IMPROVED SKI BINDING

Abstract: A ski binding of the type usable with a ski boot having projections (17) extending laterally from the sides of the boot (13). The binding has a pair of spaced jaws (20) which are adapted to be placed near the sides of the ski (14) and to be moved laterally into overhanging relationship to the side projections (17) on the ski boot when the ski boot is on the binding. An adjustment member (22) on the binding determines the amount of overhang of the jaws (20) above the side margins (17) of the side projections on the ski boot. The amount of overhang of the jaws determines the force required to open the jaws against the spring bias force of the jaw release mechanism. The adjustment member has a central, tubular element (82) biased upwardly which projects upwardly from the binding and is depressed by the ski boot placed on the binding. The ends of the adjustment member have spaced teeth (96) for intermeshing with respective teeth (46) on respective jaws (20) at a given height above the ski as a function of the weight of the skier using the binding.

Description: IMPROVED SKI BINDING This invention relates to improvements in ski bindings for releasably attaching ski boots to skis, and more particularly, to a binding of the type having a pair of jaws for overhanging a pair of lateral projections on opposite sides of a ski boot. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Ski bindings of the type using shiftable side jaws or connecting members engageable with * .lateral projections on the sides of a ski boot have been known and used in the past. Typical of bindings of this type are those disclosed in U.S. reissue patent 26,972 and U.S. patent 3,606,370. In both of these patents, a ski binding is disclosed in which a rigid, fixed plate on the bottom of a ski boot has side margins which project laterally from the sides of the ski boot. These projecting side margins are engaged by the side jaws of the binding for releasably securing the ski boot to the binding and thereby to the ski when the jaws are closed. The jaws are releasably held in closed positions by an adjustable spring biased release mechanism. Such mechanism allows the jaws to open to permit separation of the ski boot from the binding in the event of excessive longitudinal, lateral, twisting or heel lifting movement by the skier. One of the features of a ski binding of this type is that, for a particular setting of the jaw release mechanism, the jaws overhang the projecting side margins of the plate on a ski boot by the same amount regardless of the weight of the skier. This requires that the same amount of force, for a given setting of the ski release mechanism, be exerted by the skier, such as during a fall, to cause opening of the jaws and thereby release of the ski booτ. from the binding regardless of the weight of the skier. While this feature may present no-problems to many skiers, it could represent a problem for a skier who does not have the weight to overcome the spring bias force of the jaw release mechanism without suffering an injury to the legs or other body parts. Because of this problem, a need has arisen for an improved ski binding which permits variations in the required release forces to be a function of certain characteristics of the skier and not solely by the particular setting of the jaw release mechanism itself to thereby provide an added release factor for the skier. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention satisfies the aforesaid need by providing an improved ski binding of the type having a pair of shiftable jaws at the side of the binding for overhanging respective lateral projections on the side of a ski boot to be attached to the binding. An adjustable jaw release mechanism is coupled to the jaws to permit the jaws to open when they are forced apart by a force greater than the bias force of a spring forming a part of the mechanism. The binding includes an adjustment member which is carried on the binding at a location engageable by the ski boot placed on the binding. The adjustment member is moveable up and down relative to the binding and is biased upwardly by a calibrated spring which allows the adjustment member to be displaced downwardly and to seek a certain level as a function of the weight of the skier when the jaws are open. A number of teeth on each end, respectively, of the adjustment member mesh with a group of teeth on the adjacent jaw when the jaws are closed. The amount by which the adjustment member is displaced downwardly determines the amount of overhang of the jaws above the side projections on the ski boot. For skiers who are light weight or of medium weight, a o..? small amount or medium amount of overhang results. Thus, only a relatively small or medium force needs to be exerted by the skier to open the jaws for a given setting of the jaw release mechanism. For heavy weight skiers, a maximum amount of overhang results. Thus, a relatively large force is required to open the jaws for a given setting of the jaw release mechanism. The adjustment member of the present invention, there¬ fore, permits variations in the force required to separate the jaws and renders such force a function of the weight of the skier. The primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved releasable ski binding of the type having a pair of shiftable jaws moveable into overhanging relationship with respective side projec¬ tions on a ski boot to secure the ski boot to a ski wherein the binding has an improved adjustment member for controlling the amount of overhang of the jaws relative to the side projections to cause such overhang to be a function of the weight of the skier rather than be a fixed amount for all skiers, whereby variations in the force required to open the jaws can be provided for a given setting of the jaw release mechanism to thereby provide an additional feature for the binding to mini- mize the possibility of injury to the skier. Other objects of this invention will become apparent as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings for an illustration of an embodiment of the invention. IN THE DRAWINGS: Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view of a ski with the improved binding of the present inven¬ tion thereon, showing a plate member for attachment to the bottom of a ski boot to be releasably coupled to the jaws of the binding; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the binding and the ski boot plate, showing the adjustment member for adjusting the height of the ski boot plate relative to the jaws; Fig 3 is a bottom plan view of the binding when it is removed from the skis; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the position of the adjustment member when the jaws are open and there is no ski boot plate bearing on the adjustment member; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figs. 2 and 4 but showing the adjustment member in its lowest position relative to the jaws when a ski boot plate bears on the adjustment member; and Fig 6 is a side-elevational view of the ski and binding showing the jaw release mechanism in locations corresponding to the open and closed positions, respectively, of the jaws. The ski binding of the present invention is broadly denoted by the numeral 10 and is adapted to be secured to the upper surface 12 of a ski 14. Binding 10 is adapted to releasably couple a ski boot 13 (Fig. 2) to a ski 14 when the ski boot has a rigid, plate 16 of the type shown in Fig. 1 secured to the bottom surface of the boot, such as by screws extending through holes 18 in the plate. The side margins 17 of plate 16 project laterally from ski boot 13 and are adapted to cooperate with a pair of shiftable jaws 20 forming parts of binding 10 and located at the opposed sides of ski 14 as shown in Fig. 1. Side margins 17 of plate 16 are V-shaped as shown in Fig. 1. When the ski boot is placed on binding 10, as shown in Fig. 2, jaws 20 are open and projecting side margins 17 of plate 16 are horizontally aligned with jaws 20. When the jaws are moved inwardly toward the boot to their closed positions, the jaws move into overlying relationship to side margins 17, thereby releasably securing boot 13 to the binding and to ski 14. - The present invention relates to the control of the inward movement of jaws 20 when a ski boot is on the binding. This control is a function of the weight of the skier wearing boot 13 so that, for a lightweight skier wearing the ski boot, plate 16 will have its side margins 17 beneath a relatively small amount of overhang of jaws 20, such as shown in Fig. 2. Thus, only a relatively small amount of force will be necessary to cause separation of the jaws and release of the ski boot for a given setting of an adjustable jaw release mechanism 21 (Figs 1, 3 and 6) forming a part of binding 10. For a heavyweight skier, plate 16 will have its side margins 17 beneath a relatively large amount of overhang of jaws 20, such as is shown in Fig. 5. Thus a relatively large amount of force will be necessary to separate the ski boot from the ski. The control of the inward movement of the jaw members is provided by an adjustment member 22 forming a part of binding 10 and described in more detail hereinafter. Binding 10 includes a support in the form of a housing 24 having an upper plate 26 and a lower plate 28 secured to the upper surface 12 of ski 14. Plates 26 and 28 define a space 29 (Figs. 2, 4 and 5) there¬ between. Screws 30 (Fig. 1) pass through housing 24 and into ski 14. As shown in Fig. 3, binding 10 further includes a pair of arms 32 in space 29, one end of each arm being pivotally mounted by pin 34 on housing 24 near a respective side of the housing. Each arm has a lateral projection 36 which projects through a side opening 38 in the side of housing 24. Projection 36 has an outer side margin 40 which is integral with a respective jaw 20 as shown in Fig. 1. Arms 32 pivot about the vertical axes of pins 34 to pivot jaws 20 toward and away from each other relative to housing 24. O ? Pins 34 are rearwardly of respective jaws and the lengths of arms 32 are such-that the movements of jaws 20 toward and away from each other are generally rectilinear although arms 32 pivot relative to the housing. Each jaw 20 has a sloping inner side face 42 as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5. This surface slopes downwardly and away from the innermost tip portion 44 of the jaw, face 42 terminating near a flat surface portion 