US3778073A - Ski binding - Google Patents

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a safety binding for ski boots consisting of a jaw pivotally mounted on the base and adapted to be alternately raised and lowered relatively to the base, a lever pivotally mounted on the base and adapted to be vertically set in two positions, a locking system disposed between two elements of a kinematic chain that includes the base, the lever and a movable member connected to the lever, and means operable for unlocking the locking system; a ski binding in accordance with the present invention has the advantage of doing away with the continuous pulling effort by the skier during clamping and unclamping of the ski.

Description

[191 '[111 3,778,73 Salomon ll 11, 1973 1 SKI BINDING $3531;13335 33331333: 34 SZZ'ZZJLifZ/E'Silfiifikl22 Annecy, France Attorney-Roger Goudreau 221 Filed: Dec. 28, 1970 Appl. N0.: 101,531

[57] ABSTRACT The disclosure relates to a safety binding for ski boots consisting of a jaw pivotally mounted on the base and adapted to be alternately raised and lowered relatively to the base, a lever pivotally mounted on the base and adapted to be vertically set in two positions, a locking system disposed between two elements of a kinematic chain that includes the base, the lever and a movable member connected to the lever, and means operable for unlocking the locking system; a ski binding in accordance with the present invention has the advantage of doing away with the continuous pulling effort by the skier during clamping and unclamping of the ski.

5 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEU GEE 1 1 I975 SHEET 1UP 5 FIG-1 FILL.

I NTOR RE5 REXQRE JogePH SALOMON kgikn PATENTEU DEC H I975 SHEET 2 OF 5 PATENIEBBEE n ma I 3.778373 saw u UF 5 INVENTOR Cfiomes 13-12% mam SHOWN PATENIEDutc 11 I975 SHEET 5 [IF 5 SKI BINDING In vertically holding ski harnesses the release may be effected:

either automatically, in the event of a fall, by the release of the retaining jaw which is elastically maintained in the holding position, opens when a predetermined stress is exceeded,

or manually by the skier during rest periods, independently from the actual operation of loosening the safety strap fastened around the boot.

It has been already proposed to effect voluntary release by a pull exerted on the safety strap in such a manner that the release operation and the unbuckling movement could be carried out in a single, judiciously concluded motion.

It has been also proposed to effect voluntary release by means of pressure exerted by the point of the ski pole upon a fixing lever or button in such a manner that the skier does not have to bend down or to prolong this uncomfortable posture in order torelease the heel of his boot.

A safety harness has been proposed, for example according to French Patent No. 1,529,161, comprising a pivotable clamp upon a base plate in such a manner that the former may be alternately raised or lowered in relation to the latter,

said clamp being retained in the lowered position by a movable member pressing against same, in a convenient direction, by a spring resting upon the base plate,

an actuating lever pivotally joined to the base plate, in such a manner as to enable its vertical movement between two positions,

said actuating lever being connected to a movable member in such a manner that in one of the positions of the actuating lever the movable member should forcibly press upon the clamp in order to retain same in the lowered position,

in other positions of the actuating lever the movable member should give way under the action of its spring in such a manner as to release the clamp and to permit its raising.

A more specific embodiment of this known harness is in the form of a type of horizontal-line holder wherein the axis is vertically set on the ski; a vertical plate being able to move between the clamping arms of this holder, Le. a vertical plate that may be raised and which supports the clamp and this plate, comprising below these movable arms an extra thickness which does not allow its raising unless these movable arms are sufficiently separated from each other; the two activating arms of the holder being joined to each other by two small pivotal activating levers upon which the safety strap is fastened.

It is sufficient to pull upon this strap to raise the levers and to squeeze the activating arms, this opens the holder and enables the raising of the clamp by the heel of the boot which may be thus'disengaged.

The advantage of this embodiment is that the clamp does not raise up when the strap is pulled and the boot remains well positioned upon the ski; in such a manner that the pull effected upon the strap with a favourable play of the lever arms is 'simply set against the spring which pulls the movable arms of the holder and in no way is it set against the weight of the skier when the heel rests upon a re-clamping plate associated with the clamp.

On the other hand, the drawback of this harness is that when the safety strap is loosened the holder will close, that is to say the clamp is returned into the lowered position by a system of guide-plates provided on the plate and the movable arms, whenever this has been insufficiently disengaged upward during the rearward movement of the movable member, that is to say during the opening of the holder.

