Patent Application
20240181326
Not Applicable
This disclosure relates to the field of safety release bindings for use in alpine touring.
Several alpine touring binding systems comprise a toe unit and a heel unit that function independently but cooperatively to attach a toe and a heel, respectively, of a footwear (e.g. a ski boot) to a snow travel aid (e.g. a ski) for sliding downhill in a downhill mode. While in the downhill mode, one or both of the toe and the heel unit may release the footwear from the snow device during a fall. The heel unit will also be operable to release the heel for walking and climbing in a touring mode. The toe unit will be rotatably attached to the footwear such that, in the touring mode, the user may climb or walk with a greater degree of freedom by pivoting the toe relative to the snow travel aid when the heel is released. The toe unit is mounted at an appropriate location on the upper surface of the snow travel aid. The heel unit is mounted rearward of the toe unit at a location governed by the length of the footwear sole.
The typical “tech binding” toe unit comprises opposable jaws with pins that engage cavities positioned on opposite sides of the toe of a footwear to permit pivotal movement of the footwear about a pitch axis at the toe unit when walking and/or climbing. Such jaws open and close in a direction generally perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the snow travel aid so as to grasp opposite sides of the toe of the footwear. Representative examples of toe bindings with jaws are disclosed in patent publication numbers EP1907078, EP2965791, WO2007/010392, WO2009/121187, and U.S. Pat. No. 9,526,973. In these examples, the heel unit may provide for both lateral (Mz) and vertical (My) release characteristics during a fall. While the jaws of the toe unit will open, they do so with a relatively high resistance to force in order to provide a constrained fulcrum that acts as the pivot point for the lateral release feature of the binding system. If sufficient torque is applied about an axis generally perpendicular to the upper surface of the snow travel aid at the toe, the jaws of the toe unit will open.
Tech bindings are typically used with lighter, more flexible skis that are mainly designed for slower speeds or powder. Such skis can be less stable at higher speeds, and particularly on chunky or icy snow conditions, and/or groomed runs, where a rapid succession of loads can be encountered. This can result in the constant engagement and disengagement of ski tips with the snow that produces what is colloquially referred to as “chatter”.
Such conditions may also favor “pre-release”, which refers to the unexpected release of a footwear from a ski binding during normal controlled skiing. Pre-release of the toe of a boot from the toe unit is a well described problem with tech bindings. The rapid succession of loads displaces the toe from a central position on the toe unit to exert a force on one or the other opposable pins. Pre-release can occur if the toe of the boot does not return to the central position between successive loads.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a tech binding toe unit that allows for an improved skiing experience, including increased ability to absorb energy while skiing and/or reduced likelihood of pre-release, while maintaining safety.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,526,973 describes a toe unit wherein the jaws are mounted on an element that is moveable from a central position on a dynamic path along a transverse direction of the ski, but biased toward the central position. This movement allows energy to be absorbed by the toe unit. The opposable jaws can only be triggered to open to release the toe once the moveable element has moved a threshold distance away from the central position, thereby addressing the issue of pre-release. Similarly, DE202014003471 describes a toe unit in which the jaws are mounted on a slide movable in a lateral direction to allow for the absorption of energy. As with the toe unit described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,526,973, opening of the jaws is triggered only when the slide has moved a threshold distance in the lateral direction.
However, the dependence of release on displacement of the slider from the central position may be undesirable in the context of a traditional tech binding where heal release may necessitate concommitant toe release without any displacement of the slider from the central position whatsoever.
Aspects of the disclosure pertain to a toe unit for engaging a footwear toe of a footwear to releasably fasten the footwear toe to a snow travel aid. The toe unit comprises: a base for mounting on the snow travel aid; a slider slidably mounted on the base, the slider operably configured to resiliently slide laterally upon the base and away from a central position in response to a lateral force; opposable jaws mounted on the slider, wherein the jaws are moveable between an open and a closed position to releasably engage respective sides of the footwear toe in the closed position in order to fasten the footwear toe to the snow travel aid and to permit pivotal movement of the footwear about an axis intersecting the jaws. The opposable jaws are operable to move from the closed position to the open position in response to torque generated by rotation of the footwear about the footwear toe and independent of displacement of the slider from the central position. The toe unit may include slider biasing means for biasing the slider toward the central position in response to the lateral force. The slider biasing means may include a positioner. The positioner may include one or more resilient members positioned in the base generally perpendicular to a forward face of the slider.
