Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This inyention relates to a ski boot heel lock and specifically
a heel lock which can he used with cross-country or touring skis.
Cross country skiing re~uires a binding to attach a ski boot to
; that ski which permits the heel of the boot to lift fr~ the ski during use.
Bindings which hold only the toe o~ the boot to the ski are satisfactory for
most of cross-country skiing, however there are downhill parts of ski trails
upon which would be much easier to travel if the ski boot heel were attached
to the ski. This would permit greater control of the skis, and would also
encourage safer skiing particularly for those people who partake of both
downhill and cross-country skiing, as there is a strong tendency for a down-
hill skier to follow the downhill practice of leaning forward when cross-
country skiing. Such a practice is disastrous with known cross-country
bindings as the skier will topple forwards. The older type of bindings,
such as a cable harness, held the toe of the boot onto the ski, and they
could be arranged to hold down the heel of the boot onto the ski, however
~ such an arrangement would require stopping on the trail and coupling the
; heel end of the cable onto hooks attached to the ski. Such coupling would
have to be done by hand and would also create a hazard on a ski trail by
having to stop on the trail.
There is therefore a requirement to have a cross-country binding
which can be quickly operated while skiing to clamp and unclamp the heel of
a boot onto a ski.
This invention relates to a ski boot heel lock which can be used
in conjunction wi~h cross-country bindings, the lock being operable during
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skiing to secure or free the heel of the boot. It is arranged so that it
can be operated by the tips of the ski poles.
Generally, the invention in one of its embodiments consists of a
hase plate secur~ble to a ski, a first lever pivotally secured to the rear
end of the base plate, a second leYer pivotally secured to the front end
of the first leYer, and a bell crank leYer secured by one of its ends to the
front end of the base plate and by the midpoint to the front end of the second
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leyer. The o~her end of the bell crank lever has a bearing surface which
can clamp the heel of the ski boot to a ski through a corresponding bearing
surface on the heel. By having extensions, at the rear end of the Eirst
lever and the rear end of the second leYer, and a tension spring between
the rear end of the first leYer and the front end of the second leYer, the
clamping of the Eront end of the bell cr~nk lever to the heel can be achieved.
~ arious types oE structure can be used to achieve the same pur-
pose as that achieved by the referred to embodiment, and there can also be
provided a safety release mechanism if required.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accom-
panying drawings in which:
Eigure 1 is a side elevational view of an embodiment of the
apparatus of this invention showing part of a ski and ~ki boot,
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus of Figure 1,
Figure 3 is a side elevational view of a modified clamping means
to that shown in Figure 1, -
Figure ~ is a plain view of part of the modified clamping means
of Figure 3,
Figure 5 is a side elevational view of another type of clamping
means which can be used with the embodiment of Figure 3,
Figure 6 is a front eleYational view showing a heel element and
the clamping means of Figure 5,
Figure ~ is a further embodiment of the apparatus of th;.s inven-
tion,
Figure 8 i8 a partial side elevational view of a ski boot heel
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showing a modified connector for use with the embodiment of Figure 7,
Figure 9 i8 a front sectional ~levational yiew sho~ing a safety
release mechanism, and
Figure lO is a side elevational view, partly in section, of
another embodimen~ of the apparatus o this inYention.
~ ëferring specifically to Figures 1 and 2 the heel lock is
depicted secured to a ski, part of which is shown. ~he heel lock consists
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of a base 1 haying holes fo~ acco~odatin~ screws 3. ~ first leyex 5 ~s
piYotally secured to the rear end o~ the base 1, by a shaft 7. ~n extension
9 extends rearwardly past the shaft 7, this extension having a dimple 11
which can locate a ski pole tip.
A second lever 13 is piYotally secured at lts rear end to the
front end of the first lever S, by a shaft 15. An extension 17 extends rear-
` wardly of the axle 15 and has a dimple 19 for accommodating the tip of a
ski pole.
A third bell crank lever 21 is pivotally secured by one end of
the front end of the base 1 through an axle 23, and through its midpoint to
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the front end of the second lever 13 through axle 25.
The first, second and ~hird levers all have a roughly U-shaped
cross-section as shown in Figure 2 and are conveniently made of sheet material,
however it is obvious that any type of suitable construction could be utilized.
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To be able to lock the heel of the ski boot to a ski, it is pre-
ferable to haYe a special attachment on the heel, and Figure 1 shows such
an attachment 27, which is a curved plate 29 secured by screws 31 and having
~, a ridge 33 at its upper end which can be contacted by the front end of the
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lever 21 which is formed with a suitable bearing surface 3S.
A coil spring 37 is stretched between axles 7 and 25, and, looking
at Figure 1, it will be seen that pressure applied to dimple 19 will force
levers 5 and 13 to an overcenter substantially longitudinally aligned posi-
tion and hence rotate bell crank lever 21 so that its beaxing surface 35
pushed against ridge 33 on a ski boot heol. The spring 37 will hold levers
S and 13 in the overcenter position. Pressure upon dimple 11 will rotate
-j lever 5 in an anti-clock~ise direction and the spring 37 will then assist
in the movement and rotate bell crank lever 21 so that pressure is removed
~ from the ridge 33 and the bearing surface 35 ls withdrawn away from the heel.