Furthermore, the skier has to pull upon his strap and thereby upon his ski while he does not have his boot sufficiently raised above his ski which is pulled in the same direction; while this not at all convenient on flat ground, it becomes a difficult exercise on the slopes.

Then again, during re-mounting it is necessary to exert and to prolong a new pull upon the strap in order to draw back the movable member, that is to say to separate again the arms in order to insert the heel under the clamp and on the remounting plate and to rest it upon this latter prior to loosening the strap.

These various successive motions are inconvenient and as faras the skier is concerned, require an effort and a precision which handicap the skier when he is on the slope or in a precarious equilibrium.

The first object of the present invention is to overcome these inconveniences and to do away with the continuous pulling effort by the skier during removal or mounting of the ski; another corollary object being the reduction of the manual effort required during the mounting of the ski.

For this purpose a system of locks is interposed between two of the pieces of the kinematic chain constituted by the base plate, the activating lever and the movable member in such a manner as to immobilise this movable member with respect to the base plate when this has been drawn back by one predetermined amplitude under the action of the activating lever in view of releasing the clamp, among other things means are being provided which may be operated by the user for the release of the locks and to abandon the movable member to'the action of its spring when the clamp is positioned opposite said movable member. Thereby, when the skier mounted on his skis exerts sufficient pull upon the safety strap, the movable member which pulls the clamp toward its lowered position will be sufficiently drawn back to release it and enable its raising,

however, being retained in this position by the system of locks in such a manner that the clamp remains released.

Consequently, the skier may easily remove his skis by raising the clamp with the heel of his boot, disengage same and re-engage same for putting-on the skis and to release the locking mechanism, this last operation being carried out with an effort which is not opposed anymore by the return spring of the clamp but only by the strength of the locking device, this being substantially less.

According to the present invention this improved harness may be further improved because, in the same way as the known harness, when the holder is open it has the drawback that the clamp is altogether free to swing to and fro, insofar as its adjusting system is locked in the open position.

Under these conditions, after the withdrawal of the movable member, the released clamp follows the heel over the course of its removal motion and then it is left to itself in such a manner that it will not be always in adequate position for re-engagement; therefore it has to be raised by hand or to be provided with a raising spring which does not have to be powerful but which, against the effect of the main spring, will elastically withdraw the clamp into normal functioning prior to releasing the safety.

Furthermore, each alternate movement of clamping and unclamping of the jaw, while removing or inserting the boot is done effectively with assistance whereas for each reinsertion movement one must release the return mobile member which constitutes a cumbersome operation for the skier.

One object of the present invention is to free the skier from this cumbersome operation and to effect the release of the mobile member taking into account the operations of the jaw during each cycle of clamping and unclamping whereby the ski may be secured without the skier having to carry out a separate release operation, the latter being carried out during the clamping-unclamping operations.

The releasing means which are operated by the user are controlled by a member which may be associated with the jaw but which must be necessarily operated by the sole during clamping or unclamping operations.

In the case where the release controlling member consists of a pedal mounted on the ski under the sole and separated from the jaw the release operation is carried out at the end of the clamping operation, that is when the sole comes into contact with the pedal and with the ski, means being evidently provided for the pedal to be reset and lifted during the unclamping so as to be ready for the next clamping operation by the sole.

In the case where the release is effected by the jaw the release may take place when the jaw rests in the lower position at the end of the clamping operation and it is sufficient to provide a member engaged by the jaw immediately before the jaw reaches this position.

However, the release may occur at any time before,

during the clamping operation and even at the end of the unclamping operation that preceded it, the main feature being that in the latter case the jaw be temporarily retained in the upper position against the return action of the spring in order to be ready to receive the sole during the clamping operation.

It is to be noted that the prior art provides bindings wherein the unclamping is controlled by a pull on the safety strap and wherein the jaws are provided with pedals allowing an automatic clamping operation.

However, in all of these systems the jaw and its unclamping controlled members are always dependent on the return action of the spring, the operation lever coming into action to lift the jaw, against the action of the spring in the same conditions in case of a fall except that the lifting is caused by the lever instead of the sole; the sequence of the operations which always include the jaw is therefore the same in each case, the only difference being the fulcrum point of the lifting force.

In these conditions contrary to what constitutes the essential feature of the binding of the present invention, the action on the lever to effect a voluntary unclamping is always followed by a lifting of the jaw; thereby the operation of the lever during the unclamping operation is effected against the action caused by the weight of the skier or the latter must lift his boot while he is pulling on the strap secured to the ski, which is not an easy operation.

