Bearing arrangement for the laterally movable vertical support of a ski boot on a ski

A ski binding is disclosed for supporting a ski boot in the downward direction by a plate-type bearing part which is arranged on a ski. The bearing support is supported at the ski so as to be displaceable in the transverse direction of the ski in response to predetermined forces during skiing. In the case of a displacement of the bearing support from a center position it takes up an increasing oblique position with a gradient in the displacement direction to thereby accommodate ski boot movements.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a bearing arrangement for the laterally movable 
vertical support of a ski boot on a ski, having a plate-type support part 
which can be slid to a limited extent relative to the ski in the direction 
of the transverse axis of the ski and on which the ski boot rests with its 
sole--particularly in the ball area of the sole. 
Bearing arrangements of this type are known, for example, from the German 
Patent Document DE-OS 25 53 169. They have the object of reducing, as 
extensively as possible, the friction between the ski boot and the ski 
during relative movements between the ski boot and the ski in order to 
ensure as much as possible that the release action of the ski binding 
cannot be affected by friction when forces act sideways on the boot. 
For this reason, a bearing of the support part is provided that has as 
little friction as possible, for example, according to the above-mentioned 
German Patent Document DE-OS 25 53 169 by means of balls. 
However, it is not taken into account in this text that the support part 
can only have a limited mobility in the transverse direction of the ski if 
the support part is to be held on the ski or on a ski-side part so that it 
cannot be lost. Modern ski bindings now have a very wide elasticity range 
in the transverse direction of the ski; i.e., the ski binding is capable 
of restoring the ski boot into the normal position even if, because of 
laterally acting forces, it previously had been deflected relatively far 
out of the normal position. In this case, the elasticity range of the ski 
binding in the transverse direction of the ski may be larger than the 
moving range of the support part. This means, however, that the support 
part, when the ski boot is released sideways, can follow the ski boot only 
along a limited path in the transverse direction of the ski without the 
requirement of a relative movement between the ski boot and the support 
part. As soon as the support part has then reached its end position, the 
ski boot, in the case of a lateral release, still moves a certain distance 
farther along in the transverse direction of the ski until the release 
point of the ski binding is exceeded. In this movement phase of the ski 
boot, there is necessarily an increased amount of friction between the 
sole of the ski boot and the support part remaining in its end position. 
Should the ski boot sole now--for example, in the case of a forwardly 
directed lateral fall--be pressed on the support part with a higher force, 
the friction acting between the boot sole and the support part can assume 
considerable proportions so that the overall resistance which counteracts 
a release of the ski boot from the binding increases to an undesirable 
extent. 
For this reason, bearing arrangements of the initially indicated type are 
questionable in the case of ski bindings with a high elasticity range in 
the transverse direction of the ski. 
From the German Patent Document DE-OS 21 34 950, a bearing arrangement is 
known in which the support part is formed by an endless belt which winds 
movably around a ski-side support part and the upper portion of which, 
stretching over the top side of the support part in the transverse 
direction of the ski, is used as a bearing surface for the ski boot. The 
endless belt can therefore follow an arbitrary movements of the ski boot 
sole in the transverse direction of the ski. Thus the disadvantages of the 
initially mentioned bearing arrangement are avoided. However, it should be 
taken into account that the plastic material, from which the endless belt 
must be made in practice, can become rough after an extended use, 
particularly under the influence of UV-radiation which may be particularly 
intense in high mountain terrain. In this case, it should be taken into 
account that particularly skiers who are out of practice make relatively 
numerous pauses. In this case, the skis are often taken off so that the 
surrounding belts of the support arrangements are extensively exposed to 
the sun. 
In addition, bearing arrangements are known which consist essentially of 
support plates with a very smooth top side which are fixed to the ski. As 
the material for these support plates, special plastics (teflon) are used 
which are relatively expensive and difficult to process. The fastening of 
these plastic plates on the ski normally takes place by glued connections 
which, however, withstand the UV-radiation only to a limited extent. The 
danger therefore exists that the support plates may be lost. 
It is now an object of the invention to provide a bearing arrangement 
which, on the one hand, virtually requires no maintenance and is durable 
and, on the other hand, can practically not affect the release action of 
the ski binding. 
By mean of a bearing arrangement of the initially mentioned type, this 
object is achieved in that it is provided according to the invention that 
the support part, with an increasing displacement in the direction of the 
transverse axis of the ski, takes up an increasingly oblique position with 
a gradient into the displacement direction. 
Within the mobility range of the plate-shaped support part, the ski boot, 
which is supported on it, is disposed with an essentially negligible 
friction in the transverse direction of the ski. As soon as, during a 
lateral movement of the ski boot caused by forces acting from the outside, 
the support part pulled along by the ski boot sole reaches its end 
position assigned to the respective displacement direction, also in the 
case of a strong contact pressure of the ski boot sole on the support 
part, no increased resistance can occur which counteracts the lateral 
movement of the ski boot because the contact pressure forces acting 
between the ski boot sole and the support part, as a result of the oblique 
position of the support part, generate a force component seeks to move the 
ski boot from its normal or central position and thus continue the lateral 
displacement initiated by the ski boot. 
