Ste Look

Daniel Le Faou

Jean J Beyl

Jean Bernard

Henri Peyre

Christian Campillo

Rene Guerreau

Philippe Buzon

Jean-Claude Guitel

Patrice Viodet

Michel Mercier

Serge Briee

Jackie Cursillat

Henry Menager

A mounting support for a cycling shoe is intended to be attached to the underface of the sole and adapted to cooperate with a fastener or retainer carried by the bicycle pedal. The mounting support is formed of material having high hardness and high strength and equipped with at least one pad, the lower end of which projects from the underface of the mounting support. The pad is formed of flexible and elastic material, thus providing greater comfort and safety while walking.

Mounting support for a cycling shoe

The braking arms of the ski brake are carried solely by an operating pedal which is pivoted to the ski about a transverse axis. The corresponding control ends of the braking arms are elbowed so as to form a V, the point of which is directed away from the braking shoes and/or away from the top face of the ski. The control ends are rotatably mounted within bores having the same angular orientation and formed in the operating pedal. By means of an elastic plug applied against a flat face formed in each control end, the braking arms are caused to rotate upon completion of an upward displacement and the active ends of the arms are automatically restored to their inwardly withdrawn position above the ski.

Ski brake

A toe-abutment member providing safety ski boot release in the event of a backward-fall movement combined with a twisting movement of the skier's leg comprises a fixed locking member having an inclined ramp and an abutment body pivotally mounted on a cross-pin. The jaw unit for retaining the toe end of the ski boot is movably mounted within the abutment body and carries a transverse rod which is applied against the ramp by means of a spring-loaded piston.

Safety toe-abutment member for a ski

The axis of rotation of a plate which carries the heel-holding member of a ski binding is forwardly inclined at an angle approximately between 8.degree. and 20.degree. with respect to a vertical axis perpendicular to the top ski face. This angle of slope is close in value to the forward slope imposed on the skier's tibia by the shape of the ski boot. The top surface of the rotary plate nevertheless remains parallel to the top ski face.

Rear element for a ski binding

A rear ski-binding element comprises a heel-holding member carried by a plate pivoted about an axis at right angles to the top ski face. Lateral flanges formed on the pivotal plate are each adapted to carry a lateral packing member. Each packing member has a resilient inner wall which is capable of outward elastic deformation under the action of engagement of a ski boot. The rear ski-binding element is thus automatically adaptable to ski boots having different widths.

A ski binding for cross-country skiing comprises a locking lever provided with a nose for locking the toe end of the ski shoe in position and also with an extracting appendage. During disengagement of the ski shoe from the binding, the extracting appendage exerts an upwardly directed thrust beneath the toe end of the ski shoe, thus facilitating the disengagement operation.

Ski binding for cross-country skiing

The cross-country skiing assembly comprises a ski shoe and a ski binding for fixing the shoe on a ski. A toe block at the front end of the shoe has a fastening contour which is capable of cooperating with a complementary fastener on a shoe-retaining stirrup of the ski binding. A spring-loaded locking and releasing lever of the ski binding permits automatic positioning of the ski shoe by downward engagement. The shoe-retaining stirrup is pivotally mounted on a cross-pin which is adjacent to the front end face of the toe block.

Cross-country skiing assembly

A pivotal control flap carried by the top section of one ski-braking arm is connected to an identical flap carried by the other braking arm by means of a top arcuate member. Each flap has two separate bores forming swivel-bearings respectively for the top section of the corresponding arm and for the respective leg of the arcuate connecting member. The angle made by the bores with respect to each other is such that the pivotal displacement of the two flaps under the pressure of the ski boot produces a movement of relative inward withdrawal of the bottom sections of the braking arms when they are in the raised position.

The toe abutment member of a ski binding is adapted to cooperate with a ski boot provided with a sole having a truncated front end and a toe-cap extension in overhung relation to the truncated front end. The abutment member comprises a feeler element placed directly beneath the toe-cap extension of the ski boot in close proximity to the toe-cap extension under normal skiing conditions. In the event of a forward fall, the feeler element undergoes a vertical displacement in the downward direction under the thrust exerted by said extension while producing a reduction in inherent stiffness of release of the toe abutment member.

Ski-binding toe abutment member for a ski boot having a truncated sole

The control ends of two pivotal braking arms have elbowed extensions rotatably mounted in bearings provided on or within an operating pedal. In the active braking position of the pivotal arms, the axes of the elbowed extensions form a V having a downwardly-directed point and the braking ends of the pivotal arms are outwardly displaced with respect to each other on each side of the ski. In the withdrawn position, the braking ends are close together and set back with respect to the sides of the ski. However a tension spring tends to produce a pivotal displacement of the operating pedal with respect to the pivotal arms to an angular position such that the braking ends are spaced at a sufficient distance to pass on each side of the ski.

A ski brake is provided with two braking arms pivotally mounted in bearings disposed transversely with respect to the ski. The braking arms are downwardly inclined towards the interior of the ski and joined together by means of a resilient stirrup-piece located above the ski and capable of undergoing resilient flexural deformation in its own plane. The stirrup-piece is connected to the braking arms by means of pivot-pins in the form of rivets, the axes of which are located at right angles to the plane of the stirrup-piece.

In addition to a boot-retaining jaw unit controlled by a spring having an adjustable degree of stiffness, the safety ski binding is fitted with a force transducer for detecting the effort exerted by the spring on the jaw unit and delivering a signal which is a function of the effort thus detected to an electronic display device of the digital type. The display device is supplied via a normally-open circuit comprising a manually actuated switch.

Safety ski binding provided with an electronic device for displaying the

A ski brake comprising two pivotal arms having intermediate elbowed portions pivotally mounted in fixed bearings about an axis transverse to the ski, an operating pedal and a spring for restoring the pivotal arms to their braking position. A flexible and resilient metallic strip provides a connection between the control ends of the braking arms, is secured to an operating pedal actuated by the ski boot and is subjected to the action of a restoring spring and traction member. The ends of the resilient strip are fixed in cylindrical sleeves which are rotatably mounted on the control ends. When a boot is in position within the safety ski binding and the ski brake is therefore in a standby position of withdrawal above the ski, the resilient strip has a flat configuration and is located in practically the same plane as the traction member, thus preventing the appearance of a parasitic stress which would otherwise be liable to interfere with the operation of the ski binding.

This toe-fitting for safety ski binding is of the type intended for operating in conjunction with a boot supporting device and includes a boot supporting plate movable across the ski and adapted, during its movement, to cause through a cam mechanism the translation along the ski axis of a slide controlling the release spring in order to reduce the resistance thereof to the ski boot release movement, the release threshold being thus kept to a substantially constant value notwithstanding the presence of dirt, mud or other unevennesses on the bottom surface of the boot sole.

Growing community of inventors

Varennes Vauzelles, France

Daniel Le Faou