EP2415504B1

EP2415504B1 - A ski brake device

Info

Publication number: EP2415504B1
Application number: EP11176108.6A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giovanni Indulti
Original assignee: Atk Race SRL
Current assignee: Atk Race SRL
Priority date: 2010-08-03
Filing date: 2011-08-01
Publication date: 2013-11-27
Anticipated expiration: 2031-08-01
Also published as: ITBO20100499A1; EP2415504A1; IT1401408B1

Description

The invention relates to the technical sector of attachments for alpine skiing.
As is known, alpine skiing is the sports discipline in which the athlete climbs with skis attached from a lower point up to an established point on the mountain, before newly descending on-piste or off-piste using conventional skiing techniques.
Since safety attachments have been used in downhill skiing, for unhooking the ski boot when anomalous stresses occur, the problem has arisen of preventing the ski, following unhooking, from descending the slope alone and out of control; though one worry might be losing the ski, the greater fear is that it might place other skiers at risk.
The first device introduced for the above aim was constituted by a strap made of a textile or leather, fixed at an end to an element of the attachment and at the other end loop-wound about the ankle.
A first drawback of such a solution related to the uncomfortable manoeuvres required for hooking and unhooking the strap each time this became necessary.
A further and more serious drawback was related to the fact that the ski, when unhooked following a fall, remained connected to the skier's body and was liable to interfere with the person to the point of causing injury or wounds - which might even be quite serious.
Therefore, ski-stoppers were introduced, first as a separate accessory from the attachment and thereafter made integral there-with.
Each of these "ski-stoppers" is constituted by a sort of fork, subjected to the action of springs, which is pressed by the sole of the ski-boot following hooking thereof in the attachment, and is arranged in a substantially parallel position to the ski, and is raised with respect to the ski base thereof.
The unhooking of the boot, both for removing the ski and after a fall, frees the fork which, by action of the springs, rotates to bring the respective prongs to press on the snowy surface and penetrate therein, at least partially, thus preventing sliding of the ski base.
The points of the tines are able to penetrate even hardened snowy surfaces and in any case scratch on them, creating a friction which is sufficient to stop the ski within a contained space.
While downhill ski attachments comprising ski-stoppers are a fixed presence in the field, in competition-level ski models they are as yet not widespread, while the classic strap arrangement is still very much present.
The reasons for this lie mainly in the fact that the attachments for alpine skis also include an uphill configuration, with the ski boot oscillating with respect to the tip and rising up from the plate of the ski at each step; due to this rise, an eventual ski-stopper has to be blocked in the rest position such as not to obstruct advancement of the ski.
In this way, though, the ski-stopper is absolutely useless if, for some reason, there were to occur an unhooking of the ski during the uphill stage; the ensuing drawbacks would be as described above.
A further reason which has hampered the spread of ski-stoppers in alpine ski attachments derives from the great importance given to containing the weight of the attachments, which is much lower than the weight of downhill ski attachments.
Document US 4 243 244 discloses a ski brake according to the preamble of claim 1.
The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a brake device for skis, developed mindful of the special needs of alpine skiing and the conformation of the relative attachments, such as to be able to operate when required both during the ascent and the descent of the user.
A further aim of the invention consists in providing a brake device conformed such as not to require pressure of the boot in order to reach and maintain the rest position, and to snap into the operative position as soon as the boot disengages from the attachment.
A still further aim of the invention relates to the desire to provide a brake device which is sturdy but has a limited weight, in accordance with the discipline to which it is dedicated.
A further aim of the invention is to realise a brake device that is functionally reliable, guaranteeing maximum safety.
The above aims are attained by a brake device according to claim 1.
The above brake device is shown to be excellent for the particular requirements of alpine skiing, as it is ready for use both during the uphill part and the downhill part, thanks to its conformation, which functionally constrains it to the lever organs of the toe-piece.
The above-cited technical solution is extremely advantageous as it enables reaching and maintaining the rest position of the brake device without requiring the pressure of the boot, although the device is ready to click into the operative position as soon as the boot disengages from the attachment.
The simplicity of the disclosed brake device enables obtaining, at the same time, sturdiness and limited weight - a few tenths of grams - in accordance with the requirements of the discipline it is developed for.
Notwithstanding the limited weight, the brake devicve is in any case able to guarantee reliable functioning, providing the skier with the best possible level of safety.
The characteristics of the invention will more fully emerge from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the brake device of the invention, according to what is set out in the claims and with the aid of the accompanying tables of the drawings, in which:

figure 1 is a lateral view of a toe-piece for alpine skiing, to which the device of the invention is associated, in the rest position;
figure 2 is a plan view of what is illustrated in figure 1;
figure 3 is an enlarged-scale illustration of detail K1 of figure 2;
figure 4 is a section along plane IV-IV of figure 3;
figure 5 is a view as in figure 1, wherein the brake device is about to click into the working position;
figure 6 is a plan view of the illustration of figure 5;
figure 7 is an enlarged-scale view of detail K2 of figure 5;
figure 8 is a view as in figure 1, wherein the brake device has clicked into the work position;
figure 9 is a plan view of what is illustrated in figure 8.