In this case, it is advantageous for the zone in which the highest contact 
pressure forces occur between the plate-type support part and the ski boot 
sole, because of the oblique position of the support part, is situated on 
the side of the ski boot sole which is opposite the respective moving 
direction of the ski boot. Therefore, when the ski boot makes a more 
pronounced lateral movement, a torque is exercised on it which increases 
with the respective vertical stressing of the support part and which seeks 
to eject the ski boot sideways from the binding. 
Therefore, by means of the arrangement according to the invention, it is 
reliably avoided that the resistances, which counteract a release movement 
of the ski boot, can rise to an undesirable extent shortly before the 
elasticity range of the binding is exceeded. 
The principle according to the invention can be implemented in a 
constructively particularly simple manner. It is sufficient for sliding 
surfaces, which are sloped with respect to one another in the manner of a 
roof, to be arranged on the bottom side of the plate-shaped support part 
facing the top side of the ski and/or on the facing top side of a ski-side 
part, so that the respective side of the support part which points in the 
displacement direction, when the support part is displaced sideways, is 
moved sideways and diagonally downwards, and the other side is moved 
sideways and diagonally upwards. 
Instead, it is also possible to construct the mentioned sliding surfaces in 
an arched manner. 
In addition, it is expediently provided that the plate-type support part is 
equipped with a restoring spring assembly so that the support part always 
seeks to take up its normal or center position. 
With respect to other preferred characteristics of the invention, reference 
is made to the claims as well as to the following explanation of 
particularly advantageous embodiments by means of the drawing. 
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will 
become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention 
when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
According to FIG. 1, a basically known front binding part 2 of a ski 
binding is arranged on a ski i which, in the shown normal position, from 
the top and laterally reaches over the tip of the boot and the front end o 
the ski boot sole. The binding part 2 and its sole holder 3 may be 
deflected in the lateral direction corresponding to arrows P' and P" 
against the force of a spring assembly, which is not visible, when 
correspondingly high forces in the transverse direction of the ski act 
upon the ski boot which is not shown. In this case, when the transverse 
forces diminish which act upon the ski boot, the binding part 2 and the 
sole holder 3 can restore the ski boot into the central or normal position 
if, during the deflection in the direction of the arrows P' and P", an 
elasticity range is not exceeded which is determined by the construction 
of the binding part 2. When the elasticity range is exceeded, the boot is 
released. 
The ball area of the sole of the ski boot is supported on a bearing 
arrangement 4 which has a plate type support part 5 which can be displaced 
in the transverse direction of the ski against a restoring spring, the 
sole of the ski boot resting on the support part 5. 
During the lateral movement of the ski boot, the sole of the ski boot pulls 
the support part 5 along in the transverse direction of the ski until the 
support part 5 has in each case reached its end position on the right side 
or its end position on the left side of the ski. 
If the support 5 is to be arranged on the ski 1 in a sufficiently secure 
manner and so that it cannot be lost, an only relatively limited 
displaceability can be ensured in the transverse direction of the ski by 
constructively simple devices. Here, in the case of modern binding parts 
2, the range of the displaceability of the support part 5 in the 
transverse direction of the ski is less than the transverse displacement 
of the ski boot which is possible within the elasticity range of the 
binding part 2. 
This has the result that, as a rule, the ski boot, in the case of a lateral 
release, before reaching the release point, must still pass through a 
residual distance in the transverse direction of the ski when the support 
part 5 has already reached its end position in the respective moving 
direction; i.e., a fairly large relative movement takes place between the 
sole of the ski boot and the support part 5 shortly before the release 
point is reached. 
In order to avoid that this relative movement must take place against an 
undesirably high frictional resistance between the support part 5 and the 
ski boot sole, if the ball area of the ski boot is subjected to a higher 
load, the support part 5 must have a special construction according to the 
invention. 
For this purpose reference is made to FIG. 2. On the bottom side of the 
support part 5, sliding surfaces 6' and 6" are arranged which are sloped 
in the manner of a roof with respect to one another. The sliding surface 
6' and 6" rest in a slidably displaceable manner on correspondingly sloped 
opposing sliding surfaces 7' and 7" of a bearing part 8 fixed to the ski 
when in the center position of the support part 5 illustrated in FIG. 2. 
The surfaces 6' and 7' or 6" and 7" each form oblique planes which each 
descend toward the adjacent longitudinal side of the ski. 
This has the result that the support part 5, in the case of a lateral 
displacement, slopes increasingly in such a manner that the top side of 
the support part 5, which faces the ski boot sole, forms a diagonal 
surface which, when the lateral displacement of the support part 5 
increases, descends increasingly toward the displacement direction. In 
FIG. 2, a corresponding position of the support part 5 is indicated by a 
dotted line. 
If now the ski boot is forced downward in the direction of the vertical 
axis of the ski, in addition to a supporting force exercised by the 
support part 5 which acts in the direction of the vertical axis of the 
ski, a force component occurs which acts in the lateral direction and 
which seeks to push the ski boot o the top side of the support part in the 
gradient direction of the top side. As a result, the friction between the 
ski boot sole and the support part 5 is largely compensated. 
