EP1977799B1 - Safety binding for a boot on a ski - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a safety fastening device for a boot on a gliding board comprising mechanically controlled release means and additional means of opening the fastener electronically controlled.

The safety attachments of a boot on a ski having mechanically controlled triggering means are widely used in all the products put on sale on the market at the moment. These latter operate in particular by using springs against which the trigger occurs,

The document FR 2694888 discloses such safety fasteners, which are associated with electronic means providing the user with information necessary for maintenance of the fastener.

To be able to improve the safety of the users, it is now planned to supplement the triggering means mechanically controlled by electronically controlled means.

The document EP 968742 describes such a device. In this document the device comprises a detachable front retaining element, a triggerable rear retaining element and additional opening means. The front and rear retaining elements are conventional mechanical fastening elements, front stop and rear heel, which release the shoe when it is subjected to stresses greater than a given threshold. The stress threshold corresponds to the prestressing value to which springs placed in the abutment and the heel piece are subjected,

The additional opening means are constituted by an electronically controlled latch which frees the boot allowing the free notation of the front stop. The mechanical latch is controlled by an electromagnet, Advantageously when considering a device similar to that described in the document EP 968742 with force sensors and processing means or electronic signal, it improves all the more the safety of skiers. Indeed, it can then be arranged that the opening of electronically controlled triggering means is not only based on the efforts to which the leg of the skier is subjected, but also the time during which these efforts are applied.

The new possibilities in terms of safety for the user offered by the triggering means controlled by electronics in particular allow to release the shoe of the user when the effort to which the latter is subjected is not very important (in in any case, lower than recommended by the setting standards of safety fasteners under the same conditions), but that it is applied for a long time on the shoe, for example greater than a few seconds.

However, these new possibilities offered by the electronics must not interfere with the operation of the mechanically controlled triggering means and above all must not prevent all the adjustments and checks that must be made by the control bodies, the sales professionals and of the rental as well as the users.

Some of the tests require testing, which is recommended in ISO 9462. They consist of subjecting the safety fastener to force torques which increase in value until triggering of the mechanically controlled release means is triggered.

The ISO 9462 standard (paragraph 4.1) specifies moreover that the tests must be made in quasi-static by respecting the following gradients: $$\frac{\mathit{DMZ}}{\mathit{dt}}\le 50\mathrm{NOT}\mathrm{.}m\mathrm{.}{s}^{-1}\frac{\mathit{DMY}}{\mathit{dt}}\le 220\mathrm{NOT}\mathrm{.}m\mathrm{.}{s}^{-1}$$

Mz and Mx being respectively the force torques applied along the Z axis (vertical axis corresponding to the axis of the skier's leg) and along the X axis (horizontal axis corresponding to the longitudinal axis of the ski).

The object of the invention is to provide a safety fastening device for a boot on a gliding board comprising mechanically controlled release means, and additional opening means for the electronically controlled fastener, which can be controlled with the current control machines, for example the machine known as HUBER.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for securely fastening a boot to a gliding board comprising mechanically controlled triggering means, and additional means of opening the fastener which are electronically controlled and which allow the skis to be adjusted. man (store technician) to easily check the mechanically controlled release means.

The object of the invention is achieved by the provision of a safety fastening assembly of a boot on a ski comprising first mechanically controlled release means and second triggering means of said fastening assembly electronically controlled by the intermediate of a control device connected to a sensor; when said sensor measures a force exceeding a certain threshold, the control device generates an actuation control signal and said control device can be put in a "ski" mode, in which said device is able to generate a control signal opening said fastener assembly and in a "magazine" mode, wherein said device does not generate an opening control signal.

The safety fastening assembly according to the invention comprises first mechanically controlled triggering means and second electronically controlled triggering means. Each of the triggering means, the first and second open as soon as the efforts to which the leg of the user is subject exceed a predefined threshold. The difference between the two lies in the control means. In the first case, the trigger is against the effort of a spring. In a way, we can say that the spring is in fact a mechanical force sensor. In the second case, an electric sensor measures the forces, converts this measurement into a signal which will be processed in an electronic circuit so as to generate, if necessary, a control signal.

