US3366394A

US3366394A - Ski boot heel binding device

Info

Publication number: US3366394A
Application number: US571618A
Authority: US
Inventors: Shimizu Giichi
Original assignee: EVER NEW Inc
Current assignee: EVER NEW Inc
Priority date: 1965-08-17
Filing date: 1966-08-10
Publication date: 1968-01-30
Anticipated expiration: 1985-01-30
Also published as: DE1578751A1; DE1578751B2

Description

Jan. 30, 1968 GHCHI SHlMlZU SKI BOOT HEEL BINDING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 10, 1966 INVENTOR. v Giichi Shimizu ATTORNEY Jan. 30, 1968 I GllCHl SHIMIZU SKI BOOT HEEL BINDING DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 10, 1966 ATTORNEY 1968 GIICHI SHIMIZU 3,

SKI BOOT HEEL BINDING DEVICE Filed Aug. 10, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 r, I 2 INVENTOR Z 5-7 54 *9 Giichi Shimizu ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,366,394 SKI BGOT HEEL BINDING DEVICE Giichi Shimizu, Tokyo, Japan, assignor to Ever New Inc., Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan Filed Aug. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 571,618 Claims priority, application Japan, Aug. 17, 1965, 40/ 49,729 6 Claims. (Cl. 280-4135) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ski boot heel binding device comprising a springloaded casing slidably mounted on a ski for back and forth movement along the ski; a holding down means pivotally connected to said casing and adapted to abut against the upper rear edge of the heel of a ski boot; an integral spur pivoted to said casing and adapted to engage the bottom surface of said heel, said holding down means and spur cooperating to define jaws having a fixed opening therebetween for accommodating said heel; and a pair of parallel brackets for pivotally supporting at their one ends said holding down means and spur and pivotally connected at their other ends to said slidable casing, said pair of brackets being movable between a first position in which they are in a substantially horizontal and parallel relation and a second position in which they are in a substantially vertical and parallel relation.

Field of the invention The present invention relates to an improved ski boot heel binding device, and more particularly to a ski boot heel binding device of the type which when the user steps with his ski boot into the binding device automatically secures the binding device to the heel of the ski boot and which can be opened at will, for example by slight pressure with a ski pole. According to one aspect of the present invention, a holding down means which is adapted to engage the heel of a ski boot from the top and a spur which is adapted to engage the heel from below are integrally formed with a coupling which connects between the holding down means and spur so as to provide a unitary boot heel engaging or securing unit and the unitary engaging unit is pivotally connected to the slidable casing of the binding device by means of a pair of parallel pivotal brackets. According to another aspect of the present invenion, the spur is formed as a separate piece from the holding down means and coupling and pivotally connected to the combined holding down means and coupling and to the casing so that the spur may incline independent of the holding down means and coupling to an angle corresponding to that of the bottom of the ski boot heel as the heel is about to be secured by the binding device.

Description of the prior art In one rior art ski boot heel binding device a spring casing is slidably mounted on the support plate or mount fixedly supported on the ski for back and forth movement along the support plate so that the casing may closely follow the movement of the heel of the ski boot secured in the binding device and the casing is normally urged forwardly or against the back of the boot heel by the force of a coil spring which is disposed in a compressed state Within the casing. The slidable casing supports on its front end surface a vertically movable holding down means which engages the upper rear edge of the boot heel and a depressible spur which engages the bottom of the boot heel and which is vertically spaced from the holding down means. When the user steps with his boot heel into such a prior art binding device the holding down means automaticaliy descends to engage the upper rear edge of the ski boot heel and at the same time the slidable casing abuts against the back of the boot heel by the force of the spring whereby the boot heel may be firmly held in position within the binding device by the cooperation of a conventional holding down means for the toe of the boot with the heel binding device. However, in the prior art boot heel binding device, when the user steps with the ski boot heel into the binding device, as the holding down means which is now in a position high above the upper ridge of the boot heel descends down to abut against the upper rear edge of the heel the holding down means frequently hits against the back of the heel, upper ridge or other undesired points on the heel resulting in improper holding of the boot heel.

