Apparatus for Facilitating a Longitudinal Adjustment of Ski-Binding Parts

The invention relates to an apparatus for facilitating a longitudinal adjustment of ski-binding parts, comprising a guide rail which is adapted to be secured to the ski and which is provided with two laterally spaced guide tracks and with toothed bars which are arranged between said guide tracks and which extend in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus, wherein a toothed locking member which is arranged on a slide plate is associated with the toothed bars and the slide plate is covered by a guide plate which is supported on the guide rail, which guide plate has a ski-binding part mounted thereon, and wherein between shoulders of the two plates there is arranged at least one compression spring for continually urging the guide plate toward the ski boot.

The conventional apparatus of this type has the disadvantage that for their adjustment, two hands are always needed.

An object of the invention is to overcome this disadvantage and to provide an apparatus for enabling a longitudinal adjustment of ski-binding parts of the above disclosed type, wherein the ski-binding part can be unlocked with one hand, can be adjusted in the longitudinal direction of the ski and can again be locked in the desired position.

The object is inventively achieved primarily by a guide plate having in the region of its end remote from the ski boot downwardly extending projections, and by a slide plate, which is pivotally supported on the guide plate and is movable relative thereto, has two shoulders thereon at its end which is adjacent to a toothed locking member, which shoulders in the released position of the apparatus rest on the projections of the guide plate under the bias provided by at least one compression spring. Thus, as soon as the lock provided by the slide plate is released, same is held on the guide plate, for example, by a frictional contact, and the ski-binding part which is secured to the guide plate can be moved along the guide rail. When the desired position is reached, a pressing down on the slide plate is sufficient in order to again lock same with respect to the guide rail.

According to a further characteristic of the invention, the slide plate has an upwardly bent portion with at least one hole therein for its movable support on the guide plate, into which hole is movably supported at least one rod anchored on the guide plate and on which is sleevably mounted a compression spring. In this manner a certain movement between the slide plate and the guide plate is made possible during the adjusting operation and, at the same time, the risk of a separation of the two plates is reliably prevented.

According to a different characteristic of the invention, the slide plate has for its pivotal support on the guide plate at its end which is remote from the toothed locking member two further laterally spaced shoulders, which grip behind downwardly extending projections on the guide plate. This jointed connection between the guide plate and the slide plate makes it possible, in a particularly simple manner, on the one hand to achieve an upward swinging of the slide plate during the adjusting operation and on the other hand a movement of the same relative to the guide plate.

The movement of the free end of the slide plate in a vertical direction during the adjusting operation can, of course, be carried out in various ways. For example, rotatable eccentrics could be supported in the guide plate for this purpose. A particularly simple and reliable solution, however, is if, according to a further development of the invention, an upwardly directed, approximately U-shaped bar is arranged at the end of the slide plate adjacent the toothed locking member, which bar serves to receive a tool therebeneath, for example, the blade of a screwdriver, which is supported on the toothed locking member in the active or locked position. To release the lock, the screwdriver blade is introduced between the bar and the locking member and subsequently the handle of the screwdriver is swung upwardly so that the teeth of the toothed locking member disengage from the toothed bars on the guide rail and at the same time the shoulders of the slide plate come into frictional engagement with the projections on the guide plate. If the lock is again to be created, then the blade of the screwdriver applies a pressure onto the upper side of the bar, which brings the teeth of the locking member into engagement with the toothed bars of the guide rail.

According to a different characteristic of the invention, the slide plate has upwardly and thereafter outwardly directed angled portions defining pointers which extend through recesses in the guide plate and cooperate with scales which are arranged on the upper side of the guide plate. Through this characteristic it is possible at any time for the user to determine whether the force which is applied by one or more compression springs onto the ski boot lies within the desired area or whether it is too great or too small.

Furthermore, the guide plate inventively has a shoulder, which when the ski boot is inserted prevents the slide plate from swinging upwardly. This makes an unintended release of the lock during skiing impossible.

