This invention relates to a ski binding structure. Background Art v

Prior patents to this same Applicant fttalian Appli¬ cations No.20,285 A/79 of 16.2,1979, and24,9δ1 A/79 of 8.8.1979) incorporated herein for reference purposes, 5 disclose a ski binding which comprises essentially a toe piece ^' and a rear hooking and releasing unit which are fastened to the ski at spaced apart locationsj to the rear releasing unit there is articulated a rigid shaped rod-like element which engages laterally and 0 rearwardly with the skier's leg for transmitting sideway forces to the ski from the leg.

A peg engages with the toe piece which is defined in the lower portion of the footwear sole, whilst the rear release unit incorporates a pusher element which 5 is spring biased to fit into a groove defined in the rear portion of the skier's sole.

Italian Patent Applications No. 1.9,671 A/83 of

21.2.83 and 23,108 B/64 of 14.9.84, again.; by this same Applicant, disclose an improved embodiment of the sole 0 having a reinforcing stiffener which defines the rear groove and extends up to the area affected by the cited peg. Furthermore, the sole has cross cutouts and possibly a groove or a longitudinal recess which spans the longitudinal centreline of the sole. 5 Highl satisfactory results have been generally

provided by the above-mentioned bindings and the cited sole, which can be improved, however, especially as regards control of the friction occurring between the sole and the ski before and during the binding safety releasing phases.

Furthermore, with the above-outlined solutions, difficulties have been experienced in fully or partly absorbing the vertical loads which interact between the ski, binding, and footwear.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The aim of this invention is, in fact, that of solving the above problems by providing a skibinding which affords an improved control and effective adjustment of the fractional conditions prevailing between the ski and the sole before and during releasing, and a zone to be preset wherein the sole turning centre _^ ma be located during and before release _*

Within the above aim, it is a particular object of this invention to provide a binding structure which affords control of the longitudinal movements of the sole with respect to the ski, thus eliminating the occurrence of untimely or undesired release.

It is another object of this invention to provide a ski binding whereby it becomes possible to ^• * fully or partly absorb the vertical loads which originate in the combination confining them to a low frictional coefficient zone which is free of. dirt or incrustations which might affect adversely the binding safety release conditions.

The above aim, and these and other objects to become apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a ski binding having a toe piece and a rear release unit to which there is articulated a substantially rigid 5. rod-like element engageable with the skier's leg, characterised in that it comprises, in an area lying between said toe piece and said rear release unit, a small plate swivelling about a substantially perpendicular axis to the plane of lay of the ski and 0 defining the zone wherein the turning centre of the ski footwear sole is located during the release phase from the binding, said small plate having an optional center jut insertable into a recess defined in the longitudinal centreline of said sole, and optional 5 side projections adapted to fit into grooves defined between transverse elevations on said sole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages will be more clearly apparent from the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of a ski binding structure shown by way of illustration and not of 0 limitation in the accompanying drawing, where:

Figure 1 shows schematically an exploded perspective view of the plate for connecting the binding to the ski;

Figure 2 shows the binding in longitudinal 5 section with the sole applied;

Figure 3 shows schematically the binding prior to releasing from the sole;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the latch;

Figure 5 shows one possible shape of the sole bottom face;

Figure 6 brings out the coupling between the sole and swivel plate; Figure 7 shows in cross-section the swivel plate as coupled to the sole;

Figure 8 shows schematically in plan view a different embodiment of the,plate with the projections extended in length; Figure 9 shows a cross-section through the plate of Figure 8, taken along the line IX-IX.

WAYS OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

With reference to the cited drawing figures, the ski binding structure of this invention comprises an elongate plate, generally designated with the reference numeral 1, which has forwardly a toe piece 2 which may be applied upwardly of the plate 1 for its attachment to the ski. In this case, the plate 1 has three pairs of fastening holes indicated at 3 to control at the different lengths of the soles of the applicable footwear.

Optionally the toe piece 2 may be formed integral¬ ly with the plate 1, in which case the plate will be embodied in different sizes, according to the different sizes of the shoe used. The plate 1 is provided rearwardly with side ears 5 which may be formed integrally with the plate 1 , or optionally with separate elements, which are provided with through holes 6 for attachment to the ski and with a transverse hole 7 for articulation of

the rear release unit, generally designated with the reference numeral 10 and of the type illustrated in the cited patents.

An important peculiarity of the invention is that at a middle portion of the zone included between the toe piece 2 and small ears 5, that is the zone of application of the rear release unit, there is provided a small plate 20 which can swivel about a substantially perpendicular axis to the plane of lay of the ski.

