CH657995A5 - SECURITY FIXING FOR SKIING. - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a ski safety binding intended to hold, in a laterally triggerable manner, one of the ends of a boot relative to a ski.

Such a safety binding, called a "stop", ensures the safety of a skier by responding, by its lateral release, to excessive torsional stresses on the skier's leg and the release of the boot in the lateral direction. done against a mechanism preset to a predetermined value. This binding comprises a jaw comprising two lateral retaining wings forming an integral unit in displacement, a support piece fixed to the ski and defining two lateral support lines for the jaw, these support lines being disposed respectively on the side and d 'other of the longitudinal plane of symmetry of the ski, so that the jaw can pivot sometimes on one of the support lines, sometimes on the other, and an elastic biasing mechanism biasing the

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

3

657,995

jaw toward the support piece, to keep it pressed against it.

In certain known safety bindings, the two support lines are vertical, that is to say perpendicular to the upper surface of the ski. Such an arrangement can cause a drawback of the fact that, in certain cases of triggering of the safety binding, it causes an increase in the triggering force, in particular when the binding is stressed vertically during a lateral triggering. Indeed, as the sole remains applied under the edge of the jaw or of the sole clamp and the fulcrum remains at the same horizontal level, this results in significant friction of the sole under the edge, friction which produces an effort resistant opposing the movement, hence an increase in tripping force. As a result, the proper functioning of the safety fastener is disturbed.

To overcome this drawback, a safety binding has previously been envisaged in which the support lines, seen in the axis of the ski, converge towards a point situated above the ski. Such a security attachment is described for example in patent FR 75 37 908 of the holder. Thanks to the upwardly converging arrangement of the support lines of the jaw of such a fastening, this jaw, during its pivoting movement around one of the support lines during a triggering operation, is raised slightly in the direction of release, which practically cancels the friction due to the vertical stress on the binding during lateral release and therefore does not cause an increase in the release force.

The present invention relates to a ski safety binding of this kind of particularly simple design which makes it possible to obtain, in addition to the pivoting movement of the jaw around the converging lateral support lines, a certain longitudinal movement of this jaw in the direction of the support piece and in reverse.

To this end, this ski safety binding intended to maintain, in a triggerable manner laterally, one end of a boot relative to a ski, comprising a jaw intended to laterally retain the end of the boot, a support piece fixed to the ski and defining two converging lateral support lines for the jaw, and an elastic biasing mechanism now pressed the jaw against the two converging lateral support lines, is characterized in that the two lateral support lines are provided on the transverse face of the support piece which is opposite to that facing the jaw and they converge towards the ski.

Several embodiments of the present invention will be described below, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in vertical and axial section of a first embodiment of a ski safety binding according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a view, half in plan and half in horizontal section taken along line II-II of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a view, half in cross section taken along the line III-III in FIG. 1 and half in front, taken from the right in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of the support piece taken from the left in FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a side view of the support piece,

Figure 6 is a view of the support piece, half in horizontal section taken along line VI-VI of Figure 5 and half in plan, Figure 7 corresponds, in longitudinal section, to Figure 5, Figure 8 is an elevation view of the support piece taken from the right in FIG. 1,

FIG. 9 is a view in partial vertical and axial section of the tilting body comprising the jaw,

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line X-X of FIG. 9,

FIG. 11 is a view, half in horizontal section made along the line X-X of FIG. 9,

FIG. 12 is a bottom view of the entire tilting body,

FIG. 13 is a view in axial and vertical section of a second embodiment of a ski safety binding according to the invention,

FIG. 14 is a view in horizontal section taken along the line XIV-XIV of FIG. 13,

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XV-XV of FIG. 14,

Figure 16, variant of Figure 1, is a view in axial vertical section along the plane II of Figure 17, of another embodiment, Figure 17, variant of Figure 2, is a half view plane and 15 half in horizontal section along planes II-II of FIG. 16,

FIG. 18, a variant of FIG. 11, is a view in half plan and half in horizontal section along a horizontal plane in FIG. 9,

FIG. 19, a variant of FIG. 12, is a bottom view of the entire tilting body,

FIG. 20 shows schematically in perspective from back to front, the effect of a force applied towards the front on the jaw of the fastener,

Figure 21, a view similar to that of Figure 16, illustrates another embodiment.