Aspects of this disclosure pertain to a toe unit for engaging a footwear toe of a footwear to releasably fasten the footwear to a snow travel aid. The toe unit comprising: a base for mounting on the snow travel aid; a slider slidably mounted on the base, the slider configured to resiliently slide laterally upon the base and away from a central position in response to a lateral force; and a displacement indicator operably configured to indicate an extent (i.e. magnitude) of lateral displacement of the slider from the central position.
Aspects of the disclosure pertain to a heel unit and toe unit system for engaging a footwear to releasably fasten the footwear to a snow travel aid, the system comprising: a toe unit as described herein; and a heel unit comprising a rotating heel.
These and other aspects of the invention and embodiments thereof will be apparent from the appended drawings and the detailed description which follows.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form a part of the specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. The drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating one or more embodiments of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. In the drawings:
The term “snow travel aid” as contemplated herein are devices that support a user and are adapted to slide on a snow surface. They have a longitudinal axis which generally corresponds to the direction of travel. Examples include skis, and other snow sliding devices similar in shape to a ski. This includes devices known as “split-boards” (which are snowboards that can be separated longitudinally into at least two portions, the two portions then functioning in a manner similar to a pair of skis). Examples of such other such devices include “ski blades”, “snow blades”, “ski boards”, and “sliding” or “gliding snowshoes”.
The term “footwear” herein typically means a boot such as a ski boot with a sole extending between a toe and a heel.
The term “resilient element” herein refers to an element that when pre-loaded by a compression or tension force, exerts a biasing force on an object or objects that are in contact or are coupled to the resilient element. The biasing force is opposite in direction to the pre-load force. Thus, a resilient element may be elastic or compressible and in either case, may comprise a spring or spring set.
Unless otherwise clear, terms herein such as “vertical”, “upward”, and “downward” are relative to where the upper surface of a snow travel aid would be when the heel unit is mounted thereon. Other terms such as “above”, “below”, “lowered” and “beneath” refer to relative positions of objects but unless otherwise clear, the overall context is always the proper orientation of such objects relative to a snow travel aid upper surface. Unless otherwise clear, the context of terms herein such as “transverse”, “horizontal”, “side”, “front”, “in front”, “forward(ly)”, “rear”, “rearward(ly)” and “behind” is the proper orientation of footwear and the heel unit relative to the longitudinal axis or direction of travel of the snow travel aid. Thus, with regard to components of a heel unit, the term “forward” (or “front”) relates to a direction towards the footwear and “rearward” (or “rear”) relates to the opposite direction. However, unless accompanied by precise terminology, the aforementioned terms as well as terms such as “longitudinal”,“parallel” and “perpendicular” shall be construed as being qualified by the word “generally” and are not to be considered absolute. For example, while the terms “forward” (or “front”) and “rearward” (or “rear”) relate to a direction along or parallel to the longitudinal axis of a snow travel aid, they would also refer to any direction that is at an angle of less than 45 degrees to the longitudinal axis.
In this specification, reference to “generally vertical” is intended to indicate a general direction upwards or downwards from a reference but does not require perpendicularity to such reference. Conversely, the term “generally horizontal” would include directions that are perpendicular to those which are “generally vertical” but are not limited to situations involving a line or a plane parallel to the reference. The latter two terms also include lines or planes that are curved relative to the reference and extend in generally vertical or horizontal directions from the reference. In addition, the terms “generally horizontal” and “generally parallel” include lines or planes that are parallel to a reference as well as those which form an angle of less than 45 degrees with the reference or which are curved and follow a direction that is generally parallel to the reference. The term “generally perpendicular” is not limited to a 90 degree orientation but includes orientations that form an angle to a reference of greater than 45 degrees and less than 135 degrees. The term “generally spherical” includes any shape comprising one or more portions of a surface of a sphere.
