EP0580996B1 - Safety ski binding - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a ski safety binding intended to hold, in a releasable manner, the front of a boot (2) mounted on the ski (3), including a mechanism for compensating a forward fall comprising a pedal (12) forming a forward-fall sensor (feeler). This binding is characterised in that the front end (12a) of the pedal (12) is located, in the rest position of the pedal, at a distance (d), above the movable control element (9), which is of the order of the standardised tolerance for the thickness of the sole (6) of the boot, that is to say the permitted difference between the maximum and minimum thicknesses of this sole (6). <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to a ski safety binding intended to hold, in a triggerable manner, the front of a boot mounted on the ski.

Ski bindings are already known, also called "front stops", which comprise a body mounted on a base secured to the ski, this body carrying, at its rear part, a shoe retaining jaw which comprises two wings of opposite lateral restraint, and an energy generating mechanism housed in the body to resiliently return the jaw to the locked position. This energy generating mechanism comprises an energy spring with adjustable tension, bearing, at one end, on a bearing surface linked to the body and, at its other end, on a force transmission member, movable longitudinally in the body and coupled to the jaw so as to elastically urge this jaw against the front of the boot, to ensure the retention of the latter on the ski.

Among the many types of front stop known to date, that described in patent FR-A-2 640 516 of the applicant also comprises a front fall compensation mechanism comprising a pedal forming a front drop probe, mounted on the ski behind the front stop, on which the front part of the sole of the boot rests and which is articulated on the ski, at its rear part, around a horizontal and transverse axis. This pedal forming the front drop probe bears, by its front end part, on the rear part of a mobile control element, such as a rocker, forming part of the stop had. This rocker acts, by its part anterior, on the energy generating mechanism so as to lower the lateral triggering threshold of the front stop, in the case of a fall of the skier forward combined with a twist of his leg. This lowering of the trigger point of the front stop results from the pivoting movement of the rocker under the action of the pressure exerted by the front part of the sole of the skier's shoe, in the event of a front fall, on the pedal forming feeler. fall before.

The present invention relates to improvements made to this type of front stop in order to simplify its construction, while making it possible to obtain, by very simple means, the possibility of adapting it to different sole thicknesses, thanks to the integration of the height adjustment function in the pedal forming the front drop sensor.

To this end, this ski safety binding intended to hold, in a triggerable manner, the front of a boot mounted on the ski, comprising a body fixed to the ski and carrying, at its rear part, a shoe retaining jaw. which comprises two opposite lateral retaining wings, an energy generating mechanism housed in the body for resiliently returning the jaw to the locked position, and a front fall compensation mechanism comprising a pedal forming a front fall feeler, mounted on the ski behind the front stop, articulated, at its rear part, on a base fixed to the ski, around a horizontal and transverse axis, biased upwards, in a predetermined rest position, by a spring and having a anterior extension exercising, in the event of a fall forward of the skier, a downward force on a mobile control element, such as a rocker, forming part of the front fall compensation mechanism and housed in the body of the front stop so as to lower the trigger threshold of this front stop, characterized in that the front end of the pedal is located, in the rest position of the pedal, at a distance above the movable control element, which is of the order of the normalized tolerance for the thickness of the sole of the shoe, that is to say the difference allowed between the maximum and minimum thicknesses of this sole.

• La figure 1 est une vue en coupe verticale et longitudinale d'une butée avant suivant l'invention pourvue d'un dispositif de réglage hauteur automatique intégré dans la pédale formant palpeur de chute avant, dans le cas du maintien d'une chaussure de ski ayant une épaisseur de semelle minimale.
• La figure 2 est une vue en coupe verticale et longitudinale de la butée avant de la figure 1, adaptée au maintien d'une chaussure de ski ayant une épaisseur de semelle maximale.
• La figure 3 est une vue en coupe verticale et longitudinale partielle d'une variante d'exécution.