The first embodiment of the ski safety binding according to the invention which is shown as a whole in FIGS. 1 to 3, comprises a support piece 1 which is fixed to the upper face of a ski 2 , by means of screws. On this support piece 1 is mounted laterally tilting a body 3 which has, in its rear part, a jaw 4 intended to hold the front end of a ski boot not shown. Such a safety attachment is also known under the name of "front stop". The jaw 4 can form a single rigid piece with the tilting body 3 or it can be composed of lateral retaining wings 35 and articulated on the body 3.

The tilting body 3 is held in the rest position, on the support piece 1, by an elastic biasing mechanism 5 against which the lateral triggering takes place in safety.

The assembly formed by the tilting body 3 and the jaw 4 pre-40 feels a cavity 6 opening into the underside of the body 3 and in which is engaged the support piece 1. Thus, the body 3 "cap" in sort of the support piece 1.

According to the invention, the tilting body 3 which carries the jaw 4 on the rear side is applied under pressure, under the action of the mechanism of elastic biasing 5, against the anterior face of the support piece 1, c 'is to say that which is opposite the anterior edge of the ski boot maintained. The body 3 is pressed against the support piece 1 on two support lines xx, and yyj which converge in the direction of the ski as can best be seen in FIG. 4. In 50 a non-limiting embodiment, the two lateral support lines xx! and yyl are embodied by two upper bosses 7, .8 provided on the front face la of the support piece 1 symmetrically with respect to the vertical and longitudinal plane of symmetry P of the binding, and by a single lower boss 9 located in this plan. The support line xxj is determined by the alignment of the bosses 7 and 9, while the other support line yyj is determined by the alignment of the bosses 8 and 9, these two support lines converging in one point A on the lower boss 9. The three bosses 7, 8, 9 advantageously come from molding with the rest of the support piece 1 and they are located in the same transverse plane.

The body 3 is pressed against the support piece 1 by means of three corresponding recesses 11, 12, 13 provided on the front face delimiting the cavity 6, namely two upper recesses 11,12 engaged respectively on the upper bosses 7 , 8, and a central lower recess 65 13 engaged on the lower boss 9.

The pressure application of the tilting body 3 on the anterior face 1a of the support piece 1 can be carried out by any suitable means. In the non-limiting embodiment shown in the

657995

4

drawing, the elastic biasing mechanism 5 comprises, inside an axial bore 14 provided in the front part of the body 3 and extending forward, a compression spring 15 which rests, on the one hand , on the transverse bottom 16 of the bore, located near the support piece 1 and, on the other hand, on a plug 17 closing the external orifice of the bore 14. This plug 17 is screwed onto the threaded end 18 of an axial rod 19 constituting a tie rod. This rod 19 is terminated, at its rear end, by a open head 21 which is engaged in a housing 22 formed axially and horizontally in the support piece 1. This housing 22 opens into the rear face 1b of the support piece and it communicates with the front face of this support piece by a hole 23, which is crossed by the tie rod. This hole 23 has a substantially bean shape with two lateral branches inclined downward to allow lateral movement and down the tie rod 19 when the binding is released. The head 21 of the tie rod 19 has a hemispherical external surface 24 which bears on the bottom of the same shape of the housing 22.

We therefore see, from the above description, that the force of the spring 15 of the biasing mechanism 5 which bears on the adjustable plug 17, is transferred to the transverse bottom 16 of the bore 14 of the body 3 so well that the latter is applied under pressure against the front face of the support piece 1 and more particularly on the three bosses 7, 8, 9 defining the two converging support lines xxj and yy ^ As a result of the reaction exerted, the tie rod 19 is biased forward and its head 21 is applied by its hemispherical surface 24 to the bottom of the housing 22.

The support piece 1 advantageously has, on its front face 1a, a protuberance 25 which is located between the upper bosses 7, 8 and the lower boss 9 and which is thus projecting forward with respect to these bosses. In this protuberance 25 is located the bottom of the housing 22 receiving the head 21.

