US 6,957,827 B2 · Device for connecting a sports boot with a sliding means

Abstract

A ski binding for cross-country skis and touring skis with a step-in mechanism. The ski binding has two pressure-spring-loaded retention bolts located in the toe region and extending substantially transversely to the running direction and having a rounding at their outer ends. The retention bolts engage in openings of the boot sole or of parts of the latter and can be brought out of the snapped-in position by a releasing mechanism, wherein the rounding of the retention bolt is to lie above that plane which extends through the longitudinal axis of the bolt and in the snapped-in state, parallel to the ski upper side.

Drawings

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Drawings

Claims10

Dependent claims

A step-in ski binding for cross-country skis and touring skis having a longitudinal axis comprising:

(a) a base plate having a long axis for mounting on a ski coincident with the longitudinal axis thereof;
(b) a housing that projects vertically upward from said base plate;
(c) said housing being narrower transversely than said base plate thereby defining lateral spaces extending from the edges of the base plate to the housing;
(d) two pressure-spring-loaded retention bolts, each having a central axis, mounted in the housing and, in repose, extending substantially transversely to the long axis of the step-in binding and having shaped ends projecting out of said housing on opposite sides thereof toward the edges of said base plate;
(e) the shaped projecting ends of said pressure spring-loaded retention bolts adapted to engage in openings formed in legs of an open bottom, inverted U-shaped portion of a ski boot to thereby lock the retention bolts in the ski boot openings;
and
(f) a releasing mechanism including a slide mounted on said base plate for relative movement thereto coacting with the retention bolts to force them into the housing removed for the openings of the ski boot so that the ski boot can be lifted vertically upwardly off the housing and freed from the ski binding,
wherein coupling members couple the retention bolts with the slide such that actuation of the slide moves the slide relative to the base plate forcing the retention bolts into the housing via the coupling members to release a ski boot from the ski binding,
wherein the coupling members are pins that engage with the slide, and
wherein the slide defines guides in which the pins are received and guided.

7 more elements

A combination comprising:

(a) a ski having a longitudinal axis;
and
(b) a step-in ski binding including
(i) a base plate having a long axis mounted on the ski coincident with the longitudinal axis thereof;
(ii) a housing that projects vertically upward from said base plate;
(iii) said housing being narrower transversely than said base plate thereby defining lateral spaces extending from the edges of the base plate to the housing;
(iv) two pressure spring-loaded retention bolts, each having a central axis, mounted in the housing and, in repose, extending substantially transversely to the long axis of the step-in binding and having shaped ends projecting out of said housing on opposite sides thereof toward the edges of said base plate;
(v) the shaped projecting ends of said pressure spring-loaded retention bolts adapted to engage in openings formed in legs of an open bottom, inverted U-shaped portion of a ski boot to thereby lock the retention bolts in the ski boot openings;
and
(vi) a releasing mechanism including a slide mounted for relative movement with respect to the base plate coacting with the retention bolts to force them into the housing removed from the openings of the ski boot so that the ski boot can be lifted vertically upwardly off the housing and freed from the ski binding,
wherein coupling members couple the retention bolts with the slide such that actuation of the slide moves the slide relative to the base plate forcing the retention bolts into the housing via the coupling members to release a ski boat from the ski binding,
wherein the coupling members are pins that engage with the slide, and
wherein the slide defines guides in which the pins are received and guided.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Description3,197 words

Summary389 words

#1. Field of Invention

#The invention relates to a device for connecting a sports boot with a sliding means, in particular a ski binding for cross-country skis and touring skis, with a step-in mechanism.

#2. Prior Art

Brief description of the drawings17 figures

#In the drawings, embodiments of the device according to the invention as cross-country ski binding are illustrated.

#FIG. 1 shows a front view of the binding with the boot sole, partially sectioned;

#FIG. 2 shows a side view of the binding with the boot sole in the tip region;

Detailed description2,581 words

#In FIGS. 1 and 2, a pressure-spring loaded latching bolt of a step-in mechanism is denoted by 1, which is positioned approximately 1.5 cm behind the boot tip at the side of the binding.

#One latching bolt 1 each is mounted in an end region each of a latching bolt bore 7, extending transversely to the running direction, of the binding 20 according to the invention, which binding is inserted in a U-shaped section 11 that is embedded in a corresponding recess 21 of the boot sole 22. The latching bolts 1 are provided with a rounding at their ends facing away from each other, which rounding is located above that plane which extends through the longitudinal axis of the bolt and, in the snapped-in state, parallel to the ski upper side. In this manner, stepping in from the top is ensured, and a clearance-free movement is possible, yet an uncontrolled opening of the binding is prevented.

#The entry mechanism, which is designed as a step-in mechanism, is realized by pressure-spring loading of the latching bolts 1, which snap into oppositely arranged latching openings 4 in the boot sole 22 which also serve as a centering means. For this purpose, in the present case, the latching bolts 1 are provided with a universal ball joint-type rounding 5 which deviates the force from the perpendicular into the horizontal when the boot sole 22 snaps into the binding under the influence of the inclined outer walls 24 following upon and leading back to the latching opening 4.

Facts

Application

10/683,556Filed 10 Oct 2003 · continuation

Priority

AT A 584/200111 Apr 2001

Published

US 2004/0140647 A122 Jul 2004

Granted

25 Oct 2005

Term ended

11 Apr 2022

Estimated · how

20 years from earliest known nonprovisional domestic filing plus recorded patent term adjustment. Maintenance-fee lapses, terminal disclaimers and statutory extensions have not been checked. The continuity chain may be incomplete; this is not an enforceability determination.

Classification2 codes

A63C 9/20
Ski bindings: non-self-releasing bindings with special sole edge holders instead of toe-straps
A63C
Skates

Device for connecting a sports boot with a sliding means

Life of this patent

Device for connecting a sports boot with a sliding means

Life of this patent

Life of this patent

Abstract

Drawings

Drawings

Claims10

Description3,197 words

Drawings

Classification2 codes

Life of this patent

Description3,197 words