Safety ski binding

A safety ski binding, comprising:

• base plate means adapted to be fixedly secured to the upper surface of a ski, said base plate means having first and second abutment members thereon longitudinally spaced from one another in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of said ski;
• toe binding means adapted to releasably engage the toe portion of a ski boot and first support means for supporting said toe binding means on said base plate means for movement relative to said base plate means in a direction parallel to said longitudinal axis of said ski, said toe binding means having release means thereon which includes a first spring support member movable with said toe binding means and a first release spring, said first release spring extending between said first abutment member and said spring support;
• heel binding means adapted to releasably engage the heel portion of said ski boot and second support means for supporting said heel binding means on said base plate means spaced longitudinally from said toe binding means and for movement relative to said base plate means in a direction parallel to said longitudinal axis of said ski, said heel binding means having second release means thereon which includes a control cam movable with said heel binding means and a second release spring, said second release spring extending between said second abutment member and said control cam;
• first stop means for limiting the movement of said heel binding means away from said toe binding means;
• first resilient means for urging said heel binding means toward said toe binding means;
• second resilient means for urging said toe binding means towards said heel binding means for assuring at least a movement of said heel binding means into engagement with said first stop means against the urging of said first resilient means in response to an insertion of said ski boot between said toe binding means and said heel binding means;
• and
• at least one of said first and second release springs being located on the side of the related abutment member towards the tip of the ski for facilitating, during a longitudinal movement of at least one of said toe binding means and said heel binding means relative to said ski during skiing, a reduction of the amount of spring force in said at least one of said first and second release springs that is being utilized to releasably hold said ski boot in said toe binding means and in said heel binding means to thereby facilitate an easy release of said ski boot from between said toe binding means and said heel binding means.