During a lateral release, the assembly formed by the tilting body 3 and the jaw 4 rocks around one of the lateral support lines xxt and yy ^ Due to the provision of these lateral support lines on the anterior face of the support piece 1 and their convergence downwards, this results in a lateral triggering and therefore the tilting of the body 3 and of the jaw 4 to the left or to the right, a slight concomitant lifting of the jaw 4, which compensates for parasitic friction of the sole of the boot on the ski. Thus, if we consider Figure 3 and if we assume that the front of the shoe is subjected to a twist to the left, the jaw 4 and the body 3 tend to rock around the lateral support line xxj along the arrow Fj, so that the left wing of the jaw 4 lifts during pivoting, due to the inclination of the support line xx ^ During this movement, the tie rod 19 drops slightly in the opposite lateral branch of the hole 23, along arrow fj in FIG. 4, this movement being possible due to the particular "bean" shape of hole 23.

Furthermore, due to the provision of the lateral support lines xxj and yyt on the anterior face of the support piece and the biasing of the body 3 towards the rear, by the biasing mechanism 5, it can be seen that the assembly of the body 3 and of the jaw 4 can be moved slightly in forward translation, against the restoring force exerted by the spring 15 of the biasing mechanism 5.

In the particular embodiment which has been described above by way of example, the two converging lateral support lines xxx and yyj are embodied by two upper bosses 7, 8 and a lower boss 9 with which corresponding recesses 11 cooperate. , 12,13 provided on the body 3. It is however obvious that the reverse arrangement could be adopted, that is to say that the support piece 1 could carry, instead of the bosses 7, 8, 9, corresponding recesses, while the body 3 would have, facing these recesses, bosses engaging in them.

The bosses defining the lateral support lines can have any shape such as spherical, conical, cylindrical, cubic, etc.

According to an alternative embodiment, the converging lateral support lines xx! and yy! could be defined by the cooperation of two V-shaped ribs provided on the support piece 1 or the body 3 and cooperating respectively with grooves of the same shape provided respectively on the body 3 or the support piece 1.

It should be noted that the biasing mechanism 5 comprises the tie rod 19 extending axially in the front part of the body 3. The hemispherical surface 24 of the head 21 of the tie rod 19 is designed to form, in the bottom of the housing 22, a universal joint allowing the tie rod 19 to follow all the movements of the body 3 both laterally and vertically, during a declination. fastening to the left or right. The plug 17, which is screwed onto the threaded part 18 of the tie rod 19, makes it possible to adjust the tension of the spring 15 and, consequently, to adjust the "hardness" of the fixing.

In the second embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated in Figures 13 to 15, the elastic biasing mechanism which presses the body 3 and the jaw 4 which is integral therewith, against the anterior face of the part d 'support 1, is produced independently of the body 3 and outside of it. This elastic biasing mechanism, generally designated by the reference 31, comprises a body 32 secured to a base plate 33 fixed to the ski by means of screws 34 and which also carries the support piece 1. The body 32 is located a little in front of the support piece 1 and it is pierced right through with a bore 35 with a longitudinal axis and in which a piston 36 is slidably mounted bearing on the anterior transverse face 3a of the body tilting 3. The piston 36 is pushed backwards by a compression spring 37 housed in the bore 35 and which bears on the bottom of an adjustment plug 38 screwed into a thread provided in the front part of the bore 35.

It can be seen from the above description that the tilting assembly constituted by the body 3 and the jaw 4 is kept pressed against the anterior face 1a of the support piece 1, under the action of the biasing mechanism 31 , as in the case of the first embodiment.

In the case of the fixing illustrated in FIGS. 13 to 15, the height retention of the tilting assembly 3, 4 can be achieved by a boss 39 coming from the anterior transverse face 3a of the body 3 and projecting inwards of the cavity 6, this boss being engaged in a notch 40 provided in the front face 1a of the support piece 1.