Various embodiments of the present invention will be described below, by way of nonlimiting examples, with reference to the appended drawing in which:

• Figure 1 is a vertical and longitudinal sectional view of a front stop according to the invention provided with an automatic height adjustment device integrated in the pedal forming front drop sensor, in the case of the maintenance of a ski boot having a minimum sole thickness.
• Figure 2 is a vertical and longitudinal sectional view of the front stop of Figure 1, adapted to the maintenance of a ski boot having a maximum sole thickness.
• Figure 3 is a partial vertical and longitudinal sectional view of an alternative embodiment.

If we refer to Figures 1 and 2 we see that these figures represent a safety binding or "front stop" 1 which is intended to hold the front of a ski boot 2 on a ski 3. The front stop 1 includes a body 4 which is secured to a base fixed to the ski. This body 4 comprises, in its rear part, a jaw 5 which is intended to hold the edge of the sole 6 of the shoe 2 which has a standardized thickness which can vary between a minimum thickness e1 (shoe shown in FIG. 1) and a maximum thickness e2 (shoe shown in Figure 2). The retaining jaw 5 can be of any known type and it comprises two lateral retaining wings 7 and a sole clamp 7a which ensures the retention of the shoe in the vertical direction. The jaw 5 can be of the monobloc type, in which case the two lateral retaining wings 7 form a single piece, or else the jaw 5 can comprise two separate wings 7, mounted pivotally on the body 4 of the front stop 1. The jaw 5 and more particularly its lateral retaining wings 7 are elastically urged by an energy generating mechanism of any known type, housed inside the body 4 and which is shown diagrammatically in the drawing by its only spring 8. This spring 8 is subjected to an adjustable tension or compression preload, so as to elastically urge the lateral retaining wings 7 against the sole 6 of the shoe 2. The adjustable spring preload 8 determines the lateral triggering threshold of the front stop , when the skier's leg is subjected to a torsional force.

The front stop according to the invention is provided with a front fall compensation mechanism which makes it possible to lighten the "hardness" of the front stop, that is to say to lower its triggering threshold, in the case of a front fall of the skier combined with a twist of his leg. The part of the front fall compensation mechanism that is housed in the body 4 of the front stop 1, has not been shown in detail and is indicated schematically and only by a rocker 9 which is articulated, on the body 4 of the front stop 1 or on its base, around d 'a horizontal and transverse axis 11. This rocker 9 which is located in the central, lower and rear part of the body 4, comprises a rear branch 9a, extending substantially horizontally and longitudinally rearward, and an anterior branch 9b which acts, as indicated by the arrow A in FIGS. 1 and 2, on the energy generating mechanism, so as to be able to vary the threshold for triggering the binding.

The front fall compensation mechanism also includes a pedal 12 which forms a front drop sensor and on which the front part of the sole 6 of the boot 2 rests. This pedal 12 is movably mounted on a base 13 fixed to the ski, behind the front stop 1, and it extends longitudinally forward, overhanging, by pivoting, at its rear part, around a horizontal and transverse axis 14. The pedal 12 is advantageously made in two parts, namely an upper support plate 15, of molded plastic, and an underlying metal frame 16. The upper support plate 15 of the pedal 12 carries, in its central part, an anti-plate friction 17, for example made of polytetrafluoroethylene, to which the lower face of the soleplate 6 actually applies. Furthermore, the upper bearing plate 15 of the pedal 12 comprises an anterior extension 18 which is constituted by a substantially horizontal tongue. The front end of this tongue 18 is located above and a little in front of the rear end of the rear branch 9a of the rocker 9. The lower metal frame 16 has, at its rear end, a transverse part constituting the pivot axis 14 of the pedal 12. The frame 16 is integral with the support plate 15 of the pedal 12 and it extends forwardly, below the upper tongue 18, its anterior end portion 16a being located just below the anterior end portion 18a of the tongue 18, and ending with the front end 12a of the pedal 12.