To obviate this cumbersome operation of the movements of the unclamping lever and the jaw, certain levers may abut the assembly consisting of the lifting jaw and its associated mobile member which is urged by the return spring; this prevents the operating lever from being lifted up when the jaw is raised but the opposite operation has not yet been realized in these bindings.

Finally, the invention is concerned with a structure which provides a particularly compact binding and which consists in pivoting the liftable jaw and the operating lever about the same axis.

Other advantages obtained with the present invention will become evident from the following description and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side longitudinal cross-section view of a ski binding in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 1A is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the front portion of the ski binding shown in FIG. 1, illustrating the locked position;

FIG. 1B is a view similar to FIG. LA, but illustrating the ski binding in the unlocked position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view of FIG. 1 in the pivoting area of the jaw, without the piston;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are side longitudinal cross-section views similar to that of FIG. 1 but illustrating two alternate embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3A is a perspective view, partly broken away, of the ski binding of FIG. 3 shown in the unlocked position, while FIG. 4A is a transverse cross-section of the ski binding shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged partial view of the pivotal area of the ski binding shown in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are enlarged cross-sectional views similar to that of FIGS. 4 and 5 but illustrate another alternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6A is a transverse cross-section of the ski binding shown in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a ski binding consisting essentially of a body forming a base and fixed on a ski 32 by screws (not shown).

The base 7 is represented in the shape of an oblong shank open on its left-hand face by a cylindrical longitudinal channel 34 extended by a threaded aperture 37 opening on the right-hand side and in which a threaded cap 5 may be received; a spring 3 is positioned against the cap 5 and actuates a piston 4 sliding in the cylidrical channel 34, screwing cap 5 will adjust the thrust of spring 3.

The left-hand front end of the piston 4 has an upper portion shaped in the form of a hemispherical finger which abuts against ramp 9 of a jaw-carrying assembly. This assembly comprises the jaw 1 connecting a pair of flanges 39 jointly mounted for pivotal movement about a shaft 6 engaged in the upper part of base 7. This jawcarrying assembly further includes a clamping jaw 20 pivotal about an axis 25 on small flanges provided at the lower front part of the assembly. The assembly is upwardly urged in a direction opposite to that indicated by arrow 24, by a torsion spring 8 (FIG. 2) having one end secured in the transversal channel of shaft 6 and the other end mounted on a catch 19 provided on the base 7.

The profile of ramp 9 is selected so that the hemispherical extremity of piston 4 urges the jaw in the direction of arrow 24 under the action of a longitudinal thrust received by spring 3. In other words, when the sole of the boot received under jaw 1 has a tendency to lift and when the jaw-carrying assembly has a tendency to be lifted on shaft 6, the ramp 9, which is moved near shaft 6 in its lower portion up to its elbow 10, will release the piston 4 towards the right-hand side against the spring action.

It will be understood, reciprocally, that the thrust of spring 3 on piston 4 develops on ramp 9 a force which tends to return the jaw-carrying assembly in the direction of arrow 24 as long as the piston is in contact with ramp 9, that is up to elbow 10.

On the other hand, if jaw 1 is upwardly urged with a separation such that the hemispherical end of piston 4 exceeds elbow 10, this end then contacts another ramp l1, centered on shaft 6 and terminated at its lower part by an abutment 21. Piston 4 is then moved towards the right-hand side in the position 4' against the action of spring 3. This is what occurs upon a fall and upon extreme lifting of the jaw. Therefore it will be understood that when the hemispherical end of piston 4 comes in contact with ramp 11 which is at a constant distance from the pivoting axis, the reaction of spring 3 on this ramp extends through this axis so that the jaw-carrying assembly is in a practically indifferent equiblibrium; the assembly is then removed from the strong elastic force of the return spring 3 and subject to lifting spring 8. Subsequently the sole of the boot may be easily disengaged out of the lifted assembly. It is to be noted that the lifting couple exerted by spring 8 is relatively weak and only slightly opposes the return action of spring 3, which is stronger, when the extremity of piston 4 is on ramp 9.

A description of the manual control system which enables at the same time to withdraw the jaw-carrying assembly from the action of piston 4 and, subsequently, to enable its relifting for voluntary unclamping, as the skier wishes, will now be given.

