Land vehicles – Skates – Shoe attaching means
Patent
1987-12-18
1990-04-17
Mitchell, David M.
Land vehicles
Skates
Shoe attaching means
7386202, 280809, A63C 918
Patent
active
049173995
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a cross-country ski binding provided with a holding device for holding, optionally with elastic resiliency, an extension of a ski boot which is to be held in the binding, or of the sole of said boot, and further provided with a ball plate against which the sole of the ski boot comes to bear during skiing, and with a heel plate.
A binding of this kind was disclosed by U.S. Pat. Specification No. 4,512,594. In this known binding the elastically resilient holding device allows safety release.
In these and similar bindings, in which the elastically resilient holding does not permit safety release but serves only to facilitate skiing, it is often desirable, for example for the purpose of monitoring performance training or the like, for the steps made or the push-off force exerted for the individual steps to be displayed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The aim of the invention is to propose a binding of the kind defined above which enables the steps made and/or the push-off force exerted to be displayed.
According to the invention this is achieved by the provision in a manner known per se of a measuring transducer which responds to physical magnitudes and produces electrical signals and which is connected to an evaluation circuit controlling a display device, the measuring transducer being disposed in or beneath the the ball plate or heel plate or else in the holding device of elastically resilient construction.
Through these measures it is possible to determine the steps made and/or the push-off force thereby exerted, while the suggested locations of the measuring transducer enable very simple constructional solutions to be achieved and the measuring transducer is to a large extent protected against damage.
If the measuring transducer is disposed in a ball plate, it is possible to determine, at least approximately, the number of steps made, and also to measure the push-off force. Arrangement of the measuring transducer in the heel plate results in a particularly simple construction, although this enables only the number of steps but not the push-off force to be determined.
When the measuring transducer is disposed in the resilient holding device it is possible to accommodate all the components of the apparatus according to the invention in a small space, while exposed connecting wires can be avoided.
The physical magnitudes to which the measuring transducer responds may be forces or else distances travelled by parts of the measuring transducer which move when the skier makes a step, or angular relationships. However, travel pickups of this kind can also be used to determine forces. In this case the force acting on a part monitored by the travel pickup can be determined from measurement of the distance travelled and knowledge of the spring constant of that part.
Through the measures proposed it is possible, depending on the design of the evaluation circuit, to display the steps made or the push-off force exerted in making those steps. It is then possible in every case to determine the corresponding values from the signals of the measuring transducer which correspond to the forces exerted.
In the French Patent Specification No. 2 510 898 it has already been proposed to provide in a downhill ski binding an electronic display device indicating the initial stress of the catch spring. This however enables only the holding force of the binding under existing conditions at the time to be known. In particular, variations of the release forces, for example caused by a layer of snow, or of the adjustment values can be ascertained thereby.
According to another feature of the invention, provision may be made for the evaluation circuit to be in the form of an integrator, which is preceded by a threshold switch and which integrates the signals of the measuring transducer which exceed a determined value. In this way the number of steps made can be determined because each step entails the application of a corresponding, even if in certain circumstances small, push-off force or
REFERENCES:
patent: 4135728 (1979-01-01), Salomon
patent: 4309760 (1982-01-01), D'Antonio
patent: 4311321 (1982-01-01), Svoboda
patent: 4382611 (1983-05-01), Salomon
patent: 4740009 (1988-04-01), Hoelzl
Culbreth Eric
Mitchell David M.
TMC Corporation
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