US3521330A - Toothed lever tension device particularly for mountain and ski-boots - Google Patents

Description

TOOTHED L'EVBR' TENSION DEVI-CE PARTICULARLY 'FOR MOUNTAINAND SKI-BOOTS Filed Feb. 9, 1968 J y 21, 1970 -A. s. STEINBERG 3,521,330

I f I @r" I 1 In H I +4 A vALaERTo JUSSMAN SI'EmBE K6 BY QM ATTORNEY 3,521,330 Patented July 21, 1970 Int. Cl. A43c 11/14 US. C]. 2470 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A lever tension device, particularly for mountain and ski-boots, comprising two elements, each of which is applied on one of the borders to be joined, one of said elements being formed of a toothed lever and the other of a tension ring, wherein the lever having at least one outer toothing is loosely pivoted on two parallel shoulders projecting from the base plate, from which also a spring projects for coacting with the resistant arm of the lever, the pressing action of the spring operating to steadily hold said lever at either of the two end positions, by acting on one of the sides of prominence, respectively, particularly for ensuring the closing position.

This invention relates to a multi-sean'ng tension and traction lever particularly suitable for mountain boots and ski boots, the pivoting end of which has an eccentric periphery co-acting with an underlying resilient tongue resting on a stationary base plate.

It is the object of the invention to provide by such a resilient tongue an opposition against the eccentricity of the end of the moving lever at closed and open positions in order to provide a stop for said lever by steadily holding it at its final positions, as unaffected by any possible unintentional stresses tending to lift said lever and to cause the fastening to be opened.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a simple device both as to structure and use, having a reduced number of components, a minimized height dimension and capability of a Wide tension adjustment.

Obviously, the lever tension device of the invention is particularly, but not exclusively designed for mountain and ski-boots.

The device includes a first element fast with one of two edge portions which are to be joined together, this element comprising a traction ring pivoted on a stationary plate, and a second element fast with the other edge portion and formed of a toothed lever for receiving said ring within one of its seatings so as to put the ring under tension and to hold it at this condition, said lever having an outer toothing and being pivoted onto protruding shoulders of a plate fixed to the other edge portion to be joined, the pivot being loosely arranged in an oval hole or slot, the major axis of which is inclined, whereas a short resistant portion or tail of the lever eccentrically projecting on an extension of said major axis is subjected to the resilient action of a spring, the maximum operative location of which is displaced upstream relative to the pivoting holes of the stationary bearings, so that at the end lever positions said spring operates on the sides of the eccentric lever tail, thus after having clearly passed the dead center or maximum tension center for the spring.

Finally, in order to provide a better and finer adjustment, the lever can have lower and upper toothings olfset to each other and either adapted to receive said tension traction ring.

The following detailed description is related to the accompanying drawing diagrammatically showing only by way of example some embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a tension lever device according to the invention in closed position;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof;

FIG. 3 shows the lever and mounting plate elements making up the fastening means as moved away from each other for a better understanding thereof;

FIG. 3a is a plan view of the mounting plate with the spring formed therefrom;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 1 according to a plane through 4-4;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the device with the lever at open position, this form having an independent spring applied to the lever mounting plate;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are plan views respectively showing said independent spring and mounting plate, then overlappingly mounted as shown in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a modification of the device provided with a double toothing lever.

Lever device 10 as shown in FIG. 1 is anchored to a leather edge portion or border 9 of the uppers of a boot, opposite to an adjacent border thereof, not shown, with traction ring 11 being restrained thereto and coacting with device 10 to approach and to hold said borders under traction.

'By any preferred means a plate 12 is secured on border 9 and has two orthogonally facing shoulders '13 forming a pair of supports for pivot 14, lever 15 being pivoted thereon. Pivot 14 is close to the surface of the uppers 9 since no element prevents said lever from resting on said uppers, as occurs in almost all of the other traction lever types. The present device also has the further advantage of carrying a plurality of teeth 16 and respective slots 16, said teeth 16 being outward facing, thus providing for an extreme easiness in hooking and unhooking for ring 11. However, as shown in FIG. '8, a series of teeth 26 can be also provided on the inner edge with respective slots 26', these teeth and slots being offset to the outer teeth and slots 16, 16, so as to provide for a further possibility of tension adjustment. On the end of a resistant arm or tail of lever 15 there is provided an eccentric curve 15", the maximum prominence of which projects onto the extension of the major axis of aperture 17 having an oval or otherwise elongated shape. This elongated aperture 17 coacts in the swinging movement of lever 15 with the eccentric curve 15" of said resistant ,arm '15, the aperture being inclined so that, when lever 15 is tensioned by ring 11 (FIG. 4), pivot 14 is necessarily at the upper end of aperture 17 with a resulting maximum lowering of arm 15' relative to pivot 14.