Summary of the invention The above disadvantage may be overcome by the arrangement in which when the ski boot heel binding device does not hold the boot heel therein, the mouth defined by the holding down means and spur may be positioned in an inclined or angled position Whose inclination degree increases toward the boot heel which is being inserted into the device so that the heel may be conveniently inserted into the device, but it is rather difficult to obtain a proper inclination angle for the mouth. If the mouth cannot be positioned at a suitable angle with respect to the heel the misalignment of the holding down means with the boot heel will aggravate further. In another attempt to eliminate the above difiiculty, the holding down means and spur are arranged in such a manner that the mouth defined by the two constructural elements may be turned sideways with respect to the axis of the ski when the mouth receives the boot heel thereby decreasing the frequency of the misalignment of the holding down means with the boot heel. However, this arrangement inevitably makes it difficult to properly position the boot heel within the mouth after the insertion of the heel therein.

A further attempt to eliminate the above disadvantage is to arrange the holding down means and spur in such a manner that the mouth defined by the two constructural elements may widen gradually as the elements move rearwardly, but such an arrangement necessarily requires a complicated mechanism for Widening and narrowing the mouth. Furthermore, the arrangement has an inherent disadvantage in that if the user fails to step with his boot heel sufliciently deep into the mouth, the holding down means may bite the upper rear edge of the heel.

Therefore, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved ski boot heel binding device which can effectively eliminate the above disadvantages inherent in the prior art boot heel binding devices.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ski boot heel binding device which comprises a springloaded slidable casing and a holding down means and an integral spur which are respectively pivoted to the casing by means of one end of a pair of parallel brackets with the other end of the brackets being pivoted to the casing whereby the holding down means and spur may move horizontally toward and away from the boot heel and also move upwardly and downwardly in unison or separately.

When the user steps with his boot heel into the novel binding device the holding down means and spur automatically move toward the heel horizontally With the bottom surface of the holding down means maintained in a plane substantially the same as that in which the upper rim of the heel lies until the holding down means abuts against the upper rear edge of the heel and the spur engages the bottom surface of the heel thereby to firmly secure the heel within the mouth defined by the two constructural elements. When the boot heel is desired to be released from the binding device slight pressure is exerted V a on a release mechanism operatively connected to the elements so as to cause the elements to horizontally move away from the heel and then to move upwardly.

Description of the drawings The above and other objects and attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following detailed explanation of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein FIG. 1 is a longitudinally sectional view of a preferred form of ski boot heel binding device embodying the present invention showing the position of the device in which the binding device firmly holds the heel of a ski boot therein;

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1, but shows a different operative or releasing position of the binding device in which the heel of a ski boot is being released from the binding device;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plane view of said binding device of FIG. 1 showing the spring adjusting mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a plane view of said binding device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of a modified form of binding device showing the essential elements in vertical section;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view of a further modified form of binding device showing the essential elements in vertical section;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinally sectional view of a further modified form of binding device;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view in vertical section which especially shows the link mechanism of said binding device shown in FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary View in vertical section which especially shows the locking means of said binding device shown in FIG. 7.

Description of the preferred embodiments Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 4 which illustrate a preferred or first embodiment of ski boot heel binding device according to the present invention, reference numeral 1 indicates the spring loaded slidable casing or support member of the binding device and the casing is formed in an elongated box shape extending along the longitudinal direction of a ski on which the binding device is mounted. The casing 1 includes vertically and longitudinally extending opposite side walls 2 whose lower edges 2 and 2' extend outwardly substantially at right angles with respect to the side walls so as to form flanges. An elongated mount or track member 3 is fixedly mounted on the top surface of the ski by any suitable means (not shown) and the mount has upper flanges 3' and 3' on the top of its opposite sides which are inwardly curved toward each other by a short distance with a narrow space from the surface of the mount 3 so as to define tracks in which the outwardly extending lower edges or flanges 2' and 2' of the