An elbowed lever 2 is pivoted about an axis 22 secured at its lower extremity and engaged in a transversal channel in base 7. Incidentally, it is to be noted that the lever is a U-shaped brace pivoted relative to the base about a pair of symmetrical axis 22 positioned forwardly and rearwardly on the base 7 shown in the drawmg.

Lever 2 is upwardly urged in the direction opposite to that of arrow by means of a torsion spring 23 having one end engaged in the transversal channel of axis 22 and the other end in contact with a catch 39' on the base. This lever includes at its free end a roller 35 serving to facilitate the entry along arrow 38 and the pivoted movement of the pointed extremity 40 of the ski pole in a hollowed portion 36 adjacent the roller. Lever 2 further includes at mid-height a transversal catch 16 which is received in a circular slot (FIG. 2) provided in the sides of base 7 during the pivotal movement of lever 2.

Catch 16 is engaged in the opening 17 provided in the interior portion of piston 4 so that the lever in its upper position (shown in full line in FIG. 1) abuts against the right-hand side of opening 17. In these conditions the longitudinal position of the mobile member constituted by piston 4 is determined by its equilibrium on ramp 9 under the action of spring 3, slightly opposed by the weak action of springs 8 and 23, the function of which is to provide thrusts on the assembly and lever 2. When lever 2 is lowered in the direction of arrow 15, piston 4 is urged toward the right-hand side against the action of spring 3 in a position slightly offset in relation to position 4 which corresponds to piston 4 in contact with ramp 11. In this position the hemispherical end of piston 4 is slightly set back relatively to ramp 11 and the jaw-carrying assembly may be easily lifted.

A description of the means which will enable the locking of piston 4 in extreme right position where it has been moved under the vertical action on lever 2 will now be given. Piston 4 is provided at its upper part with a cylindrical chamber 12 in which a small piston 13 located in a small cylinder provided in the upper wall of channel 34 may be introduced when piston 4 is urged toward the right-hand side. Piston 13 which is recessed in the wall of channel 34, is nevertheless urged by a small spring 14 to extend beyond the adjacent surface of the wall. On the other hand, at the front extremity of its upper part the body 7 is provided with a groove in which is pivoted about an axis 29 a small inset lever 28 having one of its arms 27 cooperating in abutment with the rear portion 26 of jaw 1 and having the other arm 30 received in a longitudinal groove 31 positioned in the upper portion of piston 4 and maintains the small piston 13 in a recessed position when the edge 26 of the jaw l in its lowered position is pushed on the arm 27. I

Under these conditions, when piston 4 is urged by catch 16 of lever 2 in the direction of arrow 18, the chamber 12 is brought in proximity to small piston 13 and, when piston 4 has exceeded position 4', piston 13 enters into the chamber 12 thereby locking piston 4 in that position. Similtaneously lever 28 pivots slightly clockwise until it reaches the bottom of groove 31; the jaw-carrying assembly is lifted under the action of spring 8 since circular ramp 11 is freed by the extremity of piston 4.

When the skier wishes to put his skis on, he need only to press with the sole of his boot on the pedal 20, the jaw-carrying assembly is lowered against the action of spring 8; meanwhile ramp 11 passes by the extremity of piston 4; elbow 10 also passes by this extremity and the jaw-carrying assembly continues to be lowered until ramp 9 reaches forward of this extremity. Immediately before the'jaw-carrying assembly is completely lowered, the rear edge 26 of the jaw engages thearrn 27 so that the inset arm 30 is upwardly lifted and resets piston 13 in its cylinder. Piston 4 is then unlocked and, under the action of spring 3, it strikes ramp9 to set the binding in working condition. In this fashion, the skier is not preoccupied in manually actuating piston 13 to unlock movable piston 3 since this condition is being taken care of by the jaw-assembly equipment at the end of its clamping movement.

The alternate embodiment of the ski binding illustrated in FIG. 3 will now be described wherein most of the elements of FIG. 1 are to be found.

The essential differences being as follows:

the voluntary unclampinglever 44, pulled by strap 55 which is pivoted about the jaw-carrying assembly pivotal axis 6. The catch 45, mounted on this lever and provided for pivoting the movable member constituted by the piston urged by spring 3, is received in circular opening 66.

the movable member, which consists of a piston 46 similar to piston 4 as far as the elements cooperating with ramps 9 and 11 are concerned, but which comprises:

a. an opening 57 having a special profile which will be discussed hereinafter and in which is located catch 45 of the voluntary unclamping lever;

b. a ratchet system consisting of a notch 49 designed to cooperate with a tooth 50 provided in body 48;

c. an oblique supporting area 64 for the end portion of spring 3 which is also oblique. Under the action of spring 3 on the oblique supporting area 64, piston 46 which has its rear lower portion 59 olive-shaped, may slightly pivot clockwise.

