Land vehicles – Skates – Shoe attaching means
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-04
2001-03-06
Dickson, Paul N. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Skates
Shoe attaching means
C280S628000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196570
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a boot-retaining unit of a disengageable ski binding, in particular for retaining the toe region of a ski boot, having at least one boot-retaining arrangement which supports an end of the ski boot, or an end of the sole of the latter, against movement upwards, sideways and in a longitudinal direction of the boot, and which is arranged such that it can be moved counter to a restoring force to release the boot, or the sole thereof, in the sideways and upward directions when a range of elasticity is exceeded.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ski bindings which allow the ski boot to be released in various directions under the action of corresponding disruptive forces are generally known. Account is thus taken of the fact that a skier can have very different types of falls, and that, for example, a boot-retaining unit which retains the front end of the ski boot should therefore be disengageable both in the sideways direction and in the upward direction.
A basic difficulty with such bindings arises in conjunction with so-called combined falls, in which the binding is stressed, for example, relative to the upper side of the ski, in the upward and sideways directions. Account should be taken here that, in the case of a combined fall, the energy, which is needed for moving the ski boot until a disengagement position is reached, should only rise to a limited extent in comparison with a straightforward fall, in which the binding in the outlined example is only forced either in the sideways direction or in the upward direction. This is based on the fact that the overall stressing to which the bones and joints of the skier can be subjected is limited. In any case, it is extremely dangerous if limited stressing in one direction, which is itself still tolerable, occurs at the same time as a high degree of stressing in another direction which is tolerable on its own.
In this context, it is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 38 21 097 to arrange a boot-retaining means, in the case of a binding of the type specified in the introduction, such that, in the case of increasing sideways movement, it executes an increasing tilting movement around a transverse axis of the ski and thus, in the case of sufficient sideways movement, also releases the boot in the upward direction.
French A 2 628 647 discloses a binding in which boot-retaining elements which secure the boot against movements in the upward direction and boot-retaining elements for securing the ski boot against sideways movement interact with a common disengagement spring mechanism such that the energy which is necessary for disengagement remains sufficiently limited even in the case of combined falls. However, the case may arise where, in unfavorable conditions, disengagement is possible with a comparatively very small amount of disengagement work.
German Offenlegungsschrift 26 29 452 discloses a boot-retaining unit having two spring units, of which one is provided for controlling disengagement of the ski boot in the direction of the transverse axis of the boot and one is provided for controlling disengagement of the ski boot in the direction of the vertical axis of the boot. Each spring unit interacts with a separate boot-retaining means, and each retaining means can retain the boot only in the disengagement direction assigned to the respective spring unit. In this case, in the event of a combined fall, the legs and joints of the skier may be subjected to a very high degree of stressing because, in unfavorable conditions, disengagement of the ski boot only takes place when both the work which is necessary purely for sideways disengagement and the work which is necessary purely for vertical disengagement have been produced.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention, then, is to achieve particularly easily reproducible operational behavior in a boot-retaining unit of the type specified in the introduction.
This object is achieved according to the invention in that, upon movement in the transverse direction of the boot or ski, the boot-retaining arrangement executes an increasing upward movement and/or is rendered capable of an increasing upward movement, relative to an abutment, which counteracts an upward movement of the boot-retaining arrangement and is arranged in a relatively immovable manner in the transverse direction of the boot or ski.
The invention is based on the general idea of keeping the disengagement action which is necessary in the case of combined falls limited, in that, on the one hand, disengagement action which is necessary for vertical disengagement is reduced as the sideways displacement of the boot-retaining arrangement increases and, on the other hand, forces which act on the boot-retaining arrangement in the upward direction produce a force which assists sideways disengagement as soon as the boot-retaining arrangement has been displaced by a predetermined amount out of its normal position in the sideways direction.
This additional force results from the increasing upward movement, or capability of increasing upward movement, of the boot-retaining arrangement, this movement occurring in the case of a sideways movement of the boot-retaining arrangement, with respect to the abutment, which counteracts the upward movement. At the same time, this upward movement, or capability of upward movement, in the case of a sideways movement of the boot-retaining arrangement has the effect of reducing the energy which is necessary for vertical disengagement.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the boot-retaining arrangement, or a part of the same, and the abutment interact via pressure-transmitting surfaces, which limit or prevent movement of the boot-retaining arrangement, or of a part of the same, and, on account of their shape, provide the boot-retaining arrangement, or the boot-retaining part, with the capability of moving increasingly in the upward direction in the case of sideways displacement.
The abutment may be provided with a spring mechanism, which permits an upward movement of the abutment counter to a predetermined or adjustable force.
A spring mechanism which is separate from the spring mechanism of the abutment preferably counteracts a sideways movement of the boot-retaining arrangement.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the abutment is designed as a double-arm lever which can be pivoted around a transverse axis and on whose one arm the boot-retaining arrangement, or a boot-retaining part, is supported against upward movement and whose other arm is designed and/or supported in a resiliently compliant manner, it being possible to adjust the resilient compliance of the abutment by adjusting the support and/or changing the effective length of the lever arm.
According to an expedient configuration of the invention, it may be provided that the capability of the boot-retaining arrangement, or of the boot-retaining part, to move vertically on both sides of the normal position increases to a slight extent first of all and to a pronounced extent in the case of further sideways displacement. In this manner, it is possible to achieve the situation where, in the case of a small amount of sideways displacement, all that takes place initially is a compensation of the friction which occurs between the boot-retaining arrangement, or the boot-retaining part, and the abutment when forces act on the boot-retaining arrangement, or the boot-retaining part, in the upward direction. It is only in the case of further displacement of the bootretaining arrangement, or of the boot-retaining part, that said upward forces also effect a sideways force which acts in the direction of the respective sideways displacement.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3909030 (1975-09-01), Beyl
patent: 4298213 (1981-11-01), Storandt
patent: 4903979 (1990-02-01), Dimier
patent: 4974869 (1990-12-01), Muhlberger et al.
patent: 5205576 (1993-04-01), Bogner et al.
patent: 673 403 A5 (1990-03-01), None
patent: 26 29 452A1 (1978-01-01), None
Dickson Paul N.
Fleming Faye M.
Hochberg D. Peter
Holt William H.
Marker Deutschland GmbH
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