When the device is in the "store" mode, there is no action on physical unlocking. That is to say that the second trigger means can in no case open. In other words, when the device is in the "store" mode, the second triggers are mechanically inhibited from a mechanical point of view, they are not an electronic point of view and continue the effort measurements. applied, and possibly display them. It is also possible to store the measured values.

In one embodiment of the invention, the assembly for fastening a boot to a ski, on the one hand, said first mechanically controlled release means comprise a front retention element, which is triggerable when the forces to which it is subjected said front retainer are greater than the prestress value of a first spring, and a rear retainer, which is triggerable when the forces to which said rear retainer is subjected are greater than the prestress value of a second spring; and secondly, said second electronically controlled triggering means comprises moving at least one of said front and rear retainers.

Preferably, said control device comprises means for putting in "store" mode and these means of setting in "store" mode are secured. They can be secured by entering a secret code or the fact that to place the device in "store" mode it is necessary to press several buttons simultaneously for a set time. Preferably, said control device comprises means for setting in "ski" mode and said means for setting in "ski" mode are automatic.

• La figure 1 est une vue en perspective d'un mode de réalisation de l'invention.

The invention will be better understood on reading the following description to which is appended the drawing in which:

• The figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention.

The figure 1 describes a gliding apparatus comprising a ski 1, partially drawn. On this ski is placed a set of attachment of a shoe.

The fixing assembly comprises first triggering means 13, which are mechanically controlled. That is to say that there will be triggering, that is to say opening, of the fixing assembly when the forces to which the shoe is subjected are such that they generate the displacement of a mechanical element .

In the example shown in figure 1 , the first triggering means consist of a front retaining element 2, a rear retaining element 3 and an additional triggering device.

The front retaining element 2 is constituted by a conventional mechanical triggering front stop, that is to say that the front retaining element 2 is triggered when the forces to which it is subjected are greater than the prestressing value of a first spring which is placed in the front retainer 2.

The rear retaining element 3 is constituted by a conventional mechanical mechanical rear heel, that is to say that the rear retaining element 3 is triggered when the forces to which it is subjected are greater than the prestress value d a second spring placed there.

The operation of the front retainer 2 and the rear retainer 3 will not be described here in more cattle because they are mechanical elements widely known in the field of ski bindings.

The front retaining element 2, respectively the rear retaining element 3, is fixed on a front interface element 5, respectively a rear interface element 6, which is fixed on the ski 1.

In the conventional configuration described here, when the skier's leg is subjected to forces oriented in the horizontal plane of the ski, including torsion forces around a vertical axis (torque Mz), it is the retaining element before 2 that triggers and releases the shoe. When the skier's leg is subjected to forces oriented in a vertical plane (My couple), it is the rear retaining element that triggers.

The triggering of the front retainer consists of a pivotal movement about a vertical axis of one of the two fins that frame the front end of the shoe.

The triggering of the rear retaining element consists of a pivoting movement about an axis horizontal and transverse to the longitudinal axis of the ski of the jaw which retains the rear end of the shoe.

Of course, this configuration is not limiting and any configuration of retaining element mechanical trigger is possible.

The second triggering means 4 comprise sliding means of the rear retaining element 3. They also comprise a control device 14.

The second triggering means comprise a slideway 7 in which the body of the rear retaining element 3 can slide.

Of course, this configuration is not limiting and the second triggering means could also slide the front retainer 2. On the other hand the action of the second trigger means is not necessarily a sliding.

The control device 14 comprises an actuator housing 8 and a control box 9. The control unit is connected to a front sensor 11 and a rear sensor 12 respectively placed in the front interface element 5 and the element rear interface 6.

The control box 9 comprises an electronic circuit and a man / machine interface device including a display.

The actuator housing 8 is connected to the body of the rear retaining element by a rod 10 capable of moving longitudinally by driving the body of the rear retaining element 3, which slides in the slideway 7.

When the front 11 or rear 12 sensors measure a force exceeding a certain threshold, the electronic circuit of the control box generates a signal controlling the actuation of the rod 10, which moves the body away from the rear element of the element front restraint 5, which frees the shoe.

In normal use, the control device is in "ski" mode. In this mode, the first triggering means and the second triggering means are operational. At any time, the front 11 and rear 12 sensors transmit to the control box the constraints to which they are subjected. The control box 9 processes this information and decides whether to release the boot by opening the second trigger means 4. On the other hand, the front retaining elements 2 and rear 3 are also likely to be triggered, where they are subject to efforts beyond those to which they are

The first trigger means require periodic checks to ensure their proper operation. Machines are specially designed for this. The machine known under the name Huber is one of these machines.

On the other hand, at a rental ski equipment, the rental technician, the skiman, must systematically make the adjustment of the mounting set according to the person to whom the gliding device is rented. This setting comprises the electronic adjustment of the control device of the second triggering means, but it also comprises the mechanical adjustment of the first triggering means. In this case, in the embodiment described in figure 1 , the mechanical adjustment consists of a preload adjustment of the spring of the front retaining element 2 and a preload adjustment of the second spring of the rear retaining element 3.

When it comes to performing functional checks or mechanical adjustments of the first triggering means, the person performing these checks or adjustments places the controller in the "magazine" mode.

The placing of the control device in the "store" mode is done in a secure manner so as to minimize the risk of inadvertent and unintentional entry into this mode.

In the embodiment described, the entry into the magazine mode is done by the simultaneous pressing of several buttons 15 of the control box 9 for a defined time.

It will of course secure the setting mode "store" by other way sanas out of the scope of the invention. For example, we can enter a secret code that only authorized people could know.

Once the control device is in "store" mode, the second triggering means are inhibited and this can in no case open. So the verification of the first triggering means can take place in accordance with, the protocol described in the ISO 9462. Similarly, the skiman can perform the mechanical adjustment of the front and rear retainers as if the assembly, fastener did not understand the second electronically controlled triggering means.

The control device also comprises means for setting in "ski" mode. These means make it possible, once measurements, verifications or checks carried out to put the control device in "ski" mode. These means may consist of a button that the skiman press after his intervention on the pair of skis. In the example described, the exit of the "store" mode and the transition to "ski" mode is done automatically after a delay of a few minutes to prevent users from skiing in "store" mode. Other means, priority on the delay allow the transition from "store" mode to "ski" mode, including the pressure on one of the buttons 15 of the control box 9.

The invention is not limited to the single embodiment described above by way of example. It may for example be envisaged that the second triggering means do not act by translating the rear retaining element, but by rotating it. One can also consider acting on the front retainer, or on the front retainer and the rear retainer. Other mechanical locking means may also be provided.

NOMENCLATURE

• 1-Ski
• 2- front retainer
• 3- rear restraint
• 4- second triggering means
• 5- front interface element
• 6- rear interface element
• 7- slide
• 8- actuator housing
• 9- control box
• 10- rod
• 11- front sensor
• 12- rear sensor
• 13- first triggering means
• 14- control device
• 15- buttons

Claims (8)

1. Boot safety binding assembly on a ski (1) comprising first mechanically controlled release mechanisms (13) and second release mechanisms (4) of said binding assembly electronically controlled via a control device (14) connected to a sensor, characterized in that said control device (14) can be set in a "ski" mode in which, when said sensor measures a force exceeding a certain threshold, the control device (14) generates an actuation control signal and can be set in a "store" mode in which, although the sensor continues to measure the forces applied, said device does not generate an opening control signal.
2. Boot binding assembly on a ski according to claim 1, characterized in that said first mechanically controlled release mechanisms (13) comprise a front retaining element (2) that is releasable when the forces to which said front retaining element (2) is subjected are greater than the prestressing value of a first spring, and a rear retaining element (3) releasable when the forces to which said rear retaining element (3) is subject are greater than the prestressing value of a second spring.
3. Boot binding assembly on a boot on a ski according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said second electronically controlled release mechanisms (4) consist of setting in motion at least one of said front (2) and rear (3) retaining elements.
4. Assembly according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said control device (14) comprises "store" mode-setting mechanisms, and in that said "store" mode-setting mechanisms are secured.
5. Assembly according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said "store" mode-setting mechanisms are secured by entering a secret code.
6. Assembly according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said "store" mode-setting mechanisms are secured in that, in order to set the device (14) in "store" mode, it is necessary to press a plurality of buttons (15) simultaneously for a defined period of time.
7. Assembly according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said control device (14) comprises "ski" mode-setting mechanisms, and in that said "ski" mode-setting mechanisms are automatic.
8. Assembly according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said ski mode-setting mechanisms include a time delay.

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