The pedal 12 is urged upwards by a compression spring 19 disposed between the base of the pedal and the front part of the frame 16. In the raised rest position which is that shown in FIG. 1, the pedal 12 is immobilized in this position as a result of the coming into contact with abutment elements provided respectively on the pedal 12 and on the base 13. In this predetermined rest position the underside of the front end portion 16a of the frame 16 of the pedal 12 is moved away from the upper face of the end part of the underlying posterior branch 9a of the rocker 9 by a distance or a clearance d . This clearance d is chosen to be of the order of magnitude of the standard tolerance for the thickness of the sole 6 of the shoe, that is to say of the difference between the maximum thickness e2 (FIG. 2) and the minimum thickness e1 (FIG. 1) which are allowed for the sole 6. In practice for a sole 6 of a shoe of the senior type, the standardized thickness, at the location of the front toe of the sole, is for example of 19 ± 1mm. In other words the minimum thicknesses e1 and maximum e2 of the sole 6 are respectively 18 and of 20mm. Therefore the clearance d between the front end 12a of the sole 12 and the end of the rear branch 9a of the rocker 9 is of the order of 2mm.

The pedal 12 occupies its predetermined rest position, shown in Figure 1, when no shoe is mounted on the ski. When the front of a shoe 2 having a sole 6 of minimum thickness e1 is engaged in the front stop 1, the underside of the sole 6 is tangent to the anti-friction plate 17 while the front end of the sole is engaged in the jaw 5 and the pedal 12 is not pushed down from its rest position. However, if a vertical downward pressure is exerted on the front of the shoe, then the pedal 12 lowers against the restoring force of the spring 19 until it contacts the branch 9a of the rocker 9.

Preferably, the stiffness of the spring 19 is chosen to push frankly against the sole clamp 7a the sole of an empty ski boot.

As shown in FIG. 2, when a shoe 2 having a sole 6 of maximum thickness e2 is engaged in the front stop 1, the sole 6 then presses on the pedal 12 sufficiently so that the play d becomes zero , that is to say that the front end 12a of the pedal 12 just comes to bear on the end of the rear branch 9a of the rocker 9. Again this arrangement is not imperative and a slight play d could also subsist.

In the case of a sole 6 having a thickness between the maximum thicknesses e2 and minimum thickness e1, the pedal 12 occupies, when the front stop is engaged, a intermediate position, that is to say that there exists, between the front end 12a of the pedal 12 and the end of the rear branch 9a, a reduced clearance comprised between the maximum clearance d and a zero clearance in position rest.

Naturally the rest position, in height, of the pedal 12 depends on the distance between the rear branch 9a of the rocker 9 and the upper surface of the ski. The smaller this distance, that is to say the closer the rear branch 9a to the ski, the lower the front end 12a of the pedal 12.

From the above it is therefore seen that the height adjustment device is incorporated in the pedal 12 forming the front drop sensor. In the event of such a fall before, the play between the front end of the pedal and the branch 9a of the rocker 9 is canceled, either because of the thickness of the sole, or else under the effect of the push that the sole exerts on the pedal. The force exerted by the shoe on the pedal, indicated by the arrow f in FIGS. 1 and 2 is then transmitted to the rocker 9 by its rear branch 9a, the rocker 9 then acting, inside the front stop 1, to lower the lateral tripping threshold of this front stop. If the sole 6 has the maximum thickness e2, the pedal 12 immediately exerts, as soon as it is depressed, the force f on the rear branch 9a of the rocker 9, while it must first make up for the play d , before to press the rocker 9 if the sole has a thickness less than the maximum thickness e2, and if the pedal is not already pressing on the branch 9a of the rocker. In other words, the pedal 12 must first catch up with the clearance d provided for the height adjustment before being able to act on the triggering threshold of the front stop. However, it should be noted that the forces exerted by the shoe on the pedal in the event of a front fall are significantly greater than those involved in the height adjustment phase.