The operation of this binding is as follows: when strap 55 is urged in the direction of arrow 54, catch 45 moves piston 46 rearwardly until notch 49 engages tooth 50. It will be noted that the olive shape 59 and the position of catch 45 may be adapted to favour this ratchet mechanism.

The oblique portion 62 of aperture 57 may, on the other hand, be more or less inclined so as to favour this ratchet mechanism.

The skier may then release his pull on lever 44 since, from that time, the jaw-carrying assembly may be freely. lifted either by raising the boot of the skier or by a lifting spring identical to spring 8. The unlocking of piston 46 is carried out as follows: the radius of ramp 1! is determined so as to be slightly less than that of a circle centered on axis 6 and tangent to the front hemispherical extremity of piston 46 when the latter is ratcheted. Under these conditions, when the unclamping is finished, the elbow l strikes the lower portion of this hemispherical extremity, the movable piston 46 tends to pivot clockwise and to be slightly pushed towards the right-hand side, the pivoting being obtained readily by the oblique acting area 64 of spring 3 on piston 46. The notch 49 is then disengaged from tooth 50 and the piston rests on the ramp 11 during the remainder of the lifting of the jaw-carrying assembly. This assembly is then maintained in a practically indifferent equilibrium, that is, relatively stable, by the thrust of the piston 46 on the circular ramp ll centered about the pivot axis. Under these conditions, it should be appreciated that a spring similar to lifting spring 8 of FIG. 1 is not essential and therefore it is not illustrated in FIG. 3. In the operation of this binding it is to be noted that ramp [1 acts, after unlocking of ratchet 49-50, as a lock which replaces and relays this notch so that piston 46 may be held and that this locking transfer allows the positioning of the return members of the jaw-carrying assembly exactly in the same position as they were at the time unclamping upon release of the security binding.

In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the locking mechanism securing the movable piston after its retraction constrained by the lever is always interposed between the movable piston and the base. This is the case of the piston of ratchet 13, of the ratchet mechanism 49, 50 and even of the circular ramp 11 which is centered on axis 6 and therefore rigidly secured to base 48. Therefore it is obvious that these locks or ratchet mechanisms may be interposed between any two elements that constitute kinematic choice that constrains rearward movement of the movable piston, that is either between the base and mobile piston as indicated previously or either between the lever and the base by a ratchet the design of which would be obvious to a man skilled in the art, or

either a locking mechanism disposed between the lever and the movable piston and hereinafter described in the reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 which contains some of the elements shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The jaw-carrying assembly is provided in a slightly different form and has a jaw 74 provided with a ramp 75 urging the jaw towards the bottom under the longitudinal action of the movable piston 84. There is also provided an elbow 76 from which the jaw-carrying assembly pivoting on the axis 82 releases; the elbow is followed by a circular ramp 77, centered on the pivotal axis 82 while the lower front portion of the jawcarrying assembly is provided with a reclamping pedal 78.

The lever is also mounted on axis 82 but is joined to this axis such that a torsion spring 97 (FIG. 5), having one of its ends engaged in a channel which is transverse to the axis and having the other end resting against a catch of the base, urges lever 79 in the direction of arrow 85.

A catch 90, similar to catches 45 and 16, is mounted on lever 79 and pivots in the circular opening 52 provided in body 51.

The system for locking the piston 84 in its extreme right position will now be described.

This piston is provided, in its upper portion, with a groove 91 extending towards the right through a ramp 92 which cooperates with catch in order to exert on the latter a horizontal component reaction directed to the left. This ramp 92 extends upwardly, after an elbow 93, into a second ramp 94, which cooperates with catch 90 (when the latter is displaced toward the right in the circular opening 52) so as to exert on it a horizontal component force, which is null or in any event directed towards the right.