With reference to the figures of the drawings, 10 denotes the brake device of the present invention, in its entirety.
The device 10 is suitable for associating, by means of a support plate 11, to the front part of a toe-piece 1 of known type, belonging to an attachment for alpine skiing.
Two symmetrical jaws 2 are provided in the toe-piece 1, each provided with a pin 3 for engaging a relative hole in the front lateral part of a boot, not illustrated.
Lever means 4 are associated to the jaws 2, which lever means 4 are suitable for defining, for the jaws 2, two positions, respectively hooked and closed C and open and unhooked A, to and from the boot.
An oscillating element 12 is hinged to the plate 11, provided with at least a prong 120 suitable for acting by a flank of the body T of the ski to which the toe-piece 1 is fixed.
In a preferred embodiment, the oscillating element 12 is fork-shaped and is provided with two prongs 120 positioned at the opposite flanks of the body T of the ski.
The oscillating element 12 is mobile between a rest position R (figures 1, 2, 3, 4) and a working position L (figures 8, 9), in which the prongs 120 are respectively raised with respect to the sole S of the ski and project below the sole S, in order to penetrate into the underlying snowy surface.
The oscillating element 12 is subjected to the action of the elastic organs 13, destined to push it towards the relative working position L.
The device 10 further comprises activating organs 14, connected to the lever organs 4 of the toe-piece 1 and to the oscillating element 12, destined to maintain the oscillating element 12 in the rest position R thereof, at the hooking position C of the jaws 2, as well as being destined to enable a flick-rotation of the oscillating element 12 towards the respective working position L, by action of the elastic organs 13 when the jaws 2 pass from the hooked position C to the unhooked position A.
The activating means 14 are constituted, for example, by:

a right-angled rocker 140, hinged with a horizontal axis to the support plate 11, connected at an end to the oscillating element 12 and destined to oscillate in synchrony there-with;
a pin 40 projecting laterally from the lever means 4;
a step 141 exhibited laterally by the right-angled rocker 140 at a remaining opposite end thereof.

The pin 40 is suitable for abuttingly intercepting the step 141 in order to block the right-angled rocker 140 in a position corresponding to the rest position R of the oscillating element 12, when the jaws 2 are in the hooked position C (figures 1, 2, 3, 4).
In order to reach the above-described position, after having hooked the boot to the jaws 2, the oscillating element 12 is manually rotated and the right-angled rocker 140 is also rotated from the working position L up to the rest position R, causing the abutting engagement of the pin 40 in the step 141; to facilitate this manoeuvre, the step 141 is connected to the right-angled rocker 140 by means of an inclined plane 142 which causes a slight elastic deformaton of the right-angled rocker 140 and, therefore, a snap-engagement between the pin 40 and the step 141.
In a possible constructional solution, not illustrated, the right-angled rocker 140 is provided, at the end thereof connected to the oscillating element 12, with a profiled appendage which enables manual rotation to be performed towards the rest position R, using a tip of a ski stick.
The switching into the unhooked position A of the jaws 2, for example following a fall, causes a displacement of the lever means 4, which brings the pin 40 into a non-interfering position with the step 141 (figures 5, 6, 7), thus enabling the elastic organs 13 to impress a solid flick-rotation on the right-angled rocker 140 and the oscillating element 12 towards the working position L thereof (figures 8, 9).
In a preferred constructional solution, broadening and narrowing means 15 are provided in the device 10, associated to the oscillating element 12 and destined to modify the transversal position of the prongs 120 with respect to the body T of the ski, such as to be internal thereof in the rest position R thereof (figures 2, 6) and by a flank thereof in the working positon L (figures 8, 9).
The broadening and narrowing means 15 comprise, for example, two abutting walls 150, symmetrically inclined, conformed by the support plate 11 and destined to intercept corresponding portions of the oscillating element 12, when the oscillating element 12 is in proximity of the rest position R thereof, in order to elastically deform it such that the prongs 120 are inside the transversal dimension of the body T.
When, following the flick-rotation of the oscillating element 12 towards the working position L thereof, the oscillating element 12 is no longer affected by the abutting walls 150, the prongs 120 return elastically into the original position thereof by the flank of the body T, in order to reach the working position L.
Lastly, the device 10 comprises switch means 16, manually activatable between a first position W1 (illustrated with broken lines in figure 2), in which the oscillating element 12 is blocked in the rest position R thereof, and a second position W2 in which the oscillating element 12 is free to rotate.
The switch means 16 are constituted, for example, by a knob 160, rotatably associated to the support plate 11.
The switch means 16, which inhibit the intervention of the brake device 10, are used as desired; a possible motivation can be, when the skis are not in use, in order to avoid impacts which might deform the prongs 120 and compromise the free oscillation of the oscillating element 12.
The above-described is intended to be by way of non-limiting example, any eventual variants in detail with respect to what is described are considered henceforth to fall within the ambit of protection defined by the following claims.

