US2449242A

US2449242A - Ski binding

Info

Publication number: US2449242A
Application number: US572474A
Authority: US
Inventors: Everett L Millard
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-01-12
Filing date: 1945-01-12
Publication date: 1948-09-14
Anticipated expiration: 1965-09-14

Description

Sept. 14, 1948. L. MILLARD 2,449,242

SKI BINDING Filed Jan. '12, 1945 ATTORNEY5 Patented Sept. 14, 1948 UNITED STATES 1 j I 2,449,242; I r SKI BINDING,

Everett L. Millard, Highland Park, 111. Application Janu 945;,Sria1 No-whim 2 Claims. (01. 2813- 4135)" Thisinvention relates to ski bindingsso called,

that is to say, to those devices whereby a skiers shoe is fastened to his ski, and especially to those bindings that are designed particularly for fast downhill running. H

Whereas initially skis were fastened to the shoesquite loosely, the popularity of downhill running in the last decade or so, and the desire for higher speeds downhill, has led to the development of bindings whereby the heel of the shoe is tied down to the ski rather strongly. Usually these devices comprise essentially a cable so called, or other device, that passes around the back of the shoe, usually in a notch in the heel, and thence passes forwardly and downwardly to points on the ski below the foot. Whatever the formoi the heel-tying device however (even when it incorporates a spring to give it some extensibility), it holds the shoe heelto the ski quite strongly since its primary purpose is to permit the skier to lean farther forward than a free heel would permit. Also, asan incident, such devices either'entirely prevent the withdrawal of the toe of the shoe from the customary toe plates or strap, or permit such withdrawal only by extending the cable and this requiresconsiderable force.

Simultaneously with the increase in the use or such downhill bindings, to call them such, has come a considerable increase in the number of ski accidents resulting in sprains and broken legs of a certain type, and the increase in this type of injury has been ascribed to, and seems to he the result of, the use of this type of binding. Beyond this however the cause of these accidents has not been settled. By some it hasbeen thought that this fault lies in the fact that the fastening of the heel to the ski prevents the ski foldln up to the skiers body as it were, readily, when a fall occurs, and thus on occasion causes a greater stress on the leg bones than they can stand. In accordance with this theory it. has been proposed, for example, to provide a trip, actuated by the instep of the foot whenever the heel is raised to a certain point, to releasethe shoe from the toe plates. By others it has been thought that the broken bones are due to the inability of the shoe to leave the ski readily on the occurrence of twisting stresses on the foot, as it can do with the older form of binding which fastens the ski to the shoe rather loosely. Under this theory ithasbeen proposed to fasten the shoe to the toe plates by pins and notches inclined upwardly "and to the rear, so that on the occurrence of a twist in either direction the foot will be thrust 'bac kwardlyv and thereby, one pin or the, other thrust out, of its notclnthereby releasing the shoe from the ski. It. is to be. noticed however that in all such safety arrangements, so far as. I am aware, the releasing action is dependent on the exertion of suflicientqforce to; stretch the cable or heel binding, or the slipping of the cabl around the heel, or both, and in my opinion both of these are undesirable since in themselves they; require the exertion of considera'bleforce and in many instances at least, sufficient force, I think, to break a bone.

Regardless of what the correct explanation of the broken bones may be however, i have, found that my invention substantially overcomes the fault of the downhill type of binding} Briefly my invention contemplates the use of; a, downhill type of binding of such 'a form thatthe continu ance of the shoe between the toe plates (oriin operating relation to their equivalent) is required to. keel the, heel "portion of the binding effective; so that release of the shoegfr'om the toe plates (or other device performing their, functions? leaves the ski loose on the shoe or permits the ski to drop from the shoe freely; With such a binding I- so arrange the forward portion ofthe structure that the toe portion of the shoe can be moved away from the ski (e. g. from be,- tween the toe plates) by "movementof the toe from the ski at anangle of substantially eo wan respect to the ski or at an angle of less than 96 with respect to the forward end of the ski,yand I hold the toe portion against such motion re}- leasably on'the occurrence of an abnormal stressv insuflicient to break normal bones. As a result the shoe can be freed from the ski (wholly or sufliciently) without anysubstantial preliminary backward movement ofthe shoe, and accordingly the'heel' of thes'hoe can be tied to the ski astight; 1y as maybe desired without affecting the ielea-sabilityof the ski on the occurrence of anacciident. Preferably I so arrange the connection or the toe portion of the shoe thattl l'ning the shoe on an axis located in or on the sole ofythe shoe at or near the toe, and substantially parallel with thelength of the ski, will release the toe. Preferably also 'I' hold thetoe portion against the releasing movement yieldingly, e. g. frictionally or by springpressure, rather than; positively, and