Thus, it can be seen that, when the strap of the lever 79 is pulled by the skier in the direction of arrow 85, the spring 3 is compressed in the direction of arrow 86 since the catch 90 pushes the ramp 92 and, subsequently, the mobile piston 84 towards the right. When the catch 90 arrives on the right side of the opening 52, it has been slightly raised and passes over the elbow 93 on the ramp 94. At that momemt, the assembly is locked by jamming since the lever is jammed between the mobile piston 84 and the base through 90 and 92, at the same time, the hemispherical end of piston 84 is slightly forward of the circle which prolongs the ramp 77 so that when the jaw-carrying assembly is lifted by the sole of the boot, piston 84 is slightly pushed to the right by elbow 76 and is maintained in this position through ramp 77. However, upon this slight supplemental rearward motion, lever 79 urged clockwise by the torsion spring 97 is freed since its catch 90 is no longer jammed by the ramp 94. Under these conditions, the jamming lock positioned between the piston 84 and the lever 79 is freed and is replaced by the lock provided by the circular ramp 77 which replaces it. Under these conditions, there is provided a situation quite similar to that discussed in relation to FIG. 3, since the binding is then in a situation identical to that which would have been present after a declamping on the release of the safety binding.

In the three embodiments described so far, the release of the lock is always provided by the jaw-carrying assembly whether it is at the end of the reclamping or at the end of the declamping. Ramps 11 or 77 are provided to retain the movable piston urged by the return spring 3. It is not, however, necessary that the release be constrained by the jaw itself and FIG. 3 shows a manner in which a binding may be provided in which the release is effected by the sole of the boot.

In this FIG. 6, there are shown elements quite similar to those already illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5 but with different reference numbers.

Body 106 supports the jaw-carrying assembly which is pivoted about on axis 112 and which is lifted in the direction indicated by arrow 111. This assembly 110 and a non-circular ramp 118, on which a movable member 100 may be received, perform in slide guides 103; this piston rests on ramp 118 by means of a roller 119.

A lever 108 is pivoted about axis 112 and is urged through a torsion spring 126 (FIG. 7) mounted on this axis in the direction opposite to that of arrow 109 so as to be brought back in the position shown in the Figure; lever 108 also includes a catch 113 which moves in a circular opening 120 provided in the body and which is located in another opening 114 provided inpiston 100. Piston 100 further includes a counter piston connected to the latter by means of parallelogram-shaped rods 102 and on which is exerted the thrust of the main return spring 99. This counter piston slides in its forward portion on a plate 105 secured to the base. When this counter piston is moved rearwardly towards the right hand side in the direction of arrow 104 above edge 107 of plate 105 it may rest on one of the springactuated arms of a pedal 102, the other arm of which is located in that portion receiving the boot.

Under theseconditions, when the lever 108 is lifted in the direction of arrow 109 the catch 113 moves towards the right in the directon of arrow 104, piston I00 and counterpiston 101 against the action of spring 99. When the counterpiston 101 has reached edge 107, spring 99 pushing rods 102 causes counter-piston 101 to rest on the right-hand arm of pedal 122. The left arm of this pedal is thus lifted in the position shown in the dotted lines. In this fashion, piston 100 is maintained in a backward position thereby freeing jaw 110 to be lifted while the left arm of pedal 122 is readied to be lowered by the boot. When the skier reclamps his skis, he pushes on the left arm of pedal 122' with his sole, and lifts the counterpiston 101 right over-plate 105. Piston 100 is then pushed to the left by spring 99 and roller 119 reengages ramp 118 such that the jaw is once again downwardly urged.

In all of the above-described bindings, it is obvious that the operation of the levers for the backward movement of the pistons does not require any jaw-lifting effort and that this operation is completely independent of the use of weight or other kinds of exertion on this jaw. Furthermore it can be seen that in all cases the skier effects by this operation a true release motion of the jaw while the lever returns to its initial position or is ready to be in operation on the reclamping action.

Finally it is obvious that after any declamping, whether voluntary or after release of the safety mechanism, the skier may reclamp his skis without effecting any other operation than a step-in nor need he be concerned with the position of the lever which is always in position for the next voluntary unclamping.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown and described but also includes other variations which are within the knowledge of the person skilled in the present art. For example, the locking of the movable pistons may be carried out by all kinds of locks, whether spring-actuated, ratchets or locks of the type similar to circular ramps 11 or 77, the essential feature being that these locks will be disengaged either by backward movement in case of ratchets, or bt pivotal movement in case of circular ramps. In the same manner, the locks may be connected one to another in a cycle as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 where the final release action is carried out on the last catch in action.