casing walls

2 and 2 may fit loosely so that the flanges 2' and 2 may slide along the tracks. From the arrangement described above, it will be understood that the spring-loaded casing 1 may be slidably supported by and move back and forth along the mount 3 by means of the

flanges

3 and 3 thereof. A transverse spring securing member 4 extends between the

opposite side walls

2 and 2 of the casing 1 and the opposite ends of the securing member are fixedly supported by the casing walls. An adjustable U-shaped support member 5 is provided in a position diametrically opposite to the spring securing member 4 between the opposite side walls 2' and 2' of the casing 1. A coil spring 6 is disposed in a compressed state between the securing member 4 and support member 5 with the opposite ends of the spring secured to the two

members

4 and 5 by means of any suitable means (not shown) so as to normally urge the casing 1 forwardly into abut engagement with the back of the heel of a ski boot A. An upright screw supporting rack member 7 projects upwardly from the mount 3 at a point rearwardly spaced from the U-shape member 5 and is provided with a circular threaded hole for threadably receiving an adjusting screw 8. The fore end of the adjusting screw 8 extends through the corresponding circular threaded hole of the U-shaped supporting member 5 into the coil spring 6 and the other end of the screw extends through the circular threaded hole of the screw supporting rack member 7. An annular stop 32 is threadably mounted on the screw 8 between the opposite ends of the screw. The annular stop 32 is positioned inwardly of the rack member 7 or the left side of the rack member as seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 and adapted to abut against the inner or left surface of the rack member. A knurled knob 25 is fixedly mounted on the rear or extended end of the adjusting screw 8. The opposite leg portions of the U-shaped support member 5 are provided with correspondingly positioned slots 10 and 1t) and

short bars

9 and 9 extend respectively through the

opposite side walls

2 and 2 of the casing and the respective slots 1 into the interior of the member 5. The oppo-.

so as to move the U-shaped support member 5 forwardly or backwardly by means of the adjusting screw 8 and when the position of the member has been adjusted the support member is set in the adjusted position whereby a new travelling distance of the casing may be determined.

Such adjustment is necessary to enable the binding device to accommodate ski boots having a wide variety of shapes and configurations. The above mentioned arrangement of the various parts of a binding device for the heel of a ski boot is conventional and further detailed explanation of these parts will not be necessary.

According to one feature of the present invention, the holding down means 11 and spur 12 are pivotally supported by means of a pair of substantially parallel and spaced

brackets

13 and 14 in a unique manner. The

brackets

13 and 14 have substantially the same size and configuration and one end of the brackets are pivoted by means of pins or shafts a and b to the leading edge of the casing 1 which pins extend transversely of the casing in a vertically spaced relation and are suitably supported at the opposite ends in the

casing walls

2 and 2. The other ends of the

brackets

13 and 14 are pivoted by means of another pair of pins or shafts c and d to a coupling 15 with which the holding down means 11 and spur 12 are integrally formed. The pins 0 and d also extend transversely of the casing 1 and are suitably supported at the opposite ends in the casing walls in a vertically spaced relation with a distance corresponding to that between the first pair or pins a and b. As seen in FIG. 1, the holding down means 11 and spur 12 are formed in different angular shapes. The holding down means 11 has an angular shape including a shorter horizontal portion and a longer verticalportion whilst the spur 12 includes two horizontal and vertical portions of substantially the same length and they are integral with each other and the coupling 15. The thus in terconnected coupling 15, upper and

lower brackets

13, 14 and the leading edge of the casing 1 form a linkage mechanism in cooperation with the pins or shafts a, b, cand d whereby the coupling 15 holding down means 11 and spur 12 may pivot in unison vertically relative to the casing 1.

Since the

brackets

13 and 14 and pins 0 and d are causedto swing upwardly and downwardly as the coupling 15, holding down means 11 and spur 12 are moved upwardly and downwardly relative to the casing 1, when the coupling 15 holding down means 11 and spur 12 are inthe boot heel releasing position or in a raised position as shown with the dotted line in FIG. 2, the fore ends of the brackets 13 and 14 (the bracket ends pivoted at c and d) are swung to positions higher than those of the rear ends of these brackets (the bracket ends pivoted at a and b) in which the brackets are in a substantially vertical position. To the contrary, as the coupling 15, holding down means 11 and spur 12 are moved toward the boot heel holding position or the lowest position as shown in FIG. 1, the fore ends of the

brackets

13 and 14 are caused to swing downwardly and forwardly while drawing arcs. In the heel holding position, the brackets are in a substantially horizontal posi ion. In other words, when

brackets

13 and 14 are in the boot heel holding position (see FIG. 1), their fore ends assume positions slightly lower than the other ends thereof whilst when the brackets are in the ski boot releasing position then fore ends assume positions substantially higher than the other ends thereof.

The

brackets

13 and 14 also serve to hold the coupling 15, holding down means 11 and spur 12 in the ski boot heel holding position when the brackets are in the position as shown in FIG. 1 under the influence of the coil spring 6. In this position of the coupling 15, holding down means 11 and spur 12 of FIG. 1, the heel of a ski boot A abuts against the coupling 15 and presses the same backwardly, and the second pair of pins c and d assumes a position slightly lower than that of the first pair of pins a and b. As soon as the pair of pins c and d move beyond the dead point of the coil spring 6, the movement of the pins 0 and d shifts to a downward movement thereby to cause the coupling 15, holding down mean 11 and spur 12 to descend to their lowest position in which they are stationary.

Reference numeral 16 indicates an angular safety or release lever in the form of a pawl. The lever 16 is pivoted at its lower pawl portion to a transverse shaft 17 which extends transversely of the casing 1 and is suitably journalled in the

casing walls

2 and 2. The outer surface of the lever 16 is provided at the juncture between the lower pawl portion and upper handle portion with a step 16a which is adapted to engage the lower edge of an engaging piece 18 rearwardly projecting from the rear end of the upper bracket 13. The inner surface of the lower pawl portion of the lever 16 has one end of an adjustable coil spring 19 secured thereto and the other end of the spring 16 is received within an adjustable cylindrical sleeve 31 whose outer periphery is provided with a thread. The upper handle portion of the lever 16 upwardly extends through an opening 20 formed in the top wall of the casing 1 and is adapted to be depressed by means of for example, a ski pole. An annular adjusting nut having an inner threaded peripheral surface is threaded on the sleeve 31 and portion of the annular nut projects through an opening formed in the casing 1 to be manually operated. Thus, by turning the annular nut 30 in either direction, the sleeve 31 may displace forwardly or backwardly thereby to adjust the strength of the spring 19 as desired. The spring 19 normally urges the lever 16 forwardly into engagement with the engaging piece 18 whereby the upper bracket 13 may be normally subjected to a biasing force by virtue of the engagement of the engaging piece 18 with the step 16a on the lever 16. As mentioned above, the handle portion of the lever 16 extends upwardly through the opening 20 formed in the top wall of the casing 1 and a detention recess 21 (FIG. 4) is provided at a suitable point in the lever handle portion for receiving a stop (not shown) which normally holds the lever in the non-operative position. In order to positively return the

brackets

13 and 14 to their original horizontal position after the step 16a on the lever 16 has come out of its engagement with the engaging piece 18 due to the rotation of the lever 16 in the counterclock direction, either the upper bracket 13 or lower bracket 14 i provided with a returnplate spring 22 (in the em bodiment as illustrated, the lower bracket 14 is provided with the return spring 22). The return spring 22 is passed around the pivot pins b and d and one end of the spring is secured to the pin d whilst the other spring end is secured to the bottom of the spring securing member 4.

By the provision of the return spring 22, assuming that the step 16a on the lever 16 has come out of its engagement with the engaging piece 18 due to the rotation of the lever in the counterclockwise direction and the

brackets

13 and 14 have come to a substantially vertical position respectively resulting in lifting of the coupling 15, which is operatively connected to the brackets as shown in FIG. 1: the holding down means 11 and spur 12 which are integrally connected to the coupling 15 are also lifted with a predetermined width of mouth maintained therebetween for accommodating the heel of a ski boot.

