Abstract:
A thruster ( 2 ) arranged in the longitudinal direction of the ski has a section which is fixed to the ski and an area ( 3 ) which is located at a distance from said thruster and which can be moved in a longitudinal direction of said ski and which is coupled to an abutment, which is also fixed to the ski by means of a hydraulic damper ( 10 ) via a hydraulic suspension ( 10 ). In order to enlarge the lifts of the damper ( 10 ), a multiplication gear is located between the damper ( 10 ) and the movable area ( 3 ), more particularly in the form of a lever gear ( 6 ).

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/DE00/02582 filed Aug. 2, 2000. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to a device for influencing the flexing movements of a ski, having a thruster part which is arranged and can be mounted in the longitudinal direction of the ski and which has an area that is located at a distance from said thruster part and can be displaced in a longitudinal direction of the ski and is or can be coupled to an abutment which is or can be secured on the ski by means of a force transmission means. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Some of these devices for influencing the flexing movements of a ski have already been integrated as standard equipment into ski bindings, where the device, a thruster part, is designed to be flexed like a flat strip, one end of the flat strip being secured on the ski beneath the ski binding unit on the heel end, and the other end, which is movable in the longitudinal direction of the ski, being guided in guides secured on the ski beneath the part of the ski binding near the toes. As soon as the ski executes flexing movements, the forward end of the thruster part, which is like a flat strip, is displaced in the longitudinal direction of the ski relative to the top side of the ski, because the thruster part is outside the neutral flexing zone of the ski. With greater bending of the ski, the forward end of the thruster part is supported with flexible tongues on an adjustable abutment on the ski, with the result that the ski is reinforced in a controllable manner. 
     The object of this invention is to create a design for a device that can be easily adapted to different force transmission means in the case of a device of the type having a thruster part which can be attached or mounted in the longitudinal direction of the ski and having an area or part which is located at a distance in the longitudinal direction of the ski from said thruster part, the area can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the ski, and can be coupled or attachable to an abutment that can be mounted fixedly on the ski by means of force transmission means. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This object is achieved according to this invention by the fact that a transmission device is connected between the force transmission means and the displaceable area, transmitting the motion lifts of the displaceable area relative to the ski to the force transmission means with a predefined or predefinable transmission ratio. 
     This invention is based on the general idea of varying the distance of the effective displacement lift of the displaceable area of the thruster part through a pivotal lever arrangement to permit an optimum adaptation to the respective force transmission means. 
     This is especially important and advantageous if a hydraulic damper is in effect between the displaceable area of the thruster part and the abutment secured on the ski. Such dampers can be tuned much more easily if there are large lifting movements. Accordingly, this invention is used with hydraulic dampers to convert the lifts of the displaceable area of the thruster part into enlarged lifts of the shock absorber. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Moreover, with regard to preferred features of this invention, reference is made to the claims and the following description of the drawings, on the basis of which especially preferred embodiments of this invention are described in greater detail. 
     The drawings show: 
     FIG.  1 : a schematic top view of a first embodiment; 
     FIG.  2 : a sectional diagram according to sectional line II—II in FIG. 1; 
     FIG.  3 : a top view of the bottom side of a second embodiment; and 
     FIG.  4 : a perspective view of the second embodiment. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In the embodiment in FIGS. 1 and 2, a thruster part  2  like a flat strip is arranged on the top side of a ski  1 , with the right end of the thruster part  2  in the drawing being secured on the ski, e.g., by attaching it onto the ski with screws  2 ′. The left end of the thruster part  2  in FIG. 1 is designed as a free end which is not attached to the ski and is thus displaced relative to the ski in the longitudinal direction of the ski when the ski  1  is flexed. This is due to the fact that the thruster part  2  is arranged outside the neutral bending zone of the ski  1 , namely above it. 
     Moreover, the left free or unattached end of the thruster part  2  is connected to or designed as a movable part or slide  3  which is accommodated so that it can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the ski in a guide  4  which is secured on the ski. This guide consists essentially of a plate  4 ′ attached to the top side of the ski and U-shaped channels or sections  4 ″ which are provided on the longitudinal edges of the plate  4 ′ and are designed to face one another with their concave sides. Longitudinal edges of the slide  3  project into these U-shaped sections  4 ″ so that the slide  3  can be moved only in the longitudinal direction of the ski. 
     A bearing journal  5  which is arranged on the plate  4 ′ of the guide  4 , pivotably supports a lever assembly or double-armed lever  6 , having a longer arm and a shorter arm. The shorter arm of the lever  6  is connected in an articulated manner to a short arm of the slide  3 , with a link pin  7  which is arranged on the slide  3  extending into an elongated hole  8  in the lever  6 . The longer arm of the lever  6  is connected in an articulated manner to a push rod  9  which forms the piston rod of a hydraulic damper  10  arranged on the guide  4 . A link pin  11  attached to the push rod  9  projects into another elongated hole  12  in the lever  6 . 
     The elongated holes  8  and  12  guarantee that the lever arms of the lever  6  are capable of pivoting freely with displacement of push rod  9  and slide  3  in the longitudinal direction of the ski. A collar  13  which is arranged on the push rod  9  serves as an abutment on the push rod for a helical compression spring  14  which is concentric with the push rod  9  and whose other end is supported on the facing end of the damper  10 . 