The arrangement shown in
Referring to
In various embodiments, the path along which the slider is slidable is an arc-shaped path that curves rearward with its apex at the central position.
Toe unit 100 further comprises opposable jaws 108 mounted on slider 104. Opposable jaws 108 are moveable between an open position, in which a toe of a footwear can be positioned between the jaws, and a closed position in which the jaws rotatably engage respective sides of the toe of the footwear. In this way, the jaws are able to cooperate to releasably engage the respective sides of the toe of the footwear to fasten it to the snow travel aid and permit rotation of the toe relative to the toe unit about a transverse axis when in touring mode.
In the presently illustrated embodiment, opposable jaws 108 include opposable pins 110 for reception in respective cavities (not shown) on opposite sides of the toe of the footwear. This permits the footwear to rotate on the pins about the transverse axis when the heel of the footwear is not secured to the snow travel aid by a heel unit (i.e. when the toe and heel assembly are in “walk” mode”).
In the presently illustrated embodiment, opposable jaws 108 are each rotatably mounted on slider 104 about a longitudinal axis that is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the snow travel aid. In the presently illustrated embodiment, each jaw 108 is rotatably coupled to slider 104 between a respective pair of slider shoulders 112 on the lateral ends of slider 104 by a jaw pivot 114 (e.g. a pin or a bolt).
The jaws 108 of the presently illustrated embodiment use an “over-center” mechanism as is well known to a skilled person to retain the jaws in either an open or a closed position. Jaws 108 are pivotally coupled to each other via respective cooperating jaw couplers 116 that connect generally at a midline between the jaws. Respective jaw couplers 116 may be connected by a coupler pivot. For example, respective cooperating jaw couplers may have complementary hinge portions, and the coupler pivot may include a pin extending through the complementary hinge portions. Alternatively, respective jaw couplers may be connected by a living hinge, in which case the respective couplings may be formed together as a single integral unit. Yet alternatively, one of the cooperating jaw couplers may comprise a sleeve for receiving a complementary end of its respective cooperating jaw coupler.
Each jaw 108 is connected to its respective jaw coupler 116 via one or more resilient elements 118 operably configured to resist compression. Resilient elements 118 may comprise any number or type of springs (e.g., coil springs) and their equivalents (e.g., elastic bands).
In each of the open and closed positions, jaw couplers 116 are coupled in an over-center position, such that the resilient elements 118 bias the jaws towards either the fully opened or the fully closed positions. As toe unit 100 moves between the open and closed position, resilient elements 118 are compressed, and reach a maximum compression when couplers 116 are in a “center” position. Once couplers 116 have moved beyond the center position (i.e. “over-center”), resilient elements 118 expand to apply a force to jaws 108 to rotate them about jaw pivots 114 to either fully open or fully close the jaws as the case may be.
Starting in an open position where jaw couplers 116 are above the center position, a user of the snow travel aid may place the toe of the footwear between open jaws 108 and step down over jaw couplers 116. The force of stepping down moves jaw couplers 116 toward the center position and compresses the resilient elements 118. When jaw couplers 116 pass over-center, resilient elements 118 expand to apply a force to jaws 108 to rotate them upward about jaw pivots 114 and into the closed position where they are held firmly. To open jaws 108 while the snow travel aid is in motion, a sufficient force must be applied to jaws, i.e. either a lateral force imparted by lateral movement of the toe or a torsional force imparted by rotation of the footwear about the toe (e.g. upon release of the heel from the heel unit), to rotate the jaws downward to move jaw couplers 116 toward the center position and compress resilient elements 118. When jaw couplers 116 pass over-center, resilient elements 118 expand again to apply a force to jaw couplers 116 to move them upward to put the toe unit in the open position where it is held firmly.