This binding, of particularly simple design, responds quite satisfactorily in the event of a fall in torsion, the lateral pivoting of the jaw releasing the shoe all the more easily when it is accompanied by a separation of the retaining wings vis-à-vis the ski and can also be accompanied by a certain movement of the jaw forward relative to the support piece, against the action of the elastic biasing mechanism.

However, it has become apparent that such a fixing requires additional provisions when a fall in torsion is combined with a fall towards the front.

In fact, in the case of a forward fall, the area of the sole which is plumb with the front of the foot is applied against the ski with a significant force directed towards it, c '' i.e. downwards, which has the effect of creating between the bottom of the sole and the ski an appreciable friction force opposing a lateral movement of the boot, i.e. its release from the jaw.

The safety binding can be improved in such a way that it is capable of releasing the boot both during a fall in torsion combined with a fall forwards, and during a fall exclusively in torsion, and this without complication, source of cost and damage.

To this end, when a torsional fall is accompanied by a forward fall, it is possible to transform a force which the shoe then naturally tends to apply forwards to the jaw, in

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

60

65

a lateral pivoting moment which is added to that which results from the action of the boot on one of the lateral wings of the jaw due to the fall in torsion. The only essential provision to be provided in addition is the area for pressing the shoe forward against the jaw, which does not entail any additional complication and, consequently, on the one hand practically no additional cost and, on the other hand, no additional risk of damage.

Reference is made to FIGS. 16 to 20 in which the longitudinal plane of symmetry, assumed to be vertical to ski 2, has been generally designated by 51; this plane of symmetry 51 corresponds to the section plane I-I; there is also shown diagrammatically by an arrow 52 a reference direction, corresponding to the normal direction of movement of the ski; this meaning will serve as a reference when the terms “front, rear, anterior, posterior” appear in the following, as well as the plane 51 will serve as a reference when the term “lateral” appears.

On the upper face of the ski 2 is visible, on the one hand, the boot shown diagrammatically at 53 and, on the other hand, the safety binding 54.

The jaw 4 has two retaining wings 55 and 56, which are symmetrical to one another with respect to the plane 51.

Each of the wings 55 and 56 is intended to retain laterally, on a respective side of the plane 51, an anterior end region 57 of the sole 58 of the shoe 53 and has, for this purpose, a respective recess of reception 59 or 60, open down, rear and plane 51.

In the event of torsional stress on the skier's leg, the anterior end region 57 of the sole 58 applies either to the wing 55 or to the wing 56 a force in the direction of a distance with respect to the plane 51, which results in a lateral pivoting of the whole of the body 3 and of the jaw 4 relative to the support piece 1, against the action of the mechanism 5.

In the case of a fall, no longer exclusively in torsion, but also in the forward direction, an increase in the effort, which the front part of the sole 58 of the boot 53 applies downwards on the upper face of the ski because of the tendency then that the boot to pivot upwards and forwards with respect to the ski in spite of the rear binding, tends to oppose the lateral displacement of this anterior part of the sole, it that is to say lateral triggering.

We take advantage of this tendency of the boot to tilt up and forward with respect to the ski when the fall takes place both in torsion and forward, by adding, at the time of pivoting of the jaw 4 and the body 3 around the axis xx! resulting from the action of the anterior end region 57 of the sole 58 of the shoe on the lateral wing 55 of the jaw 4 or when the latter pivots about the axis yy! resulting from such an action on the lateral wing 56, a pivoting moment being exerted around the same axis and in the same direction.

To this end, in the example of implementation illustrated in FIGS. 16 to 20, provision has been made on the jaw 4, between the two lateral wings 55 and 56, and more precisely at the same level as the recesses 59 and 60 of those here with respect to the upper face 3 of the ski 2, a zone 63 turned towards the rear, symmetrical with respect to the plane 51 when the binding is at rest, and which is intended to serve as a support towards the front, in average along the plane 51, at the anterior end region 57 of the sole 58 of the boot 53, at an average level of mutual contact greater than the level of point A, with reference to the upper face of the ski.

