US3421771A - Safety ski bindings - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 14, 1969 I v 3,421,771

SAFETY SKI BINDINGS Original Filed Oct. 23, 1964 Shee t of 5 Jan. 14, 1969 E. A. MILLER 3,421,771

SAFETY SKI BINDINGS I Original Filed 001;. '23, 1964 Sheet 2 of 5 Jan. 14, 1969 A. MILLER 3,421,771

SAFETY SKI BINDINGS 7 Original Filed Oct. 23, 1964 Sheet Q of 5 United States Patent 3,421,771 SAFETY SKI BINDINGS Earl Andrew Miller, Orem, Utah 84057 Original application Oct. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 405,047, now

Patent No. 3,330,572, dated July 10, 1967. Divided and this application Feb. 24 ,1967, Ser. No. 618,409 US. Cl. 28011.35 7 Claims Int. Cl. A63c 9/08 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A safety ski binding including a boot plate for attachment to a ski boot and having an upstanding portion having a raised central portion and surfaces on either side of the raised central portion and boot clamping means including spring urged arms extending horizontally on each side of the boot plate and passing over and only slightly beyond and engaging said surfaces whereby the binding will release through five angles of release namely an upward angle of release, left and right lateral shear angles and left and right lateral roll angles.

This is a division of my copending application Ser. No. 405,947 filed Oct. 23, 1964, now U .5. Patent No. 3,330,572. The invention relates to safety ski bindings and more particularly to improvements in ski bindings of the type provided with cableless toe and heel clamping units. It is to be understood that the invention relates to all such bindings operating by means of spring pressure at either the toe or heel of the ski boot.

The previously employed ski binding referred to in the prior art and produced on a commerical scale has resulted in thousands of fractures and other injuries due to the following reasons.

This particular binding has but one release angle mainly an upward angle, but a skier may fall in all directions and as a consequence in emergency situations requires a release from the skis at all possible angles. For example, if the foot of the skier twists with the toe moving to the left and the heel to the right, the prior art binding completely blocks the heel from shearing out of the binding to the right. If there is downward pressure on the ball of the foot 1 and the total release cannot function, the leg is generally fractured. It is only when a skier falls directly over the tips of his skis that this upward release angle will usually afford protection to the skier. On the other hand, if the skier falls in a forward direction and to the side of the skis that is in an oblique angle, the heel of the ski boot must roll out to afford protection and the absence of this particular angle in the earlier binding accounts for the many fractures which have occurred. In other words, it is only when the ski boot can be released from the ski binding from every possibleangle that the skier is safe.

It should further be mentioned that in the prior art binding, the lever which constitutes a part of the boot engaging means extends at a substantially vertical angle from the ski and experience has shown that if a skier should become unbalanced during skiing and sits down on such engaging means, the skier can be impaled and numerous injuries and some deaths have resulted from such mishaps.

The known ski bindings have failed to provide all five angles of release for either the toe or the heel of the boot and this invention relates to'either a toe unit, a heel unit or a toe and heel unit employed together and is limited to bindings requiring metal boot plates, composition boot plates or adapators on the ski boots.

It is a salient object of the present invention to provide a ski binding in which a skier can leave or come out of the binding at every possible angle when required in bad Patented Jan. 14, 1969 falls, as well as prevent the skier from being injured by sitting down on dangerous sharp extensions provided on the rear unit.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a ski binding which changes the one upward angle of release to five angles of release, including the left and right lateral shear angles and the right and left lateral roll angles thereby ensuring release from the skis in every possible position of the skiers body with respect to the skis.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a ski binding which permits a closer fitting of the ski boot into the rear unit with no lateral or vertical play, thus assuring the skier a firmer support over the skis.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a ski binding having a direct pressure against the rear boot plate thereby holding the complete boot forward into the front unit at all times.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a ski binding which allows the skier to step into the heel or toe unit and have such unit close automatically by contact with the boot plate against the lower point of the clamp plate which eliminates extra components heretofore necessary in the prior art binding.

Yet still another object of the invention is to provide a ski binding having all five basic angles of release interrelated for changing tension and commensurate release action from one point of tension which is completey adjustable for the precise weight of any skier.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to persons skilled in this art from a study of the ensuing detailed description and annexed drawings and in which drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan View of a clamping unit for the boot plate,

FIGURE 2 is a view in side elevation of the clamping unit shown in FIGURE 1 with the boot plate being shown in the dot-dash lines,

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the unit shown in FIGURES 1 and 2,

FIGURE 4 is a view in perspective of the clamping unit and a boot plate in which the boot plate is shown located at some distance from the clamping unit with the ski to which the clamping unit is afilxed being shown in dot-dash lines,

FIGURE 5 is a bottom view of one embodiment of boot plate,

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 illustrating a further embodiment of a boot plate,

FIGURE 7 is a side view of the boot plate with the ski I both illustrated in dot-dash lines,

FIGURES 8-11 respectively are front views of the different types of boot plates,

FIGURE 12 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the cooperation between the boot plate and the clamping unit when the clamping unit is closed,

FIGURE 13 is a side view illustrating the position of the boot plate and the clamping unit when stepping into the binding, and

FIGURE 14 is a side elevational view of a modified boot plate and showing the position of the boot plate and clamping unit when the clamping unit is closed.

FIGURES l, 2 and 4 illustrate a clamping unit which requires a boot plate on the ski boot and includes a base plate 1 provided with countersunk holes by means of which the unit is attached to a ski S by screws or the like positioned in such holes. It will further be noted that the base plate 1 is provided with a pair of apertured lugs 3 which constitute bearings for a clamping component 2 which is pivotally connected to the lugs 3 as shown at 4. As perhaps best illustrated in FIGURE 3, the clamping component 2 is provided with arms 5 which project horizontally at either side and such arms are adapted to rest on a boot plate, denoted generally 14, in the operating or closed position. A vertical portion 6a is located beneath each arm 5 and is provided with a protuberance or protrusion 6 which is supported against the boot plate. On the front side, the clamping component 2 is formed with two bearings 8a in which a transverse element 8 of a T-shaped threaded bolt is mounted for pressing against the ski boot in the direction of the ski boot. This is accomplished by means of a coil spring surrounding the bolt 10 with one end of the spring engaging an upstanding wall or section 11 formed on the plate 1, while the opposite end engages a nut 12. By manipulation of the nut 12, it will be appreciated that the pressure of the spring 13 can be adjusted and by virtue thereof, the releasing force of the clamping unit. In order to operate the clamping unit, a handle 7 which is turned forward in order to prevent injury to the skier when falling is provided.

Referring to FIGURES 5-7, it will be noted that the boot plate 14 may be provided on the bottom surface thereof with indentations 16 or diagonally extending elongated ribs 16. These indentations or ribs serve to prevent the skier from slipping while walking on icy surfaces. In order to attach the boot plate to the ski boot the plate is provided with a plurality of countersunk openings for permitting screws to be tapped into the ski boot sole. In addition, the bottom surface is provided with a substantially centrally located longitudinally extending component c deformed from the plane of such bottom surface and which serves as an alignment mark for mounting the binding on the ski.

In FIGURE 7 it will be noted that the boot plate 14 is provided with an upwardly directed section or portion 18 at the toe part of a ski boot 21 and on which portion 18 the arms 5 of the clamping unit 2 are adapted to engage.

FIGURES 81l illustrate different plates of sections 18 which may be utilized with the boot plate. It will be noted that in all of these embodiments the section 18 is provided on its upper edge or surface with an are 19 in the middle zone thereof. More specifically, in FIGURE 8 the section 18 is provided on both sides of the are 19 with laterally sloping shoulders on which the arms 5 rest and thus hold the boot plate 14 in a stationary manner. In FIGURE 9 lateral arcs 20a are provided on both sides of the are 19. FIGURE 10 illustrates shoulders 20b on both sides of the are 19 and which shoulders extend horizontally. In FIGURE 11 the are 19 is such as to extend to each vertical edge of the section 18 and the arms 5 rest on the arc in proximity to the vertical edges.

FIGURE 12 illustrates the manner in which the boot plate 14 and clamping unit 2 co-act in the operative position. The slope angle b (FIGURE 8) of the shoulders 20 and the angle blank (FIGURE 12) of the arms 5 can be readily adapted to the individual requirements, that is to say, by altering this angle, the releasing forces are adjustable.