As illustrated in the current embodiment, toe unit 100 may include a control lever 120 pivotally connected to a fulcrum 122 on base 102 located forward of jaws 108 and slider 104. Control lever 120 is coupled to jaw couplers 116 by control lever coupling 124. Control lever 120 further comprises an actuator 126 located forward of fulcrum 122. When toe unit 100 is in the closed position, a downward force may be applied to actuator 126 to rotate control lever 120 to apply an upward force to jaw couplers 116 to move them upward toward the center position. This in turn causes jaws 108 to rotate downward toward the open position. Movement of jaw couplers 116 toward the center position also compresses resilient elements 118. When jaw couplers 116 pass over-center, resilient elements 118 expand to apply a force to jaw couplers 116 to move them upward to put the toe unit in the open position and hold it there firmly.
When toe unit 100 is in the closed position, control lever 120 can also be locked to prevent rotation of the control lever which, in turn, precludes movement of jaw couplers 116 toward the center position regardless of any lateral or torsion forces applied to jaws 108 by the toe of the footwear.
As indicated previously, movement of the slider according to embodiments of the present disclosure is biased toward a central resting position. As illustrated in
Referring to
The recession (i.e. providing the cam surface(s)) may have a shape that is complementary to the shape of the end of the positioner follower with which it makes contact. In the presently described embodiment, the first positioner follower end 133 has a generally triangular shape that is received within complementary-shaped recession 136 in front face 138 of slider 104 providing cam surfaces 140.
Starting from the central resting position in which first positioner follower end 133 is positioned at the rearward extremity of recession 136 in which positioner follower faces 134 are both in contact with respective cam surfaces 140, lateral movement of slider 104 in track 106 applies a force to positioner follower 130 to move it forward in channel 132.
As indicated above, positioner follower 130 is resiliently movable in channel 132 in response to lateral movement of slider 104. Positioner 128 further comprises at least one resilient positioner element connected to second positioner follower end 135 of positioner follower 130 that is distal to slider 104. The at least one resilient positioner element is operably configured to resist compression so as to resist forward movement of positioner follower 130 in positioner channel 132. The at least one resilient positioner element is intended to be pre-loaded under compression to provide a biasing force that permits, but resists, forward movement of positioner follower 130 in positioner channel 132.
Referring to
In operation, when preloaded under compression, positioner springs 142 urge positioner follower 130 rearward to cause positioner follower face 134 to press against cam surface(s) 140 to resist lateral displacement of slider 104 from the central resting position in track 106.
Thus, starting from the central resting position in which first positioner follower end 133 is positioned at the rearward extremity of recession 136 in which positioner follower face 134 is in contact with both cam surfaces 140, lateral displacement of slider 104 in track 106 may apply a force to positioner follower 130 that is sufficient to exceed the resistive force applied to the positioner follower by positioner springs 142 to move the positioner follower forward in positioner channel 132 and compress positioner springs. As the lateral force displacing slider 104 from the central resting position subsides, positioner springs 142 expand to press first positioner follower end against one or the other front cam surface 140 to urge the slider back toward the central resting position in track 106.
Again, the resistance provided by the positioner springs is user-adjustable by means of the adjuster screw 148 and provides for variable levels of resistance to displacement of the slider from the central resting position. Thus, a user of the snow travel aid can tune the resistance of the positioner to displacement depending on their weight or the amount of energy that they wish for the toe piece to absorb. Thus, the user can tune the slider positioner as they prefer to improve the feel of their binding.
In the presently illustrated embodiment, the at least one resilient positioner element comprises a pair of springs. However, the skilled person understands that the at least one resilient positioner element could comprise a number or type of springs (e.g., coil springs) and their equivalents (e.g., elastic bands).
The skilled person further understands that while the slide positioner in the illustrated embodiment is positioned forward of the slider 104, the positioner could be positioned rearward of the jaws with the positioner follower operably configured to extend forward to contact a cam surface on a rear face of the slider.
The skilled person further understands that, while the positioner in the illustrated embodiment is located in a central position of the toe unit, the positioner could be positioned off-center. The skilled person yet further understands that while the illustrated embodiment includes a single slide positioner, multiple slide positioners could be used, e.g. in parallel.