     When the ski  1  executes flexing movements, the slide  3  is displaced in the guide  4  in the longitudinal direction of the ski, resulting in the lever  6  executing a pivoting movement about the bearing journal  5 , so that push rod  9  also moves in the longitudinal direction of the ski. Because the longer arm of the lever  6  is a great length compared to the shorter arm, the push rod  9  executes large displacement strokes in comparison with the displacement of the slide  3 . This is advantageous because performance of the damper  10  is enhanced when larger displacement strokes occur. 
     In the example illustrated here, the push rod  9  is pulled out of the housing of the damper  10  when the ski  1  executes a flexing in which the ends of the ski move upward relative to the center of the ski. At the same time, in this type of flexing movement of the ski  1 , the load on the helical compression spring  14  arranged concentrically with the push rod is released increasingly. When the ski  1  is flexed back, the push rod  9  is pushed into the damper, while at the same time the helical compression spring  14  is put under increasing tension. 
     With an appropriate design of the damper  10 , the push rod  9  can move comparatively easily in the tension stage, i.e., with a displacement to the right in FIG. 1, whereas a greater resistance occurs with a movement in the compression stage, i.e., to the left in FIG.  1 . Accordingly, there is little or no damping of flexing movements of the ski  1 , while there is increased damping when the ski is bent back. 
     Essentially, however, a different coordination of the damper  10  is also possible, such that there is increased damping in the tension stage or such that the tension stage and the compression stage have the same damping effect. Then bending movements of the ski  1  can be damped to a greater extent or in the same amount as bending back ski  1 . 
     In the case of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the push rod is designed as a rigid standing plate  20  for a ski boot (not shown) which is held securely on the standing plate  20  by means of ski binding units (not shown) arranged on the ski on the toe end and on the heel end. 
     The right end of the standing plate  20  in the drawing is held securely on the ski with screws or the like which are inserted into screw holes  15  for this purpose. The left end of the standing plate  20  in the drawing is guided displaceably in a guide  40  in the longitudinal direction of the ski. The guide  40  which is fixedly arranged on the ski  1  resembles in principle the guide  4  in FIGS. 1 and 2. In addition to a plate  40 ′ mounted fixedly on the ski, the guide  40  has lateral U-shaped sections  40 ″ with which the standing plate  20  engages along its lateral longitudinal webs which are integrally molded on it so that they can be displaced longitudinally. 
     Beneath the aforementioned longitudinal webs of the standing plate  20 , openings  41  are provided on the U-shaped sections  40 ″ of the guide  40 , so that rocker arms  42 , which are arranged between the plate  40 ′ of the guide  40  and the standing plate  20  and extend essentially in the transverse direction of the ski, facing one other with their free ends, engage in these openings, so that the aforementioned openings  41  form the pivot bearing of the rocker arms  42 . These rocker arms may be designed as parts like flat strips having a flat strip plane parallel to the top side of the ski  1 . 
     Projections, e.g., in the form of pegs  43 , are arranged on the sides of the rocker arms  42  which face the screw holes  15  of the standing plate  20  and they are in lateral contact with each rocker arm  42  between the ends thereof. 
     On the side facing away from the projections or pegs  43 , the rocker arms  42  are in contact at their free ends with a buffer part  44  which is arranged on the piston rod of a hydraulic damper  10  arranged in the longitudinal direction of the ski. Its damper cylinder  10 ′ is secured in a form-fitting manner between the standing plate  20  and the plate  40 ′ of the guide  40  in slot-like recesses in the standing plate  20  and the plate  40 ′, with the end of the damper cylinder  10 ′ which faces away from the buffer part  44  being supported on an abutment  45  which is fixedly connected to the guide or secured so that it can be displaced in the longitudinal direction of the ski. 
     Optionally a helical compression spring (not shown) which is concentric with the piston rod of the damper  10  may be arranged or stretched between the buffer part  44  and the facing end of the damper cylinder  10 ′. 
     When the ski  1  executes flexing movements, the end of the standing plate  20  which is held in the guide  40  is displaced in the longitudinal direction of the ski. Then the projections or pegs  43  press the rocker arms  42 , pivoting them against the buffer part  44 , so that the piston of the damper  10  is pushed into the damper cylinder  10 ′. Since the projections or pegs  43  act on the rocker arms  42  at a great distance from the free ends of the rocker arms  42  which are in contact with the buffer part  44 , the piston rod of the damper  10  executes a motion, the measure of which is much greater than the measure of the relative displacement between the standing plate  20  and the guide  40 . The measure of the stroke translation is determined by the ratio between the length of the rocker arm  42  and the distance of the respective projection or peg  43  from the pivot bearing (opening  41 ) of the rocker arm  42 . 
     In deviation from the embodiment illustrated here, the rocker arms  42  may also be interconnected in an articulated manner on their facing ends, e.g., by a film joint, if the rocker arms are made of plastic according to an advantageous embodiment of this invention. 
     In the foregoing embodiments, the thruster part and the damper move an actual distance when the ski flexes or counterflexes (i.e. bends in both directions). The use of the device operatively interconnecting the thruster part and the damper, such as the lever  6  or the rocker arms  42 , increases the effective distance a displaceable part is moved. This effective distance is greater than the foregoing actual distance. This effective distance adequately operates the damper. The effective distance is determined by a predefined or predefinable translation ratio. 
     The invention has been described with particular emphasis on the preferred embodiments, but variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains.