US3754769A

US3754769A - Ski binding

Info

Publication number: US3754769A
Application number: US00203158A
Authority: US
Inventors: K King
Original assignee: DOVRE SKI BINDING Inc
Current assignee: DOVRE SKI BINDING Inc
Priority date: 1971-11-30
Filing date: 1971-11-30
Publication date: 1973-08-28
Anticipated expiration: 1990-08-28

Abstract

A ski binding for use against the heel of a ski boot having a large leaf spring to produce release action.

Description

United States Patent King 1 Aug. 28, 1973 [5 SK! BINDING 3,671,052 6/1972 Wilkes 280/11.35 T 3,604,720 9/1971 Reuge 280/1 1.35 T [76] Invent F F Kmg, 3,408,087 10/1968 Ramillon 280/11.35 T

Bmdmg, Inc., West Concord, Mass. 01781 Nov. Primary Examiner-Benjamin Hersh Assistant ExaminerR0bert R. Song [21] Appl. No.: 203,158 Attorney-Norman S. Blodgett [52] US. Cl. 280/l1.35 T [51] Int. Cl. A63c 9/00 57 ABSTRACT [58] Field of Search 280/1 1.35 T

' I I A ski binding for use against the heel of a ski boot hav- References Clied ing a large leaf spring to produce release action.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,630,539 12/1971 Lusser 280/1 1.35 T 1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures 'SK] BINDING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the design of ski bindings, it has become common practice to provide a toe piece for engaging the toe of the ski boot and a separate heel piece for engaging the heel of the ski boot, both toe piece and heel piece being capable of release action. So for as the heel piece is concerned, the most important release action is that, when more than predetermined forces are brought to bear in the upward direction, the heel of the ski boot is allowed to lift from the ski, so that the skiers foot comes free of the ski. He is, therefore, not injured in a fall or whatever maneuver caused the upward thrusting of the boot. Such heel pieces make use of the procedure of placing the heel of the ski boot against the piece and then operating a spring mechanism to lock the heel of the ski boot down onto the ski by a lip which engages the upper surface of the heel of the boot. It has recently become fashionable to provide a step-in heel piece" in which it is only necessary for the skier to insert the toe of the ski boot in the toe piece and then to step downwardly with his heel with appreciable force, whereupon the heel piece locks his boot in place. It is then not necessary forhim to bend down to bring about a manual operation of the heel piece. The difficulty that has been experienced with these heel pieces is that they have a tendency to be quite complicated and expensive. They become fouled with snow and ice and they readily workout of adjustment. A release heel piece which does not operate at the proper predetermined force is liable to cause injury to the skier, since he can be thrown forwardly with tremendous forceand yet not be released from the ski. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated-in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore,an outstanding object of the invention 'to provide a ski binding for use as a heel piece which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and which is capable of a long life of useful service with a'minimum of maintenance.

' Another object of this invention is the provision of a ski heel piece inwhich the biasing element is a simple leaf spring who'setension is readily adjustable. A further object of the present invention is the provision of a heel piece which surrounds the rear of a ski boot and has no outwardly extending protuberances to injure a skier. I h

It is another objectof the instant invention to provide a step-in heel piece which can be readily taken apart, cleaned, and assembled again by a person with little mechanical ability.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a release-type-heel piece whichis capable of adjustment to compensate for the thickness of ski boot heel, for release force, and for the length of the ski boot.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those-skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the'claims appended hereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, the invention consists of a ski binding for use as a heel piece having a base adapted to be fastened to the horizontal upper surface of a ski. It is .provided with a main body having-a lip adapted to engage the heel of a ski boot, the body being hingedly connected to the base for limited swing-ing action about a horizontal axis. The body has a tongue which is vertically spaced from the lip for engagement by the heel of the ski boot to bring about the swinging action from a first high position to a second low position. A leaf spring is connected in its central portion to the center of the body and has an upper free end engaging the upper part of the body and has a lower free end that engages a cam-like surface on the base to bias the body toward one of the positions.

For the purpose of the description which follows, the expressions vertical, horizontaP, longitudinal", lateral, and the like refer to the corresponding directions on the ski to which the binding is attached when the ski is resting with its bottom contacting the ground.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The character of the invention, however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ski binding embodying the principles of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a side view of the invention, and

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the invention taken on the line IIIIlI of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. 1, which best shows the general features of the invention, the ski binding, indicated generally by the reference numeral 10, is shown at tached to the upper surface 11 of a ski 12. The binding consists of a base 13 which is adapted to be fastened to the ski and of a main body 14 which extends upwardly from the base and is hingedly connected at its lower portion to the base. A large, broad leaf spring 15 extends between the main body 14 and the base 13 and has its tension adjusted by a screw 16.

