Patent ID: 7422227

Claim:
A ski binding ( 1 ; 1 ′; 1 ″), for use with a boot having a sole with a front end and a heel used with a touring, telemark or cross-country ski, comprising: a front retaining portion ( 11 ) associated with the front sole end ( 7 a ) of a ski boot ( 5 ), a back retaining portion ( 21 ) so constructed that it engages an edge ( 7 b ) at the front part of the boot sole or at the heel of the boot, a tensioning device ( 17 ; 25 ; 47 ; 17 ′; 17 ″) having a flat flexible connecting part ( 17 ) with spring elasticity that connects the front and back retaining portions to one another, and that allows said front and back retaining portions to be locked to the ski boot while allowing the heel of the boot to be raised away from the ski, and a ski brake ( 50 ′; 50 ″) having an actuating section 55 ′; 55 ″) with a pivot portion ( 51 ′; 51 ″; 53 ′) disposed between the upper surface ( 3 ) of the ski and said flat connecting part ( 17 ; 17 ′; 17 ″), and side branches ( 57 a ′; 57 b ′) connected to the actuating section such that when the binding is in use, a front portion of said actuating section ( 55 ′; 55 ″) of the ski brake is in direct contact with the underside of the front end of the sole ( 7 ) of the ski boot ( 5 ) in the region of the front retaining portion ( 11 ), in such a way that when the heel of the ski boot ( 5 ) is raised, the ski brake remains in a resting position on the ski with the front portion of the actuating section being still fixed between the underside of the front end of the sole ( 7 ) and an upper surface of the flat connecting part ( 17 ), and so that when the front end ( 7 a ) is fixed in said front retaining portion, the ski brake is inactive, and the ski brake is activated when the front end of the boot is removed from said front retaining portion ( 11 ).