preferably also I employ toe plates both to Serve their normal purpose of preventing side motion of the shoe toe and tohojldtheshoe toe to :or to.- ward the ski. For example, the space between the toe plates may be left open at their tops (e g. t e strap c m only used acr s the to being omitted) 1 and. one or both. toepla'tes inclined lur- 3 wardly slightly, the plates being given silfiiclent stiffness to keep the shoe between them normally but yielding to permit the escape of the toe under a twist or other thrust of the shoe insufficient to break a bone. As another example, the toe plates (or one of them) may have a rib or nob projecting over the top of the shoe sole, perhaps with an upwardly inclined sole-engaging face, but projecting over the sole to such a slight degree and held aboveit with such a yielding pressure that on the exertion of an unusual turning effort the rib or nob yields sufficiently to permit the escape of the shoe. In contrast to such prior devices as I have referred to above, it will be observed that escape of the shoe from the binding with a device of my invention, does not require a backward movement of theheel or in any other way the exertion of more force than the legbones can stand usually, regardless of how strongly the heel may be tied down to the ski.

The'accompanying drawings illustrate the best form of my invention of whichI am now aware, and at the same'time are to be understood as representative of the broader form ofmy invention described above and claimed hereafter. Figure 1 of those drawings is a side elevation of a'ski'with the binding and an attached shoe. Figure 2 is an elevation ota portion of, the same ski, binding and shoe, drawn' to a larger scale. Figure 3 is a section about on the line of 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking. in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 is a plan view of thetoe plate portion of the binding.

'lTl-le ski I and shoe 2 are conventional, the latter as customary having a quite thick sole 3. A sole thus orflotherwise given some greater rigidity than the sole of an ordinarywalkin'g shoe is helpful.

Primarily the ski binding illustrated comprises a pair of more or less yerticaltoe plates 6 and 1 and a conventional cable binding lying in a notch 8 inthe back of the heel of the shoe and thence extending forwardly and downwardly. Substantially in accordance with common practices the toe plates 6 and 1 mayextend toward each other at 'their forward ends so that the shoe sole 3 tends to be wedged between them as the shoe is drawn forward by thecable binding, and may have horizontal flanges, 9 and to rest on the ski I and which have slots/to receive attachingscrews so that they areadjustable on the ski beneath a ,cover plate II that is screwed firmly to theski when the toe plates 6 and I have been placed in proper position with respect to the sole 3 of the shoe. As customary, a metal plate l2 may be .usedon the ski I beneath the shoe. Thecable binding per se illustrated is a common form. Primarily it consists of a rather stifi coiled spring l4, looped around the back of the heel in the notch 8, and having at its two

ends cables

15 and 16 which pass underahook, such as I1, fastened toeach side of the ski below the foot and which thence extend'forward to.a device, shown generally. at l8 and incorporating a. finger lever l9, whereby the spring M can be drawn tightly around theheelandthus the heel held tightly to the ski (as shown in the drawings), or loosened and released to permit the shoe to be drawn out of the toe'plates 6 and 1. e 7 The inner or shoe-engaging faces of the two toe plates 6 and l are substantially plane,(Figs. 3 'and 4) ,Also it is obvious of course that the toe plates 8 and l cooperate with the cable bind ing l4, etcL, to maintain the latter in effect in the shoe sole to pass between them under the pull of the binding spring I 4), so that if in any way the shoe is removed from between the toe plates 6 and 1 the remainder of the binding leaves the shoe entirely free of the ski. Also the usual strap crossing the shoe toe between the toe plates to prevent the escape of the shoe from between the toe plates is omitted, so that the space between the plates is open at their tops and accordingly the shoe can escape frombetween the toe plates by movement of its toe portion directly away (90) from the ski or by movement away from the ski at an angle of less than 90 to the forward end 2| of the ski. However the wedging of the shoe into the (tapered space between) toe plates by the binding spring I4 tends to hold the shoe from such escape frictionally,