A spring 18, fast with plate 12, coacts against projection 15", which spring may be independent of said plate 12 (FIG. 6) and secured thereto, or formed by shearing or blanking, shaping and hardening from said plate 12 (FIGS. 3-3a). At closed position, traction of ring 11 (FIGS. 2 and 4) will hold pivot 14 at the top of aperture 17, (topmost end): this causes a deflection of resilient tongue 18 by curve 15" and then, having passed the top of said curve at the lever stroke end, a setting of said spring 18 against the lower side of lever 15, so that the pressing action of tongue or spring 18 will hinder any raising of lever 15 in the direction of arrow F (FIG. 4) and will resist therefore any unintentional or casual unhooking of the device. However and without any excessive strain, it will enable a manual unhooking as desired by the user, which, as soon as the obstacle provided by projection 15" is overcome, will be facilitated by the elongated shape of aperture 17 and the inclined direction thereof, since in this case the thrust of said tongue 18, in conjunction with the traction along said ring 11, will cause said aperture 17 to slide upward relative to said pivot 14 until the open position shown in FIG. 5 is reached. At this position, and having passed the dead center, said lever will remain at a steady raised position convenient for reclosing operation, and this owing to the action of spring 18 pressing on the side flank opposite to that which provides for a reliable closure.

In FIG. 5 the spring 18 is not made from plate 12, but from an independent lamination coinciding with the shape of plate 12 only as to the peripheral portion, while inwardly having a tongue 18, fully similar to the above described tongue 18. When the two plates 12 and 19 are overlapped (FIG. 5), tongue 18' projects upward through aperture 20 (FIG. 7) in plate 12, whereas the remainder is the same as above described. In the example shown, the cantilever tip of spring 18 or 18' faces the edge of uppers portion 9, but it could, as apparent, be arranged in the opposite direction.

What is claimed is:

1. An improved fastening device particularly for mountain and ski boots, including two coacting elements adapted to be secured respectively to boot borders which are to be fastened together, one of said elements including a toothed lever and the other including a traction member having a looped free end, wherein said one element comprises a lever arm having toothing formed in and along its upper side to receive and retain said looped end, a base plate having shoulder means projecting upwardly therefrom, and pivot means fulcruming one end of said lever arm loosely on said shoulder means so that said arm end is displaceable relative to said plate and will be urged toward it by tension of said traction member engaged in said toothing, said traction member being elongated and being arched in the direction of its length so that its ends will lie below the fulcrum of said arm end and apply tension holding said arm in closed position when said arm is turned downward with said looped end engaged in said toothing.

2. A device according to claim 1, said one end of said lever arm having a prominence thereon located to the side of said pivot means away from said toothing, said one element further including a spring projecting above said base plate and pressing upwardly against said prominence to restrain movement of said lever arm.

3. A device according to claim 2, said spring comprising a resilient tongue formed integrally with and protruding from a portion of said base plate.

4. A device according to claim 2, said spring comprising a resilient tongue protruding through an opening in said base plate from a mounting plate mating with and clampable under a portion of said base plate.

5. A device according to claim 1, said pivot means comprising a pivot pin fixed to one of said arm end and said shoulder means and an aperture formed in the other of them and loosely holding said pin therein, said aperture being elongated in the direction of inclination of the teeth of said toothing.

6. A device according to claim 1, said one end of said lever arm having a prominence thereon located to the side of said pivot means away from said toothing, said one element further including a resilient tongue projecting above said base plate and pressing upwardly against said prominence to restrain movement of said lever arm, said pivot means comprising a pivot pin fixed to said shoulder means and an aperture formed in said arm end and loosely holding said pin therein, said aperture being elongated in the direction of inclination of the teeth of said toothing.

7. A device according to claim 6, the surface of said prominence comprising a convexly curved apex portion traversing an extension of the major axis of said aperture, and comprising flatter portions extending from the ends of said. apex portion and engaged by said tongue when said lever arm is in its opened and closed positions, respectively, whereby said tongue restrains said lever arm against casual displacement from either of said positions.

8. A device according to claim 1, said lever arm having a smooth lower surface extending from said pivot means along the lower side of said arm opposite said toothing, and adapted to lie directly on said base plate and the adjacent surface of the boot.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,399,430 9/ 1968 March 247O 3,401,432 9/1968 Tresenreiter 24-70 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,465,663 12/ 1966 France.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner

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