Referring again to
While the presently illustrated embodiment features multiple stoppers positioned at least partially in the track external to the slider, the skilled person understands that several possibilities exist for displacement limiters. For example, the displacement limiter could feature one or more stoppers received within respective internal slots formed within the slider along the axis of lateral displacement. Alternatively, the displacement limiter could feature a single stopper positioned in the central position on the rearward side of the track and operable to abut opposing necks extending rearward from the slider to contact the rearward wall of the track.
The skilled person further understands that while the stoppers in the illustrated embodiment are positioned on a rearward side of track 106, the toe unit could be designed with the stoppers positioned on a forward side of the track.
Aspects of the disclosure further relate to means for indicating the extent of magnitude of lateral displacement of the slider from the central resting position. Referring again to
The indicator recession (i.e. providing the indicator recession surface) may have a shape that is complementary to the shape of the first indicator follower end 182. In the presently described embodiment, the first indicator follower end 182 has a generally triangular shape that is received within a complementary-shaped indicator recession 186 in the rear side of the slider providing cam surfaces 188.
Starting from a displacement indicator resting position in which first indicator follower end 182 is positioned at the frontward extremity of indicator recession 186 wherein indicator follower faces 184 are both in contact with respective indicator recession surfaces 188, lateral movement of slider 104 in track 106 applies a force to first indicator follower end 182 to move indicator follower 172 rearward in indicator channel 174. The distance that indicator follower 172 moves rearward in indicator channel 174 depends on the magnitude of lateral displacement of slider 104 from the central resting position on base 102. Indicator follower 172 is operably configured to extend through rear base opening 178 to provide an indication of the magnitude of lateral displacement of the slider 104 from the central resting position. Referring to
In the illustrated embodiment, indicator follower 172 is not resiliently movable in indicator channel 174 in response to lateral movement of slider 104. Rather, indicator follower 172, once moved rearward in indicator channel 174, will remain in a particular position until it is either moved further rearward in response to a greater magnitude of displacement of slider 104 from the central position, or it is manually returned to the resting position by the user (e.g. by applying a force to the indicator follower at second indicator follower end 194 to move it back through indicator channel 174 toward the displacement indicator rest position).
Accordingly, the skilled person understands that the distance that indicator follower 172 has moved within channel 174 from the displacement indicator rest position is indicative of a maximum displacement of slider 104 from the central resting position while the snow travel aid has been moving (i.e. between successive returns of indicator follower 172 to the displacement indicator resting position by a user).
Thus, the displacement indicator allows a user to observe the magnitude of lateral displacement of the slider from the central position while using the snow travel aid and, if desired, to adjust the tension on the slider positioner. For example, the displacement indicator may be operably configured to indicate whether the slider has been displaced to the limits of the sliding zone (e.g. lateral displacement has been stopped by the stoppers). In such case, the user may wish to increase the tension on the slider positioner to maintain displacement of the slider within the sliding zone.
While the illustrated embodiment provides the displacement indicator in a position at the rear of the toe unit, such that it is under the toe of the footwear when the travel aid is in use, the skilled person understands that the displacement indicator could be positioned forward of the slider and jaws with the indicator follower configured to extend rearward to contact a cam surface(s) on a forward face of the slider. This might allow the user to observe the magnitude of lateral displacement of the slider while the snow travel aid is in use and/or without removal of the footwear from the snow travel aid. The skilled person further understands that while the displacement indicator in the illustrated embodiment is located in a central position of the toe unit, it could be positioned off-center.
While the presently described displacement indicator has been illustrated in combination with the specifically described combination of slider, jaws, and slider positioner (i.e. in which movement of the jaws from the open to the closed position is not dependent on displacement of the slider from the central position), the skilled person will readily appreciate that the presently described means of indicating lateral displacement of a slider could be more generally used in combination with other toe units employing laterally moveable sliders.
1. A toe unit for engaging a footwear toe of a footwear to releasably fasten the footwear toe to a snow travel aid, the toe unit comprising: a base for mounting on the snow travel aid; a slider slidably mounted on the base, the slider operably configured to resiliently slide laterally upon the base and away from a central position in response to a lateral force; opposable jaws mounted on the slider, wherein the jaws are moveable between an open and a closed position to releasably engage respective sides of the footwear toe in the closed position in order to fasten the footwear toe to the snow travel aid and to permit pivotal movement of the footwear about an axis intersecting the jaws; wherein the opposable jaws are operably configured to move from the closed position to the open position in response to torque generated by rotation of the footwear about the footwear toe and independent of displacement of the slider from the central position.
2. The toe unit of embodiment 1 or 2, wherein the slider is operably configured to slide laterally upon the base and away from the central position along an arc curving rearward and having an apex at the central position.
3. The toe unit of embodiment 1 or 2, comprising slider biasing means for biasing the slider toward the central position in response to the lateral force.
4. The toe unit of embodiment 3, wherein the slider biasing means comprises a positioner.
5. The toe unit of embodiment 4, wherein the positioner comprises one or more resilient members positioned in the base generally perpendicular to a forward face of the slider.
6. The toe unit of embodiment 5, wherein the one or more resilient members comprises one or more compression springs.
7. The toe unit of embodiment 5 or 6, wherein the positioner comprises a positioner follower connected to the one or more resilient members for engaging a forward cam surface on a forward face of the slider to bias the slider toward the central position.
8. The toe unit of embodiment 7, wherein the forward face of the slider comprises a forward face recession comprising the forward cam surface, the forward face recession operably configured to receive the positioner follower.
9. The toe unit of embodiment 8, wherein the positioner follower comprises a positioner follower end operably configured for reception in the forward face recession, the positioner follower end having a shape complementary to the shape of the forward face recession.
10. The toe unit of embodiment 9, wherein the shape of the positioner follower end is generally triangular.
11. The toe unit of any one of embodiments 5 to 10, wherein the one or more resilient elements is adjustable to adjust the force necessary to displace the slider from the central position.
12. The toe unit of any one of embodiments 1 to 11, wherein the base comprises one or more lateral limiters for limiting a maximum displacement of the slider from the central position.
13. The toe unit of embodiment 12, wherein the one or more lateral limiters comprise opposing stoppers configured to abut the slider to limit lateral movement.
14. The toe unit of embodiment 13, wherein the opposing stoppers are operable to abut a projection of the slider.
15. The toe unit of embodiment 13, wherein the one or more lateral limiters comprise one or more stoppers, wherein the slider comprises one or more slots for receiving respective one or more stoppers, each of the one or more slots comprising first and second ends, wherein the one or more stoppers are configured to abut the slider at the first and second ends.
16. The toe unit of any one of embodiments 1 to 15, further comprising a displacement indicator operably configured to indicate an extent of lateral displacement of the slider from the central position.
17. The toe unit of embodiment 16, wherein the displacement indicator comprises an indicator follower moveable along a longitudinal axis, and the slider comprises a rear face comprising a rear cam surface operably configured to engage a first end of the indicator follower, wherein the indicator follower is moveable from a first position proximal to the rear cam surface toward a second position distal to the rear cam surface in response to lateral movement of the slider to indicate the extent of lateral displacement of the slider from the central position.
18. The toe unit of embodiment 17, wherein the indicator follower is operably configured to remain in the second position until returned to the first position by a user of the toe unit.
19. The toe unit of embodiment 17 or 18, wherein the rear face comprises a rear face recession comprising the rear cam surface, the rear face recession operably configured to receive the first end of the indicator follower.
20. The toe unit of embodiment 19, wherein a shape of the indicator follower is complementary to the shape of the rear face recession.
21. The toe unit of embodiment 19 or 20, wherein the shape of the first end of indicator follower is generally triangular.
22. The toe unit of any one of embodiments 16 to 21, wherein the displacement indicator is marked at regular intervals to facilitate quantification of slider displacement from the central position.
23. A toe unit for engaging a footwear toe of a footwear to releasably fasten the footwear to a snow travel aid, the toe unit comprising: a base for mounting on the snow travel aid; a slider slidably mounted on the base, the slider configured to resiliently slide laterally upon the base and away from a central position in response to a lateral force; and a displacement indicator operably configured to indicate an extent of lateral displacement of the slider from the central position.