In this position ready for use as indicated with the full line in FIG. 2, the user steps into the ski boot heel binding device depressing the spur 12 with his ski boot heel A (indicated by the dotted line in FIG. 2), the

brackets

13 and 14 are caused to swing counterclockwise to the position in FIG. 1 in which they are in a substantially horizontal and parallel relation. Since the upper and

lower brackets

13 and 14 draw arcs as indicated with the imaginary lines e and f in FIG. 2 as they are caused to swing counterclockwise on the pivot pins a and b as just mentioned above, the holding down means 11, spur 12 and coupling 15 are forwardly pushed by a distance indicated with g in FIG. 2 during the counterclockwise rotation of the

brackets

13 and 14. The position of the holding down means 11, spur 12 and coupling 15 after they have been forwardly pushed as just mentioned above is indicated with the dotted line in FIG. 2.

Therefore, it will be understood that when the user steps with his boot heel A in the binding device maintained in the position wherein the holding down means 11, spur 12 and coupling 15 are in their lifted position shown in FIG. 2, the holding down means 11 and spur 12 are forced to move forwardly or firmly abut against the heel A while maintaining their horizontal state as they rotate counterclockwise whereby the holding down means 11 can firmly hold the rear edge of the boot heel A from above and the spur 12 can firmly engage the bottom surface of the heel as shown in FIG. 1.

With the above arrangement of the novel ski boot heel binding device, disadvantages inherent in the similar prior art ski boot heel binding devices can be effectively eliminated. For example, in a prior art binding device of the type in which when the user steps with his ski boot heel into the binding device the holding down means and spur are forced to lean backwardly so as to widen the mouth defined therebetween for easy accommodation of the boot heel with the consequence of backward leaning of the coupling which connects between the holding means and spur, and in such a binding device the rear bottom edge of the ski boot heel has a tendency to hit against the coupling so as to push the coupling backwardly to the extent that the position of the holding down means may be undesirably low with respect to the upper rear edge of the ski boot heel thereby making it impossible to properly hold the heel by means of the holding down means. Furthermore, in such a prior art ski boot heel binding device since the thus backwardly inclined holding down means is urged against the heel, the holding down means has the tendency to bite the back of the heel.

On the contrary, according to the novel ski boot heel binding device by the present invention, since the holding down means 11 is urged against the ski boot heel A in a horizontal plane with its upper horizontal portion maintained in a plane substantially the same as the plane in which the upper edge of the heel lies, the wedgeshaped inner surface of the holding down means 11 can firmly hold the rear upper edge of the ski boot heel thereby eliminating the disadvantages inherent to the prior art binding device as mentioned just above.

FIG. 5 fragmentarily illustrates a modified form of binding device embodying the present invention in section. It is understood that the same reference numerals and characters are used for corresponding structural parts as in the illustration of FIGS. 1 through 4. in this modified embodiment, the distance it between the pair of pivots c and a at which the fore ends of the upper and

lower brackets

13 and 14 are pivotall supported is made shorter than that between the other pair of pivots a and b at which the rear ends of the two brackets are pivotally supported. Alternatively, the upper bracket 13 may be formed somewhat shorter than the lower bracket 14 whereby when the fore ends of the brackets 13 and 14- are pivoted clockwise to the position indicated with the dotted line in FIG. 5 in which the brackets are in a slightly inclined state, the holding down means 11, spur 12 and coupling 15 which are pivotally supported by the fore ends of the

