the support lever arms can swing independently of each other and are spring-loaded in the support direction, while there is at least one control component to control the releasing movement of the support lever arms and at least one stop integral with the base plate to co-operate with the control component.

Description

The present invention relates to a toe of a safety ski binding according to the preamble of claim 1.

DE 35 39 969 A1 describes toe pieces which have the advantage of a simple and robust construction compared to more known toe pieces with a four-bar linkage. In practice, however, it has been shown that the devices for releasing the side jaws in these pre-jaws are in need of improvement in terms of both manufacture and function.

A generic toe piece is known from EP-A-0 271 693. This known construction has a two-armed lever mounted on a driver. This two-armed lever causes friction when pivoting between it and the arms of the two side jaws. Such friction is undesirable in the function of a triggering ski binding, since it negatively influences the triggering function of the respective side cheek in a way that cannot be clearly predetermined.

The object of the present invention is therefore to develop a generic toe piece in such a way that such frictional influences which impair the functioning of the toe piece are avoided.

According to the invention, this is achieved on the basis of a generic toe piece by the design according to the features of the characterizing part of the main claim. Accordingly, the two support lever arms can be pivoted independently of one another and are spring-loaded in the support direction.

The support lever arms are therefore identical and easier to carry out than before. Due to the independence of the support lever arms from one another, the second arm does not necessarily pivot when the first arm is influenced. This avoids the friction between the second arm and the side jaw supported on it.

In a constructive embodiment of this inventive concept, the control part can expediently be a control lever mounted coaxially to the support lever arms on the coupling. It has proven to be useful that the control lever is single-armed and forked, that a stop extends between the prongs of the fork, which lies in the plane of symmetry of the toe piece, and that each fork prong has a driver only in the release direction for the support lever arm assigned to it .

In a constructive embodiment of this inventive concept, the control lever can also be designed with three arms. In this case, an arm extends between two stops in such a way that in its normal position it lies in the plane of symmetry of the toe piece. The two other arms are at least approximately at right angles to the first arm and stretched relative to one another. The arms lying stretched relative to one another can each serve to interact with a support lever arm. The support lever arm has an actuating pin in this case. Here, it has proven to be advantageous that in the normal position of the four-bar linkage, both arms of the control lever are spaced apart from the associated actuating pins. This allows a compact construction with an optimal swivel range of the four-bar linkage.

A particularly simple construction is achieved in that a pin provided on the support lever arm serves as the control part. In this case, there is no special control lever.

The stop cooperating with the control part can be connected indirectly to the base plate via a housing part, for example a cover.

The side jaws are expediently influenced by a return spring. In this case, it has proven to be advantageous that a helical spiral spring is provided as the return spring and that one leg of the spiral spring acts on the side jaw and the other on the support lever arm assigned to this side jaw.

According to a preferred embodiment, a part arranged on the coupling and overlapping the sole can be provided, which forms or influences the part of a wedge thrust transmission, via which the support lever arms can be brought into their release position. The above-described front jaw is thus further developed so that it offers the possibility of releasing the locking of the side jaws in relation to the coupling when the side jaws are overloaded, so that in this case they can swivel out only by overcoming the force of the return springs. To achieve a certain partial thrust effect through the front end of the sole when it is loaded upwards, the support surfaces in the side jaws are known to be upwards Shoe formed obliquely. After a certain constructively predetermined lifting of the front end of the sole, both support lever arms are actuated and brought into their position in which they release the side jaws so that they can swing out about their articulation axes.

In a constructive embodiment of this feature of the invention, the drive member of the wedge thrust mechanism can be a lever arm of a two-armed lever mounted on a horizontal transverse axis in the coupling, the second arm of which forms a central part overlapping the sole and which can be pivoted to a limited extent against the force of at least one retaining spring, in which case each Support lever arm has an upwardly extending shoulder which is chamfered in a wedge shape and overlapped by a wedge surface of the first lever arm. In this case, the spring loading a support lever arm expediently serves as a holding spring of the two-armed lever.

A design variant is characterized in that the side jaws serve as parts overlapping the soleplate, that the drive member is a lever mounted on a horizontal transverse axis in the coupling which can be pivoted to a limited extent against the force of a retaining spring, such that each support lever arm extends upwards Approach, which is chamfered in a wedge shape and overlapped by a wedge surface of the lever, and that at least the coupling is vertically elastically movable to a limited extent.

In the constructions described above, the pin provided as the control part preferably forms with its free end the projection overlapped by the wedge surface of the corresponding lever arm.

A still further simplified construction provides that the side jaws serve as the parts overlapping the sole, that the drive member of the transmission is a surface of a housing part that is immovable relative to the base plate to the vertical transverse plane on the shoe side, that each support lever arm carries an upwardly extending nose, the free end of which is chamfered in a wedge shape and is intended to cooperate with the inclined surface of the housing part and that at least the coupling can be moved vertically elastically to a limited extent.

In this construction, the pin provided as the control part advantageously forms the beveled nose with its free end.

Fig. 1

einen mittleren Längsschnitt durch den Vorderbacken gemäß einer ersten Ausführung,

Fig. 2

einen Schnitt nach der Linie II-II in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

den Schnitt entsprechend Fig. 2 im Momentan- zustand vor dem seitlichen Auslösen einer Seitenbacke,

Fig. 4

die Darstellung entsprechend Fig. 3, jedoch mit ausgelöster Seitenbacke,

Fig. 5

einen mittleren Längsschnitt durch den Vorderbacken gemäß einer zweiten Ausführungsform,

Fig. 5a

ein Detail des Vorderbackens nach Fig. 5 in Seitenansicht von links,

Fig. 6

einen Schnitt nach der Linie VI-VI in Fig. 5,

Fig. 7, 7a und 8

Darstellungen entsprechend den Fig. 5, 5a und 6, jedoch in einem anderen Momentanzustand,

Fig. 9

einen mittleren Längsschnitt durch einen Vorderbacken gemäß einer weiteren Ausführungsform mit vertikal nach oben hin belasteten Seitenbacken,

Fig. 10

einen der Fig. 8 entsprechenden Schnitt durch den Vorderbacken nach Fig. 9,

Fig. 11

einen vertikalen Längsschnitt durch einen Vorderbacken einer noch weiteren Ausführungsform und

Fig. 12

einen der Fig. 10 entsprechenden Schnitt durch den Vorderbacken nach Fig. 11.

Exemplary embodiments of the front jaws according to the invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Show it:

Fig. 1

a middle longitudinal section through the front jaw according to a first embodiment,

Fig. 2

2 shows a section along the line II-II in FIG. 1,

Fig. 3

the section according to FIG. 2 in the current state before the lateral triggering of a side jaw,

Fig. 4

3, but with the side jaw released,

Fig. 5

2 shows a middle longitudinal section through the toe piece according to a second embodiment,

Fig. 5a

5 in a side view from the left,

Fig. 6

5 shows a section along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5,

7, 7a and 8

5, 5a and 6, but in a different momentary state,

Fig. 9

a middle longitudinal section through a front jaw according to a further embodiment with side jaws loaded vertically upwards,

Fig. 10

8 shows a section corresponding to FIG. 8 through the front jaw according to FIG. 9,

Fig. 11

a vertical longitudinal section through a toe of yet another embodiment and

Fig. 12

10 a section corresponding to FIG. 10 through the front jaw according to FIG. 11.

Common to all of the exemplary embodiments is a housing which has a base part 1 which can be fastened on a ski in the customary manner. A cover part 2 or 3 is connected to the base part. In these parts there are two vertical axes 4, 5 on which the levers 6, 7 of a four-bar linkage are mounted, the coupling of which consists of two parts 8, 9 lying parallel to one another. The coupling serves as a support member for two side jaws 10, 11 and 12, 13, which each have a pivot pin 14 or 15 of the coupling on the levers are stored.

Via the coupling, the quadrilateral joint is under the influence of a locking device, not shown, which is not essential to the invention and is therefore not shown in order to complicate the figures. With regard to a possible embodiment, reference is made, for example, to the already mentioned DE 3539969 A1. The four-bar linkage is held in its normal position of use under the spring force of the latching device. If a force is transmitted from one of the side jaws, which is also not shown, which exceeds the pretension of the spring, the four-bar linkage swivels about the axes 4, 5, but the side jaws do not change their position relative to the coupling. When the force decreases, the four-bar linkage returns to its normal position under the influence of the spring. The triggering of the side jaws is described below with reference to the individual embodiments.

In the front jaw shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the side jaws 10, 11 are extended beyond the pivot pins 14, 15. The free ends of the arms 16, 17 formed in this way each rest on a support lever arm 18, 19, both of which are mounted on an axis 20 which is held on the coupling parallel to the pivot pins 14, 15. Thus, the side jaws are normally held immovably in relation to the belt.

The individual parts of the toe piece normally assume their position shown in Fig. 2. Now, for example, a force is exerted on the side jaw 10 transferred, which exceeds the bias of the spring of the locking device, there is a pivoting of the four-bar link with respect to the running direction to the right (see Fig. 3). When the force decreases, the four-bar linkage returns to the starting position according to FIG. 2 under the influence of the force of the spring of the latching device.

If, however, due to a correspondingly large force application, the four-bar linkage is pivoted so far that a control lever 21 mounted on the axis 20 strikes with its arm 22 on one of the stops 23 or 24 in the housing, the control lever causes a release movement when the four-bar linkage is pivoted slightly of the corresponding support lever arm 18, whereby the arm 16 of the side jaw 10 is unlocked so that the side jaw can assume its release position shown in FIG. 4 under the influence of a shoe.

As can be seen from the illustrations, the control lever 21 is T-shaped. Its arms 25, 26 are used to actuate a support lever arm 18, 19, for which purpose they each have an actuating pin 27 and 28, respectively. As can be seen from FIG. 2, in the normal position of the four-bar linkage, the arms 25, 26 of the control lever 21 are spaced apart from the actuating pins 27, 28 of the support lever arms. As a result, a large swivel range of the four-bar linkage is achieved with a compact construction.

Each support lever arm 18, 19 is under the influence of a retaining spring which is indicated by an arrow A or B and which tries to hold or reset the support lever arm in its position shown in FIG. 2. Likewise, the side jaws 10, 11 are also influenced by a return spring, which is indicated by the arrows C and D, respectively.

It has proven to be advantageous if helical spiral springs are used as return springs, which are supported on the pivot pins 14, 15 of the side jaws 10, 11 and which act with one leg on the side jaw and with their other leg on the support lever arm assigned to them. Such a spiral spiral spring thus takes on a double function (spring A, C or B, D).

5 to 8 show an embodiment of the toe piece according to the invention, in which, in comparison with the one described above, there is still the possibility of also releasing the shoe in the event of an overload in the upward direction. As mentioned earlier, the basic structure of the toe pieces is basically the same. Thus, the same reference numerals are used in so far. The housing comprises the base part 1 and the cover part 2 and carries the axes 4, 5. The four-bar linkage includes the lever 6, 7 and the coupling made of parts 8 and 9. However, the side jaws mounted on the pivot pins 14 and 15 are designated by 12 and 13, since they each have an inclined support surface 30 for the front end of the shoe sole, so that at a movement of the sole end upwards onto the sole exerts a certain wedge thrust effect against the pressure applied by the heel part, not shown.

As in the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 4, the control lever 21 is present for triggering the side jaws with a correspondingly large lateral load (FIG. 5), which in turn interacts with stops in the housing, but which in this case is designed as stud bolts 31, 32 are. Because of the cut made for the sake of better illustration, the control lever is no longer present in FIG. 6. With regard to its function, reference is made to FIGS. 2 to 4. In this embodiment, part 8 of the coupling is provided with a part that overlaps the front sole end of a shoe and is designed as a two-armed lever 33. It is mounted on an axis 34 in part 8 of the coupling. His arm 35 serves to overlap the sole, while his arm 36 forms the drive member of a wedge-type transmission. For this purpose, it has inclined tabs 37, 38, which cooperate with corresponding counter-bevels, which are provided on lugs 39, 40, which carry the support lever arms designated in this case with 41 and 42, which in turn with the arms 16, 17 of the side jaws 12.13 interact.