46 which extends inwardly toward housing 24 and forms part of the corresponding arm 32. The sloping face 42 of each jaw 20 provides an overhang for the jaw, such overhang progressively increasing in amount as flat surface 46 is approached. Each arm 32 has a pair of vertically spaced teeth 46 (Fig. 4) inwardly of the corresponding flat surface 47 for coupling the corresponding jaw 20 with adjustment member 22 in a manner hereinafter described. A recess 50 extends into each arm 32 from inner side margin 52 thereof (Fig. 3). Recess 50 has an inclined edge 54 which is adapted to be engaged by an adjacent, inclined edge 55 of a rigid, shiftable strip 56 located between arms 32 as shown in Fig. 3 and moveable longitu¬ dinally of and relative to arms 32 as a function of the pivotal movement of a rod 58 (Figs 1, 3 and 6) relative to housing 24. Strip 56 forms part of jaw release mechanism 21. When strip 56 is moved to the left when viewing Fig. 3, inclined edges 55 at the forward end of strip 56 move forwardly and away from inclined edges 54 of arms 32. This is permitted by virtue of the larger size of recesses 50 of arms 32 relative to the size of the portions 60 of strip 56 in recesses 50. This feature allows movements of arms 32 outwardly of strip 56 to thereby allow separation of jaws 20 with respect to a ski boot plate 16 therebetween. When strip 56 is moved to the right when viewing Fig. 3, edges 55 move into engagement with edges 54, causing the arms to move toward strip 56 and thereby close jaws 20. When plate 16 is between the jaws, the boot eoupled to the plate will be releasably secured to binding 10. The rear end of strip 56 has a pair of spaced ears 64 projecting upwardly therefrom. One end of rod 58 is between ears 64 and is coupled to the ears by a pin 66 (Fig. 6). Rod 58 extends outwardly from ears 64 and has a coil spring 68 under compression thereon between an adjustable knob 70 and a disk 72 which is engageable with the rear faces 74 of a pair of projec¬ tions 76 forming parts of housing 24. Projections 76 also have inclined upper surfaces 78 engageable by disk 72 when rod 58 is moved from the dashed line position of Fig. 6 to the full line position. In effect, therefore, disk 72 is cammed by surfaces 74, causing strip 56 to move rearwardly as rod 58 moves into the dashed line position of Fig. 6. Knob 70 is threadably mounted on the end of rod 58 and can vary the compres¬ sion force of spring 68. This spring force must be overcome to separate jaws 20 i.e., to allow forward movement of strip 56; thus, the compression force of the spring can be varied depending upon the weight of the skier using binding 10. Adjustment member 22 has a base 80 provided with a central cylindrical hollow element 82 extending upwardly therefrom, element 82 having an open lower end and being closed at its upper end by a top wall 84. A calibrated coil spring 86 is in element 82 and bears against the upper surface of the bottom plate 28 of housing 24 which has a recess 88 (Fig. 2) formed therein to allow downward movement of base strip 80 into engagement with recess 88 in the bottom plate 28 as the lower end of spring 86 engages the bottom plate 28. Cylindrical element 82 extends through a hole 90 (Fig. 2) in strip 56 and through a hole 93 (Fig. 1) through plate 26 of housing 24. Element 82 projects above the surface of plate 26 by virtue of the upward bias force exerted thereon by spring 86 which is normally under compression so that plate 16 will engage element 82 and force it downwardly when the plate is on the ski boot and when a skier wearing the ski boot is supported on binding 10. Member 22 further includes a pair of vertical end strips 92. Each end strip 92 has a plurality of vertically spaced teeth 96 projecting laterally there- from. These teeth are adapted to mesh with the teeth 46 on the adjacent jaw 20 to couple the jaw with member 22 and to limit further inward travel of the jaw toward the other jaw when strip 56 is moved to the right when viewing Fig. 3. In use, binding 20 is secured by screws to upper surface 12 of ski 14 in the manner shown in Fig. 1. Plate 16 will be secured by screws or other fasteners to the bottom of ski boot 13 which is to be secured to ski 14. The skier first raises rod 58 into the full line position of Fig. 6. This action allows jaws 20 to move apart by virtue of the forward movement of rigid strip 56 (Fig. 3), allowing arms 32 to rotate away from each other about pivot pins 34. The skier can then place boot 13 on the binding with plate 16 between jaws 20. The heel of the boot will be supported on a pair of rear bosses 31 (Fig- 1) to orient the boot properly with reference to the jaws. When plate 16 is moved into position between jaws 20, the plate engages the upper end of element 82 of adjustment member 22 and forces member 22 downwardly as a function of the weight of the skier. This causes spring 86 to be further compressed and to adjust the height of the teeth 96 of member 22 with reference to the teeth 46 on jaws 20. The skier then forces rod 58 downwardly into the dashed line position of Fig. 6, causing strip 56 to be moved rearwardly when viewing Fig. 3. This causes jaws 20 to move inwardly toward plate 16 and to engage and overhang respective side