Combination Ski Boot, Clamp and Ski Holder

This invention relates in general to the construction of skis and, in particular, to a new and useful ski boot clamping device which includes means to hold the ski against movement when the clamping device is released from the boot.

At the present time, substantially all of the known safety bindings for skis are equipped with an automatic device which permits the detachment of the ski whenever the skier's foot is in a particularly dangerous position as in a fall or similar situation in which the retention of the ski would be liable to severely injure the skier. It is also quite important that the ski which is released from the skier's foot should stop by itself in order to permit an easy recovery of the ski by the person who has lost it and to avoid damage to third persons by its movement along the ground. Several devices are known for this purpose, and some of them are operable with the tip of the boot and others with the heel, but each of them has a disadvantage in respect to the difficulty of their installation and operation and in respect to their acceptance by professional or experienced skiers.

Among the greatest drawbacks of the known devices is that they offer resistance to gliding or there is a possibility that they may strike against the snowy surface during the course of skiing. A further disadvantage is that the known devices require special means for attachment to the ski and the known structures are not employed for this purpose.

A disadvantage of the devices which are operable with the tip of the boot, rather than the heel, is that of presenting in the zone below the tip of the boot a surface which offers considerable friction against the front part of the sole and this is in disagreement with the concept used by the ski binding manufacturers, wherein, it is believed that such friction should be reduced to a minimum in order to ensure the greatest possibility of rotation of the boot and to give the highest safety in a twisting fall. In devices which are controllable with the heel of the boot, one solution includes a single body formation with a safety binding and this involves an excessive increase of the longitudinal dimension of the structure and this is detrimental to the flexibility of the ski. In general, the devices which are known employ exposed parts which are therefore readily subject to the action of foreign bodies, as well as to that of corrosion.

The present invention provides a device for automatically stopping a ski if it becomes dislodged from the foot of the skier and which is advantageously operable with the heel or the rear part of the sole of the boot and will become effective both in the intentional releases of the ski, as in the case of an involuntary fall and of a construction which presents considerable advantages over the known devices.

The present invention provides a construction wherein a ski clamp mounting plate has an end with a raised portion forming a hook and a boot clamp member includes a first portion which is adapted to extend across the ski for engagement with one end of the boot and has a skirt portion which engages with the hook in a skiing position. The boot clamp includes a second arm portion which is adapted to extend alongside the ski in a cylinder which permits its rotation and it is biased by a spring to rotate whenever the first portion is released from the boot beyond 180.degree. so as to engage downwardly into the snow and hold the ski against movement. The construction is such that it does not obstruct the flanks of the ski and it does not offer opposing resistance to the rotation of the boot. The construction also permits adapting the arrangement to any kind of safety binding and to employ the usual fastening holes for the ski plate and binding without changing either the form or the function thereof. The device may be made with mechanical parts which will remain completely protected and always in an enclosure permitting their lubrication for fast action.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved ski binding, particularly for use with the rear of a ski boot, and which includes a ski boot engagement member which, upon release from the boot, may be rotated to a position in which it engages into the snow and prevents movement of the ski.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ski clamping and holding device which is simple in design, rugged in construction and economical to manufacture.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the Drawing:

FIG. 1 is a partial horizontal sectional and top plan view of the ski having a clamping and holding device constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial side elevational view of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the ski with the clamping and holding device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along the line A--A of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a section taken along the line B--B of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings in particular, the invention embodied therein, comprises a combined ski boot clamping and ski holding device, generally designated 50, which is preferably used with the rear of a ski boot. The device includes the usual ski clamp mounting plate 1 having a plurality of openings for the passage of securing screws 4 to hold the plate to a ski 2.

In accordance with the invention, the combined ski boot clamping device and ski holder comprises a boot clamp member, generally designated 7, which includes a first portion or first arm 7a which extends transversely of the ski 2 and provides a rounded rear part 7a' which engages into a suitable recess of the ski boot. In the clamping position, a rear skirt part 8 has a lower hook-shape engagement end 8' which engages beneath a hook formation 1a on a raised rear portion of mounting plate 1. The boot clamp member 7 also includes a second arm portion 7b which is rotatable in a cylinder or tube 5 which extends along one side of the mounting plate 1 and one side of the ski 2. Arm portion 7b is urged to rotate by a torsion spring 6 secured thereto in the direction of an arrow 52, as shown in FIG. 3, beyond 180.degree. of movement so that it extends, for example, obliquely and downwardly into the snow and prevents the further movement of the ski after it has become released from the boot for whatever reason. The spring 6 is advantageously anchored at its one end in a collar 54 which is carried at the front end of the tube 5. The outer end of the arm portion 7a is provided with a knurled edge or star-shape portion 56 to facilitate its engagement into the snow or ice.

The clamping arm 7a will become released by disengagement of the hook-shape part 8' from hook part 1a which will occur when there is a pressure sufficient to overcome the holding force of the torsion spring 6, for example. For this purpose, the skirt 8 is advantageously made of a triangular form and it extends substantially over the entire length of the arm portion 7a. In the clamping position, the arm 7a will be inclined and not parallel to the upper face of the ski in order to permit a slight lowering thereof which would effect the unhooking of the skirt from the holding hook 1a whenever the arm 7a is squeezed by the rear end of the heel or sole of the boot.

The arm 7a is also prevented from being rotated beyond an angle at which it extends obliquely downwardly to one side so that it provides a sufficient extension surface to prevent further movement of the ski. The skirt portion is such that it provides sufficient frictional engagement with the hook 1a to prevent the rehooking of the part 8' through the hook 1a once it has been squeezed rearwardly by the boot and then released from the boot.

The spring 6 applies a forwardly directed bias or holding force on the clamping arm 6a and when the boot is inserted in place it pushes the arm 7a rearwardly against the holding force of the coiled torsion spring 6, but not sufficiently to disengage the part 8' from the hook 1a.

An envelopment spring 9 of the irreversible type may be provided in addition to the spring 6 and, in this arrangement, the heel or rear part of the sole of the boot presses on the movable arm 7a every time the skier puts on the ski. The arm skirt portion 8' releases from the hook 1a, and puts the arm under action of the spring 9 which also facilitates its rotation of more than 180.degree. so that it plants the end 56 into the snow and causes the automatic stopping of the ski.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the application of the principles of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.