As in the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 4, both the support lever arms 41, 42 and the side jaws 12, 13 are again under the influence of retaining or return springs. In the event of a reset, the return springs of the support lever arms 41, 42 also act on the lever 33 in the sense of a reset via the shoulders 39, 40.

With a correspondingly high load on the front end of the shoe sole, it slides along the support surfaces 30 in the side jaws 12, 13, which results in a certain displacement of the sole with respect to FIG. 5 to the right. Finally, when the upper edge of the sole comes into contact with the angled free end of the lever arm 35 of the lever 33, when the sole end is raised further, the lever is pivoted counterclockwise about the axis 34 with respect to FIG. 5, as a result of which the tabs 37, 38 of the Press the arms 36 onto the lugs 39.40 so that there is a wedge thrust movement which leads to a pivoting of the support lever arms 41.42 about the axis 20 with the result that the support lever arms release the arms 16.17 of the side jaws 12.13. so that they spread under the influence of the shoe sole pushing upwards and allow their exit. The support lever arms and the side jaws are reset under the influence of the return springs mentioned. It should also be mentioned that the release of the shoe sole can take place upwards in the normal position of the four-bar linkage and in any pivoted-out position of the four-bar linkage.

The embodiment according to FIGS. 9 and 10 represents a simplification of the embodiment according to FIGS. 5 to 8. Instead of the two-armed lever, a one-armed lever 43 is used here, which is mounted on the axis 34 in part 8 of the coupling. It takes over the function of the lever arm 36 in the above-described embodiment. Accordingly, the support lever arms and their approaches are the same and therefore designated 41.42 and 39.40. In this case, the two side jaws 12, 13 with their oblique support surface 30 take over the function of the part 35 that grips over the sole , 7 of the quadrilateral created for the vertical axes 4.5. This pivoting movement of the lever 6, 7 takes place against the resistance of the locking device mentioned and not shown, which holds or tries to keep the four-bar linkage in its normal position of use.

11 and 12 finally show another embodiment which is based on that of FIGS. 9 and 10. Here, the lever arm 43 is also omitted. For this purpose, in the cover part of the housing designated here 3 there is a surface 45 inclined towards the shoe created by an approximately transversely extending keyway 46. With a corresponding movement of the four-bar linkage upwards, the inclined surfaces of the lugs 39, 40 of the support lever arms 41, 42 come into direct contact with the surface 45, whereby the pivoting of the support lever arms into their release position is achieved, so that the side jaws 12, 13 as in FIG Fig. 12 shown spread apart and can release the sole upwards. The keyway 46 in the cover part 3 is dimensioned in its length so that the ends finally hold back the support lever arms during a lateral movement of the four-bar linkage, so that these then release the side jaws.

Claims (17)