In addition, the contact zone between the ski boot sole and the support 
part 5, in the case of its oblique position, is displaced in the direction 
of that of the lateral sole edge which, in each case, points in the upward 
direction of the gradient of the top side of the support part 5. As a 
result, the bottom side of the ski boot is supported asymmetrically with 
respect to the longitudinal axis of the ski boot in such a manner that a 
certain tilting momen is created which seeks to tilt the ski boot away 
toward the side in each case in the gradient direction of the top side of 
the support part. This effect promotes the compensation of the friction 
between the support part 5 and the ski boot sole. 
According to FIG. 3, the sliding surfaces 6' and 6" as well as the opposing 
sliding surfaces 7' and 7" may each also have an arched construction or 
may change into one another in a curved manner. Also in this case, the 
support part, in the case of a lateral displacement relative to the ski 1 
takes up an increasingly oblique position in such a manner that the top 
side of the support part forms a ramp with a gradient in the transverse 
direction of the ski which supports the ski boot sole. 
Deviating from the representation in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sliding surfaces 6' 
and 6", on the one hand, and the opposing surfaces 7' and 7", on the other 
hand, do not have to have a precisely diametrically opposed construction. 
One pair of surfaces respectively may also be replaced by narrow beads, 
rolls or the like. 
According to FIGS. 4 to 6, the essentially plate-type bearing part 8 is 
fixedly arranged on the ski on a holding sheet 14, two approximately 
horizontal webs 9 being arranged on the bearing part 8 which extend in the 
transverse direction of the ski and face one another. Slot-shaped ducts 10 
are recessed below these webs 9 and extend in the transverse direction of 
the ski. Below the webs 9, the ducts 10 have sliding surfaces 11 which 
extend in the transverse direction of the ski and whose central areas, 
according to FIG. 5, extend in parallel to the top side of the ski 1 and 
whose end areas 11' and 11" form oblique surfaces which descend in the 
direction to the respective adjacent longitudinal side of the ski. 
On its side facing the holding sheet 14, the bearing part 8 has a flat 
indentation 12 which tunnels under one of the sliding surfaces 11 and 
changes into an opening 13 between the sliding surfaces 11. 
Inside the indentation 12, which is closed off toward the bottom in the 
manner of a housing by the holding sheet 14, a leg spring 16 is received, 
the U-shaped center portion of which reaches around a pin 17 on the 
bearing part 8, and the free ends 16' and 16' of which are bent upwards 
inside the opening 13. 
Between the webs 9, the support part 5 is arranged so that it can be 
displaced in the transverse direction of the ski. This support part 5 has 
an essentially plane top side which has edges which are rounded off in the 
manner of a cushion and extends slightly above that plane that is formed 
by the top sides of the webs 9 facing away from the top side of the ski. 
Flanges 18 are molded onto the support part 5 which project into the ducts 
10 and the bottom sides of which facing the sliding surfaces 11 are 
constructed as sliding surfaces 19 which are constructed essentially 
diametrically opposite the sliding surfaces 11. The sliding surfaces 19 
therefore have end areas 19' and 19" which are arranged diagonally 
corresponding to the end areas 11' and 11" of the sliding surfaces 11. 
Projections 20 are arranged on a flange 18 which, for limiting the 
displaceability of the support part 5, interact with a stop part 21 which, 
in turn, may be formed by an upwardly bent tongue of the holding sheet 14 
holding the bearing part 18 and, from below, projects into a duct 10. 
Between the flanges 18, a filler piece 23 is arranged in the support part 5 
which has a recess 24 for receiving the bent ends 16' and 16" of the leg 
spring 16. 
The illustrated arrangement operates as follows: 
In the shown center position of the support part 5, the ends 16' and 16" of 
the leg spring 16 rests against the front faces of the recess 24, the legs 
of the leg spring 16, which are elastically spread apart, at the same 
time, resting flexibly against the opposite edges of the indentation 12. 
If the support part 5 is displaced in the transverse direction of the ski, 
for example, toward the left in FIG. 4, the left leg of the leg spring 16 
continues to rest on the side of the indentation 12 which is on the left 
in FIG. 4, while the right leg is taken along toward the left by the 
support part 5. This generates a restoring force which acts upon the 
support part 5 and which seeks to hold the support part 5 in the shown 
center position. 
In addition, the support part 5, by the interaction of the sliding surfaces 
11 and 19 or of the end areas 11' and 11" or 19' and 19" with one another, 
takes up an increasingly oblique position during the displacement in the 
transverse direction of the ski, as was explained above by means of FIGS. 
2 and 3 
In the shown example, the support 5 with the flanges 18 may be constructed 
as a sheet metal part, while the bearing part 8 is formed by a plastic 
part, in which case the sliding surfaces 11 on the bearing-part-side may 
be provided with a particularly low-friction coating. 
Other spring assemblies, such as coil springs, may be provided instead of 
the leg spring 16 according to other preferred embodiments of the 
invention. 
Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, it is 
to be clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and 
example, and is not to be taken by way of limitation. The spirit and scope 
of the present invention are to be limited only by the terms of the 
appended claims.