Claims

A ski brake device, associable to a binding for downhill skiing which comprises a toe-piece (1) comprising two symmetrical jaws (2), each provided with a pin (3) destined to engage with a relative hole in a front lateral part of a ski-boot, and lever means (4), designed to define two positions for the jaws (2), a closed hooked position (C) and an open unhooked position (A) of the ski-boot, the device (10) comprising:
a support plate (11) destined to be fixed to the front part of the toe-piece (1);

an oscillating element (12), hinged to the plate (11) and provided with at least a prong (120) designed to act by a flank of the body (T) of the ski, the oscillating element (12) being mobile between a rest position (R) and a working position (L), in which the at least a prong (120) is respectively raised with respect to the sole (S) of the ski and projecting below the sole (S) in order to penetrate into an underlying snowy surface;

elastic means (13) associated to the oscillating element (12) and destined to push the oscillating element (12) towards the working position (L);

activating means (14), connected to the lever means (4) of the toe-piece (1) and to the oscillating element (12) and destined to maintain the oscillating element (12) in the rest position (R) thereof in the hooked position (C) of the jaws (2), as well as being destined to enable a flick-rotation of the oscillating element (12) towards the work position (L) thereof, by action of the elastic means (13), consequent to switching from the hooked position (C) to the unhooked position (A) of the jaws (2);
characterized in that the activating means (14) comprise:
a right-angled rocker (140), hinged with a horizontal axis to the support plate (11), connected at an end to the oscillating element (12) and destined to oscillate in synchrony there-with;

a pin (40) projecting laterally from the lever means (4), destined to abut a step (141) exhibited laterally by the right-angled rocker (140) at a remaining opposite end thereof, in order to block the rocker (140) in a position corresponding to the rest position (R) of the oscillating element (12), in phase relation with the hooked position (C) of the jaws (2), with the pin (40) translated into a non-interfering position with the step (141) in phase relation with the switching into the unhooked position (A) of the jaws (2), in order to enable a solid flick-rotation of the right-angled rocker (140) and the oscillating element (12) towards the working position (L) of the oscillating element (12).
The brake device of claim 1, characterized in that the oscillating element (12) is fork-shaped and is provided with two prongs (120) positioned at opposite flanks of the body (T) of the ski.
The brake device of claim 1, characterized in that the step (141) is connected to the body of the right-angled rocker (140) by an inclined plane (142) destined to determine a slight elastic deformation of the right-angled rocker (140) and a consequent snap-engagement between the pin (40) and the step (141), during a manual rotation impressed on the oscillating element (12) from the working position (L) thereof to the rest position (R) thereof, following reaching of the hooked position (C) of the jaws (2) to the ski boot.
The brake device of claim 1 or 3, characterized in that the right-angled rocker (140) is provided, at an end thereof which is connected to the oscillating element (12), with a shaped appendage destined to receive a point of a ski stick by means of which the manual rotation towards the rest position (R) will be impressed.
The brake device of claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises broadening and narrowing means (15) associated to the oscillating element (12) and destined to modify a transversal position of the at least a prong (120) with respect to the body (T) of the ski, such that the prong (120) is internal of the ski body (T) when in the rest position (R) thereof and flanked thereto when In the working position (L).
The brake device of claim 5, characterized in that the broadening and narrowing means (15) comprise at least an inclined abutting wall (1,50), solidly constrained to the support plate (11), destined to intercept the oscillating element (12) in proximity of the rest position (R) thereof, in order to elastically deform the oscillating element (12) such that the at least a prong (120) returns internally of the transversal dimension of the ski body (T).
The brake device of claim 1, characterized in that it comprises switch means (16), manually activatable between a first position (W1), in which the oscillating element (12) is blocked in the rest position (R) thereof, and a second position (W2), in which the oscillating element (12) is free to rotate.
The brake device of claim 7, characterized in that the switch means (16) are constituted by a knob (160), rotatably associated to the support plate (11).