24. The toe unit of embodiment 23, wherein the displacement indicator comprises an indicator follower moveable along a longitudinal axis, and the slider comprises a rear face comprising a rear cam surface operably configured to engage a first end of the indicator follower, wherein the indicator follower is moveable from a first position proximal to the rear cam surface toward a second position distal to the rear cam surface in response to lateral movement of the slider to indicate the extent of lateral the lateral displacement of the slider from the central position.
25. The toe unit of embodiment 24, wherein the indicator follower is operably configured to remain in the second position until returned to the first position by a user of the toe unit.
26. The toe unit of embodiment 24 or 25, wherein the rear face comprises a rear face recession comprising the rear cam surface, the rear face recession operably configured to receive the first end of the indicator follower.
27. The toe unit of embodiment 26, wherein a shape of the indicator follower is complementary to the shape of the rear face recession.
28. The toe unit of embodiment 26 or 27, wherein the shape of the first end of indicator follower is generally triangular.
29. The toe unit of any one of embodiments 24 to 28, wherein the displacement indicator is marked at regular intervals to facilitate quantification of slider displacement from the central position.
30. The toe unit of any one of embodiments 24 to 29, wherein the slider is operably configured to slide laterally upon the base and away from the central position along an arc curving rearward and having an apex at the central position.
31. The toe toe unit of any one of embodiments 24 to 30, comprising slider biasing means for biasing the slider toward the central position in response to the lateral force.
32. The toe unit of embodiment 31, wherein the slider biasing means comprises a positioner.
33. The toe unit of embodiment 32, wherein the positioner comprises one or more resilient members positioned in the base generally perpendicular to a forward face of the slider.
34. The toe unit of embodiment 33, wherein the one or more resilient members comprises one or more compression springs.
35. The toe unit of embodiment 33 or 34, wherein the positioner comprises a positioner follower connected to the one or more resilient members for engaging a forward cam surface on a forward face of the slider to bias the slider toward the central position.
36. The toe unit of embodiment 35, wherein the forward face of the slider comprises a forward face recession comprising the forward cam surface, the forward face recession operably configured to receive the positioner follower.
37. The toe unit of embodiment 36, wherein the positioner follower comprises a positioner follower end operably configured for reception in the forward face recession, the positioner follower end having a shape complementary to the shape of the forward face recession.
38. The toe unit of embodiment 37, wherein the shape of the positioner follower end is generally triangular.
39. The toe unit of any one of embodiments 33 to 39, wherein the one or more resilient elements is adjustable to adjust the force necessary to displace the slider from the central position.
40. The toe unit of any one of embodiments 23 to 39, wherein the base comprises one or more lateral limiters for limiting a maximum displacement of the slider from the central position.
41. The toe unit of embodiment 40, wherein the one or more lateral limiters comprise opposing stoppers configured to abut the slider to limit lateral movement.
42. The toe unit of embodiment 41, wherein the opposing stoppers are operable to abut a projection of the slider.
43. The toe unit of embodiment 41, wherein the one or more lateral limiters comprise one or more stoppers, wherein the slider comprises one or more slots for receiving respective one or more stoppers, each of the one or more slots comprising first and second ends, wherein the one or more stoppers are configured to abut the slider at the first and second ends.
44. A heel unit and toe unit system for engaging a footwear to releasably fasten the footwear to a snow travel aid, the system comprising: a toe unit as defined in any one of embodiments 1 to 43; and a heel unit comprising a rotating heel.
Although the invention has been described in some detail by way of illustration and example for purposes of clarity of understanding, it will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art in light of the teachings of this specification that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as recited in the appended claims. All patents, patent applications or other publications referred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference.
This application claims priority to and the benefit of the filing of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/429,479, entitled “Alpine Touring Binding Toe Unit”, filed on Dec. 1, 2022, and the specification thereof is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63429479 | Dec 2022 | US |
