Apparatus for measuring the release force of safety ski bindings

Apparatus for measuring the force required to release the heel and toe pieces of a safety ski binding releasably holding a ski boot on a ski, said apparatus comprising:

• a force measuring tool;
• a lever comprising two pivotally interconnected shanks extending from a common pivot point on said lever and having spaced apart free ends, said lever further including means connectable to said force measuring tool, and a depending projection on said lever located closer to said free shank ends than to said last-mentioned means for permitting pivotal movement of said lever about said projection in a vertical plane;
• lifting means connectable to said free ends of said shank to extend therebetween beneath the heel portion of the ski boot for applying an upward force on the boot heel when a downward force is applied through said force measuring tool to said means connectable to said force measuring tool, whereby to measure the upward force required to release the boot heel from the heel piece of the binding;
• a second lever pivotally mounted on one of the shanks of said first-mentioned lever for movement between a first position in alignment with said one shank and a second position extending outward from said one shank, means for connecting said second lever to the ski when in its second position to permit pivotal movement of said first-mentioned lever about the pivot between said first-mentioned and second levers, said last-mentioned pivot being located closer to said means connectable to said force measuring tool than to said free shank ends, whereby when said force measuring means is disposed between said connectable means and the toe of said boot and a force is applied to said one shank end in a direction away from said ski, said force measuring tool will apply a measurable force to the toe of said boot in the opposite direction.