margins 17 of the plate. Knob 70 will have been adjusted to provide a particular spring force setting for jaw release mechanism 21. The height of plate 16 with reference to top plate 26 of housing 24 will be determined both by the weight of the skier and the restoring force of spring 86. This height, in turn, will determine how much overhang of the jaws 20 will be above the side margins 17 of plate 16. For instance, as shown in Fig. 2, plate 16 is in a location relative to jaws 20 for a skier of medium weight. In such a case, the side margins 17 of plate 16 are intermediate the upper and lower ends of inclined faces 42 of jaws 20, and base 80 of adjustment member 22 is spaced above surface 12 of ski 14. By virtue of the relatively small overhang of jaws 20 with reference to side margins of plate 16, the skier need not exert a large force, such as a longitudinal or twisting force to overcome the bias force of spring 68 to separate the jaws sufficiently to release plate 16 from binding 10. For a heavyweight skier, plate 16 will depress element 82 and thereby member 22 a maximum distance as shown in Fig. 5, causing base 80 of member 22 to "bottom out" on the upper surface of the bottom plate 28. Then, rod 58 is moved from its full line position to the dashed line position of Fig. 6, closing jaws 20 and causing teeth 46 on jaws 20 to intermesh with teeth 96 on member 22. In such a case, the side margins of plate 16 will be at the lower ends of inclined faces 42 so that a maximum overhang of the jaws will result. This will require that the skier exert a maximum force on jaws 20 through plate 16 to separate the jaws to overcome the bias * force of spring 68 of jaw release mechanism 21. o...? The present invention, therefore, provides an improved ski binding which has a pair of shiftable side jaws which are separated by a twisting or other force exerted by the skier on the jaws by virtue of plate 16 carried by the ski boot. The force required to separate the jaws is determined by the locations of the side margins of the ski boot plate below the overhang of the jaws, a relatively small force -for lightweight skiers and a relatively large force required for heavier skiers. Thus, ibinding .1© provides an efficient means of releasably securing a s . boot, to a ski yet the binding has means providing a release factor in addition to that provided by jaw -release mechanism 21. This added release factor facilitates separation of the ski boot from the ski as a function of ^ the weight of the skier.

Claims: WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A ski binding for releasably securing a skier and ski boot to a ski and mechanical means for adjusting the release force in response to the weight of said skier and ski boot in skiing position. 2. A ski binding as set forth in Claim 1, wherein said binding includes a εhiftable jaw movable toward and into engagement with the ski boot when the ski boot is in skiing position, said mechanical means limiting the movement of the jaw toward the ski boot as a function of the weight of the skier and ski boot in skiing position. 3. A ski binding as set forth in Claim 2, wherein the mechanical means includes an adjustment member movable downwardly in response to the weight of a skier and ski boot in skiing position, said adjustment member having a portion engageable by the jaw as the jaw moves toward the ski boot to limit the movement of the jaw relative to the ski boot in skiing position. 4. A ski binding as set forth in Claim 3, wherein the adjustment member has an outer end engageable with the jaw. 5. A ski binding as set forth in Claim 4, wherein the jaw and the adjustment member have cooperating teeth thereon for intermeshing relationship when the jaw moves toward the ski boot and after the adjustment member has moved downwardly in response to the weight of a skier and ski boot in skiing position. 6. A ski binding as set forth in Claim 3, wherein is included means biasing the adjustment member upwardly. 7. A ski binding as set forth in Claim 6, wherein the adjustment member has an upper projection engageable by a ski boot movable into skiing position to cause the adjustment member to move downwardly when the ski boot moves into said skiing position. 8. A ski binding as set forth in Claim 6, wherein the projection is tubular and has an open bottom, said bias means being in the projection. 9. A ski binding as set forth in Claim 8, wherein the bias means includes a coil spring. 