Device for closing and for clamping a ski boot and ski boot thus equipped

Device for closing and clamping a ski boot, of the type comprising:

• a shell (1) which is intended to receive an inner boot, which in turn receives a foot of the skier, and which comprises a sole (7) and a heel, and which has in the region of this heel a support ramp (10);
• a collar (20) which is intended to enclose the bottom of the leg and capable of pivoting towards the rear in relation to the shell (1);
• a saddle (30), in the shape of a gutter and serving as buckle, which is articulated in relation to the collar (20) and arranged in the use position in a general direction which is essentially parallel to that of the tibia, following the rear of the collar and surrounding the rear (5) of the bottom of the leg and the top (6) of the heel, wherein
• the collar (20), which is articulated in the sole (7) of the shell (1) at the height of the plantar arch, comprises at the rear an articulated lever (40), in which a slot (41) is formed, in which there comes to be accommodated and to slide the end (42) of a rigid arm (43) which is fixed at its other end (45) to the rear of the shell (1);
• the saddle (30) articulated on the collar comprises at its lower end (32) a finger (34) which takes its bearing on the ramp (10) formed in the sole (7) and has inside the saddle a connecting portion (35) comprising a second ramp (37, 38);
• the assembly comprises a flexible cable (50) connecting the front of the boot to the free end (46) of the lever (40), passing, in the collar (20), via deflectors (53).