brackets

13 and 14 are lifted and inwardly inclined and the inclination angle of the thus inclined spur 12 corresponds to that of the bottom surface of the ski boot heel A in the initial stage in the stepping of the boot into the binding device. The arrangement of this modified form of binding device ensures positive stepping of the ski boot heel into the binding device and eliminates possible damage to the bottom surface of the heel A as well as attainment of the advantages as described in connection with the embodiment in FIGS. 1 through 4. The other constructural elements of this embodiment are the same as those of FIG. 6 which fragmentarily illustrates a second modilied embodiment of ski boot heel binding device according to the present invention. Again the same reference numbers and characters are used for corresponding structural parts as in the illustrations in FIGS. 1 through 4 and FTG. 5. In this second modification, the upper and lower brackets 13 and 14- have the same length and pivotally/support the coupling 15 and holding down means 11 and spur 12 as in the case of the embodiment of FlGS. 1 through 4, but the spur i2 is formed as a separate piece instead of being formed integrally with the coupling 15 and holding down means 11 as in the foregoing embodiments. The spur 12 in the form of a separate piece is pivoted at 24 to the coupling 15 for upward and downward pivotal movement relative to the latter. A further bracket 23 is pivoted at one end at 24 to the adjacent end of the spur l2 and coupling 15 and at the other end at 33 to the casing 1. Since the spur 12 is formed as a separate piece from the coupling 15 with which the holding down means 11 is iutegraland the spur is pivotally supported by the coupling as mentioned just above, as the coupling 15 and holding down means 11 are caused to pivot counterclockwise in the manner as described in connection with the first embodiment, the spur i2 is caused to rise while tilting leftwards or toward the ski boot heel A until the spur takes a predetermined position as indicated with the dotted line in FiG. 6 in which the inclination angle of the spur corresponds to that of the bottom surface of the heel A.

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 schematically and fragmentarily illustrate a third modified embodiment of ski boot heel binding device of the present invention respectively. In these figures the constructural parts corresponding to those of the foregoing embodiments are indicated using the same reference numerals and characters with addition of primes thereto respectively.

Referring now to FIG. 7, reference numeral 56 indicates a stop pawl which is fixedly riveted to the coupling 15 in any conventional way and has a detention recess 56' in its inner peripheral edge (the right side as seen in FIG. 7). A stop arm 55 is pivotally supported at one end by means of a transverse pivot pin 59 which transversely extends the casing i in the side walls 2 and 2' of the casing 1' and carrie a transverse stop pin 5 at the other or free end which is adapted to be received in the detention recess 56 of the stop pawl 55. A connecting rod 51 extends horizontally and axially within the casing i and has a holed head 5d at one end which is pivotally mountedon the stop pin 53. The other end 8 t of the connecting rod 51 is pivoted at 52 to a release 5%) which is also pivoted at 52 to the casing 1'. Thus, it will be understood that the stop arm may be operatively connected through the stop pin 53 and connecting rod 51 to the release 5-0. The stop arm 55 has a spring seat in its inner peripheral edge (the left side as seen in FIG. 7) for anchoring one end of the coil spring 6 which is identical with the coil spring 6 in the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4. Thus, it wtll be clear that the casing 1 is normally urged forwardly by the force of the coil spring 6' in the same manner as in the case of the first embodiment. A second coil spring 15 is disposed around the connecting rod 51 with one end of the spring secured to the head 54 of the connecting rod. The other end of the coil spring 19 is received within the adjustable cylindrical sleeve 31' hava threaded outer periphery through which the connecting rod 51 extends axially. The sleeve 31' is adjustably received within a casing 57 which is in turn secured by any suitable means (not shown) to the casing 1' and the position of the sleeve 31' in the sleeve casing 57 may be adjusted by loosening a boss 58 which transversely extends through the sleeve casing and turning an annular nut 30' threadedly mounted on the sleeve 31 and after adjustment, the sleeve 31 may be held in position within the sleeve casing by tightening the boss 58. The relative movement of the sleeve 31 with respect to the sleeve casing 57 is prevented by means of the boss 58. Thus, it will be understood that the strength of the spring 19' may be adjusted by the adjustment of the position or" the sleeve 31 in the sleeve casing 57. In the embodiment of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, the arrangement and operation of the brackets 13' and 14 are substantially the same as those of the corresponding parts in the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 4 except that the dis-v tance between the pivotal pins 0 and d is longer than that between the pivot pins a and b and as a result, when the upper and lower brackets 13' and 14' are pivoted counterclockwise on the pivot pins a and b the coupling 15' holding down means 11 and spur 12 are caused to move upwardly and rearwardly thereby to position the horizontal portion of the spur 12' at an angle substantially corresponding to that of the bottom surface of a skiboet (not shown) as indicated by the dotted line in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The operation of the embodiment of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 will be briefly explained. When the user steps with his ski boot heel into the modified form of ski boot heel binding device maintained in the position for accommodating the boot heel as indicated with the dotted line in FIGS. 7 and 8 so as to depress down the spur 12, the holding down means I11 and coupling 15 which are integral with the spur l2' are also pivotally moved down wardly toward the full line position in FIGS. 7 and 8 by virtue of their pivotal connection with the

