The present invention relates to a ski boot provided with a device for locking the leg portion relative to the foot portion.

In known embodiments a ski boot- comprises an outer shell made of a substantially rigid plastic material, and an inner lining made of an elastic foam material.

For permitting the leg of the skier to bend forwards with the sole of the ski boot rigidly retained on the ski during the skiing activity, it is further provided to form the boot shell in two parts, namely, a foot portion including the sole, and a leg portion articulated to the foot portion at the location of the ankle with a slight forward inclination.

Known ski boots of this type suffer from the disadvantage that the inclination of the leg portion, although helpful in skiing activities, leads to difficulties in walking and in getting on and off a ski lift due to the inclined attitude imposed on the lower leg by the boot's leg portion which is prevented from pivoting rearwards by suitable stops provided at the rear of the foot portion.

With a view to obviating this inconvenience it has been pro¬ posed to provide means permitting the leg portion to be locked in the inclined position relative to the foot portion during downhill skiing so as to only allow further forward bending, and to be unlocked for walking.

An example of a device of this type comprises a lever hinged to the rear of the leg portion and provided with a traction ring adapted to engage a sawtooth rack secured to the foot portion.

All of the known devices of this type suffer from the short¬ coming that they are scarcely reliable in that they are apt to be activated or deactivated in an uncontrolled manner.

Another inconvenience consists in that the operation of these devices is rather cumbersome, considering the envir¬ onmental and other conditions (gloved hands) under which the skier is forced to actuate them.

It is an object of the invention to eliminate these short¬ comings and to create a ski boot provided with a device for locking the leg portion relative to the foot portion, this device to be operable in a simple and reliable manner.

This and other objects to become evident from the following description are attained according to the invention in a ski boot provided with a device for locking the leg port¬ ion relative to the foot portion and comprising a foot port¬ ion and a leg portion articulated thereto adjacent the loc¬ ation of the ankle by hinge pins provided thereat, charact¬ erized in that between the foot portion and the leg portion at the rear of the ski boot there is interposed a tappet hinged to the leg portion and resiliently held in engagement with the foot portion by a toggle mechanism to thereby main¬ tain the leg portion in an inclined configuration, the tappet being provided with a release element projecting rearwards of the leg portion.

The invention will be more fully understood from the follow¬ ing description of a preferred embodiment, given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein

fig. 1 shows a longitudinally sectioned partial view of a ski boot according to the invention, with its leg portion in the locked state, fig. 2 shows a view similar to fig. 1 with the leg portion in the unlocked state, and

fig. 3 shows a sectioned view taken along the line III-III in fig. 1.

A ski boot according to the invention as illustrated in the drawings is made of an injection-molded plastic material and substantially comprises a foot portion 1 and a leg portion 2 articulated thereto by hinge pins 3 provided adjacent the location of the ankle.

Interiorly of the ski boot and at the rear thereof between foot portion 1 and leg portion 2 there is provided a tappet 4 articulated to leg portion 2 by a pin 5. An upper extens¬ ion of tappet 4 is formed as a fork 6 supporting a pin 7 with a release element 8 mounted thereon. Release element 8 is formed with an actuator arm 9 projecting from leg portion 2 through an aperture 10 formed therein, two obturator arms 11 and 11' angularly offset from actuator arm 9, and two lateral cams 12 taking support on the inner vertical rims of the slot-shaped aperture 10.

A helical spring 13 interposed between leg portion 2 and the lower end 14 of tappet 4 acts to hold this end in contact with foot portion 1 in the absence of external forces. Foot portion 1 carries a stop 15 mounted thereon at a location opposite lower tappet end 14.

The ski boot according to the invention is used in the following manner: during downhill skiing leg portion 2 is maintained at a for¬ wards inclined attitude relative to foot portion 1, this configuration being maintained stable by a toggle mechanism formed about hinge pin 7 by cams 12 of release element 8 and tappet 4 with its lower end 14 taking support on stop 15. In this configuration arm 11 of element 8 obturates aperture 10 to prevent snow from entering the ski boot.

For changing over to the walking configuration, in which leg portion 2 is unlocked relative to foot portion 1, all that

has to be done is to rotate actuator arm 9 in the direction indicated by the arrow 16 in fig. 1, causing cams 12 to slide on the inner wall of leg portion 2 to thereby overcome the elastic reaction of spring 13 for rotating tappet 4 about pin 5. As a result, lower end 14 of tappet 4 is dis¬ engaged from stop 15. In this configuration aperture 10 is obturated by arm 11' of element 8 to thereby prevent snow from entering the ski boot.

From the above description it is evident that the ski boot according to the invention offers numerous advantages, such as:

- the impossibility of accidental unlocking of the tappet thanks to it being held by spring 13 in a position beyond the dead point of the toggle mechanism, the possibility of executing the locking operation by simply pivoting the leg portion, and

- the possibility of executing the unlocking operation by simply rotating an arm in a circular arc, i.e. by an effortless manoeuvre.

The present invention has been illustrated and described in a preferred embodiment thereof, it being understood that its practical execution may be amply varied within the scope of protection claimed for the invention.