The support area 63 is fixed relative to the two wings 55 and 56

657,995

when the binding is in service, the means advantageously provided for adjusting the position of the wings 55 and 56 relative to the body 3, however offering the possibility of adapting the relative positions of these two wings and of the support zone 53 to any shape and all shoe dimensions, so that contact between the front end region 57 of the sole 58 of the shoe 53 and the support zone 63 is ensured as soon as this front end region 57 is in taken laterally with the recesses 59 and 60 of the wings 55 and 56.

Advantageously defined by coating a face 62 of the jaw 4 by means of a material of low coefficient of friction such as polyethylene or polytetrafluoroethylene in the mutual contact zone, the zone 63 is, in the example illustrated in FIGS. 16 to 20, curved backwards, defined by generatrices approximately perpendicular to direction 52, and limited above the level of point A.

Thus, when a torsional fall occurs accompanied by a forward fall, the latter results in the immediate application, to the bearing area 63, by the anterior end area 57 of the sole 58 of shoe 53, of an effort F oriented approximately in direction 52, along plane 51, and which acts along a line of force 64 intersecting plane 61 of axes xxt and yyj between these axes, above point A, as shown in Figure 20; we notice that, whatever the axis XX! and yy! around which the pivoting of the jaw 4 and of the body 3 tends to take place with respect to the support piece 1 taking into account that the fall also takes place in torsion, the force F thus applied along the line of force 64 is motor when pivoting in the same direction, around the same axis.

The example of implementation which is illustrated in FIG. 21 differs from the previous one only as regards the level at which the support zone, designated by 63 in the case of the mode of implementation previously described, is situated on the jaw in relation to the ski.

Therefore, we find in Figure 21 the same elements as in Figure 16, identical and assigned the same references, with the following exceptions.

In this variant, the support area 63a replacing the support area 63, advantageously defined as the latter by a coating of a rear face 62a of the jaw 4 between the lateral wings 55 and 56 of the latter, is located at a level higher not only than that of point A but also that of the recesses 59 and 60 of the wings 55 and 56 so as to serve as support forwards, along a line of force 64a intersecting the plane 61 of the axes xxj and yyi, between the latter, above point A, no longer at an anterior end region 57 of the sole 58 of the shoe 53, but at an anterior end region 66 of the upper of the latter; then, the jaw 4 has below this support area 63 a recess 65, open towards the rear and downwards, to allow the engagement of the anterior end area 57 of the sole 53, so that contact is ensured between the anterior end zone 64 of the upper of the shoe and the bearing zone 63a as soon as the shoe is in place in the binding.

The support area 63a is moreover quite comparable to the area 63, in that it is arranged symmetrically with respect to the plane 51 when the fastening is at rest, so that the line of force 64a, like the line of force 64, is situated in this plane, at least approximately in direction 52, when the fastening is at rest and when a tendency to lateral triggering appears.

5

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

55

R

7 sheets drawings

Claims (15)