With reference to FIGURE 13 which illustrates the position of the boot plate and clamping unit when the skier steps into the binding, it will be seen the clamping unit 2 is maintained open by means of the spring actuated bolt 10, since the transverse element 8 of the bolt is mounted somewhat below the pivotal point 4 of the clamping unit in the opened position. When the boot plate 14 contacts the section 6a of the unit 2 with the section 18 upon the skier stepping into the binding, the clamping unit 2 is automatically turned in the direction indicated by the arrow a and the arms 5 press on the shoulders 20 thereby engaging the same and such position is substantially that illustrated in FIGURE 14. In this position, the spring 13 presses the clamping unit 2 into the closed position, since the transverse element 8 of the bolt 10 is now rotated above the pivotal axis 4 of the clamping unit 2.

In FIGURE 14 it will be noted that a protrusion 6b is mounted on the section 18 of the boot plate 14 and the protrusion 6 is omitted from the vertical section 6a of the clamping unit.

While the operation of the present invention is believed to be readily apparent from the above description, it may be summarized as follows:

When the ski boot, due to a heavy fall of the skier, is twisted to the right or to the left due to lateral overstressing, the arc-shaped section 19 of the boot plate presses the left or right arm 5 of the clamping unit 2. As a consequence of the cam action of the arc in an upward direction, the ski boot can now swing loosely thus preventing injury to the skier. If the ski boot is tilted relative to the ski, the arm 5 located the greatest distance from the tilting axis is pressed in an upward direction by the shoulder 20 of the boot plate until the arm glides from the shoulder. This assures a safe release of the ski boot even in situations of extreme tilting stresses. Moreover, it is essential that the boot be released from the binding in an upward direction should the skier fall directly over the tips of his skis. In this situation, the two arms 5 are raised by the shoulders of the boot plate until the plate is released from the binding.

It is believed readily apparent, therefore, that the present ski binding ensures a safe release in five main directions, mainly a transverse horizontal release to the left or to the right, a transverse tilting release to the left or to the right and a release in an upward direction.

What is claimed is:

1. In a ski binding, a boot plate for attachment to a ski boot, said boot plate including an upstanding portion, a boot clamping means on a ski for coaction with said boot plate, an arm on said clamping means extending horizontally at each side of said boot plate, a raised portion on said upstanding portion of said boot plate located between said arms, surfaces on said upstanding portion outside said raised portion, said arms extending over and only slightly beyond said surfaces whereby said surfaces are adapted to be engaged by said horizontally extending arms, and spring means operably related to said clamping means for urging said horizontally extended arms into engagement with said surfaces outside of said raised portion of said boot plate, the arrangement being such that should the ski boot twist to one side or the other, the raised portion of the boot plate constitutes a cam and presses the requisite horizontally extended arm in a direction away from the boot due to the cam action of the raised portion thus releasing the boot from the clamping means, should the ski boot tilt relative to the ski, the horizontally extended arm located the greatest distance from the tilting axis is pressed upwardly by the underlying surface of the upstanding portion of the boot plate associated therewith until the arm slides off such surface so that the boot is released from the clamping means, and, should the skier fall directly over the tips of the skis, the horizontally extended arms are raised by said surfaces of the boot plate thereby releasing the boot from the clamping means.

2. The ski binding as claimed in claim 1 in which said raised portion has an upper edge including a median portion defined by an are having a center point located in the plane longitudinally bisecting said upstanding portion, and said upper edge including other portions extending beyond the median portion which define said surfaces.

3. The ski binding as claimed in claim 2 in which said other portions are shoulders sloped downwardly from each side of said median portion to the exterior of said plate so as to define said surfaces.

4. The ski binding as claimed in claim 1 in which said raised portion has an upper edge including a median portion defined by an arc having a center point located in the plane longitudinally bisecting said upstanding portion, and said upper edge including other and smaller arcuate portions extending beyond the outer ends of said median portion which define said surfaces.

5. The ski binding as claimed in claim 1 in which said arms diverge and said raised portion has an upper edge including a median portion defined by an are having a center point located in the plane longitudinally 'bisecting said upstanding portion and horizontal shoulders extending beyond the outer ends of said median portion and which shoulders define said surfaces.

6. The ski binding as claimed in claim 5 in which said boot clamping means includes at least one projection on each side thereof located beneath said arms for pressing against said raised portion of said boot plate when said boot plate is engaged.

7. The ski binding as claimed in claim 1 in which said raised portion of said boot plate is provided with at least one projection located beneath each of said extended arms for coaction with said boot clamping means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner.

JOHN A. PEKAR, Assistant Examiner.

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