The small plate 20 is housed in an opening or housing 21 defined by the plate 1 and is retained upwardly by a border 22 delimiting the opening 21 perimeter. The swivel plate 20 has upwardly a centre jut 30 which engages in the recess 31 defined in the longitudinal centreline of the sole, schematically indicated at 40.

Laterally of the centre jut 30 there are provided projections 32 having preferably a shape with triangular cross-section, which can fit into the transverse grooves 33. defined by the elevations 34 provided on the sole.

The jut 30- may have upwardly serrations or scorings indicated at 35, which act as an icebreaking element to avoid the building up of incmstations or dirt in the zone spanned by the jut itself.

It should also be specified that, to favour release of the footwear from the binding in the event of dangerous stresses, it might be convenient

to have the possibility of a longitudinal translation of the sole relatively to the binding. To this aim, the jut 30 could be mounted on the swivel plate 20 to permit of a sliding movement in the longitudinal direction through a supporting foot associated with the plate itself.

It would also be possible to utilise, to attain a limited translation in the longitudinal direction, the inherent elasticity of the sole and the projections 32, while the jut 30 would be housed in the recess

3 with the possibility for movement in the longitudinal direction; the scorings 35 which could be disposed longitudinally, have the mere function of breaking the ice and constitute no restraint to movement in the longitudinal direction.

To attain a preset amount of movement, it is further possible to mount the small plate 20 floatingly in a shaped seat so as to permit of desired displacements. Moreover, on the bottom face of the small plate 20, between the small plate itself and the ski, or the plate, there may be provided an anti-friction disk or bearing or the like, ndicated at 50,which facilitates the movement of the -small swivel plate relatively to the ski without creating undesired drag. Between the plate and the small plate a centre pin can absorb with a minimum of friction the forces lying in the swivel plane.

The shape adopted causes the coupling between the projections 32 and related grooves, and between

the jut 30 and the recess 31 to be greatly facilitated.

Furthermore, elastic bias means 60 are provided which act on the swivel plate 20 to elastieally return the small plate to the coupled position between the projections and the recesses as the ski shoe is connected to the binding.

The presence of the small swivel plate is of great relevance, since it delimits the zone wherein

the sole turning centre locates during and before the phase of release from the ski. Furthermore, the small plate contributes to fully or partly absorb the vertical loads which are applied to the ski shoe, delimiting them in a. low friction zone protected against infiltrations or incrustations which could result in jamming during operation.

To facilitate the absorption of the vertical loads, the small swivel plate and more precisely its side projections can engage in grooves defined in the reinforcing stiffener which is provided inside the footwear and may be altered to receive the cited projections directly.

As shown in Figures 8 and 9, the projections 32 may be elongate projections 61 which overflow laterally from the small swivel plate past the border 21 so as to affect the whole width of the ski, so as to afford the possibility of better controlling the friction which occurs between the sole and the ski in the event of sideway stresses, that is for an oscillation of the footwear about a longitudinal axis to the ski.

The recess 31 wherein the jut 30 engages may be delimited at the end such that stop ia formed for the forward and/or rearward translation of the ski shoe relatively to the binding, thus contributing to an improved control of the latch during the release phases owing to a fall*

To reduce the longitudinal movements of the sole, it is advantageous to use a toe piece shaped after an arc ofa circumference'withcentre approximately in theswivel centre of the small plate and radius from said swivel centre to the lip of the toe piece, in the instance that the longitudinal movements are instead to be favored, it is convenient to use a U-shaped toe piece, as in the patents mentioned above. With the toe piece 2 there engages a peg 80 which is supported on the footwear sole; the peg 80 may be optionally replaced with a roller which is carried rotatably on a pin coming perpendicularly out of the footwear sole. It should be also added that the small plate ^' 1 has on its rear portion a pair of shoulders 70 placed at a distance apart and formed integrally with the plate itself wherein small shimming plates 71 are insertable which have an I-like shape and control the positioning of the rear release unit which is provided with a rest peduncle as illustrated in the previously mentioned patents.

It may be seen from the foregoing description that the invention achieves the objects set forth and in particular the fact is enhanced that the

provision of a small swivel plate afford improved control of the friction occurring between the ski and the sole before and during release, and the possibility of absorbing the vertical and horizontal loads confining them into a low frictional coefficient zone which is fully protected against infiltrations or incrustations of any kind.

The invention herein is susceptible to many modifications and changes within the scope of the inventive concept.

Furthermore, all the details may be replaced with technical equivalents thereof.

In practice, the materials used, so long as compatible with the specific use, and the dimensions and contingent shapes, may be any ones meeting individual requirements.