-~ Extension 1~ provides a stop for the relative movements o~ levers 5 and 13
30 ~hen in an aligned position, and extension 9 provides a stop for the move-
ment of léver S against the ski during the unlocked position so controlling
the amount of rotation of the bell crank lever 21.
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In Figures 3 and 4 there is shown an embodiment of the apparatus
of Figure l, which utili~es, instead oL bell crank lever 21, a line 39 which
has a bearing surface 41 to which can be connected a plate 43 by studs 45.
j By utilizing such an arrangement, it is possible to replace plate 43 to take
into account wear or different types of attach~ents on ski boot heels.
In Figures 5 and 6, a further e~bodiment is shown in which the
plate as shown in Figures 3 and 4 is modified to include a V-shaped ridge 47
which cooperates with a V-shaped groove 49 which is formed in the ski boot
attachment. By utili~ing such a structure, any transverse moYement between
the ski and heel is also limited as well as the vertical movement.
; In the embodiment shown in Figure 7J the heel lock consists of
a base 51, a first lever 53 pivotally secured by its rear end to the base
51 through an axle 55; a seond lever 57 pivotally secured to the front end
of lever 53 by an axle 59, and a spring 61 between axle 55 and an axle 53
at the front end of the second lever. ~oth levers have e~tensions at their
rearwardly facing ends which are respectively numbered 65 and 67 and they
serve the sa~e purpose as extensions 9 and 17 as discussed with reference
to Figure 1. At the front end oE the base 51 there is provided a block 59
having a longitudinal centrally located bore 71 through which a rod 73 can
slide. The rod 73 has an enlarged end 75 which is pivotally secured to the
front end of the second leYer through the axle 63. Alternatively, the en-
larged part 75 can be formed with an integral axle 53 iE desired.
` The attachment to be fitted to a ski boot heel, in this instance,
is of a U-shape having side portions 77 which are secured to a heel by screws
i - 79, and a raised portion 81 having a hole 83 through wllich rod 73 can fit
to locate the heel on a ski when required. The engagement and withdrawal
:; of the rod 73 in hole 83 is controlled by pressing extension 75 to withdraw
, the rod and pressing extension 67 to engage the rod.
Figure 8 shows an embodi~nent of an attachment to the heel of
the ski boot which can be used as an alternative to the attachment shown in
Figure 7, and it consists of an externally threaded member 85 having a bore
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87 and a flange 89 for ~se in inserting member 85 into a prefoxmed hole in
the heel. ~ore 87 is sized to accommodate rod 73.
: In ~igure 9 there is shown a means of pivoting the levers of
the previous embodiments by utilizing a base 91 ~hich has transverse threaded
bores 93 into which are inserted a ball 95, a spring 97, and a stud ~9.
The levers are provided with dimples 101 for accummodating the balls 95,
and by utili~ing such a pivoting arrangement, a sa~ety release mechanism
is created such that if an excessive load is placed upon the lock mechanism
when it is holding a heel in place upon a ski, the lock will separate and
free the heel so avoiding injury to the skier. Obviously, other types of
arrangement of a similar type could be utiliæed to provide a release mechanism,
although due to the loose fitting of cross-country ski boots, which permit
the foot to be withdrawn from the boot during an excessive pulling force, such
release mechanism need only be utilized if extra injury protection is required. ;
In Fi~ure 10 there is shown a final embodiment of the lock of this
invention which consists of a base 102 which has vertical extensions 103 and
104. A lever 105 of substantially T-shaped section is pivoted at its central
region by an axle 107 which passes through vertical extension 103. Operation
of the lever is accomplished through extensions 109 and 111. The lower end
of the lever 105 is pivotally secured through axle 113 to a rod 115 which is
positioned so that it can reciprocate in a bore 117 provided in the second
extension 104. A positioning arrangement is provided by a ball 119 spring
loaded by spring 121 held in place by stud 123 such that the ball 119 can
engage in detent 125 and 127. A heel attachment 129 to cooperate with the
~ . rod 115 can be of the same form as that shown in Fi~ures 7 or ~. ru ; n~ert
c the rod 115 into the heel attachment, extension 109 is pressed so permitting
ball 119 to fall in detent 127, and to withdraw rod 115 from the heel attach-
ment, extenslon 111 is pressed so permitting ball 119 to fall into detent 125.
I~ will be seen that with any of the embodiments descxibed above
it will be relatively easy to secure or xelease a heel to or from a ski while
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the person i8 skiing merely by pushing the appropriate lever with a ski pole
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tip such that when sections of a cross-country trail are approached which
rcquire extra firm control of the skiis, the heel of the ski boot can be
clamped temporarily to the ski until this seciton of trail has been trans-
~, Yersed.
It is also to be understood that various ~odifications of thislock are envisaged within the scope of this invention which are only as
limited by the following claims.
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