' and also in the present instance the toe plates 6 'holdi ngthe shoe heel tothe 'ski (since the space between the'to'e plates is too narrow to permit and l are inclined inwardly slightly at their tops (see Fig. 3 to further assure the retention of the shoe between the plates. However the friction, the inward inclination of the toe plates, and the yieldability of the metal of the toe plates about axes substantially parallel to the lengtnof the ski, as will be understood from the drawing, are so predetermined in the present instance that, while their joint effect is sufficient to hold theshoe in place between the toe plates under the normal stresses of skiing, they are insufficient to retain the shoe toe between theplates on the occurrence of an abnormal stress insufllcient to break a leg bone. In particular in the present instance, twisting of the foot by a stress insufiicient to break normal leg bones, is capable of rotating theshoe 2 on an axis extending substantially parallel to the length of the shoe and substantially at one or the other of the corners of the shoe sole 3, (forcing one or the other of the toe plates 6 and I to spread outwardly), and thus lifting one side or the other of the shoe sole from the toe plates and thereby releasing the sole from between the plates completely. Metal toe plates of material and dimensions heretofore commonly used are both sufiiciently rigid and sufiiciently yielding for the present purposes. As will be understoodfrom this of course, the toe plates 6 and I substantially prevent rotation of the shoe on the ski around an axis perpendicular to the top and running surfaces of the ski. An inward inclinationof each toe plate of the order of say 5 to 10 from the vertical is suflicient for the present purposes.

It follows accordingly that while the binding thus described serves to hold the ski to the shoe securely under. the stresses of normal skiing, accidents tending to throw abnormal stresses on the skiers limb, bring about release of the toe portion of the shoe from the toe plates before those stresses become great enough to break a bone, and since the portion of the binding that ties the heel to the ski depends on the retention of .the toe between the toe plates for its effectiveness, the shoe (in the present instance) is completely released from the ski immediately after the toe leaves the toe plates. I

It will be understood of course thatmy inven tion is not limited to the construction or to the details of constructions illustrated and described above, except as appears hereafter in the claims.

I claim: l 1. A ski binding to hold a-shoe to a ski having toe plates to engage the opposite sides of the forward portion of the shoe and a device to hold the heel of the shoe toward the ski and the foracterized by the fact thatthe binding is open above, the toe plates at their sides have inner surfaces inclined inwardly and upwardly over parts of the forward portion of the shoe to retain the forward portion of the shoe to the ski, and the toe plates are yieldable about axes substantially parallel to the length of the ski to permit the upward escape of the shoe from the toe plates on the exertion of abnormal stresses on said inclined surfaces.

2. A ski binding to hold a shoe to a ski having toe plates to engage the opposite sides of the forward portion of the shoe and a cable type of binding to yieldingly hold the heel of the shoe toward the ski and the forward end of the shoe toward the toe plates, characterized by the fact that the ski binding is open above, the inner shoe-engaging surfaces of the toe plates are substantially plane, the toe plates are inclined inwardly to retain the forward portion of the shoe to the ski, and the toe plates are yieldable about axes substantially parallel to the length of the ski to permit the upward escape of the shoe from the toe plates on the exertion of abnormal stresses on the toe plates in an upward direction.

EVERE'I'I L. MIILARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,691,512 Berge Nov. 13, 1928 2,108,167 Gerber Feb. 15, 1938 2,123,786 Koller July 12, 1938 2,140,757 Merrill Dec. 20, 1938 2,152,181 Elliott Mar. 28, 1939 2,373,128 McIlvaine Apr. 10, 1945