Furthermore, the invention provides that the support surfaces on the projections on the guide plate are inclined generally rearwardly at least over a portion of their length. Through this characteristic the upward movement of the slide plate is made easier on the one hand and on the other hand the locking operation is supported to a certain degree.

Finally, it is possible according to the invention, in order to lock the upwardly swung slide plate an unintended swinging back to the locked position thereof, to arrange a cam or a stamped bead or the like in the support surface of each of the rear shoulders of the guide plate. It is not sufficient in this embodiment to overcome during the downward swinging of the slide plate only the frictional force between the projections on the guide plate and the shoulders on the slide plate. Instead, a considerably greater downward force must be applied, which moves the slide plate against the force of the compression spring over the two cams or stampings.

An exemplary embodiment of the subject matter of the invention is schematically illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view taken along the line I--I of FIG. 3 of an inventive apparatus for facilitating a longitudinal adjustment of ski-binding parts, which apparatus is in the locked condition;

FIG. 2 illustrates the same cross sectional view of the apparatus as in FIG. 1 but with a locking part thereof in an intermediate position between its locked condition and its released condition;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the apparatus, the guide plate being partially broken away to provide greater clarity;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line IV--IV of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the slide plate of the apparatus;

FIG. 6 illustrates a cross sectional view similar to FIG. 1 with an inserted screwdriver; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment to FIGS. 1 to 3 having a nose on each of the projections.

The inventive apparatus 1 for facilitating a longitudinal adjustment of ski-binding parts has a guide rail 2 which is adapted to be secured to the ski and which is provided with two laterally spaced guide tracks 2a and has in its central region a longitudinally extending slot 2b, l the edges of which are provided with teeth to define toothed bars 2c.

A guide plate 3 having lateral edge structures or flanges 3a which grip around the guide tracks 2a is movably guided on the lateral guide tracks. The guide plate 3 has in its central region a downwardly arched web 4 serving to receive a shoulder 5a of a crossbar 5 which extends in transverse direction of the ski. The crossbar 5 has two parallel rods 6 which extend in longitudinal direction of the ski and on which compression springs 7 are sleevably guided. The compression springs 7 serve to urge a ski-binding part 3b mountable on the guide plate toward a ski boot.

Furthermore, the 3c guide plate 3 has several holes 3' therein, which serve to receive rivets or the like (not illustrated) for facilitating a fastening of the ski-binding part 3b the guide plate, and a shoulder 19'. The guide plate 3 has, in the areas which are adjacent to the guide tracks 2a on the guide rail 2 both in the center of its longitudinal extent and also at the end which is adjacent to the toothed bars 2c, two sets of downwardly extending and laterally spaced projections 8 and 9. The hooklike projections 8 define a hinge joint and the projections 9 define a locking arrangement, both of which are explained in more detail below. The support surfaces of the projections 9 are slightly inclined rearwardly at least over a portion of their length. However, each or the projections can also be provided with a cam or a stamped bead or the like 9A (FIG. 1).

A substantially rectangular slide plate or locking part 10 (FIG. 5) is arranged between the guide rail 2 and the guide plate 3 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The slide plate 10 has two pairs of laterally spaced shoulders 11 and 12. The shoulders 11 grip behind the projections 8 on the guide plate 3 to thereby define the aforementioned hinge joint between the guide plate 3 and the slide plate 10. Furthermore, the slide plate 10 has an upwardly bent portion 13 midlength thereof which provides a support for the ends of the two compression springs 7. The bent portion 13 has, in this embodiment, two holes 14 therein which movably guide therein the rods 6 of the crossbar 5 anchored in the guide plate 3. A toothed locking member 15 is provided on the slide plate 10 in the region centrally between the shoulders 12, the teeth of which are provided for engagement with the toothed bars 2c on the guide rail 2. The slide plate 10 has at the end thereof which is adjacent to the toothed locking member 15 an upwardly extending, approximately U-shaped bar or operating member 16, into which the blade of a screwdriver S can be introduced according to FIG. 6, the other side of which rests on the locking member 15. Finally, two indicators 17 are provided on the slide plate 10, which indicators extend through recesses 18 provided in the guide plate 3 and operatively cooperate with scales 19 which are arranged on the upper side of the guide plate in order to indicate to the user of the apparatus the force which the two compression springs 7 apply onto the ski boot which is held by the ski-binding part.