1. Front jaw for safety ski bindings, comprising a backing member, which is adapted to swivel laterally outwardly against the spring force of a detent mechanism under excessive lateral forces and carries two side jaws (10, 11; 12, 13) for laterally and forwardly backing the sole of the boot and constitutes the coupling link (8, 9) of a four-bar linkage, which has levers (6, 7) which are pivoted on vertical pivots (4, 5), which are fixed to the baseplate, wherein the side jaws (10, 11; 12, 13) are normally held to be immovable relative to the coupling link (8, 9) and after a certain outward pivotal movement of the four-bar linkage that side jaw (10, 11; 12, 13) which leads in the direction of movement will swivel outwardly to release the sole of the boot, the side jaws (10, 11; 12, 13) are extended in length beyond the pivots (14, 15) connecting them to the coupling link (8, 9) and with said extensions (16, 17) bear on a lever arm (27, 28; 41, 42), which is pivoted to the coupling link (8, 9) and coaxial to the side jaws (10, 11; 12, 13), wherein at the end of the outward swiveling movement of the four-bar linkage the side jaw (10, 11; 12, 13) leading in the direction of movement will be released by the associated backing lever arm (27, 28; 41, 42) for which at least one control member (21) and at least one stop (23, 24; 31, 32), which is fixed to the baseplate and serves to cooperate with the control member (21), are provided, and wherein all parts which have been moved will be returned to their initial position when the sole of the boot has been released,
   characterized in
   that the backing lever arms (27, 28; 41, 42) are pivotally movable independently of each other and are spring-loaded (A, B) in the backing direction.
2. Front jaw according to claim 1,
   characterized in that the control member is a control lever, which is pivoted to the coupling link and is coaxial to the backing lever arms.
3. Front jaw according to claim 2,
   characterized in that the control lever is one-armed and forked, that a stop extends in the plane of symmetry of the front jaw between the prongs of the fork, and that each prong of the fork comprises a dog for moving the associated backing lever arm only in the releasing direction.
4. Front jaw according to claim 2,
   characterized in that the control lever is three-armed, one arm extends between two stops and in its normal position lies in the plane of symmetry of the front jaw and the two other arms extend at least approximately at right angles to the first arm and are substantially aligned with each other.
5. Front jaw according to claim 4,
   characterized in that each of the arms which are substantially aligned with each other serves to cooperate with the backing lever arm and that each backing lever arm comprises an actuating pin.
6. Front jaw according to claim 5,
   characterized in that the two arms of the control lever are clear of the associated actuating pins when the four-bar linkage is in a normal position.
7. Front jaw according to claim 1,
   characterized in that a pin, which is provided on the backing lever arm, serves as the control member.
8. Front jaw according to any of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that the stop is indirectly connected to the baseplate by a housing part.
9. Front jaw according to any of the preceding claims,
   characterized in that the side jaws are biased by respective return springs.
10. Front jaw according to claim 9,
    characterized in that the return spring consists of a coiled bending spring and that one leg of the bending spring acts on the side jaw and another leg acts on the backing lever arm which is associated with the side jaw.
11. Front jaw according to any of the preceding claims,
    characterized in that at least one member is provided which is mounted on the coupling link and overlies the sole, and which constitutes a part of a thrust exerting wedge mechanism or influences such mechanism, which mechanism is operable to move the backing lever arms to their releasing position.
12. Front jaw according to claim 11,
    characterized in that the driving member of the sliding wedge mechanism consists of one lever arm of a two-armed lever, which is pivoted to the coupling link on a horizontal transverse axis and the second arm forms a central part thereof overlying the sole and can swivel to a limited extent against the force of at least one retaining spring, and that each backing lever arm has an upwardly extending extension, which is beveled in wedge shape and is overlain by a wedge surface of the first lever arm.
13. Front jaw according to claim 12,
    characterized in that the spring which biases one backing lever arm serves as a retaining spring for the two-armed lever.
14. Front jaw according to claim 11,
    characterized in that the parts which overlie the sole consist of the side jaws, that the driving member consists of a lever, which is pivoted to the coupling link on a horizontal transverse pivot and can swivel to a limited extent against the force of a retaining spring, that each backing lever arm comprises an upwardly extending extension, which is beveled in wedge shape and is overlain by a wedge surface of the lever, and that at least the coupling link is capable of a limited elastic vertical movement.
15. Front jaw according to claims 7 and 12 or 14,
    characterized in that the pin which constitutes the control member has a free end which constitutes the extension which is overlain by the wedge surface of the lever arm.
16. Front jaw according to claim 11,
    characterized in that the parts which overlie the sole consist of the side jaws, the driving member of the sliding wedge mechanism consists of a surface which is formed on a housing member and is immovable relative to the baseplate and is inclined toward the boot from the vertical transverse plane, that each backing lever arm carries an upwardly extending nose, which has a free end that is beveled in wedge shape and serves to cooperate with the inclined surface of the housing part, and that at least the coupling link is capable of a limited elastic vertical movement.
17. Front jaw according to claims 7 and 16,
    characterized in that the pin which constitutes the control member has a free end which constitutes the beveled nose.

Images