10. A ski binding as set forth in Claim 1, wherein the mechanical means includes an adjustment member below the position occupied by a ski boot on a ski, said adjustment member having an outer end, said ski binding including a movable jaw near the outer end of the adjustment member, each of the jaw and the outer end of the adjustment member having a plurality of vertically spaced teeth thereon, the teeth of the jaw being movable into intermeshing relationship with the teeth of the adjustment member as the jaw member moves toward a ski boot in skiing position on the ski. 11. A binding for releasably interconnecting a ski boot with a ski with the ski boot having a pair of projections extending laterally from opposite sides thereof comprising: a support for attachment to the upper surface of a ski, said ski boot adapted to be positioned on the support; a pair of jaws; means mounting the jaws on respective sides of the support for movement relative thereto toward and away from each other and into and out of respective closed positions, each jaw having inclined surface means defining an overhang for engaging and overlying a respective side projection on said ski boot when the ski boot is posi- tioned on the support and when the jaws are in their closed positions; means coupled with the jaws and carried by the support for releasably holding the jaws in their closed positions; and means on the support for adjusting the height of the side projections of the ski boot relative to said surface means of respective jaws as a function of the weight of the skier wearing the ski boot positioned on said support to thereby permit adjust¬ ment of the amount of said overhang of said jaws above said projections when the jaws are in their closed positions. 12. A binding as set forth in Claim 11, wherein said adjusting means comprises an adjustment member having a pair of opposed ends adjacent to the jaws, and means on the ends of the adjustment member for releasably connecting the same to the jaws when the jaws are moved into their closed positions. 13. A binding as set forth in Claim 12, wherein the adjustment member has a plurality of spaced teeth thereon at each end thereof, respectively, each jaw having respective teeth moveable into intermeshing relationship with the adjacent teeth of the adjustment member when the jaw moves into its closed position, the teeth on the adjustment member and said jaws defining said connecting means. 14. A binding as set forth in Claim 12, wherein the adjustment member has a central projection extending through the support and upwardly therefrom, said projection adopted to be engaged by the ski boot and moved downwardly relative to the support when the ski boot is positioned on the support, and means biasing the adjustment member in an upward direction. 15. A binding as set forth in Claim 14, wherein said projection is tubular, said bias means includes a spring in the projection, the spring being compressed as said adjustment member moves downwardly relative to the support. 16. A binding as set forth in Claim 11, wherein said jaws and said adjusting means have means thereon for releasably locking the side projections on the ski boot in fixed locations relative to the support when the jaws are in their closed positions. 17. A binding as set forth in Claim 16, wherein said locking means including a number of spaced teeth on each jaw, respectively, and a group of spaced teeth on said adjustment means, the teeth of the jaws and at least some of the teeth of said adjustment means being in intermeshing relationship when the jaws are in their closed positions. 18. A binding as set forth in Claim 11, wherein means for moving the jaws inwardly includes a rigid strip moveable relative to the support longitudi¬ nally of the ski, a lever pivotally coupled to the strip and moveable into and out of a jaw-closing posi¬ tion, and a spring between the lever and the support for biasing the strip in one direction when the lever is in said position, said strip being moveable in the opposite direction relative to the support and against the bias force of the spring when the jaws are moved away from each other and when the lever is in said position. 19. A binding as set forth in Claim 16, wherein the lever includes a rod mounted on the support for movement about a generally horizontal axis, said spring comprising a coil spring under compression and surrounding the rod, and means on one end of the rod for adjusting the compression of the spring. 20. A binding as set forth in Claim 11, wherein said support includes a housing, said jaw mounting means includes an arm for each jaw, respec¬ tively, each jaw being integral with the respective arm, each arm being pivotally mounted in the housing for rotation about a generally vertical axis longi¬ tudinally spaced from the respective jaw. 21. A binding as set forth in Claim 19, wherein said housing has an upper plate and a lower plate spaced from the upper plate, said arms being between said plates, said adjusting means including an adjustment member mounted on the housing for generally vertical movement relative thereto, said lower plate having a slot for receiving the adjustment member when the latter is in its lowermost position relative to the housing. 22. A binding as set forth in Claim 20, wherein said jaws and said adjusting means have means thereon for releasably locking the side projections on the ski boot in fixed locations above said housing when the jaws are in their closed positions. 23. A binding as set forth in Claim 16, wherein said locking means including a number of spaced teeth on each jaw, respectively, and a group of spaced teeth on said adjusting means, the teeth of the jaws and at least some of the teeth of said adjusting means being in inter eshing relationship when the jaws are in their closed positions. ( _ Q -

Inventors: SPADEMAN RICHARD G, SPADEMAN, RICHARD, G.
Applicants: SPADEMAN RICHARD GEORGE, SPADEMAN, RICHARD, G.
Application year: 1982
Main classification: A63C9
IPC codes: A63C9