Furthermore, it is obvious that there may be contemplated a variety of means to initiate the release combining a variety of types of catches and even to a variety of the positioning of the catches of the different elements of the kinematic chain which rearwardly moves the piston from the base.

Finally, it is important to note that, although applied to a binding, the jaw of which is not lifted by the operation of the piston rearward moving lever, the assembly of the jaw and of this lever on the same axis could be adapted without any difficulty to a binding having a jaw subjected to the action of the lever. In this manner, a compact and economical construction of the lever could be realized in the same advantageous conditions.

I claim:

l. A safety binding for ski-boots comprising: a base fixed on a ski; a jaw pivotally mounted'on said base and adapted to be alternately raised and lowered relative to said base; said jaw having a front face which is arranged to be in contact with said ski-boot and a rear face opposite to said ski-boot; a movable member slidably mounted on said base for moving lingitudinally of said ski and having front and rear ends, said front end being in abutment against said rear face of said jaw and said rear end receiving one end of a spring, the opposite end of which is applied against a part of said base; a lever pivotally mounted on said base and adapted to be vertically moved between two positions; said lever being connected to said movable member whereby:

in one of said positions of said lever,.said lever has no action on said movable member placed in abutment. on said jaw for holding said jaw in the lowered position;

in the other of said positions of said-lever, said lever moves said movable member against the action of said spring to thereby free the jaw and permit said jaw to be lifted; said base, said movable member, and said lever being three elements adapted to be in displacement relative to one another; a first locking means provided on one of said elements in relative displacement; a second locking means provided on another of said elements in relative displacement; said first and second locking means coacting for securing said movable member relative to said base when said movable member is moved away from said jaw of a predetermined amplitude under the action of said lever; and unlocking means coacting with a part of the binding in contact with the boot for automatically unlocking said first and second locking means and to abandon said movable member to the action of said spring when said rear face of said jaw is facing said front end of said movable member.

2. A ski binding as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first locking means is constituted by a catch rigid with said lever and said second locking means is formed by a ramp provided in said movable member, said base wherein said unlocking means consists ofa circular segment of said ramp of said jaw, centered on said axis and facing said piston when said jaw is lifted.

5. A ski binding as claimed in claim 1 wherein said jaw is pivotally mounted on a transversal axis of said base and wherein said lever is pivotally mounted on said transversal axis.

Claims (5)

1. A safety binding for ski-boots comprising: a base fixed on a ski; a jaw pivotally mounted on said base and adapted to be alternately raised and lowered relative to said base; said jaw having a front face which is arranged to be in contact with said ski-boot and a rear face opposite to said ski-boot; a movable member slidably mounted on said base for moving lingitudinally of said ski and having front and rear ends, said front end being in abutment against said rear face of said jaw and said rear end receiving one end of a spring, the opposite end of which is applied against a part of said base; a lever pivotally mounted on said base and adapted to be vertically moved between two positions; said lever being connected to said movable member whereby: in one of said positions of said lever, said lever has no action on said movable member placed in abutment on said jaw for holding said jaw in the lowered position; in the other of said positions of said lever, said lever moves said movable member against the action of said spring to thereby free the jaw and permit said jaw to be lifted; said base, said movable member, and said lever being three elements adapted to be in displacement relative to one another; a first locking means provided on one of said elements in relative displacement; a second locking means provided on another of said elements in relative displacement; said first and second locking means coacting for securing said movable member relative to said base when said movable member is moved away from said jaw of a predetermined amplitude under the action of said lever; and unlocking means coacting with a part of the binding in contact with the boot for automatically unlocking said first and second locking means and to abandon said movable member to the action of said spring when said rear face of said jaw is facing said front end of said movable member.

2. A ski binding as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first locking means is constituted by a catch rigid with said lever and said second locking means is formed by a ramp provided in said movable member, said base having an opening allowing the catch to extend in said movable member.

3. A ski binding as claimed in claim 1 wherein said unlocking means are controlled by a trust exerted by said jaw at the end of its raising motion.

4. A ski binding as claimed in claim 1 wherein said jaw is pivotally mounted on a transversal axis of said base and said movable member consists of a piston having an end resting on a ramp provided on said jaw, and wherein said unlocking means consists of a circular segment of said ramp of said jaw, centered on said axis and facing said piston when said jaw is lifted.

5. A ski binding as claimed in claim 1 wherein said jaw is pivotally mounted on a transversal axis of said base and wherein said lever is pivotally mounted on said transversal axis.

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