The inventive apparatus for facilitating the longitudinal adjustment of ski-binding parts operates as follows: In the engaged condition of the apparatus, the toothed locking member 15 of the slide plate 10 engages with its teeth the toothed bars 2c of the guide rail 2. If the ski boot is inserted into the ski binding, the guide plate 3 on which the not illustrated ski-binding part is mounted is moved back (to the right in FIGS. 1 and 2) against the force of the two compression springs 7. The two rods 6 of the crossbar, which are held on the guide plate 3, slide in the holes 14 in the upwardly bent portion 13 of the slide plate 10. The two indicators 17 indicate to the user on the scales 19 the magnitude of the force of the two compression springs 7 acting onto the ski boot. When the ski boot is inserted into the binding, the guide plate 3 will be shifted back (to the right in FIGS. 1 and 2) and the slide plate 10 will be secured against an upward swinging by the shoulder 19' on the guide plate 3.

If one discovers that the contact pressure which the ski-binding part applies onto the ski boot is too great or too small, the ski-binding part must then be adjusted in the longitudinal direction of the ski. For this purpose, the blade of the screwdrivers is introduced into the gap G between the bar 16 of the slide plate 10 and the mutually adjacent end of the locking member 15. A swinging of the bar 16 upwardly counterclockwise in FIG. 1 cause the toothed locking member 15 of the slide plate 10 to be lifted out of meshing engagement with the toothed bars 2c on the guide rail as shown in FIG. 2. The two shoulders 12 of the slide plate 10, due to the initial tension of the two compression springs 7, are moved into frictional contact with the projections 9 of the guide plate 3, so that the slide plate is held in the disengaged position on the guide plate. Further, it is to be noted that the springs 7 serve to keep the shoulders 11 on the slide plate into engagement with the projections 8 on the guide plate. There also exists the possibility of arranging in the support surface of each projection 9 a cam or a stamped bead or the like 9A (FIG. 1), over which the shoulder 12 of the slide plate slides during their upward swinging movement to thereby prevent an unintended swinging back of the slide plate 10 and thus a meshing locking engagement of the toothed locking member 15 with the teeth of the toothed bars 2c. In other words, in the uppermost or disengaged position of the locking part 10, the shoulders 12 are frictionally engaging the vertical surfaces located above the cams 9A on the projections 9. It is now possible to adjust the unit which is formed by the guide plate 3 and the slide plate 10 as desired with one hand along the guide rail 2.

If the desired position of the ski-binding part or of the unit which is formed by the guide plate 3 and the slide plate 10 is reached, it is then sufficient through a pressing down on the bar 16 of the slide plate 10, for example by means of the blade of the screwdriver, to effect a movement of the toothed locking member 15 again between the two rows of teeth on the toothed bars 2c of the guide rail 2. As a result, a locking engagement is again created. Only one hand is required for releasing and locking the guide plate 3.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative solution to the locking effect between the projections 9' and the lateral shoulders 12. The projections 9' each have a nose 9'B or the like and each of the shoulders 12 is engageable with one of these noses 9'B. During the movement of the shoulders 12 on the noses 9'B of the projections 9', the whole slide plate 10 (see FIG. 2) is urged against the projections 9' due to the urging of the springs 7.

Of course the invention is by no means to be limited to the exemplary embodiment which is illustrated in the drawings and is described above. Rather, various modifications of the same are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, it would be possible to manufacture the guide plate, which in the illustrated exemplary embodiment is a die-cast part, from a sheet metal blank into which, if desired, guideways of plastic are inserted.