657,995 2 1. Safety binding for a ski intended to hold, triggerably laterally, one end of a boot relative to a ski, comprising a jaw intended to laterally retain the end of the boot, a support piece fixed to the ski and defining two converging lateral support lines for the jaw, and an elastic biasing mechanism now pressed the jaw against the two converging lateral support lines, characterized in that the two lateral support lines (xxt and yyt) are provided on the transverse face (la) of the support piece (1) which is opposite to that (lb) facing the jaw and converging towards the ski. 2. Ski binding according to claim 1, characterized in that the support piece (1) has, on its front face (la), two bosses or upper recesses (7, 8) arranged symmetrically with respect to the plane vertical and longitudinal symmetry (P) of the fixing, and a single lower boss or hollow (9) located in this plane, and the body (3) is pressed against the support piece (1) by means of three recesses or corresponding bosses (11, 12, 13) provided on the front face of a cavity (6) of the body (3) in which the support piece (1) is engaged, namely two recesses or upper bosses on the bosses or in the upper recesses (7, 8) of the support piece and a central lower recess or boss (13) engaged on the boss or in the lower recess (9) of the support piece. 3. Ski binding according to claim 1, characterized in that the support piece (1) has, on its front face (la), two ribs or grooves forming a V, symmetrical with respect to the vertical and longitudinal plane of symmetry (P) of the attachment, and the body (3) is pressed against the support piece (1) by means of two corresponding V-shaped grooves or ribs. 4. Ski binding according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the elastic biasing mechanism (5) comprises, inside an axial bore provided in the front part of the body (3), a compression spring (15) bearing, on the one hand, on the transverse bottom (16) of the bore, located near the support piece (1) and, on the other hand, on a plug (17) closing the external orifice of the bore (14), and an axial rod (19) constituting a tie rod, having a threaded end (18) on which the plug (17) is screwed and terminated, at its other end, by an open head (21) which is engaged in a housing (22) formed axially and horizontally in the support piece (1), this housing (22) opening into the rear face (lb) of the support piece and communicating with the front face (la) of this support piece by a hole (23) through which the tie rod (19) passes. 5. Ski binding according to claim 4, characterized in that the head (21) of the tie rod (19) has an external surface (24) hemispherical bearing on the bottom of the same shape of the housing (22). 6. Ski binding according to one of claims 4 and 5, characterized in that the hole (23) has a "bean" shape and has two lateral branches inclined downward. 7. Ski binding according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the elastic biasing mechanism is arranged outside the tilting assembly constituted by the body (3) and the jaw (4) , in front of it, and it comprises a support member (36) biased by a spring (37) and pushed against an anterior transverse face (3a) of the tilting body (3). 8. Ski binding according to claim 7, characterized in that the elastic biasing mechanism (31) comprises a body (32) integral with a base plate (33) fixed to the ski and also carrying the piece of support (1), the body (32) being pierced with a longitudinal bore (35) in which the support member (36) is slidably mounted and a compression spring (37) is housed bearing on a plug adjustment (38) screwed into a thread of this bore. 9. Ski binding according to one of claims 7 and 8, characterized in that the front transverse face (3a) of the tilting body (3) has a boss (39) projecting rearward, inside the cavity (6) in which is housed the support piece (1), and this boss (39) is engaged in a notch (40) for vertical retention, which is provided in the front face (la) of the support piece (1). 10. Ski binding according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the jaw (4) has integrally, towards the rear, between its two wings (55, 56), a zone of support (63, 63a) providing a front end region (57, 66) of the boot (53) with support forwards relative to the ski (2), along a line of force (64, 64a) which cuts the plane (61) of the support lines (xxj, yvj) between the latter, above their point of convergence (A), so that, when the shoe (53) applies to one of the wings (55, 56) of the jaw (4) a pivoting moment with respect to the ski (2) around one, corresponding, of the support lines (xxl yyj), it is added at this moment, a moment pivoting resulting from the support of the shoe (53) forward against said support area (63, 63a). 11. Ski binding according to claim 10, characterized in that said support zone (63, 63a) is arranged, relative to the ski (2), at an average level higher than that of the point of convergence (A ) support lines (xxj, yyj. 12. Ski binding according to one of claims 10 and 11, characterized in that the support zone (63) is located at an average level, relative to the ski (2), corresponding to that of respective recesses (59, 60) for receiving the anterior end (57) of the sole (58) of the shoe (53), arranged in the lateral wings (55, 56) of the jaw (4), to provide a support forwards at said anterior end (57) of the sole (58). 13. Binding according to one of claims 10 and 11, characterized in that the support zone (63a) is located at an average level, relative to the ski (2), greater than that of respective recesses (59, 60) for receiving the anterior end (57) of the sole (58) of the shoe (53), arranged in the lateral wings (55, 56) of the jaw (4), to provide support forwards to an anterior end region (66) of the upper of the shoe (53). 14. Ski binding according to one of claims 10 to 13, characterized in that the jaw (4) comprises means for adjusting the relative positions of the lateral wings (55, 56) and the support zone ( 63, 63a). 15. Ski binding according to one of claims 10 to 14, the two support lines (xxj, yyj being arranged symmetrically to one another with respect to a plane (51) constituting a plane of symmetry for the ski (2), characterized in that the support zone (63, 63a) of the jaw (4) is symmetrical relative to this plane (51) when the jaw (4) is supported rearward , relative to the ski (2), along the two support lines (xxl5 yyj) simultaneously.