Referring to FIG. 2, the ski binding is shown in association with the heel 17 of a ski bo'ot 18. The main body 14 of the binding is. provided with a forwardlyextending lug or lip 19 which engages the upper surface of the heel of the ski boot and also with a tongue 21 which is vertically spaced from the lip 19 and which is engaged by the-undersurface of the heel 17 of the ski boot. An adjusting screw 22 which can be used to adjust the main body longitudinally of the ski relative to ably carried. The position of the upper plate 25 relative to the lower plate 24 is determined by the screw 22 whose threads 27 engage with complementary threads formed on the upper surface of the lower plate 24. The screw 22 is joined by a stem 28 to a head 29 which resides in a recess or slot in the upper plate 25 and which determines its most rearward position. The rearward end of the upper plate 25 is bent upwardly and forwardly to form a loop having a forwardly-directed edge 31 which resides in a rearwardly-directed recess 32 formed in the lower rear portion of the main body 14.

The recess 32 is formed with angularly-related surfaces terminating at the vertex in a smoothly curved transition surface, so that the engagement of the forwardlydirected edge 31 of the base 13 with the curved transition surface of the recess 32 acts as a hinge with a horizontal axis for limited swinging movement of the main body 14 relative to the base 13. The loop described above formed from the upper plate 25 to define the edge 31 also is formed with a cam-like surface 33 which is engaged by the lower end of the leaf spring 15. The central rearwardly-directed portion of the main body 14 is provided with a boss 34 through which extends a horizontal bore 35 in which is slidably carried a cylindrical protuberance 36 which extends rearwardly from the lip 19. An adjustment screw 37 serves to adjust the vertical position of the lip 19 relative to the protuberance 36, thus adjusting the height of the lip 19 relative to the base 13. The protuberance 36 is provided with a threaded bore 38 which receives the threaded portion of the screw 16 not only to clamp the lip 19 tightly against the forward face of the main body 14, but also to adjust the tension in the spring 15. The main body 14 is provided with a groove of rectangular crosssection extending into the forward face above and below the bore 38. The lip 19 has corresponding lugs 44 extending from its rearward face and fitting closely into the groove.

As is evident in the drawing, the spring is a leaf spring and is generally bow-shaped. The screw 16 extends through the central portion of the spring 15 and serves to connect it to the central portion of the main body 14. The upper free end of the spring rests against the back surface of the main body, while the lower free stamped upwardly-extending boss39 which serves as an ice-free contact point between the undersrirfac of theski boot 18 and the ski. An aperture 41 is punched out of the upper plate 25 to allow the tongue 21 to move into a very low position, so that, in-this extremely low position,it does not engage the bottom surface of the heel 17 of the ski boot. lnother words, the clamping pressure on the ski boot is between the boss 39 and the lip 19.

The curve of the surface 33 is high at the intermediate portion, so that the spring 15 is highly stressed at eitherend of the swinging movement of the main body.

lnother words, when the finger 21 is in its high position, the end of the spring lies close to the top surface of the lower plate 24 while, when it is in its low position, it is at the upper part of the curve 33, both positions stressing the spring 15 less than the immediate portion. Once the position of the upper plate 25 has been determined relative to the lower plate 24 by means of the screw 22, the two are further locked together by the use of set screws 42.

The operation of the invention will now be readily understood in view of the above description. With the ski binding 10 mounted in place on the ski 12, the ski is placed on horizontal surface and the skier places one ski boot on the ski. He introduces his toe first to the toe piece (not shown) and then brings hisheel in the ski boot downwardly. The condition of the apparatus as he does this is with the main body 14 swung clockwise (as observed inFlG. 3) to a position in which the finger 21 is lifted well above the surface of the base 13. In that condition, the spring 15 extends around the lower end of the curve or cam surface 33 and is kept in that condition by the fact that any movement of the main body 14 in a clockwise direction will causea greater tension in the spring 15. The lower surface of the heel 17 of the ski boot 18 is brought forcefully down on the finger 21 and it is driven downwardly. This causes the main body 14 to move in a clockwise direction above the horizontal axis provided by the hinging action of the edge 31 in the recess 32. As this motion of the main body proceeds, the lower end of the spring 15 moves upwardly along the surface 33, passes over a high point (where it receives its greatest stress) and then goes down on the other part of the high point where the stress becomes less and less and the spring drives the main body 14 forwardly. The spring driving the main body 14 forwardly causes the lip 19 to be driven downwardly onto the upper surface of the heel 17 to lock the ski boot in place. The lower surface of the heel rests on the boss 39 formed on the base 15, while the finger 21 has been driven downwardly into the aperture 41 in the lower plate 24.