In the variant shown partially in FIG. 3, the pedal 12 comprises, below the upper support plate 15 carrying the anti-friction plate 17, two elements movable vertically independently of one another, at namely an upper plate 21 and a lower plate 22. The upper plate 21 is integral with the support plate 15 and it is articulated, at its rear end, on the base 13, around a horizontal and transverse axis 23. Its front end 21a is located, in the rest position, at a distance d above the rear branch 9a of the rocker 9. The lower plate 22 is articulated, at its rear end, on the base 13, around a horizontal and transverse axis 24. Its front end 22a is, it, in permanent support on the rear branch 9a of the rocker 9. A weak compression spring 25 is disposed between the front parts of the two plates 21 and 2 2 and tends to spread them apart. In this variant, the height is adjusted by varying the relative spacing of the two plates 21 and 22. For this purpose the spring 25 is weaker than the spring 8 of the energy generating mechanism. Therefore the spring 25 can be crushed alone, firstly, when the sole of a shoe 6 is engaged in the front stop and bears on the pedal 12, and this, depending on the thickness of the sole. 6. For a sole 6 having the minimum thickness e1, the upper plate 21 occupies the position shown in Figure 3, in which it is pushed upward by the spring 25 bearing on the lower plate 22. On the other hand if the sole 6 has the maximum thickness e2, this sole bearing on the anti plate -friction 17, causes the crushing of the upper plate 21 on the lower plate 22, so that its end 21a just comes into contact with the rear branch 9a. From this moment the front fall compensation mechanism can intervene.

Claims (4)

1. Safety ski binding designed to hold releasibly in place the front of a boot (2) mounted on the ski (3), comprising a body (4) attached to the ski and carrying at its rear portion a boot retention jaw (5) which incorporates two lateral retention wings (7), an energy-generating mechanism (8) housed in the body for returning the jaw elastically to a locked position, and a forward fall-compensation mechanism comprising a pedal (12) forming a forward fall-sensor mounted on the ski to the rear of the front stop (1), articulated, at its rear portion, on a seating (13) attached to the ski, about a horizontal and transverse axis (14, 23), returned upward, in a predetermined rest position, by a spring (19, 25) and having a forward extension (18) which, in the event that the skier falls forward, exerts a downward force on a movable control element, such as a rocker, belonging to the forward fall-compensation mechanism and housed in the body (4) of the front stop so as to lower a release threshold of the front stop, characterized in that the front end (12a, 21a) of the pedal (12) is, in the rest position of the pedal (12), located at a distance (d) above the movable control element (9) which approximates a standard tolerance for the thickness of the sole (6) of the boot, i.e., the allowed different between the maximum (e2) and minimum (e1) thicknesses of this sole 6.
2. Safety binding according to claim 1, characterized in that the predetermined rest position of the pedal (12) is the same when no boot is mounted on the ski as when the front of a boot (2) having a sole (6) of minimal thickness (e1) is engaged in the front stop (1).
3. Safety binding according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pedal (12) is made in two parts, i.e., an upper support plate (15), made of molded plastic, carrying an anti-friction plate (17), and an underlying metal frame (16) attached to the support plate, having, at its rear end, a transverse part forming the pivot axis (14) of the pedal (12), the upper support plate (15) comprises a substantially horizontal forward extension (18), constituted by a substantially horizontal tongue, the frame (16) of the pedal extending forward beneath the upper tongue (18), and a compression spring (19), exerting upward stress on the pedal (12) is arranged between the seating (13) of the pedal and the front portion of the frame (16).
4. Safety binding according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the pedal (12) comprises an upper support plate (15) carrying an anti-friction plate (17) and, beneath this upper support plate, two plates vertically movable independently of one another, i.e., an upper plate (21) and a lower plate (22), the upper plate (21) is attached to the support plate (15) and it is articulated, at its rear end, to the seating (13), around a horizontal and transverse axis (23), its front end (21a) being, in rest position, at the distance d above the movable control element (9a), the lower plate (22) is articulated, at its rear end, on the seating (13) around a horizontal and transverse axis (24), and its front end (22a) is permanently supported on the rear end of the movable control element (9a) and a compression spring (25) is arranged between the front portions of the two plates (21,22) so as to space one from the other.

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