brackets

13 and 14 which also pivot counterclockwise toward the full line position in F168. 7, 8, 9 in synchronization with the spur 12', holding down 11' and coupling 15'.

I? on the connecting rod 51 whereby the boot heel can be firmly held between the holding down means 11 and spur l2.

vhen it is desired to release the boot heel from the binding device, pressure may be exerted so as to depress the release 5% by a suitable means, for example by a ski pole (not shown). The connecting rod 51 is then pulled rearwardly against the force of the spring 19 so as to cause the stop arm 59 to pivot clockwise on the pivot pin 59 with the result that stop pin 53 is released from its locking in the detention recess 56. Whereupon the

brackets

13 and 14 are caused to pivot clockwise on their pivots a and b resulting in similar pivotal movement or" the holding down means 11', spur 9 12' and coupling 15' to the dotted line in FIGS. 7 and 8 in which the boot heel is ready for release from the binding device.

While several preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail it will be understood that they are for the purpose of illustration only and are not to be taken as a definition of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A ski boot heel binding device comprising a springloaded casing slidably mounted on a ski for back and forth movement along the ski; a holding down means pivotally connected to said casing and adapted to abut against the upper rear edge of the heel of a ski boot; an integral spur pivoted to said casing and adapted to engage the bottom surface of said heel, said holding down means and spur cooperating to define jaws having a fixed opening therebetween for accommodating said heel; and a pair of parallel brackets for pivotally supporting at their one ends said holding down means and spur and pivotally connected at their other ends to said slidable casing, said pair of brackets being movable between a first position in which they are in a substantially horizontal and parallel relation and a second position in which they are in a substantially vertical and parallel relation.

2. A ski boot heel binding device as set forth in claim 1, in which said holding down means and spur are integrally connected to each other by means of an intermediate coupling thereby to form a unitary boot heel engaging unit.

3. A ski boot heel binding device as set forth in claim 1, in which a plate spring is provided on one of said pair of brackets for returning the brackets to said first position after they have pivoted to said second position.

4. A ski boot heel binding device as set forth in claim 1, in which a spring-loaded pawl lever is pivotally connected to said casing for holding and releasing said brackets.

5. A ski boot heel binding device comprising a springloaded casing slidably mounted on a ski for back and forth movement along the ski; a holding down means pivotally connected to said casing and adapted to abut against the upper rear edge of the heel of a ski boot; a separate spur pivoted to a specific bracket which is in turn pivoted to said casing and adapted to pivot independently of said holding down means thereby to define a mouth of a variable opening in cooperating with said holding down means for accommodating different sizes of boot heels; and a pair of parallel brackets for pivotally and separately supporting at their one ends said holding down means and spur and pivotally connected at their other ends to said casing, said pair of brackets being movable between a first position in which they are in a substantially horizontal and parallel relation and a second position in which they are in a substantially vertical and parallel relation.

6. A ski boot heel binding device as set forth in claim 1, in which there is further provided a locking and releasing mechanism for said holding down means and spur, said mechanism comprising a stop pawl riveted to said casing and having a detention recess therein, a stop arm pivoted to said casing and coupling, and having a transverse stop pin adapted to engage in said stop pawl detention recess, a spring loaded connecting rod having a head at one end pivoted on said stop pin and pivoted at the other end on a release, and a sleeve and casing assembly for said connecting rod.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,125,349 3/1964- Schweizer 280-1135 BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

L. D. MORRIS, Assistant Examiner.