As the skier proceeds to ski, the release-type ski binding 10 maintains the heel 17 and the ski boot 18 firmly on the skiand locks it in place so that the skier is able to maneuver. If, however, he should be thrown forwardly on the ski, as during a fall, and a force greater than a predetermined value is reached, the binding acts to release the ski boot. The forward force of the skier causes the heel 17 to lift and push upwardly on the lip 19. This causes the main body 14 to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction. The lower edge of the spring 15 slides downwardly along the curve 33 and, if the force is great enough, it will be pushed over the high point of the curve and start to fall down into the back or lower side. This causes the main body to move of its own accord under the impetus of the spring and lift the lip free of the boot, so that the ski boot is free of the ski, which is the desired release condition.

It can be seen that the aboveinvention provides a very simple release-type'heel piece that has only a small number of very rugged parts. There are no fine mechanisms to become fouled up with ice, snow, or dirt. It is easy to keep the equipment lubricated and the sliding parts are readily accessible for the introduction of a high-viscosity grease. lf it is necessary to clean the working parts, they come apart very easily by simply screwing the screw 16 outwardly the entire distance; all of the parts are then separated and can be readily cleaned. Putting them back together does not involve an intricate operation and can be performed by almost anyone. The screw 37 can be used to adjust the pressure of the lip and its height above the ski surface to compensate for different thicknesses of ski boot heel 17 and also to compensate for wear in the ski boot. The screw 22, of course, determines the longitudinal relationship of the rear heel release to the front end release and, of course, the tension in the spring 15 can be easily adjusted by use of the screw 16. Since the spring 15 is bow-shaped, the further the screw 16 is moved inwardly, the greater the pressure of the free ends of the spring on the body 14 and on the base 13, so that a greater force is required to release. The adjustment of the releasing force can take place very readily. It should be observed also that the binding extends upwardly close to the rear of the ski boot and presents no sharp edges or points on which the skier can be injured. It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is: a

l. A ski binding comprising:

a. a base including a lower plate fixed to the upper surface of the ski and an upper plate slidably mounted on the lower plate for movement longitudinally of the ski only, the rear end of the upper plate being bent upwardly and forwardly thereby forming a conclave, cam-like surface and a convex surface,

b. an upwardly elongated main body having a forwardly directed lip adapted to engage a ski boot, the body extending upwardly from the upper plate and being hingedly connected by its lower end to the upper plate for longitudinal swinging action about a horizontal lateral axis, the connection being formed by the concave surface of the upper plate and a rearwardly directed recess in the main body, the recess being defined by angled plane surfaces joined at their vertex by a curved transition surface, the body also having a forwardly directed tongue spaced. downwardly from the lip for engagement by the heel of the ski boot to bring about the swinging action of the body from a first, rearward position to a second, forward position, the lip having a horizontally and rearwardly directed protuberance which extends through a horizontal, longitudinal bore in the central portion of the body, the protuberance being connected to the lip by a vertical screw that allows vertical adjustment, and

. a bow-shaped leaf spring, concave forwardly and elongated upwardly behind the body connected at its central portion to the protuberance of the lip by an adusting screw, the upper end of the spring contacting the body and the lower end contacting the convex surface of the upper plate, a threaded bore being provided in the protuberance to engage the adjusting screw; and the adjusting screw being provided with a large head to which is pivotally attached a loop that may be used to rotate the screw to be used to rotate the screw to adjust the tension in the leaf spring and, therefore, the release force in the binding.

Claims

1. A ski binding comprising: a. a base including a lower plate fixed to the upper surface of the ski and an upper plate slidably mounted on the lower plate for movement longitudinally of the ski only, the rear end of the upper plate being bent upwardly and forwardly thereby forming a conclave, cam-like surface and a convex surface, b. an upwardly elongated main body having a forwardly directed lip adapted to engage a ski boot, the body extending upwardly from the upper plate and being hingedly connected by its lower end to the upper plate for longitudinal swinging action about a horizontal lateral axis, the connection being formed by the concave surface of the upper plate and a rearwardly directed recess in the main body, the recess being defined by angled plane surfaces joined at their vertex by a curved transition surface, the body also having a forwardly directed tongue spaced downwardly from the lip for engagement by the heel of the ski boot to bring about the swinging action of the body from a first, rearward position to a second, forward position, the lip having a horizontally and rearwardly directed protuberance which extends through a horizontal, longitudinal bore in the central portion of the body, the protuberance being connected to the lip by a vertical screw that allows vertical adjustment, and c. a bow-shaped leaf spring, concave forwardly and elongated upwardly behind the body connected at its central portion to the protuberance of the lip by an adusting screw, the upper end of the spring contacting the body and the lower end contacting the convex surface of the upper plate, a threaded bore being provided in the protuberance to engage the adjusting screw, and the adjusting screw being provided with a large head to which is pivotally attached a loop that may be used to rotate the screw to be used to rotate the screw to adjust the tension in the leaf spring and, therefore, the release force in the binding.